The Beacon C of E (VA) Primary School

This term's topic is ....

Magnificent Monarchs

(History)

This project teaches children about the English and British monarchy from AD 871 to the present day. Using timelines, information about royal palaces, portraits and other historical sources, they build up an understanding of the monarchs and then research six of the most significant sovereigns.

Companion projects include:

• Art &Design: Portraits and Poses (This project teaches children about portraiture. They analyse the portraits of Tudor monarchs and compare Tudor portraits and selfies today. They use photo editing software to create royal portraits.)  
• Design and Technology:                                                          - Push and Pull (This project teaches children about three types of mechanism: sliders, levers and linkages. They make models of each mechanism before designing and making a greetings card with a moving part.)                                                                        -Cut, stitch and join (This project teaches children about fabric home products and the significant British brand Cath Kidston. They learn about sewing patterns and using a running stitch and embellishments before making a sewn bag tag.)  
• Science investigations: Animal Survival (This project teaches children about growth in animals by exploring the life cycles of some familiar animals. They build on learning about the survival of humans by identifying the basic needs of animals for survival, including food, water, air and shelter.)

See document below for Magnificent Monarchs home learning ideas!

Outdoor Learning

Outdoor learning with Miss McDonald will take place every Monday afternoon, weather permitting. Please wear suitable shoes, coat and trousers/shorts to school and bring wellies in a bag if wet.  Also, please wear a hat and sun cream in the hot weather. Extra adult helpers are required for these sessions. Please let the office know if you can help.

P.E Days 

In Summer 1, P.E will be with Mr Troman on Friday afternoons 

P.E uniform should consist of one yellow school logo t-shirt and blue shorts. In colder weather, children can also wear their school jumper and blue/black joggers or leggings. 

Year 2 Newsletters and Curriculum Information

(Please note they may be subject to change but we aim to update the document on this page as quickly as we can)

• Year 2 Curriculum Map for the year
• Autumn Term Class Letter 2022
• Spring Term Class Letter 2023
• Summer Term Class Letter 2023
• Bedtime stories and reading at home letter Spring 2023

Reading

Reading books need to be in school every day. We will change books when needed. Your child will bring home 1 or 2 reading books which match their reading ability. We suggest children are heard read at least 5 times a week - little and often is very effective. Please comment in the accompanying yellow reading journal each time your child has read at home to an adult. In Year 2 we do a Rocket Reading challenge. For every 10 reads completed, children move their rocket to the next planet  on our class display and receive a certificate in celebration worship. We would like to emphasise the importance of reading a book more than once, three times ideally. The first read should be to decode the words using their phonic knowledge; the second should be to increase their reading fluency, and the third time to develop their understanding of the story further. When reading in school, we always love spending time talking about the story with the children, this discussion is vital for developing comprehension skills.

Learning Support Resources