Academic

Subject Areas
- English
  - Ruth Miskin
  - Public Speaking
- Maths
- Science
  - Science Week
- French
- History
  - History Revision
- Geography
- Religious Studies
- Classics
- Art
- Music
- ICT
- Drama
- P.E.
- Design Technology
- Boys' Games
- Girls' Games
Curriculum Notes
- Reception
- Year 1
- Year 2
- Year 3
- Year 4
- Year 5
- Year 6
- Year 7
- Year 8
Pre-Prep
- Foundation Stage
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Science
- Art
- French
- Music
- Religious Studies
- ICT
Study Skills
Learning Support

Curriculum Notes - Year 2

On this page you can find the curriculum notes for Year 2, for the Autumn , Spring and Summer Terms.

Autumn Term

Literacy (to include the Literacy Programme, Read, Write, Inc.)

To encourage children to speak clearly and respond to a variety of stimuli.
To learn the 44 ‘Speed Sounds’ and the corresponding letters/letter groups.
To learn to read words using sound-blending.
To read lively stories with a strong phonic structure featuring words they have learned to sound out.
To comprehend stories through partner discussion.
To show that they comprehend the stories by answering ‘Find it’ and ‘Prove it’ discussion questions.
To answer simple, literal and inferential questions on the text.
To justify answers and opinions by looking for evidence in the text.
To improve skills in reading out loud with expression, paying attention to punctuation and meaning.
To increase the number of whole words children can read by sight.
To encourage children to read for enjoyment.
To encourage children to use skills taught in phonic lessons for decoding unfamiliar vocabulary.
To read and spell key words in common usage.
To practise the formation of capital letters.
To continue practising a neat cursive style of handwriting.
To write with increasing independence.
To learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds.
To learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (letter names).
To construct simple sentences independently.
To use a variety of stimuli encourage creative writing.
To compose a range of texts using discussion prompts.
To know the order of the alphabet and to use it to access an index and a dictionary.

Numeracy

To count, read, write and order whole numbers to and from at least 100 in figures and words and position them on a number line and 100 square.
To count reliably up to 100 objects by grouping them in 10s, 5s and 2s.
To describe and extend simple number sequences: count on or back in tens, starting from any 2-digit number.
To count in hundreds from and back to zero.
To recognise odd and even numbers to at least 30.
To know what each digit in a two digit number represents, including zero as a place holder.
To partition 2-digit numbers into multiples of tens and ones.
To use and begin to read the vocabulary of comparing and ordering numbers, including ordinal numbers to 100.
To say the number that is 1 or 10 more/less than a given 2-digit number.
To begin to solve mathematical problems using knowledge of the above and to recognise simple patterns and relationships.
Know by heart number bonds for 10.
To learn addition facts for numbers up to 10
To begin to extend knowledge of the operation of addition.
To use and begin to read the related vocabulary.
To use the + and = signs to record mental additions in a number sentence.
To begin to add 3 single-digit numbers mentally (totals up to 20)

Numeracy Topic - Fractions& Shape:

To investigate Fractions.
To recognise halves, quarters and thirds.
To investigate 2D and 3DShapes
To begin to recognise lines of symmetry.
To begin to use mathematical vocabulary to describe position, direction and movement.

Term Topic: Islands and Pirates

Geography

To know the countries of Great Britain and the capital of England.
To be able to define an island.
To be able to use a simple key on a map.
To use letter number grid co-ordinates.
To identify human and physical features at the seaside.
To know North, South, East and West and give directions using left and right

History

To sequence historical seaside pictures.
To learn about some famous pirates.

Science: Grouping and changing materials

To know there are many different materials and that they may be grouped according to their properties.
That some materials occur naturally.
That materials may change by heating and cooling.
Health and growth
That we need food to stay alive.
That we need a varied diet and exercise to stay healthy.
That medicines can help us to stay healthy but can be dangerous if not taken properly.
That humans and other animals can produce offspring and that these offspring grow into adults
That babies and children need to be looked after while they are growing up.

Art, Craft and Design Technology

To encourage careful and imaginative art work.
To encourage the idea of appropriate use of colour.
To look at the work of the African culture and to use it as a stimulus for their own pieces.
To gain knowledge of and practise in techniques and materials in the following areas: Drawing, Design, Painting, Printing, Resist, Modelling in clay, Collage, Scissor work and Cooking.

