Year 2

Welcome to the Year 2 Page

Our Year 2 Team

Teaching Staff: Mrs D. Barlow, Mr M. Hall, Mrs H. Bridgeman  

PPA Teaching Staff: Mrs D. Darwood, Mrs S. Woodall and Mr C. Coley

Support Staff: Miss J. McHugh, Mrs A. Brown, Mrs J. Plant 

Information about Year 2

Our PE days are organised in 4 week blocks and so are not always on the same day.  We ask that parents send in PE kits for the whole half term, to ensure they are always in school. The Year 2 school website page will act as the curriculum sheet.

Homework will be set weekly, alternating between English homework and Sumdog (maths). Please send your child's red homework book into school every week with the completed piece of homework for marking. You can support your child with learning spellings, practising reading and anything that interests them about our wider curriculum.

Please see your child's reading journal for reading days. The children will have two class visits to the library per week. On Mondays, they will choose two library books to bring home and share; on Fridays, they will have the opportunity for extended reading for pleasure in the library. Choir will be on a Wednesday morning from 8.45. If your child has chosen to attend, the Year 2 door will be open earlier than usual to allow choir to make a prompt start.

Spring 2 Curriculum Overview

Welcome back after half term everyone! Firstly, we would like to say one more congratulations to all of the Year 2 children for putting on a magnificent show at the end of the last half term. They worked so hard on learning the songs, dance routines and ukulele piece, and looked brilliant in their costumes. Thank you parents for your support, providing costumes and being an enthusiastic audience! We have some even more exciting things planned for this half term, so read on to find out more...

Coming up on Thursday 5th March, the children will have the opportunity to visit Bletchley Park. The trip links with our Maths and Computing curriculum, as well as the historical links to the 'Communication' learning that the children did last half term. Bletchley Park is a hugely important place from the Second World War, where some of the best code-breaking minds in Britain helped to crack the Enigma code and set about building the world's first digital computer. The children will learn about its history, as well as some of their own code-breaking skills. A quick reminder that the children will need to be at school for 8.00 on Thursday 5th March, due to the length of the journey, and we will aim to be back at school for 4.00.

In more exciting news, we are proud to announce that March will be our very first 'Month of Reading'. Check the newsletter and Twitter for more information on the events we have planned! In English, the children will look at a brand new Power of Reading book. All we know so far is that it involves a small boy, and some very dark stairs... Our new Author of the Moment is Jon Klassen, an award-winning author and illustrator. Can you find any of his books at home or in the library? Share them with us if you can! Don't forget to check your child's planner for new spellings and targets from the end of last half term. This half term in reading, we will be focusing on vocabulary - advice will also be sent home in planners on how you can support your child.

In Maths, the children will be looking at the properties of 3D shape, followed by a unit of work on fractions. The children will need to recognise fractions of shapes that have been shaded, as well as calculating fractions of amounts, including length and money. The fractions they will be calculating will be a half (and two quarters), a quarter, three quarters and a third. We will be teaching the children how to use a bar model to work out fractions, as well as making links to doubles and halves. Our mental maths focus will continue to be fluency of the 2s, 5s and 10 times tables - this will continue to be set as Sumdog homework. Practise makes perfect!

In Art, we will be beginning a project called 'Factory in a Garden' which will be about Bournville Heritage. The children will be exploring photographs of the local area and looking at a range of artists who painted scenes of industrial landscapes. They will experiment with a range of media and techniques and will produce a piece of artwork in response to their observations. In Science, we will continue our learning about living creatures, including humans, and what they need to survive such as investigating the effects of hygiene, healthy eating and exercise. In Computing, the children will be looking at different types of questioning, including binary questions, and using simple databases. In PE, we will be continuing our unit of dance, linked to our Power of Reading book. On Thursdays, the children will continue to have a ukulele lesson with Mr Reid.

As you can see, we have lots of exciting things ahead! Thank you for your continued support, and if you have any queries, please let us know. Thanks, The Year 2 Team

Spring 1 Curriculum Overview

Hello everyone and welcome back after a (hopefully) restful Christmas break! Here in Year 2 we have another very exciting term of learning, adventures and experiences planned which we think the children are going to love.

In English we will be conducting an author study on our new Author of the Half Term, David Lucas, who writes and illustrates children's picture books. He has written our new Power of Reading book called 'Grendel', which the children will be exploring in greater detail. This half term, the children will have the opportunity to write to entertain (stories), to guide (instructions), to inform (information writing) and to express (diary writing in role).

In Maths, we will be continuing to revise number, place value and the operations we learned last term (addition, subtraction and multiplication). The children will continue to practise rapid mental recall of facts such as number bonds, but particularly times tables (the 2s, 5s and 10s). For new learning, we will be looking at strategies for division, including recognising odd and even numbers, statistics (constructing and interpreting simple graphs and charts), and the properties of 2D and 3D shapes.

In PE, the children will be learning, practising and performing a dance routine involving mood, idea, character and feeling. In Music, the children will continue to have a weekly ukulele lesson with their teacher, Mr Reid. In Computing, the children will continue to look at internet safety, such as browsing online and sending email responsibly, and will also explore a unit on simple spreadsheets. In Science, the children will be investigating 'Our Living Earth', which will involve life cycles, animals including humans, healthy eating, exercise and hygiene. In History, we will be looking at a new topic all about Communication. The children will learn about how communication has evolved from prehistoric to medieval to modern times and will learn about inventions from William Caxton's printing press to Sir Tim Berners-Lee's creation of the internet. The children will continue to have a weekly French lesson, practising basic language skills such as greetings, colours and numbers.

