Year 2
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Welcome to Year 2!
We are so excited to start the new school year. Your teaching team is Mrs Hughes, Miss Lilley and Mrs Shaw.
- Monday-Wednesday: Mrs Hughes
- Wednesday afternoons: alternate Mrs Hughes and Miss Lilley
- Thursday-Friday: Miss Lilley
- Monday-Friday mornings: Mrs Shaw
Our PE days will be Mondays (indoors) and Fridays (outdoors). Please send your child in their PE kit on these days (see our Uniform Policy for more details).
Topic information will be updated ready for the start of each half term, and photographs will be updated after each event.
We hope you've had a fabulous break and that the children are ready to move into Year 2!
We hope you are all well and have had a great break.
See you in September,
Mrs Hughes, Miss Lilley and Mrs Shaw.
The Year 2 Team
Update 21/11/23
Nativity rehearsals are in full swing now. Thank you so much for helping the children to practise their lines and also practise 'Away in a Manger'. We will be practising in school too over the next weeks ready for our performance.
Many Thanks,
The Year 2 team
Update 17/11/23
It was so lovely to catch up with you all at parents evening this week. We really enjoyed sharing with you how amazing your children are.
Thanks for all the bulbs. Our tubs are all ready for us to start planting next week - 'Thank you very much Mrs Waterson' for sorting them out.
We will be welcoming some students from Leeds Beckett university over the next 2 weeks. They are having their first experience being in a school. They will be helping out across all year groups to really get a taste of school life. Do say 'Hi' if you see them around.
The Nativity rehearsal schedule is in full swing now - very exciting! It does of course mean that the timetable gets a considerable squeeze. Regular slots will inevitably have to be adjusted form time to time. The children are really rising to the performance practices and we will be rehearsing in the hall properly from next week. We are really looking forward to sharing the play with you in December.
Thank you,
The Year 2 Team
Update 22/10/23
We've had a brilliant end to the half term with our parents event and the trip to the Railway Museum in York. It was so lovely to see you all at our 'vehicle making event'. The cars looked amazing - thank you so much and well done everybody! :)
The trip was a great success and the children loved seeing all the huge real trains. We even got to sit in the 'Bullet' train and imagine a journey somewhere. We spotted so many amazing things in the North Shed. It was a real treasure trove. We even spotted the actual old Collingham station sign - brilliant. The children were amazing and we were so proud.
Photos for both events are on the way and will be posted this week.
Bulbs - science - please could the children bring in COUPLE OF BULBS to plant after half term (spring flowering to plant in our class tubs - e.g. tulips). Many thanks.
Have a great break,
The Year 2 Team
Update 28/9/23
Year 2 are really settling into routines now and are working hard and it won't be long before our first celebration with you at Harvest. We have started to practice our Harvest Song which is included in this week's homework. Please help the children to practice ready for our Harvest Celebrations - the lyrics and music link are on the homework page. Thank you! :)
We are also really looking forward to our D.T. 'Vehicle Making' with you (11/10/23). We made our 'chassis' in D.T. this week and can't wait to add the 'body work' with you at our parent sharing afternoon. We will also be planting bulbs in science just before and after half term so that we can watch them grow over the next few months. There are messages about these activities on the homework page about boxes and bulbs.
Many thanks,
The Year 2 Team
Update 20/9/23
It's been a great start to the year and the children are settling into the routines now.
Reading Books - Big Cat reading books are coming home tonight (20/9/23). Phonic books will start from next week as we get into our RWInc guided reading groups.
We endeavour to to check past books on 'Boom' but it is not always possible to see every book read. If the children get a book again it will embed fluency. See homework page for more information about reading book routines.
Thank you for your support with reading.
Spelling - the first spelling test will be next Monday - 25.9.23 for Mrs Hughes English group. All 12 words will be tested - 6 red words and 6 unit words. Please don't worry! It's early days and it will take time to establish the system.
Thank you,
Year 2 Team
Autumn 1 2023 - Reading books
First reading book date - Wednesday 20th September.
2 reading books will be sent home every Wednesday. 1 reading book will be matched to their current phonic level and the other will be a comprehension and vocabulary book. Some children are also getting a copy of their current RWInc guided reader as well. There is a lot of phonic practice in these books. The children know what to do! There are sounds to practise, green words to sound out then blend and red words to read on sight. There are also handy questions for you to chat about at the back. Children will need to return all their books the following Tuesday.
