Welcome to

In this section you will find more detailed overview documents that you may download. The documents tell you about the exciting topics the children will be learning about on a term by term basis.

It is very important in Year 2 to read and discuss books regularly, as this has a huge impact on your child’s writing ability and general learning. Please ensure you read with your child at least 4 times a week at home as we need to encourage children to read for pleasure and develop a passion for reading. When you hear your child read, please record this in their reading diaries.

In the year 2 classrooms we have a cosy reading corner with a wide selection of books from many genres. We also have a class author and often encourage the children to read these books for enjoyment.

Daily Guided Reading sessions are taught so that the children begin to develop a deeper understanding and comprehension of texts.  Additionally, individual children reading to an adult is considered a vital part of teaching and of encouraging a love of reading.  This is where we can focus on personal targets as well as engaging with children as readers and getting to know their personal preferences.

Your child’s reading book level is based on our assessment of their comprehension abilities.  Being able to decode the words in the text is only one part of their reading.  Once they are able to do this then they can work on reading with expression and on achieving a deeper understanding of the story.  You can help your child to develop their comprehension abilities by asking them questions about the story as you listen to them read.

Useful ways to help your child are by asking the following questions:

• How can you decode that word by using your phonetic knowledge?
• What will happen next?
• Who is your favourite character, and why?
• How do you think the characters feel?

In Year 2, we aim to make writing as fun as possible, therefore, our writing is often linked to books we are reading as a whole class.  These are frequently related to our topic or to a particular author we are focusing on.  It is important that children see adult’s model writing, so that they can magpie ideas and have confidence to have a go themselves. We make sure our writing has a purpose and gives us the opportunity to improve our writing skills.

Writing every day gives the children the opportunity to work on lots of different genres from fiction, non-fiction and poetry.  The children learn which key features should be included in pieces of writing and help to put together marking ladders to use as a checklist. We enjoy peer marking each other’s work in order to edit and improve it.

In Year 2, each literacy session begins with a grammar, punctuation and spelling focus where we learn and practise how to structure our writing. We are working towards quality pieces of writing which are imaginative and will interest the reader. It is important for children to recognise that writing is for an audience and needs to contain the appropriate features for the text.

Above all we know that becoming a good writer takes time and a lot of practise and in Year 2 our philosophy is:

 “If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter how you write.”

In Year 2 we are excited to be launching a new spelling programme called ‘No-Nonsense Spelling’ which will teach the strategies, knowledge and skills the pupils’ need to learn. This will be done daily for about 10 to 15 minutes. Phonetic patterns and rules will be taught and practised and spelling test words will be given out on Mondays. On Friday, dictation test take place for every ability group.

Also we use the ‘Support for Spelling’ scheme which embeds phonic understanding to reinforce the ‘No-Nonsense’ spelling programme.

These are statutory word lists provided by the government and children must learn to read and spell the words below.

Maths is always enjoyable, exciting and challenging in Year 2. We want all our children to love maths. Children need to understand that it is OK to make mistakes- it doesn’t matter if we get things wrong as we are all learners.

In Year 2 we encourage a practical approach to Maths and instead of learning procedures by rote, the children are taught to understand the strategies they are using. ‘Real life’ problem solving teaches children to use mathematics in their everyday life as a matter of course.  It is essential to have a good knowledge of maths facts to support our learning.  In Year 2, we work towards knowing our 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables by the end of the year.  The children practise these as often as they can in their mini maths sessions to aim for instant recall.

Maths is taught and used every day, either in the maths lesson as well as in other subjects. Children love to be challenged therefore, we do lots of investigations: so that the children are responsible for their own learning.

Please support your child with any maths homework and the learning of their multiplication tables as this will impact on their progress, thereby enhancing their learning. We look forward to meeting you at our regular parent drop ins to support and update you on your child’s progress.

In Year 2 we see homework as a vital part of a child’s learning and homework grids are provided half termly for parents to work on with their child.