WELCOME TO YEAR 2

  Welcome to Year 2-what an amazing year we will have with lots of exciting topics, trips and even a camp at school!

Meet the Team for

2023-24

 Important Information:

Indoor PE- Wednesday

Outdoor PE-Thursday

Diary check day-Friday

PPA for teachers is Friday afternoon. Your child will be taught Art/DT by Mrs Maker and Jigsaw-PSHE by Mrs Pile

Important dates for the Summer term:

Friday 17th May-parent reading workshop-9.00 in the hall

Thursday 20th June-Year 2 camp meeting for parents

Thursday 11th July-Year 2 camp at school

Meet the teacher meeting

Supporting your child at home

Reading

The most important thing you can do with your child is listen to them read and find the time to share books together. Below you can find the video links to all of the sounds covered in the rocket phonics books up to orange level to support your children’s progress at home.

As a guide, your child should be on orange books at the end of Autumn term to meet age related expectations, if they are working towards this level please use the videos below to help you support them with their reading at home. The end of year 2 expected standard  is then  gold or white books. Please also find a document with the common exception words below the videos.

An introduction to phonics and the alphabetic code - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyGQY_GHtoQ 

Pink A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX7dmuB4fNg&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=1

Pink B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_HW2_Y5OEE&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=2

Red A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xIkatg0YIA&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=3

Red B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZrP6Z-Kahw&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=4

Yellow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf0pWl_Joj8&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=5 

Blue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuPUrPNrhOg&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuPUrPNrhOg&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=7

Green

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJKxyNkr9MM&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox31Y7HX9D0&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=9

Orange

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bL3C8EGuk0&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bL3C8EGuk0&list=PLkCyTyvoxZztJbDs1Sp3-9MoywMKBhhwp&index=11

Common exception words

Please see the common exception words for Year 1 and Year 2. Children have these stuck in their diaries and you could support their learning at home by ensuring they can read and spell these common exception words. 

Maths

In year 2, we are beginning to use Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs) to ensure your child has speedy recall of essential maths facts. Your child should know them quickly as they will help them in all areas of maths. These again, are in your child’s diaries but you can also see them below. If your child is struggling, you could look at Year 1’s kirfs to help build up their confidence and maths knowledge.

In Year 2 we will be focussing on learning the 2, 5 and 10 times tables.

Summer 1 - Lighthouse Keeper

Summer Term 1-The Lighthouse Keeper

Our first topic for the summer term is 'The Lighthouse Keeper'. We will be reading 'The Lighthouse keeper's Lunch' and other stories by Ronda Armitage. 

Our geography work will focus on learning new vocabulary linked to the seaside and the coast, and we will be thinking about the differences between life at the seaside compared to living in Nottingham. 

We will be completing many creative projects, starting with a collaborative art piece and making seagulls and crabs for our class displays. We will also be completing some exciting seascape art, and designing and making our own zip lines.

Please see below for our knowledge organiser, and out planning for the next half term...

Summer Term-week 2

The children have worked really hard in maths this week and have been learning about fractions. We have been recognising 1/2, 1/4 and 1/3, and have been finding fractions of numbers.

In literacy we have had great fun making changes to 'The Lighthouse Keeper's by including our own ideas on text maps, ready write stories.

In geography we have been making simple comparisons between life in Nottingham, and life by the sea, and we have been learning how to use compasses to help us with directional work.

Summer Term-week 1

What a fun filled week we have had! We launched our new topic 'The Lighthouse Keeper' by making pesky seagulls and crabs for our classroom displays. We also made a collaborative art piece showing a lovely seaside landscape with a lighthouse. Have a look at our amazing work below...

 Spring term 2-Marvellous Medicine

Our second topic for Spring term is 'Marvellous Medicine'. We will be reading George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl, and basing some of our writing on the text.

In Science we will be carrying out an investigation to find the best way to clean our hands and remove germs. In history, we will be learning about Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, and finding out about how hospitals have changed over the years.

See below for our planning and knowledge organiser for the topic.

Spring term-week 11

This week we have been busy completing our double page spreads to show how much we have been learning this half term.

We have also been very busy at home finishing our creative homework projects for our 'Marvellous Medicine' topic.

See below for photographs of some of our homework...

Spring term week 10

This week we have completed our topic learning by finding out about the emergency services, and what we should do in an emergency. We also became historians and looked at some photographs as evidence to find out about Jesse Boot.

In literacy we have started to learn a text map of a shortened version of the story 'George's marvellous Medicine.'

For Friday's maths lesson, we worked in pairs to complete an investigation. It was really tricky and tested our maths skills.

See a few phots below.

Spring term-week 9

Year 2 have been doing lots of drama work this week. During our RE work on the story of 'David and Goliath,' we worked in small groups to retell the whole story. Each pair had a different part of the story to act out. Our dance work has involved us linking our knowledge of Florence Nightingale to movement, and making up simple routines to music.

