Rowans (Year 2)

Specialist Pathway 

Below is a summary of what children will be learning in each subject in the Specialist Pathway Curriculum this term. As well as the key knowledge the children should know for each unit. 

Science

For the first term in science, we will be studying the uses of everyday materials. We will  identify and compare the suitability of a variety of everyday materials, including wood, metal, plastic, glass, brick, rock, paper and cardboard for different uses; we will compare how things move on different surfaces and we will find out how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.

• Many types of plastic are waterproof.

• Steel (a type of metal) is strong.

• Rock is hard and rigid.

• Cotton wool is soft.

• Rubber is flexible.

• Polystyrene (a type of plastic) is light.

• Iron (a type of metal) is heavy.

• Some materials are picked to make an object depending on how suitable they are.

• When moving across a surface there is friction when they rub against each other.

• Sometimes the amount of friction is larger or smaller.

• The shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.

Geography

For the first half term, we will be exploring ‘The World Jigsaw’. We will learn to identify the four countries of the UK and major cities. We will learn about the four countries in detail by exploring their key characteristics. We will then explore the world at large and look at the continents, oceans, seas and identify the equator, hemispheres and poles on maps and on a globe.

• The characteristics of countries include their size, landscape, capital city, language, currency and key landmarks. England is the biggest country in the United Kingdom. Major cities we will cover include Cambridge, Glasgow and Bristol.

• An ocean is a large sea. There are five oceans on our planet called the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans. Seas include the Black, Red and Caspian Seas. The United Kingdom is an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, English Channel, Irish Sea and North Sea. The world's seven continents are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America

• The equator is an imaginary line that divides the world into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The North Pole is the most northern point on Earth. The South Pole is the most southern point on Earth.

History

For the second half term, learning will be focused around the topic ‘Explorers.’ We will learn who an explorer is and consider the achievements and significance of explorers throughout history.  Specifically, we will consider Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition and the moon landing before comparing the similarities and differences between the two events. 

In every unit of history children will be learning and utilising skills in: historical enquiry; historical interpretation; chronological understanding; knowledge and understanding of past events, people and changes in the past; and presenting, organising and communicating knowledge.

• Introduction to the lives of explorers and the different challenges they met when travelling.

• Exploration of what equipment they had to help them.

Robert Falcon Scott

• British Royal Navy Officer, born 1868

• Left Cardiff on the ship the Terra Nova to go to Antarctica in June 1910

• Used sledges, ponies, dogs

• Too poor conditions for sledges and ponies so they continued on foot with their dogs. Dogs ran away.

• Reached the Pole Jan 1911 to find a Norwegian party led by Roald Amundsen had beaten them. 

• On the way back, by time they were 20 km from the food supply base they had all died.

• Expedition included Ernest Shackleton

Neil Armstrong 

• American military pilot and professor, born in 1930. 

• Apollo 11 mission. 3 in the crew including Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins

• Neil Armstrong and Edwin were chosen to be the first people on the moon on 20th July 1969. Walked 60 m on the surface of the moon. Arrived back safely. Travelled in a rocket called Saturn V Rocket.

RE

For the first part of the term, we will be thinking about why we need to give thanks. Initially, we will identify reasons people may feel thankful and how this can be expressed. We will then be able to explain how some people celebrate harvest time, and Identify the meaning behind some harvest celebrations and practices. As well as this, we will talk about what Hindu and Christian followers might learn from stories about gratitude, and explain how some Hindus and Christians show their gratitude to God. Finally, we will recognise how worship through songs can be used to express thanks to God. 

In the second part of the term, we will be learning what candles mean to people. We will express and compare ideas about the meaning of candles, and then recognise why candles are used to represent stories and beliefs. Following this, we will learn about the Hindu festival of Diwali and how it can be celebrated in different ways. From a Christian perspective, we will investigate how advent is celebrated, and how Jewish people use candles during Hanukkah. 

• To know there are some festivals which are celebrated by religious and non-religious people.

• To know festivals usually celebrate a special or miraculous event from the past.

• To know worship means to honour and adore.

• To know that one reason religious followers worship is to show gratitude, say ‘thank you’, to god.

• To know that many festivals are often celebrated as a community.

• To know that offerings used to express gratitude may be used to help a person’s local or national community.

• To know that pray means communicating with god.

• To know that people pray in different ways in different places.

• Identify three practices associated with Diwali.

• Understand that some Hindu people use diyas as symbolism.

• Understand the meaning of Advent to some Christian followers.

• Identify what is important to some Jewish people at Hanukkah.