Music, Dance and Drama

Music:

To begin to understand that music is made up of sounds and silence of different lengths.
To use their voices to investigate long and short sounds of their own choice, creating a sound picture describing a journey through space.
To begin to recognise crotchets, minims and semibreves in music.
To begin to understand that music is written down for people to read and that there are different values for each note.
To be able to investigate how to use instruments to make long and short sounds.
To investigate hand signals to use to indicate quiet and loud.
To make loud and quiet sounds following a conductor.

Dance:

To be able to choreograph a simple dance with a clear beginning, middle and end – Lion King dance.
To understand the importance of warming up at the start of a dance lesson.
To begin planning, performing and evaluating their own (Firework) dance.

Drama:

To adapt and sustain roles.
To understand and develop skills of mime and improvisation.
To respond appropriately to given narration.
o respond appropriately to ‘teacher in role’.

P.E. & Games

Games and Ball Skills - Direct Ball control

Revise sending, receiving and dribbling a netball and football.
Develop confidence in catching and throwing a ball and gain control in passing, aiming and scoring.
Continue to foster awareness of space and fellow team-members, and to introduce tactics such as dodging, avoiding opponents, attacking, defending and invading, in pairs and small groups, in football, basketball, netball and hockey.

Gymnastics

Revise and develop travelling on feet and hands: hopping, skipping, jumping with a half turn, full turn(pirouette), tuck jump (these to be attempted from the apparatus or trampette depending on the ability of the child).
Revise cartwheels and introduce crab-springs and walk-overs.
Revise and develop travelling by rolling: introduce circle roll, forward and backward rolls with straight or legs astride and asymmetrical rolls.
Introduce various balances such as front or back support, crab, handstand and headstand.
Introduce simple vaulting on the apparatus and use of the springboard.
Extend sequence work to join at least 6 movements.

I.C.T.

To write stories, entering and editing text.
To create pictures, including design.

R.E.

To look at the story and nature of Jesus as a religious character and as a king
To explore and respond to some of Jesus’ sayings.
To explore ways in which Christians remember Jesus and how festivals are celebrated within families and communities.
Explore how Christians rely on God/Jesus and ways in which personal and religious beliefs may influence their lives.

P.S.H.E.

To encourage the children to be aware of the needs of others.
To encourage kindness and caring for each other.
Road safety – being seen; use of reflective clothing.

French

To encourage the children to speak freely and with a good accent about themselves.
To learn the numbers to 60, the days of the week and to revise colours.
To revise animal names.
To introduce children to the vocabulary of food, shopping and eating out.
To extend their French vocabulary with the use of songs, rhymes, stories and games.

Ways In Which You Can Help

Please support you child by encouraging him or her to read with you for pleasure in the evenings and at weekends.
Please help your child to check the timetable in order to ensure he or she has the correct kit

Spring Term

Literacy (to include the Literacy Programme, Read, Write, Inc.’ )

To encourage children to speak clearly and respond to a variety of stimuli.
To learn the 44 ‘Speed Sounds’ and the corresponding letters/letter groups.
To learn to read words using sound-blending.
To read lively stories with a strong phonic structure featuring words they have learned to sound out.
To comprehend stories through partner discussion.
To show comprehension of stories by answering ‘Find it’ and ‘Prove it’ discussion questions.
To answer simple, literal and inferential questions on the text.
To justify answers and opinions by looking for evidence in the text.
To improve skills in reading out loud with expression, paying attention to punctuation and meaning.
To increase the number of whole words children can read by sight.
To encourage children to read for enjoyment.
To encourage children to use skills taught in phonic lessons for decoding unfamiliar words.
To read and spell key words in common usage.
To practise the formation of capital letters.
To continue practising a neat, cursive style of handwriting.
To write with increasing independence.
To learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds.
To learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (letter names).
To construct simple sentences independently.
To use a variety of stimuli to encourage creative writing.
To compose a range of texts using discussion prompts.
To know the order of the alphabet and to use it to access an index and a dictionary.

