Maple Tree- Year 2 2025 - 2026

Welcome to Maple Tree Class!     

We hope that you and your family have all had a great summer and are ready for your child’s new adventure in Maple Tree Class!  We have lots of really exciting learning planned which we can't wait to start! However, as usual we will begin our autumn term with our whole school transition theme of ‘Together We Learn and Grow’. We will be continuing looking at the story ‘the dot’ by Peter H. Reynolds which is about a little girl who discovers her artistic talent. We believe all children should 'make their mark' and we encourage them accordingly. Please see below for a brief outline of what we will be finding out about this term. 

If you have any questions or queries about the term ahead, then please do not hesitate to contact any of us through the school office or speak to us in the morning before school or afternoon after school.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Williams, Mrs Franklin & Mrs Pearson

PLEASE NOTE:

Please log in to Google Classrooms to access our weekly homework posts each Friday.

We also try hard to update our class Twitter feed regularly with photos and tweets of things we have been getting up to in class! Please follow us :  @MapleTree_GSP

Curriculum Information                

Maths

The children will begin the term by looking at Place Value.  They will recap previous taught knowledge before moving on to study new concepts.  They will begin to understand the value of different numbers and we will be quickly moving on to numbers to 100. Next, they will be investigating addition and subtraction and the children will be learning the written methods to add two and three numbers up to 100. Finally we will move onto to find out about shape - both 2D and 3D.

English

In English, the children will use a variety of different stimulus throughout the term to engage and inspire their writing. They will begin the term by looking at the story ‘Nibbles- the Book Monster’ by Emma Yarlett. The children will cover a range of writing genres such as: a story narrative and poetry. Children will also focus on Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar.

 Developing reading is a top priority in Year 2 and we aim to hear your child read individually and as a group. We also provide many other opportunities to read in school too. However, we also need your help! Please aim to listen to your child read at least three times a week and sign their journal every time they read. Please record comments on how well they have done or any questions you may have.  If your child reads at least three times a week, they will receive a raffle ticket and be entered into a prize draw to be our reading champion at the end of each term. Once the children have completed their reading book and the journal has been signed, the children can choose a new book to bring home. Children can therefore change their book regularly but it is up to them to go and get a new one!

Science

This term the children will be learning about animals.  First, they will be identifying and naming a variety of common animals such as reptiles and fish. They will investigate the structure of a common animal and will be challenged to compare different animal groups.  Finally, the children will be identifying and naming animals that are carnivores, herbivores or omnivores.

History

The children will be finding out about how transport has changed over time. During this topic, the children will study in depth about the exciting innovations that have happened over the past 100 years from walking, biking to space travel. They will be placing modes of transport onto a timeline and using the internet and historical artefacts to help them answer questions.

Geography

The children will be using maps, atlases and globes to locate the equator and hot and cold places from around the world.  From their findings they will discuss the question can a meerkat live in the North Pole? 

Useful Information

·   As before, homework will be set on a Friday and is to be returned to school by the following Wednesday. If you require any help or support with this, please just ask. 

·   As you will know our school has invested in Numbots, an app produced by the makers of Times Tables Rockstars. We are hoping that the children twill play the games on Numbots regularly at home to increase their quick recall of number bonds. There will be a leaderboard in class to see who has the most points!!!

·   Spellings will be uploaded to Google classroom on Fridays as usual. The children will then be tested on them the following Friday.As before, spellings will focus on either a particular spelling rule/pattern or will be taken from the Year 2 statutory word list.Please try to help your child to look at these words, pointing out any particular patterns that will help them to remember them. Many children find learning spellings very challenging so this should be low key and a fun few minutes.

·   This term, our PE is on a Thursday and Friday. Thursday is our outdoor session and Friday is our indoor session. As in previous years, children can come to school in their PE kits. Please ensure children are in their correct kit : a dark hoodie, their coloured t-shirt and dark leggings/joggers and they have their hair tied back and are wearing no jewellery.

Useful Links

Please find some useful links below.