Copernicus

Welcome to Year 2

Teacher: Mrs Dowson 

Teaching Assistant: Mrs Curtis

Email: RSPCopernicus@southbankprimary.co.uk

Contact Number: 01642 453451

Please be aware that contact may be made outside of teaching hours. 

Copernicus class have really enjoyed the topics ‘Towers, Tunnels and Turrets and Land Ahoy’ and can't wait to delve into ‘Wriggle and Crawl’ during the summer term. After lots of hard work and only one term left of KS1, the count down is on for ‘Adventure week’. 

Autumn Learning

Spring Learning

Phonics and Reading

In KS1 there is a focus on Phonics and application of this within their Reading and Writing. The children will be continuing to develop their phonic knowledge through our Phonics scheme ‘Read, Write Inc’. The children are assessed and grouped half termly to closely focus on their current Phonic understanding. Each child is then grouped accordingly and receive bespoke Phonic teaching to their level. Phonics will be taught daily and will help your child to recognise sounds, segment and blend words within reading and write unfamiliar words. Children will then read books linked to their phonic knowledge in order to build fluency and participate in discussions on what they have read. Once children have completed the Phonics programme, they will access a reading skills groups, focusing on comprehension, vocabulary and fluency. 

Important: Y2 children who did not pass their phonics screening at the end of year 1 will retake the test week beginning 10th June. 

Writing

This term we will continue to practise using the grammar and punctuation we have been looking at in all our writing. We will look at the different features used when writing instructions, explanations, narratives and poetry before writing our own. We will continue to rehearse regular and irregular plurals and develop our use of vocabulary to make our writing interesting. 

Maths:
Throughout the Summer term, Year 2 will focus on recognising different coins and notes and using these to make different amounts. We will also be looking at telling the time to the nearest 5 minutes, fractions and measures. We will continue to count in 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s and begin to learn these times tables. Children use Numbots, TTRockstars and Freckle to support their Mathematical understanding and consolidate previous learning in the different areas of maths.

https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student

https://play.numbots.com/#/account/school-login/63735

Freckle Student Dashboard

Science

This term we will be looking at plants and habitats. We will research what plants need to survive and what conditions are best before planting seeds and observing closely as they turn into plants. We will move on to looking at different habitats including microhabitats, looking carefully at both plants and animals that can be found there. Throughout these topics, the children will be encouraged to think scientifically and will participate in a range of scientific enquiry activities, for example, exploring questions such as  'Will seeds grow without light or water?'.

Creative Learning

Art - Children will be using natural materials to create sculptures as well as looking at famous artists including Lowry. Children will use inspiration from these artists to create their own work using different materials and experimenting with different colours and shades. 

DT – Children will use their knowledge of a balanced diet to prepare a salad, carefully using kitchen equipment to cut, grate and peel ingredients. 

Geography - Children will use maps to locate the equator alongside the north and pole. We will look at climates in different countries and focus on seasonal weather in the UK

History - Children will learn about Captain James Cook and his famous voyages around the world. We will look at what life was like then and compare that to life today. We will find out what Captain Cook was famous for and why he was important. 

PE - Children will be doing Yoga during the Summer term. 

Music -  The theme for this term will be 'The Friendship Song' and 'Reflect, Rewind and Replay'. We will also continue to have Tees Valley Music specialists coming in each week to work with the children on different musical elements.   

PSHE - Children will focus on the topics 'Relationships' and ‘Changing Me’ These topics focus on different types of families and friendships, exploring trust, appreciation and conflicts. We will revisit human and animal life cycles and look at growing and changing as well as similarities and differences. 

RE – In the Summer term we will look at Christianity . The key questions that we will look at within these topics are ‘What can we learn from visiting a church?’ and ‘What can we learn from the story of a saint?’

Computing - The children will continue to use 'Purple Mash' to practise their computing skills. The focus during the Summer Term will be on 'Creating pictures’, ‘Spreadsheets’, 'Making Music' and ‘Presenting ideas’. 

Rights Respecting School

We are on our journey towards achieving the Gold Rights Respecting Award. We explore our rights across all areas of school through our learning. This term we will focus on Article 32 – Protection from Harmful Work. Children have the right to be protected from doing work that is dangerous or bad for their education, health or development. If children work, they have the right to be safe and paid fairly.

Important Information & Reminders

• If your child brings home a QR code, this is linked to a particular sound that your child needs to practice to help with their phonics.  
• PE will take place on a Tuesday. Children are expected to come in to school in full uniform and change into PE kits at school. No jewellery should be worn on PE days and long hair must be tied up.
• Reading Books will be changed on a Monday during our library session. Please ensure your child brings their book bag to school with their Phonics Reading Book and their Reading for Pleasure book inside. The RWI book will be matched to their Phonic ability and should be reread to build up fluency. Please ensure you write the date on your child's Reading Record as this is when the books will be changed. 
• Children must wear their school uniform everyday and have a suitable coat for outdoor play. Please ensure you write your child's name inside their uniform, including coats and jumpers. 

Key dates

• Book Fair 17th - 22nd April
• Phonics Screening 10th - 14th June
• Adventure Week  24th - 25th June
• Parental engagement session - Wednesday 3rd July
• Transition -  8th July 
• Literacy Festival 12th July
• Summer family picnic - Thursday 18th July 
• Last day of school year - Thursday 18th July