• Explain what a hanukiah symbolises.

• Provide some examples of what candles mean to some people.

Computing

For the first part of the term we will be looking at how we can keep safe when online and about the importance of keeping our personal information secure both online and off. 

In the second part of the term children will develop their understanding of what information technology (IT) is and will investigate how IT improves our world.

• Some information should not be shared

• People may look and act differently online and offline. 

• Different types of computers are used in school

• There are different features of information technology and they have different features 

• There are rules of information technology and they can benefit us

• Choices are made when using information technology

DT

For the first half term and second half term our unit is Structures: Baby bear’s chair. In this unit the children will be exploring  the concept and features of structures and the stability of different shapes as well as understanding that the shape of the structure can affect its strength. They will go on to make a structure according to a design criteria and finally they will  produce a finished structure and evaluate its strength, stiffness and stability.

• I know about different types of structures, found in the natural world and in everyday objects

• I know that shapes and structures with wide, flat bases or legs are the most stable 

• I know that the shape of a structure affects its strength 

• I know that materials can be manipulated to improve strength and stiffness 

• I know that a structure is something which has been formed or made from parts 

• I know that a ‘stable’ structure is one which is firmly fixed and unlikely to change or move 

• I know that a ‘strong’ structure is one which does not break easily 

• I know that a ‘stiff’ structure or material is one which does not bend easily

• I know that natural structures are those found in nature 

• I know that man-made structures are those made by people

Art

In the first half term the children will be developing their drawing skills in our unit ‘Machines’ as they work from both observation and imagination. They will be studying work by Leonardo DaVinci and Eduardo Paollozi.

In the second half term the children will be developing their printing skills.

• Soft pencils create darker lines and are marked with a B for black. Hard pencils create lighter lines and are marked with an H for hard.

• Leonardo Da Vinci  was born near Florence in Italy in 1452. He was left handed.He was a sculptor, an architect, a poet, a composer, a scientist, a mathematician and an inventor of many machines that he drew pictures of. He pained the Mona Lisa, one of the most famous paintings in the world.  Eduardo Paolozzi (1924 - 2005) was a Scottish artist and sculptor. He often used bold colours , clashing patterns and computer graphics. A lot of his paintings and sculptures use pieces of machines to create robot looking machines. One of his statues - Daedalus is in Jesus College in Cambridge.

• Printing. You can create a printing plate in order to make multiple copies.

• A brayer is used to apply ink to a block. Abstract art is a combination of colors, lines, and shapes that are not meant to be realistic. Kandinski was born Moscow 1866 - 1944.was a Russian abstract artist. He had a medical condition called sinestesia which linked senses. When he heard music saw colours. When saw colours he heard music. In his work  Kandinsky was the first painter to stop painting pictures of real things and instead paint just using colors and shapes. This became known as abstract art.

PE

This term, in our invasion games unit, we will be learning to develop our understanding of the principles of defending and attacking for invasion games. We will use and develop skills such as sending and receiving with both feet and hands, as well as dribbling with both feet and hands. We will also have the opportunity to play uneven and even sided games.. In the second half term, in our gymnastics unit, we will be learning to develop balance shapes, develop balance in pairs, link together gymnastics actions into a sequence, link balances with other travelling moves, moving smoothly into and out of the balances and to use large apparatus and a variety of gymnastics actions to make a sequence.

Invasion games

• Sending & receiving: know to control the ball before sending it.

• Dribbling: know that keeping my head up will help me to know where defenders are.

• Space: know that moving into space away from defenders helps me to pass and receive a ball.

• Attacking: know that when my team is in possession of the ball, I am an attacker and we can score.

• Defending: know that when my team is not in possession of the ball, I am a defender and we need to try to get the ball. Know that standing between the ball and the attacker will help me to stop them from getting the ball.

• Tactics: understand and apply simple tactics for attack and defence.

• Rules: know how to score points and follow simple rules.

Gymnastics

• Shapes: know that some shapes link well together.

• Balances: understand that squeezing my muscles helps me to balance. Rolls: understand that there are different teaching points for different rolls. 

• Jumps: understand that looking forward will help me to land with control.

• Strategy: know that if I use shapes that link well together it will help my sequence to flow.

Music

In this unit we will be using instruments to represent animals, copying rhythms, learning a traditional Ghanaian Call and Response song and composing our own On Safari Call and Response song.

• That sounds can be used to represent characters or actions; 

• That timbre means the quality or nature of a sound; 

• That texture means the many layers of sound that coincide to make music, 

• That Call and Response is an African form of song.