2022 Spring Term (Year 2) - Lower School - St Thomas of Canterbury Junior School

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2022 Spring Term (Year 2) - Lower School

Curriculum
Curriculum Advice for Parents

Welcome back after what we hope was a wonderful Christmas and New Year! As we look towards a productive and successful Spring term, we hope that this information will give you helpful details of the planned curriculum. Please assist your child in exploring and discussing these areas.
 
 
All year groups will be having English and Mathematics lessons every day. Details about their English and Mathematics lessons should come home weekly – please speak to your child’s classteacher if these updates are not in the school homework diary.
 
 
The most important way to help your children is to read with them on a daily basis and discuss the text that is read. We will continue to set spellings and we would like to emphasise the importance of learning rapid recall of times tables as they are fundamental to so many aspects of life.  Regularly using TT Rockstars will support with this. Thank you for your continued support.
Examples of areas we plan to cover

Art & Design
Our art topic later on this term focuses on the technique of collage. The children will learn how to use tone and colour for effect through designing and creating a Roman mosaic.

D&T
In DT, the children will be embarking on a ‘Moving Monsters’ module, where they will be designing and making a monster with at least one moving part!

Computing
We will be using our computing skills to work on specific packages to manipulate sound and create pieces of music. We will also be covering further e-safety topics including how to keep your documents secure and being safe online as well as how to use emails safely on Purple Mash.

Geography
For the first part of the term, we will be continuing to learn about East Anglia, comparing it to the North West of England. After half term, we will start learning about the physical and human geography of the sub-continent of India.

History
Until half term, we will be finishing our Stone Age to Iron Age topic, investigating significant archaeological discoveries such as the Amesbury Archer and handling artefacts from the period. We will then move on to exploring the impact that the Roman invasion (43AD) had on life in Britain.

Music
This term we will be having keyboard lessons in our music suite. These lessons will focus on recognising where the notes are on the keyboard, reading notes in the treble clef and playing a tune using the notes C, D, E, F and G. The children will also learn about different note values so that they can play a piece with the correct rhythm. They will learn to use chords in the left hand to accompany a melody. There will be plenty of performance opportunities during this unit.

P.E.
This term the children will be having lessons in: gymnastics (balances, jumps and rolls); dance (performing dance actions with control and fluency, linked to the theme of Invaders and Settlers); games (volleyball and tri-golf) as well as swimming (more information will follow about the start date for 3BW and 3S).

PSHE
Our first unit this term will be discussing our dreams and goals. We will think about different ways that help us learn and what we need to do to improve. After half term, we will identify things, people and places that we need to keep ourselves safe from and we will be looking at strategies for keeping ourselves safe and healthy including who to go to for help.  

R.E.
This term in RE, we will be studying the People of God and asking, "What is it like to follow God?" We will also be learning about Judaism and asking, "What does a Jewish home look like?" Finally, we will move onto the topic of Salvation asking, "Why do Christians call the day Jesus died 'Good Friday'?"

Science
In science for the first half term, we are learning about forces and magnets. We will be exploring the forces around us. We will also be carrying out experiments to investigate the ways in which forces act on objects and how magnets work. During the second half term, we will move onto the unit of ‘Light’. This will include learning about the difference between a light source and light reflector, understanding how we see and an investigation about shadows.

Spanish
For the first half term, we will be learning the names for parts of the body, focussing initially on the parts of the face. After half term, we will be learning colours and shapes in order to create our own Spanish piece of artwork in the style of Miro.
You may like to talk to your child about these topics. The prospectus (which details how the different subjects are taught) is available for download by clicking here.


In addition, you may also wish to:


: research ideas at the local library and help your child to develop his/her library skills;

: search the internet for relevant websites and activities;

: watch relevant television programmes that may support their work, or visit a museum or place of interest;

: simply talk to your child about what they are learning!

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