Numeracy

To count on and back in 1s, 10s or 100s
To recognise odd and even numbers up to at least 50
To understand and use ordinal numbers up to at least 100th
To compare 2-digit numbers and say a number lying between 2 numbers
To rehearse addition and subtraction facts for pairs that total up to 10
To begin to add 3-digit numbers mentally
To subtract a multiple of 10 from a 2-digit number by counting back in 10s
To add and subtract 9, 11, 19 and 21 by adding and subtracting 10 and 20
To count on in 2s, 5s or 10s
To understand multiplication as repeated addition and record facts using x and =
To begin to understand division as grouping
To recognise right angles and know that it is a measure of a quarter turn
To recognise clockwise and anticlockwise turns
To estimate, measure and compare weights in kilograms and grams
To read the time to the hour and half hour on analogue and digital clocks
To sort, organise and interpret information in a block graph and pictogram
To use the names of common 3D shapes and describe their features

TERM TOPIC - :Native Americans

History

To ask and answer questions about the past.
To learn about and gain some understanding of the way of life of the native peoples of North America and to compare it with our own in this country today.
To study some significant events of the period when North America was discovered and the settling of the East coast of America.
To be able to recognise why people did things, why events happened and what happened as a result.
To make use of a range of sources of information to find out about the Native Americans.

Science

Health and growth

Humans need food and water to stay alive.
Children need to eat a variety of food to enable them to grow.
To recognise and sort a collection of basic food types.
We need exercise to stay healthy.
Making and recording observations in a variety of ways.
Animals produce young and these grow into adults.
Young children need to be looked after.
To recognise medicines and know that they are drugs.
Who should look after and prescribe medicines.
The correct procedure for taking medicines.
To investigate the life cycle of birds by using an incubator to hatch chicks.
To investigate the inside of an egg.

Art, Craft and Design Technology

To encourage careful and imaginative art work.
To encourage the idea of appropriate use of colour.
To look at the Native American culture and to use it as a stimulus for their own pieces.
To consider the play area outside Pre-Prep and its uses and to suggest improvements.
To draw up a design of a playground, considering health and safety, cost and suitability of design elements.
To gain knowledge of and practice in techniques and materials in the following areas: Drawing, Design, Painting, Marbling, Modelling in clay, Collage, Scissor work and Cooking.

Music, Dance and Drama

Music:

To identify pitch.
To use instruments to demonstrate pitch.
To identify pitch differences.
To create, plan, rehearse and perform a piece of music.

Dance:

To use movement imaginatively, responding to music.
To create and perform a dance using a range of movement patterns.
To change level and direction of their movements.

Drama:

To develop spontaneity and improvisation skills.
To use actions to convey roles and situations.
To work co-operatively within a drama situation.
To work in role.

P.E. & Games

Gymnastics and Dance:

To introduce backward roll with legs astride, backward roll with legs straight and circle roll.
To mirror a partner’s sequence on the floor and on the apparatus.
To introduce dive forward rolls and leap frog.
To introduce handstand into forward roll.
To introduce through vault: build up by catspring onto low apparatus followed by immediate straight jump off.

To do partner work: balancing using counter-tension, balancing using the idea of counterbalance and helping partner maintain and support a balance.
To introduce partner work into sequences on the floor and on the apparatus.
To respond to music using a sequence of linked moves.
To practise, perform and evaluate their dance sequence.

Games and Ball Skills:

Tennis Skills:

To revise control of racquet, running with ball on racquet, tipping and bouncing.
To encourage use of forehand to return a ball thrown to them.
To practise rallying in 2s.
To play games in 2s over benches – use simple rules and scoring.

Hockey skills:

To demonstrate that they know how to hold a hockey stick safely
To learn to dribble a ball with control

Cricket skills:

To learn how to hold a cricket bat correctly
To learn to aim accurately with an underarm throw

I.C.T.

To practise Control Technology using a floor turtle.
To find information based on class topic

R.E.

Using visit to Buckland Church to teach the children:

That the church is a special place for Christians.
About some of the important features of the church building.
About some of the activities that take place in a church.
About the importance of showing respect for other people and their special places and things.
About what a church feels like and looks like.
About why Christians come to the church, what they do there and how they care for it.
To identify some of the features of a church which make it a special place for Christians.

