Fire and Ice - Year 2 Curriculum Overview
National Curriculum
As Historians we will: ask
questions about ‘The Great
Fire’.
As Geographers we will:
recognise and understand
similarities and differences
between two contrasting
locations.
As Artists we will: experiment
with different media.
As Design Technologists we
will: design, make and
evaluate a product.
Our Curriculum Drivers
Values
Creativity
Computing and Communication
Enquiry & Knowledge of the
World
As people who care about Christian
Values we will: Share our new
beginnings together, think about
how we belong and learn how to
solve problems like falling out.
Encourage the children to challenge
themselves and produce work of
high quality.
As creative people we will: be given
opportunities to demonstrate our
individual creativity through composing
and performing music, designing a
vehicle and exploring the work of Andy
Goldsworthy.
As communicators with information
technology we will: become treasure
hunters by using programmable toys to
work out algorithms and learn how to
debug a program. We will also create
digital content to illustrate books using
a variety of painting apps.
As people with questioning minds
we will: carry out simple tests and
investigations into the best water
bottle to put out a fire, and explore
the best materials for keeping warm
and dry. We will use our
observations to suggest answers to
questions.
Year 2 – Autumn 2016-17
Suggested Reading
Non fiction texts based on The Great Fire of London
Rainbow Bird
Wombat Goes Walkabout
How Rabbit Stole the Fire
The Little Fire Engine
Flat Stanley and the Fire Station
Can a Princess be a Fire-fighter?
The Ice Bear
The Big Fuzzy
English
Maths
Through exploring books related to our topic the children will be
developing their ability to put their ideas into sentences and organise
their writing to suit the purpose e.g. diary writing with correct
punctuations and accuracy. We will also work on sequencing ideas –
developing their ability to use connectives to move their writing on.
Children will learn to solve mathematical problems in a variety of ways
and be encouraged to use the different apparatus available to them,
such as number lines, cubes, number beads, counters and Numicon.
Children will be given opportunities to explore practical methods for all
areas of the maths curriculum.
The children will also be using non-fiction texts linked to our topic ‘Fire
and Ice’ to learn about the different organisational features, such as
alphabetical order, headings, diagrams, captions, and bullet points.
We will begin by looking at place value and solving addition and
subtraction problems. To help children to solve these problems we will
make sure that they are confident with number bonds to 10, 20 and 100
During handwriting sessions we will be looking at pencil grip and control and recognise odd and even numbers.
as well as continuing to develop the correct formation of lower and
upper case letters.
Children will learn their 2, 5 and 10 times tables and learn how they can
As well as a daily designated class reading time the children will access a be used to solve multiplication and division problems, including
wide range of texts throughout the day. Your child will read with an
recognising odd and even numbers.
adult in school at least once a week. Please can you ensure that your
child brings their reading book into school every day so that we can
maximise additional opportunities to read.
Year 2 – Autumn 2016-17
History
The children will learn in depth about the Great Fire of London. They
will develop their chronological understanding by arranging key events
in order. Children will explore why the fire spread so far and so quickly,
they will research a significant person Samuel Pepys, who helped us to
know so much about the fire. Children will compare fire fighting now
and in the past, and how the fire changed London.
RE
The children will be covering two units, ‘Special Places’ and ‘Special
Times’. ‘Special Places’ will encourage the children to think about where
is special to them. We will then think about sacred and religious places,
and how they should be treated. ‘Special Times’ will lead us
to think about times which are special to us such as
birthdays and christenings, and will also coincide with
religious celebrations such as Christmas.
Science
Children will use their senses to explore and recognise the similarities
and differences between materials, making and recording observations
and measurements. As we discover the properties of different
materials the children will develop their ability to sort and classify
materials for a specific purpose. Through the planning and undertaking
of investigations and simple tests children will discover the best water
bottle to put out a fire and investigate keeping warm and dry. They will
be encouraged to compare what happened with what they expected to
happen as they extend their ability to consider evidence.
Computing
In our computing unit we will be games testers, and learn how to code.
We will create characters and stories on the Scratch Jr app on the ipads.
This will also teach children how to debug computer software, as they
will have to make their character move and change the story setting,
and may need to correct mistakes that they have made.
We will also use computers and laptops to help support keyboard and
mouse skills. We will also be learning how to use the Internet safely to
help us research our topic work, such as information websites about The
Great Fire of London.
Geography
We will develop the children’s ability to ask geographical questions,
using geographical vocabulary and to use sources of information to help
recognise and understand similarities and differences between two
contrasting locations. Children will locate where the fire took place in
London. They will explore daily weather patterns, locate hot and cold
regions in contrasting areas e.g. The Equator and the North/South Pole.
PSHE Ed.
We will begin by thinking about the topic ‘Rights, Rules and
Responsibilities’, through class rules, understanding right and wrong,
explaining our views and decision making.
We will then think about ‘Myself and My Relationships, Family &
Friends’. This will help the children to understand friendships, valuing
our differences, and listening to different points of view, and how to
resolve conflicts.
Year 2 – Autumn 2016-17
PE
This term in our PE lessons we will cover gymnastics, dance and multi-skills.
This involves four core principles of activity: co-ordination, movement,
thinking and body awareness. We will deliver a range of activities to enable
children to improve their basic movement and develop skills in a fun and
challenging way. In gymnastics we will perform gymnastic actions with
control, coordination, balance and variety. In dance we will be creating and
performing dances using fire and ice as inspiration.
French
Children will learn to follow simple instructions, count to 10 and continue with
dialogue of meeting and greeting people. We will learn simple vocabulary
linked to the topic e.g weather, hot and cold and
the seasons.
DT
Children will be making and designing a fire engine. They will investigate the
best way to attach mechanisms such as wheels and axles to a chassis. The
children will then combine all parts and add finishing touches before
evaluating their vehicle against the design criteria. The
children will also develop their ability to use tools and
equipment safely and effectively.
Useful websites
http://www.theschoolrun.com/homework-help/great-fire-london
http://www.fireoflondon.org.uk/game
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/samuel_pepys/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/humanplanetexplorer/environments/arctic
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/science/properties_of_materials/play/
Music
Children will sing with a sense of performance, performing ‘London’s Burning’
in a round. They will learn to recognise long and short sounds. Children will
create a graphic score, creating sounds to match a picture. They will create
musical sounds using percussion and learn to listen to and make comparisons
between 2 pieces of music.
Important Dates
7th Sept – Stunning start – Dance workshop and craft activities
27th Sept – Individual School Photographs
7th Oct – Mufti Day for Autism Bedford
22nd-31st Oct – Half Term
Tuesday 1st Oct – Children back to school
11th Nov – 11am Remembrance Day Service (parents welcome)
3rd Dec – Christmas Fair
8th Dec – Year 2Christmas Concert 2pm & 6pm
16th Dec – Last day of school
17th Dec – 3rd Jan – Christmas Holidays
Weds 4th Jan – Children back to school
Homework
The children will bring home a homework book with a grid of activities that
they can choose from, aiming to complete 4 activities by the end of the term.
Please ensure you tick and date the task covered on the homework grid after
completion. We would encourage you to read regularly with your child and
sign their reading diary each time you listen to them read.
Art
Children will create a silhouette of London on a painted fire background.
Children will also develop their colour mixing skills and ability to create
collages using hot and cold colour themes. We will explore the work of Andy
Goldsworthy and land art based on seasons.
Spellings will be sent home every Friday to be tested the following Friday. We
will sometimes mix the order of the words when we test them, and test
additional words which follow the same rule. This is to ensure that children
are applying knowledge of spelling rules rather than learning words by rote.