St. Gerard’s Catholic Primary School

Autumn Term 2026-27 Curriculum Newsletter

Welcome to Year 2!

Welcome back!
We hope you have all had a wonderful and relaxing break.
This term, children will be introduced to living things and their habitats, identifying that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants. We will also be learning about animals including humans to find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air)
The children will be stepping back in time to discover events beyond living memory as they uncover what happened over a few terrible days during the Great Fire of London.
We will also be studying human and physical geography in our local area.
Please ensure your child brings a water bottle into school daily along with their reading books and reading records.
Please contact the school if we can ever be of any help. Keep an eye on Facebook and Reach More Parents too as we will be posting regular updates and pictures!
PLEASE ENSURE ALL YOUR CHILD’S CLOTHES ARE MARKED WITH THEIR NAME.

Teaching Staff

Staff: Mrs Muttrie-Wijesinghe, Ms Layton, Miss Chapman, Miss Poole and Miss Izabela

Year 2 Homework  Expectations

English
Children will know that a sentence must contain a subject (the noun that is the main focus of the sentence) and a verb and expresses a complete thought. We will add adjectives to our writing to make it more interesting.
We will do this by writing:
● Character descriptions
● Poems
● Retelling of a narrative
● Formal invitations/letters
We will enjoy a range of texts to develop reading fluency and comprehension including: Grandad’s Island, The Goose that laid the Golden Eggs, Mrs Noah’s Pockets, Paddington and The Christmas Pine.

Maths
Place value:
● Reading/writing, comparing &
ordering numbers from 0-100
● Counting in 2s, 5s, 10s and 3s
Addition/Subtraction
● Knowing number facts
e.g. 5 + 4 = 9 so 9 – 5 = 4
● Adding and subtraction with 2 digit
numbers
Multiplication and division Recalling x and ÷ facts for 2, 5 and 10 times tables

History
The Great Fire of London:
● The cause and effect of the Great Fire of London. ● This event happened a long time ago – over 350 years.
● Focuses on the events over a few terrible days during the fire.

Religious Education
● Creation & Covenant – Children will learn about the story of Noah, mainly focusing on God’s promise, or covenant, with Noah and with all creatures that ‘nothing of flesh shall be swept away again by the waters of the flood’ (Gen 9:15), a promise symbolised by the rainbow.
● Prophecy to Promise – Children will learn about the infancy of Jesus in this unit and discover who John the Baptist is. The liturgical season of Advent is explored as the four weeks of preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas.

PE
Invasion Game Skills:
● Demonstrate spatial awareness
● Throw, catch and dodge
Fundamental Movement Skills:
● Hopping and jumping
● Travelling backwards safely
Dance – Great Fire of London:
● Translate words/ideas into theme related shapes, movements and actions
● Remember and perform a sequence of movements

Music
Experimenting with sounds.
Being together in Music – Singing.

Computing
● Computing systems and networks 1: What is a computer?
Programming 1: Algorithms & debugging

PSHE – Health and Wellbeing
● Religious Understanding

Science
Living things and their habitat
● living, dead, and never been alive
● habitats
● simple food chains

Animals including Humans
● offspring
● basic needs for survival
● importance of exercise and healthy ● eating

Design & Technology
Textiles using a range of basic sewing skills. We will cut out and join fabric shapes using a template.
Food & Nutrition considering what being healthy means. We will make products that use a range of vegetables and minimally processed foods.

Art & Design
Drawing inspired by the work of children’s illustrator, Beth Krommes.
Painting responding to music as we explore line, colour and space. Painting concentric shapes.

Geography
Local Area Study:
● Recognise what Human and Physical features are
● identify features in our local area.
Compare London with Nairobi:
● Where is London?
● Where is Nairobi?

Your child in Year 2 will be doing PE on a Monday and Friday. As before, the children will be expected to come to school in PE kit on their PE days. Correct PE kit MUST  be worn, this includes sensible footwear.

Reading at Home

At St. Gerard’s Catholic Primary School, we value reading as a lifelong learning skill and we know how important it is to work in partnership with parents, carers,  grandparents and family members to encourage our children to develop a genuine love of reading.

Please try to read with your child at home every day for 15 minutes. We know how busy life can get so if you don’t manage every day, we ask that you listen to your  child read at least 4 times per week.

Please return your child’s reading pack to school every day.

Inside your child’s reading pack you will find:

  • A reading book that is closely matched to your child’s reading ability. This is the book that your child should read to you.
  • A reading record. Please write a comment when you have read with your child.

We will listen to your child read their school book at least once during the school week and record comments in their reading record.  It is important to re-read this book so that your child becomes familiar with reading a text and therefore a more fluent reader. Your child’s book will be changed when they can read it fluently.

Please make a record of when you have listened to your child read in their reading record.

  • Your child’s phonic / scheme reading book will be changed once a week so long as your child can read it fluently.

Please feel free to read a book of your choice with your child at home too.

Remember – your child will progress faster by reading in short bursts daily rather than for a longer period of time just once!

Homework

  • Homework will be sent home each Friday in a homework book. This must be completed and returned to school by the following Friday so that children can review and share their work in class. We would encourage you to allow your child to access Numbots and Hit the button to continue working on their number fluency.

Key Dates

  • Macmillan coffee morning for parents – 9.15-10 Year 2 Maths Morning Thursday 1st October 9.00-9.45am

Family Mass🙏10am at St Mary’s Cathedral Sunday 4th October

Parents’ Evening 3:25-5:45 pm – please book via Arbor – Tuesday 13th & Wednesday 14th October

  • Y2 Stay and Read Thursday 15th October 9.00-9.45am
  • Y2 Stay and Pray Wednesday 25th November 9.00-9.20am
  • KS1 Christmas Production Wednesday 10th December (time TBC)
  • KS1 Christmas Party Tuesday 16th December
  • Pantomime at St Mary’s Cathedral Wednesday 17th December