P.S.H.E.

To encourage the children to be aware of the needs of others.
To encourage kindness and caring for each other.
Road safety

French

To encourage the children to speak freely and with a good accent about themselves and their family.
To learn the numbers to 80.
To revise the French words for some parts of the body and to start to learn the vocabulary for clothes.
To continue learning the vocabulary of food and to talk about food they like or dislike.
To learn some weather phrases.
To continue to extend their French vocabulary and enhance learning and enjoyment with the use of songs, rhymes, stories and games.

Ways in Which You Can Help

Please support your child by encouraging him or her to read with you for pleasure in the evenings and at the weekends.
Please help your child to check the timetable in order to ensure he or she has the correct PE kit on the days it is needed.

Summer Term

Literacy (to include the Literacy programme, Read, Write, Inc.’ )

To encourage children to speak clearly and respond to a variety of stimuli.
To learn the 44 ‘Speed Sounds’ and the corresponding letters/letter groups.
To learn to read words using sound-blending.
To read lively stories with a strong phonic structure featuring words they have learned to sound out.
To comprehend stories through partner discussion.
To show comprehension of stories by answering ‘Find it’ and ‘Prove it’ discussion questions.
To answer simple, literal and inferential questions on the text.
To justify answers and opinions by looking for evidence in the text.
To improve skills in reading out loud with expression, paying attention to punctuation and meaning.
To increase the number of whole words children can read by sight. To encourage children to read for enjoyment.
To encourage children to use skills taught in phonic lessons for decoding unfamiliar words.
To read and spell key words in common usage. To practise the formation of capital letters.
To continue practising a neat, cursive style of handwriting.
To write with increasing independence.
To learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds.
To learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (letter names).
To construct simple sentences independently.
To use a variety of stimuli to encourage creative writing.
To compose a range of texts using discussion prompts.

Numeracy

To understand the operation of multiplication as repeated addition or as describing an array.
To know and use halving as the inverse of doubling.
To know by heart facts for the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 multiplication tables.
To choose and use appropriate operations and efficient calculation strategies to solve problems, explaining how the problem was solved.
To understand division as grouping or sharing.
To describe and extend simple number sequences.

Numeracy Topic – Time/Capacity/Data Handling:

Use units of time and know the relationships between them (second, minute, hour, day, week). Order the months of the year. Read the time to the hour, half hour or quarter hour on an analogue clock and a 12-hour clock, and understand the notation 7:30. Estimate, measure and compare capacities, using standard units (litres, millilitres). Read a simple scale to the nearest labelled division. Solve a given problem by sorting, classifying and organising information in simple ways, such as: pictogram, block graph. Discuss and explain results.

Geography

Term Topic: Around our school - the local area

To know their addresses and understand the significance of each line of the address.
To draw a map of the map of the school in various forms and recognise where places are within the school.
To draw a map showing their route to school.To describe the features of the local environment.
To investigate current land and building use within the local environment and school grounds.

History

To investigate the first evidence of birds, such as ‘dinobirds’ and ‘Archaeopteryx’.To discuss how these early forms of bird have evolved into the species of today
To look at how the school buildings and grounds have been adapted over time for change of use/purpose.
To look at different habitats around the world and to consider how birds have adapted, through evolution, to cope with the various environments.

Science

To investigate the differences between living, non-living and never having lived.
To classify animals into the various groups by characteristics.
To look specifically at the group ‘birds’.
To investigate the origins of birds and recognise fossils as a source of information.
To consider the physiology of birds and how they differ to us.
To look at the different species of bird and discuss their habits.
To look in detail at a feather and its uses and importance to birds.
To investigate waterproof and absorbent. To investigate the life cycle of birds by using an incubator to hatch chicks.
To investigate the inside of an egg.
To use experiments to investigate the changes heating and cooling make to certain materials such as eggs and bread and to recognise the difference between reversible and irreversible changes.

Art, Craft & Design Technology

To encourage careful and imaginative art work.
To encourage the idea of appropriate use of colour.
To look at the Tudor period and its artists and to use them as a stimulus for their own pieces.
To gain knowledge of and practise in techniques and materials in the following areas: Drawing, Design, Painting,
Portraiture, Modelling in clay, Collage, Scissor work and Cooking.

