Useful Documents
Class 2
Autumn curriculum 2024
SCARF: There will be a huge emphasis on this area of learning, particularly as we settle into the new school year and establish ourselves as a class. We will spend time promoting and celebrating playing and working co-operatively and improving independence. Themes this term will include being good friends, getting on and resolving conflict, caring for our school environment and types of bullying.
Maths:. In maths lessons we will be focusing on number work, learning about our number system and place value. Year 1 up to 20 and year 2 up to 100. We will also be looking at addition and subtraction strategies. Later in the term we will begin a geometry topic where we will be recognising, naming and describing 2D and 3D shapes.
English: All year we will be learning to read and spell the Common Exception words. These are a specific set of words per year group, many of which do not follow the usual spelling rules or contain a ‘tricky’ part.
In order for children’s work to be plausible, handwriting is key and we will have handwriting sessions at least three times a week, focusing on lower-case and capital letters.
During the first half of the term, we will be looking at the text ‘Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus’ by Mo Willems. This is a funny story that encourages the children to identify different punctuation and think about how this affects the way we read the story aloud. We will also be learning about speech bubbles and inventing our own versions of the story. Year 1 will be writing labels, lists, captions and simple sentences with support and Year 2 will be writing their own piece of narrative.
In the second half term we will be linking our English work to our history topic and reading Vlad and the Great Fire of London.
Science: During our animals including humans topic, Year 1 will be learning about parts of the human body and the importance of the senses. Year 2 will learn about stages of life and the basic needs of humans in order to survive. Each half term we will visit the topic seasonal change to develop the children’s knowledge of the seasons and use observation as a means of scientific enquiry. This term this will also include an autumn walk in the local area.
Topic: (History and Geography) Our first Geography topic ties in brilliantly with one of our science topics! We will be learning about weather and identifying seasonal and daily weather patterns in the UK. We will even take on the role of weather forecasters and identify some hot and cold places around the world. In history we will be learning about events beyond living memory and we will be using different sources to find out about the Great Fire of London and the Great Plague.
PE: This term we will be developing our fundamental skills through one of my favourite texts, Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. Then learning different ways of rolling and receiving a variety of equipment. In the first half term we will be undertaking gymnastics where we will be developing different rolls and ways of travelling. Then after half term, we will complete a Dance unit of work linked to our history learning about the Great Fire of London.
Computing: Our first computing topic will teach us about the technology and IT around us and we will be practising and developing our mouse and keyboard skills. After half term, we will be exploring the world of digital art and using tools to create paintings. We will then compare painting with and without digital devices.
RE: We will be learning about Harvest and how we can help those who do not have a good harvest. We will also be learning about Christmas and why the birth of Jesus is such good news. Our Christian value for autumn term is truth.
DT: Linked with our learning about the needs of humans in science and hot and cold places in geography, we will develop our knowledge of fruit and vegetables before designing and making our own smoothies! Our second DT topic will teach us about mechanisms and allow us to make our own moving story books.
Art: We will use our Autumn Walk as a stimulus for observational drawings of natural materials.
Music: This term we will link our SCARF work on friendship with singing whilst learning more about ‘beat’. Then during the second half of the term, our attention will turn to performing to an audience through the preparation of our Christmas Play! This term the Year 2 children will also get the opportunity to begin to learn how to play the violin.