Year 2
Year 2 Team
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Year 2 Team 2025/26 - Teacher Letters
The Wider Curriculum
Science: In Science, we will be exploring materials and their properties. They will be naming what objects are made of and describing what they are like (e.g. bendy, waterproof, transparent.) The children will find out that some materials are used for different purposes because of their properties. They will conduct a very exciting investigation into what material makes the best umbrella and the adults in the year group will be standing under them to test their predictions!
History: In history we will be answering the question: What was life like in Victorian Britain? They will learn all about Victoria’s reign and comparing her to Queen Elizabeth II. The children will learn key dates and be able to put these in chronological order. They will understand that life was very different for rich and poor people, and schools were very strict. We will have a Victorian school experience to bring this to life with a dress up day!
Art: In art we will be exploring different artist. They will look at some natural art by Andy Goldsworthy and imitate his work by collecting natural objects from outside and arrange as a piece of art to be photographed. The children will then use their observational drawing techniques to sketch some of the natural objects they have collected. The outcome of their project will be a leaf created using wax resist techniques and these will be showcased as a display in the school.
Jigsaw: In Jigsaw, we will start by focusing on our hopes and fears for the year. We will relate these to our own school values and think about what we would like to work on as individuals. We will then move on to talk about our rights and responsibilities in and out of school. From this we will create a class charter and think about rewards and consequences within this.
RE: In RE, we will be looking at our new enquiry question: Why do Jewish people talk about repentance at New Year? Children will learn that repentance means saying sorry to God for bad deeds and making sure they don’t happen again. The children will learn the story of Jonah and why it is so important to Jewish people. They will learn all about synagogues and what happens at Yom Kippur.
English
Writing – We will be revisiting the non-negotiables in our writing from Year One (capital letters, full stops and finger spaces). Our reading into writing unit begins with the book ‘The storm Whale’ and the children will spot the nouns and adjectives in the text. We will complete some short burst writing using adjectives and finally write a setting description using the vocabulary we have learnt. We will then read ‘Cave Baby’, We will spot lists of adjectives in the book and learn how to punctuate these sentences with commas. We will also find conjunctions that help us to extend our sentences. In the final week we will use the skills we have learnt to retell the story.
Handwriting- To build on the foundations established in Year 1, we will begin by reinforcing correct letter formation, size, and orientation, focusing on letter families such as those that ascend, descend, curve, and zigzag.
Spelling/phonics- In phonics we will be recapping our phonics knowledge from year 1 and reminding ourselves of all the graphemes we use in our spelling. Children will work in a group according to their ability during these short daily sessions and some children will move onto spelling Year Two words.
Reading: All children will read three times a week in a small group session according to their ability. They will also have daily whole class reading sessions which will develop their comprehension of the text.
Our reading for pleasure books this half term is: Matilda by Roald Dahl.
Maths
Maths - In maths we are continuing to apply are knowledge of place value to addition and subtraction problems. We will be using dienes to support us and then moving onto using place value counters. To extend our learning, the children will also solve problems in addition and subtraction where the ten is crossed and an exchange is needed. Once a week the whole class will work on a problem solving activity where they will be encouraged to explain how they would solve a problem using mathematical vocabulary. The children will also have a short number sense activity daily.
Year 2 Gallery
Year 2