Music, Dance & Drama

Music:

To begin to identify different textures within pieces of music.
To begin to identify different combinations of sounds.
To develop awareness of changes in texture within a piece of music.
To investigate the sounds produced by various percussion instruments.
To read a pictorial score and perform a simple textual composition.
To write a basic pictorial score based on a theme.
To read a pictorial score and perform a simple textural composition.

Drama:

To create roles individually.
To think quickly in order to participate in the drama.
To use voices and actions expressively and effectively.
Year 2’s leavers play.

P.E. & Games

Athletics

To practise sprinting: start and finish; action (use of arms).
To practise relay techniques: changeovers.
To practise the high jump: take off; landing; use of arms.
To practise the long jump: standing broad jump; one-footed take-off; use of arms; two-footed landing.
To practise throwing for height: sideways stance; follow-through (similar action to shot-put technique).To practise throwing for length: sideways stance; taking arm back, follow-through (similar action to javelin technique).
To practise the hop, step, jump: introduction to triple jump techniques; emphasize rhythm; use of arms; stable landing.
To practise jumping hurdles: initially encourage idea of running over hurdles, then develop technique.
To practise distance running: techniques for running over a larger distance; need to pace oneself.

Cricket skills:

To practise throwing, catching, bowling, wicket-keeping and striking the ball with cricket bat.To experience playing in 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 games and non-stop cricket games within grids.
Rounders Skills:
To practise striking the ball with rounders bat, bowling underarm, back-stop techniques.
To experience 3v3 and 4v4 games within grids.

Swimming: (children are divided into ‘shallow end’ and ‘deep end’ swimmers. ‘Deep end’ swimmers
must be capable of swimming two lengths without touching the sides and this is rigorously tested.)

To teach children the safety brief for the pool: correct entry to water; immediate response
to sound of whistle; leaving the pool safely.
To teach and practise Breaststroke, Front crawl and Backstroke: by attempting whole stroke;
legs only; whole stroke; arms only; whole stroke.
To teach and practise personal survival skills: treading water; retrieving bricks from pool
floor; surface diving through hoops.
To introduce diving (deep end group only)
TT experience fun games with balls leading up to Water Polo

I.C.T.

To practise using ‘Textease Presenter’
To introduce ‘Microsoft Word’.

R.E.

What do signs and symbols mean in religion?
To be able to talk about meanings contained in stories, objects and signs.
To be able to list signs and symbols in everyday life.
To relate the idea of a symbol as a reminder of something special to their own experience
To know some reasons for an object becoming special.
To be able to talk about and explain the significance of a Passover meal for Jewish people.
To be able to explain how food can remind them of special events.
To make connections between personal experience & experience of people in religious context
To be able to explain literal and non-literal meanings.
To be able to use similes to describe emotions.
To be able to talk about how metaphors can describe beliefs.
To understand that signs and symbols show that people belong.
To identify and understand the significance of symbols found in a place of worship.
To know the meaning behind symbols found in a place of worship.
Special books
To talk about why a book is special to them.
To talk and think about the way in which people may have different special books.
To name and recognise the Bible as the special book of the Christian faith community & to recall elements of several of its stories.
To know several stories from the Bible and understand that for Christians these stories have special meaning.
To learn what the Torah is and why it is special to Jews.
To know about the way that the Torah is treated and what this shows about Jewish beliefs.
To learn about the Yad.
To learn that the Qur’an is the sacred text for Muslims and some of the ways in which it influences their lives.
To learn that the Qur’an is believed to be the word of God and is treated with reverence.

P.S.H.E.

To encourage the children to be kind and caring and aware of each other’s needs.
Road safety-crossing the road safely.

French

To encourage the children to speak freely and with a good accent about themselves and their family adding details about their brothers and sisters.
To learn the numbers to 100.
To use all the vocabulary previously learnt to understand and act out well-known children’s stories e.g. Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs.
To continue talking about the weather and the world about us.
To continue to extend their French vocabulary and enhance learning and enjoyment with the use of songs, rhymes, stories and games.

Carswell Manor
Faringdon
Oxfordshire
SN7 8PT

(01367) 870700