In topic, we worked in groups to research and find out about Mary Seacole. Each group created a poster showing what they had learned, and then had to feedback to the rest of the class.

Spring term-week 8

This has been a very busy week for everyone in Year 2, but such a great week too! Our learning in maths has been based around measures, and measuring in centimetres and metres.

In literacy we have been writing our own instructions for 'How to make a perfect potion', the children have loved putting horrible ingredients into their instructions.

In RE we have been learning about the Jewish Creation story and made creation wheels to help us remember what was created on each day.

On Thursday, it was WORLD BOOK DAY, and we had a fabulous day reading books, making our own poetry and writing book reviews. Some photos from the day can be seen below.

Spring term-week 7

Thank you so much to the parents that managed to make it to our Year 2 maths parent workshop on Thursday. We hope you got some handy tips and resources to support your child learning the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. For the parents that could not attend, we are sending home the resources shared at the meeting.

SPRING TERM-Week 6

We have started our new topic 'Marvellous Medicine', with a fantastic WOW day! The children have started to learn about Florence Nightingale, and made their own lamps. They had the best fun during the afternoon making their own marvellous medicine, and these look fantastic on display in the classrooms. In our literacy we have started our unit on 'writing instructions', by telling other people how to make their own marvellous medicine.

Spring Term 1 - On Safari

Our topic this half term is: On Safari. We will be learning about Kenya and comparing it to where we live. We will also be learning about continents and oceans of the world and food chains. We kicked off our topic with a WOW day, we made our own artwork in the style of Gakonga who is a Kenyan artist. We also tasted some food from different parts of Africa, we tried fufu,  chin chin, jollof rice, mango,  pineapple and guava juice. 

See below our knowledge organiser for this half term, and photographs from our WOW day. 

 Spring term Week 5

This week we have been showing how much we can remember from our learning, by producing our wonderful double page spreads. As part of Children's mental health we we have been thinking about things we have achieved that make us feel PROUD.

Once again, the teachers have been very impressed with the quality of the children's topic homework. Pease take a look at our photo gallery below...

Spring Term Week 4

 The children in Year 2 have loved learning the rules for 'bench ball' over the last few weeks during our Indoor Games unit in PE. We have been playing some mini games, and the children are getting really confident and developing their communication and team work skills. We have been learning about 'producers' and 'consumers', through our topic work on food chains and we have created our own food chains using animals found in the African savannahs. In literacy we have been developing our confidence to write information texts independently, and in maths we have done lots of practical grouping to support our understanding of multiplication.

Spring term Week 3

 This week we have been learning about programming in computing. The children loved designing their own maps for the beebots . See photographs below

In maths we have started to learn about multiplication by making equal and unequal groups. We started to add equal groups together, and then started to look at how repeated addition can also be shown as a multiplication sum.

In literacy we are looking at the features needed to write a non-fiction text.

Spring term week 2

This week we have continued with our learning about money in maths. We have been adding larger amounts of money using £ and pence, and also using our skills to answer word problems about money through our deep thinking tasks. In literacy we have been busy writing our own poems inspired by 'The Ugly 5'.

Our geography learning has focussed on us being confident naming the oceans and continents of the world, and the children love singing our songs to help with this.

In RE we have used drama to act out  Jesus' baptism in small groups.

Spring term week 1

This week we have started our topic by reading the Julia Donaldson book 'The Ugly Five' and we are learning a shortened version written as a poem. In topic we have been learning to name the 7 continents of the World, and we have been singing a song to help us remember them. Our maths learning has focused on 'money', we have been making amounts and adding coins and notes.  

 AUTUMN 2-Mission to the Moon

Our topic this half term is called 'Mission to the Moon'. We will be learning about the first moon landing, and studying Neil Armstrong and Katherine Johnson as significant people from the past.

In literacy we will look at books by Simon Bartrum 'Man on the moon' and 'Bob's best ever friend'

We will be designing and making our own moon buggies, and completing moon art work.

We are so excited about this topic, and the children will love learning about the moon.

Please see below for our planning for this half term...

Autumn 2 -Week 3

This has been another busy week in Year 2. In Science we have been learning about why astronauts need to wear spacesuits, and we have also found out about a female astronaut-Helen Sharman. Did you know that Helen Sharman was the first British person in space? She was also awarded an OBE for her pioneering work.

In maths we have continued to learn about 2D and 3D shapes and have been busy counting sides and vertices!

In literacy we have all written our own character profile for our very own alien pets. We enjoyed being creative and making up the talents, hobbies and skills of our pets. 

Autumn 2-week 2

This week we have been thinking about bullying during 'Anti-bullying week'. We have been thinking about what bullying means and thinking of different scenarios. We have also made some anti-bullying bunting to hang up and show that we think 'BULLYING IS WRONG!'

