Abbeyfield Primary Academy
Year 2
The Great Fire of London
Curriculum Information For Parents and Carers for the
2nd of the Autumn Term 2016
The Great Fire of London
This half term our topic is the Great Fire of London.
Literacy
Children will be looking at the Great Fire of London.
The unit will be split into two sections – Diary Writing and Instruction Writing. They will listen to and read the diary
of The Great Fire of London and over the course of a few weeks they will be learn the report off by heart. They
will use the Pie Corbett method of learning to highlight features of the text to help them learn it off by heart. They
will look at and discuss the key parts of a diary. They will examine Samuel Pepys and his diary, and then learn
how to retell this. One of they key skills of this unit will be learning how to sequence their writing, and use dates to
order it correctly. Children will also look at biographies, and create one of their own based around Samuel Pepys.
By the end of this unit, children should be able to imagine themselves during the Great Fire of London in 1666 as
a Londoner, and create their own diary from scratch.
The second part of the half term will focus on Instruction Writing. Children will need to consider the questions
such as, ‘Why do we need to follow instructions in the correct order?’ and ‘What would happen if we did not?’
Children will learn how to use bossy verbs and time words, as well as numbering and subheadings to sequence
their writing correctly. Children will create their own instructions for making bread in a bakery! They will then follow these instructions to make their own bread bun.
Numeracy
Children will be looking at two Topics at the start of Autumn 2 – Money and Time.
For Money, they will be finding different combinations of coins that equal the same amount of money. They will
also be solving simple problems in a practical context involving addition and subtraction of money of the same
unit, including giving change. Children will be given opportunity to find the value of a set of coins and then use a
number line to find out how much more money is needed to make a given total. They will also be adding and subtracting amounts of money to give change, using both £ and p in practical contexts. Children will learn to find the
sum total of different coins, as well as how to pay for items using the fewest amounts of coins.
For Time, children will be taught how to read the time on an analogue clock: to the hour, to the half hour, to five
minutes and to the minute. They will learn how to draw the hands on a clock face to show these times. Children
will also learn how to read the time in words: to the hour, to the half hour, to five minutes and to the minute.
Topic – Geography and History
The topic of this Unit will be the Great Fire of London.
Children will start by looking at a picture of central London today and a map of England. They will be encouraged
to work out the name of the city, before being shown a monument commemorating the Great Fire. They will also
look at and discuss portraits of Charles II, Samuel Pepys, and a citizen from mid-seventeenth-century England. In
looking at where the fire began, children will ask themselves questions, such as: ‘What do you think the houses
were made of?’ , ‘What was dangerous?’ and ‘What could make the new houses safer?’.
They will learn about how and why the fire spread so quickly, look at what happened during The Great Fire, and
learn how to sequence the events in chronological order. Children will also examine how we know what happened in the Great Fire, and find out about the part played by artists and diarists in recording what happened in
such a key historical event. They will begin to interpret historical sources. Part of this will include looking at what
an eyewitness is. Finally, they will begin to understand the results of a key historical event (London was rebuilt
after the fire and people tried to make it safer.) They will learn about things such as Straight roads /Wide roads /
Places for the fire engines to turn/ Building being prohibited too close to the river Thames…
Science
Everyday Materials
Children will continue their Autumn Unit focussing on Everyday Materials.
They will observe changes in water (ice, steam) and investigate these changes of state. They will ask themselves
whether such changes are reversible or irreversible. Children will learn how to plan a fair test examining the melting of ice, deciding what to change and what to keep the same for the experiment, writing a prediction and investigating their theories. They will compare results to their predictions, evaluate the data, and establish a relationship between the variables.
Children will also be looking at liquids and planning a test to explore their viscosity – which will pour fastest?
Treacle, honey, oil, or washing up liquid? Children will be asked to consider what makes a fair investigation.
They will be taught how to record results in a table, and how to use a timer during an experiment.
Children will put their researching skills to the test as they investigate John Dunlop, Charles Macintosh and John
McAdam – all famous inventors. Children will look at waterproof materials and be posed the question, ‘What
would it be like if we didn’t have waterproof materials for umbrellas or coats?’ They will also use skills learnt from
across the whole unit to construct a rocket to protect an egg and meet Professor Egghead and Egbert Crackson.
This will involve reading ‘Egg Drop’ by Mini Grey.
P.E
Pupils will develop and replicate body management skills. They will explore and improve the quality of their actions, body shapes and balances firstly on the floor and across apparatus. They will incorporate control, levels and
different speeds into simple sequences. As well as this, they will begin to appreciate good performances and understanding some reasoning for this. Pupils will progressively learn how to lift and lay out apparatus safely.
R.E.
Symbols - Christianity and Islam
Autumn 2 of RE will see children continue their signs and symbols unit.
They will making observational drawings and comments of the Qur’an (and the Qur’an stand), and describe what
it is and when/how it is used in worship. They will also be designing their own prayer mat. Children will conclude
this unit by illustrating an object that is special to them…They will say why it is special to them and describe the
memory it contains, as well as comment on a peer’s object - what do they like about it? Children will draw their
special object with a label and write about the reason why it is special, describing the special memory it contains.
They will need to think about when they got it, what it reminds them of, what it looks like and why it is.
The Christmas Story
Towards the end of this unit, children will look at the Christmas story. They will examine why people give gifts at
Christmas and learn about the three Wise Men. They will discuss who they might have been, where they came
from, what brought them there and the gifts they brought to Jesus
PSHE
This year children will have philosophy for children sessions. In these sessions children will discuss as a class
peace, rights, rules and communication. Children will learn how to express their opinions to the class and how to
listen to other children’s ideas.
Computing
Children will start this unit by understanding what animation is. They will look at various cartoon clips and short
animated clips from the internet. They will discuss the word animation and look at what it means. They will ask
themselves, ‘What is good about animation?’ and ‘What do I like about animation?’ Collectively as a group they
will gather ideas about animation. Children will be asked to write a short definition of animation and illustrate this
with images.
The children will them move on to use software to make an object move. They will create a posing stick man with
head, thin body arms and legs and learn how to move one of the body parts slightly and save in a ‘new frame’.
They will start to see that when they combine the movements it makes the stick man look as though he is moving.
They will experiment moving different body parts and saving each in a new frame. They will make small tidy
movements to make the character move to create a short story.
Reciprocal Reading
Our Autumn 2 book – The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark – follows the story of Plop, a Baby Barn Owl who is
fat and fluffy with a beautiful heart-shaped ruff and knackety knees. He’s still learning to fly, very curious and almost always hungry. And he’s afraid of the dark, which is not very helpful for a night-bird. His mother sends him
on several missions to find out more about night time. Will Plop learn to embrace the dark?
The author describes Plop as fat, fluffy, soft and perfect. Therefore, as well as general comprehension, children
will be asked if they can think of other adjectives or synonyms for these words.
Each chapter title begins with 'Dark is?'. Children will be asked to think of other ways of describing the dark. Opportunity will be given for them to write another short chapter for the story linked to their description. They will
need to think about who the owl might meet in their chapter.
Children will have chance to make a list of positive and negative words to describe the dark, as well as create a
short story performance about something exciting that happens when it is dark which they will share with their
classmates.
Abbeyfield Primary Academy
November 2016