Autumn term 2024-25

Welcome Penguins to Year Two. I hope that you had a lovely summer with your families and I am very excited to meet you all. This year you will learn lots of new things in exciting and engaging ways and I am sure that we will all have lots of fun along the way.

The theme for this first half term is 'Exciting Explorers' The information below will let you and your parents know all about the learning that will take place.

English: The children will be learning through the wonderful story of The Great Explorer by Chris Judge. They will have opportunities to write information texts and information leaflets, explanations and instructions and descriptions of characters and settings. By the end of the unit the children will have begun to master the use of 

• co-ordination (and, or, but) to write compound sentences.
• writing most statements with accurate demarcation using full stops and capital letters (including proper nouns).
• how to correctly use question marks.

Read, Write, Inc: Phonics will take place daily, following the Read, Write, Inc. scheme. These lessons will incorporate learning phonics sounds, reading and spelling.

Maths: For the first unit we will be looking at Place Value. By the end of the unit the children will have learned to

• Count objects to 100 and read and write numbers in numerals and words
• Represent numbers to 100
• Tens and ones with a part whole model
• Tens and ones using addition
• Use a place value chart
• Compare objects
• Compare numbers
• Order objects and numbers
• Count in 2s, 5s and 10s
• Count in 3s

Science: The children will be learning about to name and describe the properties of materials. They will learn to 

Observe closely how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.
Make some guided planning decisions.
Recognise when a simple test is unfair.
Make simple predictions (based on observations).
Explore by identifying and comparing the suitability of a variety of everyday materials, including wood, metal, plastic, glass,brick, rock, paper and cardboard for particular uses.
Work Collaboratively to explore the world around me and ask simple questions.
Discuss through choosing ways to try to ask and answer questions.

Geography: The children will be learning about Continents and Oceans, locational knowledge, place knowledge and physical geography

Art: The children will be learning about the artist, Wassily Kandinsky and creating artwork in a similar style through paint mixing and using bright colours. 

Religion and Worldviews: The focus will be on Islam and will be taught by Mrs Rashid.

Computing: This half term the children will be looking at E Safety and Internet Use. By the end of the unit they will be able to say:

• I can follow and understand school rules for staying safe online.
• I can say what information is personal and should not be shared online, with support.
• I can enter data into a computer/simulation game.
• I can navigate a website using links. I can find a website by following links set up by the teacher, by using favourites or by typing into the address bar.
• I can use a search engine to search for given information to answer questions, sorting by text, pictures, sound and video.

Music: The children will learn to sing and play a song through the topic Musical Me. By the end of the unit they will be able to 

• sing/ clap a pulse increasing or decreasing in tempo 
• sing and play untuned instruments at the same time 
• sing and follow a melody by ear 
• play a melody from letter notation 
• choose an appropriate dynamics and timbre for a piece of music
• listen out for particular things when listening to music
• perform with others

PE will take place on Monday and Friday

Gymnastics: Floor 

Plan and show a sequence of movements

Use contrast in sequences

Control movement

Think of more than one way to create a sequence which follows a set of ‘rules’

Work on their own and with a partner to create a sequence

Ball Skills 

Use hitting, kicking and/or rolling in a game

Stay in a ‘zone’ during a game

Decide where the best place to be is during a game

Use one tactic in a game

Follow rules

Homework will continue to be set every Friday. It will be set on Google Classroom and should be returned by the following Friday. MyMaths is an online site that is used for some maths based activities from Year 2 to 6.

Reading books will be changed every Friday. Please encourage your child to re-read to develop speed and fluency. You should also ask them lots of questions to develop their comprehension as this is very important at Year 2. 

Any questions please let me know either at the door, make an appointment or via email at penguins@parkgate.cheshire.sch.uk

Mr Simon