In our topic work we have been testing different materials to see how we can change the shape of some materials by twisting, squashing, stretching and bending. We found out that some materials are rigid and can't be easily changed.

We have started to make our moon buggies with Mrs Maker...pictures to follow shortly!

   Autumn 2-week 1

We began our new topic with a fabulous 'WOW' day. We made rockets and we also completed art work inspired by the 'Star Wars' theme tune, to create a space background for our topic display. We have started to learn about the first moon landing and have studied Neil Armstrong. With Mrs Maker, the children have designed their very own moon buggy, which they will soon be making.

The children have been very enthusiastic towards their work this week and we are excited to continue our learning about the Moon.

Autumn Term 1-Into the woods

Our first topic of the year is called 'Into the Woods'. We will be learning about animals that live in the woods and reading some lovely stories set in woodlands. We will be making careful observations and seeing first hand, how seeds grow into plants.

Please see below for our planning and knowledge organiser...

Autumn 1 - Week 7

Well done Class 5 and 6! You have made it to the end of your first term in Year two! Lots of you are showing us more independence and a thirst for learning, Mrs Richards and Mrs Smythe are really proud of you. 

This week in maths we have been adding tens and ones using a frame to help us ready for tackling column method after half term. In writing the children have planned and written their own traditional tale with some very interesting story lines. In topic, we have been working on our double page spreads and showing all of the progress we have made this half term. We have also had our final dance lesson with Miss Beth this week where we enjoyed performing our dance to Matilda! In singing we have been learning and performing 'Hello!' and have learned lots of new ways to say hello in different languages. Have a safe and restful half term Year 2 - we hope you have a chance to have lots of fun. 

Autumn - Week 6 

We have had another wonderful week in Year 2.In Writing, we have used our text map for Little Red Riding Hood and have changed it to help us write a story  using our own main character, hero and villian. We have also been learning about homophones and near-homophones in our spelling work this week. 

In maths, we have moved on to addition, we have looked at how to add three one digit numbers using number bonds to ten, and tens frames to help us. In our topic lessons, we really enjoyed learning about the artist Andy Goldsworthy and we went outside to create some of our own art work using things from the school environment. We have also enjoyed singing 'Hey Friends' in our music lesson and learning about Saint Peter as a religious leader in our RE lessons. 

Autumn Week 5 - Fantastic opportunity!

Year 2 were really lucky and got to work with sculptural artist Dr. Willard Wigan who has currently got an exhibition at Wollaton Hall. See some photos of our work below... 

Autumn - Week 5

In literacy this week we have started to look at traditional tales and have had a go at writing our own version of Little Red Riding Hood. We have also practised using conjunctions 'and' , 'because' and 'so' in our writing. In maths, we have been looking at fact families and using facts we know to find out new facts. Children have been using sentences like if I know 7 + 3 = 10 then I know 70 + 30 = 100 and I know 10 - 3 = 7.

In our topic lessons, we have looked at how we can keep out countryside and animals safe; have written up our cress experiment in science; thought about how technology can help us in computing; have thought about why Moses was a good leader in RE and we  have continued to learn a dance routine with Miss Beth.

Autumn -Week 4

This week we have been writing our own warning posters in literacy. We changed our class text map with ideas for our own scary woodland creature.

In RE we have listened to the story of 'Moses' and we worked together in table groups to order pictures from the story.

We were so happy to see Miss Beth return on Thursday, and we continued tom learn dance routines to 2 songs.

Autumn-Week 3

Year 2 have been super scientists this week. We have been busy planting cress seeds and setting up an experiment to find the best conditions for a healthy plant to grow. We have also been looking at bulbs, and learning about how they grow into flowers such as daffodils.

On Friday in our Maths lesson we used the ipads to log in to the Times table rock stars app. The children were so excited to use this app to start to learn their times tables, and enjoyed seeing how many coins they could earn. The children all have their own login details and the app can be accessed for free at home too! In single playing - jamming mode, you can set it so that your child only has to practise the multiplication facts if they are not yet confident with dividing. 

Week 2 

Wow! What a busy we we have had in Year 2! We have been learning how to write a warning poster in our literacy lessons and about place value of numbers up to 100 in maths! In phonics we have been learning ways to read and spell the /ai/ sound family.

In our afternoon lessons we have been singing a song called 'In my hands, in my feet in my heart' and we all brought lots of energy to Miss Beth's dance lesson where we were learning a dance routine and practising skills - the leap was our favourite skill to practise. 

 Autumn term-week 1

What a busy week we have had! We have been learning all of the new routines and rules in Year 2 and getting to know our new classmates. We have been completing art work based on the book 'The Colour Monster' for a display, and we have also been listening to 'The Gruffalo' as an introduction to our new topic.