Welcome to Year 2

Information about Year 2 

This vital year marks the end of Key Stage One. The children are now encouraged to work more independently in preparation for transition into Key Stage 2. Pupils are expected to bring their reading diaries and spelling log books to school each day. Homework is expected to be completed each week and there is an expectation that pupils read and practise their spellings at home.

Mondays - The previous week's 15 spellings are tested.

Pupils need to bring in their P.E kits

Maths homework from the previous week is to be handed in.

Diaries are checked for 'Reader Leader.' Reader Leader is achieved when a pupil has read at least four times in the previous week and this has been recorded in their reading diaries by an adult.

Tuesdays - New spellings are given out (to be tested on the following Monday).

Thursdays - New Maths homework is handed out (to be handed in by the following Monday).

Meet the team…

Miss Lewis - Y2L Class teacher & Director of Mathematics

Miss Russell - Y2R Class teacher & Science Lead

We are also supported by our fabulous Teaching Assistant Mrs Selby. 

A typical day in Year 2

8:40  - 9:00      Registration and Arithmetic 

9:00 - 10:00     RWI Phonics or Novel Study

10:00 - 10:15   Maths Meeting

10:15 - 10:45   Writing (Opening Doors)

10:45 - 11:00    Playtime

11:00 – 12:00   Mathematics Mastery 

12:00 – 12:55   Lunchtime 

12:55 - 1:10      Registration / Handwriting

1:10 - 2:10        Topic Work (Geography, History, Science, PE, RE, Art, Design Technology, Music, Computing, Gooseberry, PSHE)

2:10 - 2:20        Playtime 

2:20 - 3:00        Topic Work (Geography, History, Science, PE, RE, Art, Design Technology, Music, Computing, Gooseberry, PSHE)

3:00 - 3:10        Spellings

3:15                  Home time

Spellings

The children have all been tested on the Year 1 and Year 2 Common words. Please practise these weekly with your child to ensure the words become known with increasing fluency and accuracy. The word lists are attached below; 

Year 1 Common Exception Words

Year 2 Common Exception Words

Phonics 

Any children who still require support with their ability to decode, will continue to access phonics learning. Your child's class teacher will speak to you about this if it involves your child. 

Reading 

If your child is still completing a phonics book within school, they will continue to read this book at home too.

The children who are on novel study will no longer receive a phonics book, they will have access to a reading book from our class library books. Your child will bring home a book which they should be able to read easily. There shouldn't be a challenge in this book as it is their opportunity to 'show themselves off' as a reader. They will read books at their instructional level in school with us. The children can read other things as part of their daily read - magazines, menus, books you have at home. 

There are plenty of simple ways you can help your child with English in Year 2. 

Year 2 English

Important information to support your child's reading*

Fantastic new FREE eBook library 

Click this link to see the ebooks that are available from Oxford Owl

Please match the books to the colour of Read Write Inc book your child is currently reading

Pink, Orange Book Readers  - phase 4 books 

Yellow, Blue and Grey Book Readers - phase 5 books

Further learning opportunities can be found on the following links:-

Oak National Academy

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/z3g4d2p

Novel Study

Pupils who have successfully completed the RWI Phonics programme will transition in Novel Study to match pupils in KS2. Novel Study encompasses high - quality reading comprehension activities alongside the fluent reading of higher - level texts. Pupils learn the morphology behind words as well as 'echo reading', how to approach SATS - style reading comprehension questions and many other wide - ranging skills.

Writing

Year 2 follow the 'Opening Doors' curriculum for writing. The Opening Doors curriculum is centred around high - quality texts that inspire a love of writing. In year 2, we cover a rich variety of fiction, non - fiction and poetry texts and pupils use their knowledge to create quality pieces of writing that span across a range of genres. Pupils are taught to self- assess, share feed back with their peers and also respond to bespoke teacher feedback in order to reflect upon their work and enhance it. 

Mathematics

In-line with all the other year groups in school, Year 2 follow the Mathematics Mastery Programme. The programme provides a progressive approach from Early Years through to Year 6.

Y2 Mathematics Programme of Study:

Maths Meetings:

Arithmetic:

Science

Our Science topics this year are:

Living things and their habitats

Animals including humans

Everyday materials

Plants

We follow the objectives laid out in The National Curriculum. Our lessons are blended together with The Hamilton Trust and the 'Thinking, Talking, Doing Science' approach. The TDTS approach places emphasis on the practical side of Science and encourages pupils to think more deeply, share and evaluate ideas and to make links between concepts. We value high - quality, hands - on experiences for our pupils and believe that every lesson should be based around practical opportunities and activities.

Our learning is further enhanced by additional experiences such as watching frog spawn hatch and complete it's life cycle into juvenile frogs - a memorable experience which also evidences the 'observations over time' strand of the curriculum. We have had everything from tortoises to toddlers to visit us; what better way to learn about the adaptations of a reptile or the milestones of a toddler than to actually have them in our classroom?!

Cornerstones (Foundation subjects)

Our Cornerstones topics for this year are:

Autumn Term: 'Movers and Shakers'. This project teaches the children about historically significant people who have had a major impact on the world. They will use timelines, stories and historical sources to find out about the people featured and use historical models to explore their significance. This topic provides significant links to the topics studied later in the year.

The children's school visit in term 1 was to  'Cast' in Doncaster to see the pantomime pantomime - which began the first of many Christmas celebrations in school!

Spring Term: 'Coastlines'. This project teaches children about the physical and human features of coastal regions across the United Kingdom, including a detailed exploration of the coastal town of Whitby, in Yorkshire. This topic is further enriched by an actual visit to Whitby in July - What an enjoyable way to end Key Stage 1!

Summer Term: 'Magnificent Monarchs'. This project teaches the 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 built up an understanding of the monarchs and then researched six of the most significant sovereigns. The children also experienced a pre-teach day where we invited the 'History Van' in to school to introduce the idea of past monarchys and life in the past.