Please note- Books will only be changed if books are brought in and the Boom app has been updated by 8.50am on the Tuesday morning.
Thank you!
The Year 2 Team.
Assessment
Autumn assessment week - w/c 23rd October 2023 (we will spread some assessments over the previous week)
Spring assessment week - w/c 5th February 2024 (we will spread some assessments over the previous week)
Summer assessments (End of Year Assessments)- w/c 17th June 2024 (we will spread some assessments over the previous week)
Phonic Screening Checks will take place w/c 10th June 2024 for those children who are sitting this.
Important Dates:
KS1 Parent Welcome Meeting- 13th September 2023
Year 2 Parent Event (DT- Vehicle Making): 11th October 2023 (1.15-2.00 surnames A-Ha, 2.15-3.00 surnames Ho-Z)
Year 2 National Railway Museum trip- Wednesday 18th October 2023
Parent Consultation Meetings- Tuesday 14th & Wednesday 15th October 2023
Reception & KS1 Christmas Performances: Tuesday 12th December (2.00-3.00) and Wednesday 13th December (10.00-11.00)
Parent Consultation Meetings- Wednesday 13th & Thursday 14th March 2024
Year 2 Parent Event (Science- Habitats): 20th March 2024 (1.15-2.00 surnames Ho-Z, 2.15-3.00 surnames A-Ha)
Year 2 Parent Event (Art- Gallery): 10th July 2024 (1-.00-3.00 all parents)
Homework
First homework will be set on Thursday 14th September.
Homework is set on a Thursday to be completed by the following Thursday. See 'Homework' link below.
Reading - Daily reading is the most important homework.
Other homework includes spelling practice for a check up each Monday for Mrs Hughes' English group. There will also be maths linked to the week's focus and sometimes Big Talk prep for our writing sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Spelling - It is really important that Year 2 pupils work on their spellings at home which are written weekly in pupil's spelling logs. They are included on the homework and on the website for information too. There will be weekly spelling check- ups on Monday. Spellings will go home on a Monday or Tuesday in Spelling logs and will also be posted on the website. The check up will be the following Monday ready for a new set of words. The spelling programme is new for the pupils and takes a little time to establish the pacey routine.
Times Tables - Times tables will be introduced later in the year after we have covered multiplication in maths. Until then, we will be regularly practising counting in 2's, 5's and 10's (forwards and backwards!), and encourage you to practice this at home as well.
Please do get in touch if you have any questions about homework.
Hopefully it all makes sense and is easy to follow :)
Thankyou,
The Year 2 Team.
TOPIC
Autumn 2 2023
Our topic will be 'Families' this half term. We will be learning all about the human life stages in PSHE and in science in our topic 'animals including humans' and how to stay healthy. We will also be retelling the story of that very special family in the First Christmas.
Our class novel will be 'Clarice Bean That's Me', as well as The First Christmas, regular reads of our Year 2 'Core Texts' and nursery rhymes during Nursery Rhyme week.
In history we will be finding out about Remembrance Day and also the Gunpowder Plot and in Geography we will learn about hot and cold places.
English
We will spend time initially recapping phonics, spellings, handwriting and grammar from Year 1. There will be an emphasis on reading and we will be sharing texts in class in guided reading and at 'Storytime'.
Reading - Reading at home is very important. Please encourage your child to read aloud each evening and discuss what they have read. You can support your child by asking them questions about what they have read, help them to make predictions and explore what a character is thinking and feeling. Inference is a 'BIG' Year 2 skill so discussing texts is super important with those 'why' questions. Do use the question suggestions in lots of the new reading books. They are varied and can guide your discussions.
Spelling - Mrs Hughes' group spellings are in the spelling logs weekly (and on the homework weekly as well ). Spellings are tested on a Monday.
See below for English Term by term in Year 2.
Maths
We will be recapping work from Year 1 as we move through the maths topics.
See the link below for Year 2 maths.
Science
Autumn 2023
We are studying 'Plants' in science this year. We will be planting some bulbs and watching them grow. We will also investigate what plants need to stay healthy.
Autumn 2
Animals including Humans - we will be finding out about animal life cycles including the life stages of humans; how to keep humans healthy; basic needs of animals
See below for science term by term in Year 2.