Year 2
Aims and Expectations
Structure
- P.E days are Tuesdays and Thursdays. All children must wear a full PE kit to school on these days.
- Daily: Children are expected to read every night for ten minutes. This needs to be recorded in their School Diary every evening.
- Weekly: TTRockstars activities are updated every week and must be completed. Weekly maths and SPaG homework is given out on a Friday and must be returned the following Friday.
- Half-termly: Topic homework will be given out half-termly. This will give your child of time to show off their creativity with their tasks.
Reading & Writing
- English work is based on the Power of Reading scheme whereby core texts are selected and studied to allow an in depth study of the themes and language as well as plot and character. Reading skills are covered in whole class reading sessions using the core text as well as other text extracts linked to the theme including poetry, non-fiction and songs. Where possible, texts are chosen to link to the topics being studied, for example the book ‘Lucy in London’ will be linked to our History/Geography study of London.
- Writing composition, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, as well as coverage of spelling are taught using the core text as a stimulus where possible. Each unit of teaching leads to the purposeful application of key literacy skills within a wide range of different types of written outcomes such as newspaper reports, diary entries and narrative. Children are taught how to edit their own writing independently and are expected to show improvements using a green pen. Reading, writing, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary and editing is further enforced with our phonics program, Read Write Inc. Published writing is celebrated by being displayed in the classroom, corridor and school writing gallery.
- Over the course of the year, children will be expected to use both familiar and new punctuation including: full stops, capital letters, exclamation marks, question marks, commas for lists and apostrophes for contractions and the possessive. Children will learn to understand this grammatical terminology when discussing their writing. Children will also learn that sentences have different forms (statements, questions, exclamations and commands), use expanded noun phrases, to use the present and past tense correctly and consistently within a piece of writing; the use of subordination (using when, if, that or because) and coordination (using or, and or but) to foster a flow and purpose to their writing.
Maths
- We follow the White Rose Scheme for Maths. This is a mastery approach whereby topics are covered in depth to allow for a thorough understanding and application of reasoning and problem-solving. Each area of maths will be explored using the CPA approach (concrete, pictorial, abstract). Children have the opportunity to explore mathematical concepts using practical resources such as dienes and place value counters. They are then encouraged to show their understanding using pictures or diagrams such as bar models. Finally, children are expected to use the formal written methods for arithmetic calculations such as column addition and subtraction.
- The main focus for the teaching of Maths in year 2 is ensuring that students develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers. We also want students to be able to recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use the related vocabulary. By the end of year 2, students should be able to know their number bonds up to 20 and be accurate when using and understanding place value.
- Learning of the 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10 times tables.
Important Reminders
- All children must come to school wearing the correct uniform. This consists of grey trousers, grey or navy skirt or pinafore, white shirt or polo shirt and navy sweatshirt, jumper or cardigan. These can be plain or with the school logo. Black school shoes should be worn.
- Please put your child's name on everything that they wear or bring in to school.
- Please ensure that earrings are removed on PE days.
- All children must have a water bottle in school. No juice please.
- To help your child, please ensure to read with them every day for at least 10 minutes. School Diaries should be signed after reading and returned to school each day.
- Read regularly at home. It is important that you question your child on what he or she has read. This will support their understanding and is also great practise of comprehension skills. For a list of suggested questions, please refer to your child's School Diary.
- Log-in details for TT Rockstars are placed in the front of your child’s School Diary.
- We will be encouraging your children to become more independent. Your children will be in charge of changing their own reading books. They will be reminded to do this at least once a week. Reading, spellings and other homework is the responsibility of everyone in the class. "My parents..." cannot be an excuse that is acceptable in Year 2 (of course we know life happens).
- Year 2 children will be undergoing testing in the Summer term. It is important that your child does not worry or feel pressured to perform during these assessments. We encourage them to simply 'do their best' as final results are based largely on teacher assessment which is taken throughout the whole year. If you are consistently making time for consolidation of your children's learning over the year, they will be just fine.
Term Plans & Yearly Overview
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Home Resources
If you would like to continue the development of your child’s learning. Please use the suggested resources below:
Contact Information
Your child’s School Diary is regularly updated with information regarding your child’s education, home work as well as information regarding the school. Remember to regularly check your School Diary to ensure that you receive all relevant communications from Hook Lane.
At Hook Lane we also use the My Child At School to regularly update our parents and carers on information regarding the school. To find out more about this platform please contact the school office.
Year 2 teachers are also contactable during school drop-off and pick-up times, but if you do have a pressing concern, please do contact us via the school office and we will endeavour to contact you as soon as possible.