Year 2 Curriculum content

During the Autumn term, the children in Year 2 explore the overarching question of ‘Who shaped the world we live in today?’. Their class novel is The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C S Lewis, which allows the children to look at various themes including betrayal, forgiveness, courage, transformation, Kings and Queens and the natural world. This class novel lends itself perfectly to the teaching of the curriculum as a whole, with Year 2 pupils studying the local history of Lincoln and the geographical makeup of Lincolnshire in Geography. Uses of Everyday Materials is the focus of their Science work, with John Boyd and Joe Zekoski being the key scientists that are studied. In Art, Year 2 pupils look at the work of Leonardo Da Vinchi as a basis for developing their drawing skills and in DT, they make vehicles as the outcome for their unit on mechanics. The children develop their knowledge surrounding Christianity, specifically focussing on thankfulness and life journey in RE and in PSHE explore the areas of ‘Being me in my world’ and ‘Celebrating Differences’ through the Jigsaw scheme of work. Computing lessons allow the children to develop their awareness of ICT around us and learn how to create digital photography. In Music, Year 2 pupils learn how to use their voices expressively and creatively and focus on developing their invasion skills in games and Gymnastic skills in PE.

The overarching question during the Spring term is ‘Where could we go?’ and the children in Year 2 read the class novel of Milton the Mighty by Emma Read. Key themes for exploration throughout this term include phobias, bravery, protests and animal protection. Year 2 pupils learn all about Mathew Flinders and study the Science topic areas of Living Things and their Habitats and Animals Including Humans. Their key geographical place for study is Australia, developing the ability to name and locate the seven continents and five oceans, and using this as a focus for painting in Art. The DT project for Year 2 pupils requires them to acquire knowledge surrounding textiles and make a soft toy, specifically a spider linked to their class novel. In RE, the children study the religion of Islam, specifically looking at being human and life journey. Music lessons provide the Year 2 pupils with the opportunity to play tuned and untuned instruments as well as listen with understanding and concentration to a variety of music. The children are able to explore and develop skills based on making music and generating pictograms in Computing and various areas of ball skills in PE lessons. Through Jigsaw, Year 2 pupils think about their dreams and goals for now and the future as well as relationships in PSHE.

The Summer term’s overarching question asks the children to think about ‘Has our world always looked this way?’. Through the study of their class novel George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl, the Year 2 pupils explore the key themes of magic, revenge, family and potions. They look at contrasting locations of Heighington and Mablethorpe in Geography and learn all about Florence Nightingale in History. Through studying the work of Andy Warhol, they are able to recreate artwork based on the artistic skill of printing. The Science topic for Year 2 in this term is Plants. In PSHE, the children are asked to explore the areas of ‘Healthy Me’ and ‘Changing Me’, which links to developing knowledge and understanding of Health and Wellbeing during their PE lessons. Computing lessons allow the Year 2 children to develop their skills surrounding robot algorithms and an introduction to quizzes whilst DT looks at furthering cooking skills. RE lessons require the children to again think about being thankful with a closer look at the celebration of Holi as well as delving deeper into the religion of Christianity in the area of being human.