WELCOME TO YEAR 2
What makes a history maker?
This term our enquiry question is "What makes a history maker?" Our subject focus is History. We have been learning all about 'The Great Fire of London'. We explored the significant events and when they happened. We learnt about significant people during the Great Fire of London; including, Samuel Pepys, King Charles and Sir Thomas Bludworth. We visitied Layer Marney Tower and talked about the materials that were used to build in London in 1666 as these materials are similiar to the ones used to build Layer Marney Tower! We recreated the event in the form of drama and we also created our own chalk drawings of the fire.
In Science we have been learning all about materials and their use. We have explored why materials are used for certain things instead of others. We have explored how materials can be changed by squashing, squeezing, pulling, tearing them etc.
In PSHE we have been learning all about friendships and the different ways that we can show compassion to others - this linked nicely to our school Christian values.
Maths
In Maths we have recently been learning about addition and subtraction. We have been focussing on fact families and learning lots of different ways to work out the answers to addition and subtraction problems - this includes using; ten frames, part whole models, base 10, tens and ones charts, number lines and hundred squares. The children have been practising their mental arithmatic and have enjoyed embarking on the TT Rockstars journey!
English
In Year 2 we love books! The first text we looked at this term is The Tunnel by Anthony Browne. We have used Talk for Writing to retell the story and wrote our own narratives. Some of our writing is on display outside our classroom! In the Autumn term we wrote a recount of our trip to the church and Layer Marney Tower. We based our poetry unit on the poem 'The Tiny Burning Flame' which linked perfectly with our Great Fire of London topic. We got to perfrom our Talk 4 Writing poem at Layer Marney Tower. Year 2 have also been amazing at writing acrostic Christmas poems
Other Curriculum Learning
We have done so much learning in all our other curriculum subjects as well - take a look!
Reminders
Our PE Days are Tuesday and Wednesday. Full school PE kit needs to be work into school on both of these days.
Trainers/Wellies and Waterproofs! - At Layer-de-la-Haye we are an "All-Weather" school. This mean that unless deemed unsafe we will be outside at playtimes even if it is raining. Please make sure that your child has a change of shoes (and socks!) or wellies in school for days when it is very wet.
Homework
Reading - In Year 2 pupils should be reading daily (4-5 a week). Pupils will bring home multiple books each week. This will include a book to share together, and a book that is either phonetically decodable, or an "Accelerated Reader" (AR) book that they can quiz on when they have finished it. Please record how your child is reading at home as this will help us to support their needs further. We ask the children to hand in their reading folders/book bags on a Thursday with the reading record inside. We will then change the books as needed and hand them back out on Friday. Pupils who have an AR book will be able to change their books as soon as they have passed the quiz each time.
Times Tables - We would like to see each child log in and use the learning tool Times Tables Rockstars for upwards of 20-25 minutes a week. This will help them to develop their knowledge and speed of recall. We regularly check the childrens scores and set their tables challenges accordingly.