As you can see, there are lots of exciting things in store! New spellings and reading targets will be in the children's journals, and homework books will be updated regularly. An important date to remember (for many reasons!) will be Friday 14th February which will be the date of Year 2's fantastic, all-singing and all-dancing Spring Show. More information will follow shortly! Thank you for your continued support, and if you have any queries please feel free to let us know. Many thanks, The Year 2 Team

End of Autumn 2 Reflection

We have had a very busy and exciting half term. We have loved reading our new Power of Reading book, ‘Pattan’s Pumpkin’ by Chitra Soundar, and also reading books by our Author of the Half Term, Catherine Rayner. The children did some super writing, including writing their own version of Pattan’s story. In Maths, the children have consolidate their learning of addition, subtraction and multiplication through fluency, reasoning and problem solving activities. In Geography, we have enjoyed learning about life in the coldest places on Earth, particularly the Antarctic and the Arctic Circle. The children linked their learning in Science to the changing properties of materials, including conditions for melting ice. We can’t tell you too much about our exciting Design Technology project apart from that it has involved lots of sewing and will hopefully be home ready for Christmas! In Computing, we have been learning all about how to stay safe online, including reporting anything we find upsetting to a trusted adult, and knowing what we should and should not send in emails. We linked this to our work in Jigsaw, and to anti-bullying week. In Music, the children have continued to enjoy and improve learning the ukulele, and are beginning to sound very tuneful! Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you have a lovely Christmas break making some lovely memories. From the Year 2 team.

Edgmond Hall - December 2019

Last week, 48 Year 2 children and 6 brave teachers were lucky enough to spend three days on a residential to Edgmond Hall, an outdoor learning and activity centre. Despite the winter chill and the rain, the children had an amazing time, learning independence skills, teamwork and being adventurous in the outdoors. Among other things, they undertook rigorous elf training, went on a night time torch walk, fed animals including goats and chickens, went for another walk dressed as wise men and shepherds, decorated a Christmas tree and even met a very special visitor – Father Christmas himself! On top of this, they also coped brilliantly with sleeping away from home for two nights, and returned happy and tired on Friday. Well done on a super residential visit – a lovely treat to end the year!

End of Autumn 1 Reflection

What a fantastic first half term we have had! The children have settled into life in Year 2 well and we have been impressed by how hard they have been working. We have had a very busy few weeks - here are some of the highlights of what we have been up to.

The children adored our Power of Reading book, which we revealed as 'The Princess and the White Bear King' by Tanya Robyn Batt, as well as our other important text, a modern twist on 'Rapunzel' by Bethan Woollvin. These texts were used to inspire some lovely story writing and a deeper understanding of traditional tales.

In History, the children have enjoyed learning all about 'Clever Construction' and inventions from the Victorian era. They were amazed at how many things they still use today were first invented hundreds of years ago! They also loved learning about Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and we had a fantastic time on our trip to the S.S. Great Britain.

This half term, Year 2 had the opportunity to begin learning the ukulele. They tackled this new and interesting challenge with great enthusiasm, and we are sure to have some budding musicians!

 It was lovely to see so many of you at Parents' Evening. Thank you for your continued support - we hope Autumn 2 will be just as fantastic as Autumn 1 has been!

Autumn 1 Curriculum Overview

In Autumn 1, the children will be looking at Traditional Tales (and 'twisted tales') in English. They will read and write in response to stories such as Beauty and the Beast, The Snow Queen, Rapunzel and study two new mystery Power of Reading texts! The Author of the Half Term is former children's laureate Lauren Child, known for her works including the 'Charlie and Lola' series, the 'Clarice Bean' stories and others. The children will have weekly handwriting practice and will be revising correct letter formation. They will also have daily spelling practice and recapping spelling words using Phase 5 sounds, and learning new grammar such as adjectives and nouns.

In Maths, the children will be consolidating their knowledge of number and place value, including counting up to and beyond 100, partitioning numbers into tens and ones and knowing what each digit means. Later in the half term, the children will be learning methods to aid their mental addition and subtraction. They will be revisiting their number bonds to 10 and 20, and practicing counting in 1s and 10s forwards and backwards from any number up to 100.

We will also be learning about Materials in Science. In History, we will be thinking about Clever Construction including changes from the Victorian era and the works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In P.E. we will be teaching gymnastics and invasion games with Premier Active. In Computing the children will be learning about Coding through Purple Mash. Our Jigsaw topic is 'Being Me in My World'. In R.E., the children will be thinking about rules, in relation to our new school rules and those in different religions. The children will be having a weekly introduction to French, beginning by learning some simple useful words. In Music, the children will be having ukulele lessons - stay posted for more information!

As part of our curriculum, the children will be going on the first of our exciting planned visits coming up at the end of the half term. On Wednesday 23rd October, the children will have the opportunity to visit the SS Great Britain, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Details and exact costs will be confirmed by a letter sent in the coming weeks.