Blackbirds - Year 2

World War 1

Welcome back to school. After such a long first term, we hope that you have had a nice, relaxing week off, and not eaten too many sugary ‘spooky’ treats!

This term, we will be learning about World War 1, otherwise known as ‘The Great War’ or ‘The War to End all Wars’. Whatever you want to call it, it will certainly be an action-packed, full-on few weeks of learning.

We will be finding out about the events that led to the start of World War 1, and the main characters who influenced it; not something that everyone knows much about! Who knew that Franz Ferdinand was an Austrian Archduke? I thought they were a Scottish rock band! Children will be learning about the countries who were first involved, The British Empire and the two alliances who were at loggerheads with each other in the first place. They will also find out what life was like in the trenches – living day after day in appalling conditions with little comfort whilst fighting battle after battle. During the term, there will also be a school trip to bring our learning to life.

Literacy:

The two main texts we will be focusing on this term will be a narrative (a story) and letter writing. Initially, children will be working towards writing a narrative text based on love and friendship, and then they will put themselves in the position of being in a trench writing a letter home. Each text will be the product of 2-3 weeks of preparation and planning, and exploring other similar texts. We will be learning the structure of such texts alongside role play, drama and dance etc. Both texts will be themed around WW1 and will incorporate facts researched from topic work.

Whilst we will be reading a few smaller books, we will be reading Warhorse (by Michael Morpurgo) as a whole class. Although this is a children’s book aimed at slightly older ages, it is perfect in terms of content and relevance. For those who don’t know the story, it is a tale of great courage and friendship against the backdrop of the horrors of wartime.

Spelling and handwriting:

Children will be taught to write ‘cursively’ (joined-up). They will have lessons on a daily basis. Please encourage your child to practise at home; automaticity in handwriting will ultimately help with writing fluency.

Children will be coming home every Monday with new spellings in their little red book – please make sure their books are with them every Monday. They will have a selection of words to practise at home – based on a spelling pattern. Please encourage them to practise these ready for an informal test every Monday.

Maths:

Our maths this term will be based on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They will be taught following our Calculation Policy (see website). Children need to understand number calculations from different angles. For instance, counting on from any given number, partitioning two digit numbers and adding the tens / ones, combining groups of objects, using a number line / square etc. Please encourage your child to practise by counting (up/down in steps of 2, 3, 5, 10), counting up in tens (from any given number), 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables, number bonds (to 10, 20, 50, 100). For a more interactive approach, the Topmarks website is a ‘fun’ way of learning maths (https://www.topmarks.co.uk).

PE

This term, PE will be taught indoors mainly. It is essential that children have a full PE kit in school at all times – including white T-Shirt, shorts and plimsolls or trainers. In the interest of health and safety, children will not be able to take part in PE lessons outside in school shoes only. Please also ensure they always have a water bottle on site.

Looking forward to being back!

Mrs Durman, Miss Dawson and Mrs O’neill

The United Kingdom

Hello! Welcome to Blackbird’s Class web page. We hope that you have had a wonderful and relaxing summer holiday. I cannot believe how quickly time has flown. Here we are back at school and straight into Year 2. So far, we have hit the ground running.

Our topic this term is The United Kingdom. We will be learning all about the country that we live in from both a historical and geographical point of view. Please see the curriculum overview for more details.  

Literacy:

Each term, children will be writing two main pieces of text. Each text will be based on a culmination of classroom experiences. This will include discussion, drama and role play, and will involve the language features that they will be learning as part of the curriculum. For instance, children will initially be writing a character description of Mr Twit (as we are reading this book in class). They will write it after exploring a range of other book characters, learning and understanding specific vocabulary and language features needed to make their writing come to life (adjectives, noun phrases, verbs etc.) and gaining a first-hand experience of the character through emersion (via art, drama etc.). Children will be writing daily.

Spelling and handwriting:

Children will be taught to write ‘cursively’ (joined-up). They will have lessons on a daily basis. Please encourage your child to practise at home; automaticity in handwriting will ultimately help with writing fluency.

As from this week (w/c 23/09), children will be coming home with spellings in a little red book. Each Monday, they will have a selection of words to practise at home – based on a spelling pattern. On a Friday each week, they will have an informal test based on these words which will inform gaps in learning. I have included a spreadsheet (Excel) document on the webpage of the spellings for the term. Also, you will find (both in the book and on the webpage) a list of common exception (or ‘tricky’ words) – specific to Year 2.

Maths:

Our maths this term will be based on place value, numbers and counting. It is essential that children have a solid understanding of this concept in order to carry out other operations (+-x and ÷). Place value is the foundation of numeracy; the position of each digit in a number represents its value. E.g. 23 means 2 tens and 3 ones.

PE and Forest School:

This term, PE will be taught outdoors (weather permitting). It is essential that children have a full PE kit in school at all times – including white T-Shirt, shorts (old jogging bottoms for a cold day might be worthwhile) and plimsolls or trainers). In the interest of health and safety, children will not be able to take part in PE lessons outside in school shoes only. Please also ensure they always have a water bottle on site.

Forest School will be ran on a Wednesday afternoon. Due to limitations in numbers, children will be going to Forest School on a rolling rota basis (every three weeks). Details will be sent home shortly. Children will need to have appropriate clothing including: wellies, old jogging bottoms, T-shirt, jumper, raincoat, hat, gloves, scarf – in a named bag.

In the meantime, see you in the playground!

Mrs Durman, Miss Dawson and Mrs O’Neill

Term 1 Spellings - week by week: