Year 2
Meet the Team
2024-25
The Year 2 team are really looking forward to welcoming you all in to Year 2. We have lots of exciting and interesting things to learn this year and we can't wait to get started.
PE Spring Term - Remember to come in your PE uniform on these days.
Monday - Outdoor PE with
Tuesday - Indoor PE with Coach Hannah and Art with Mrs Maker
Important Dates for your diary
Friday 14th March-Parent writing workshop-9.00 in the hall
Tuesday 29th April- Year 2 Camp meeting for parents-3.30 in the hall
Thursday 10th July-Year to camp at school-details to follow
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/turquoise books at the end of Autumn term to meet age related expectations and then on gold/white by the end of the summer term. Please also find a document with the common exception words below.
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
Please see the common exception words for Year 1 and Year 2, children have these in their diaries and you could support their learning at home by ensuring they can read and spell the common exception words.
Maths
At Old Basford, we use our 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. Please find the KIRFs for year 2 below.
Websites to help
Times Tables Rock Stars: Play (ttrockstars.com) ( Username and Passwords in diaries)
https://whizz.com/year-2-maths-games/
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=16&AgeGroup=2
Spellings
We learn lots of spelling rules through our phonics work each day in class and we also work hard to try and learn the Year 2 common exception words. Both the Year 1 and Year 2 words are stuck in your child's diary so they can practise these at home. You can also see them below.
Spring 2-Marvellous Medicine
Our topic for Spring 2 is based on the book 'George's Marvellous Medicine' by Roald Dahl. We will be learning about medicine safety and how to make emergency calls. We will look at how hospitals and medicines have developed and improved over time, and we will learn about significant people from the past including Mary Seacole, Florence Nightingale and Jesse Boot.
Keep your eye on this page for weekly updates and photographs of our exciting lessons.
Spring 2-week 5
This week in numeracy we have started a unit of work on fractions. So far, we have been learning how to find a half and a quarter of shapes and numbers.
In literacy we have been thinking about how we can describe story characters by using expanded noun phrases, and we have had a go at including speech marks in our writing to show when someone is talking.
We enjoyed learning all about Jesse Boot who opened the first Boots chemist in 1888. There are now over 2,000 stores across the UK. He tried to make medicine affordable for everyone.
Spring 2-week 4
This week we have been doing lots of practical work. In maths we have been completing some tangram work and have also been developing our knowledge of volume and capacity, by predicting and then measuring the volume of liquid in different sized containers-we may have got a bit wet doing this!
In literacy we have started to learn a new text map for a story based on 'George's Marvellous Medicine'. We also did some fun drama activities to remind ourselves of scenes from the story.
In science we carried out a whole class investigation to show that germs are everywhere, and the best way to clean our hands is to use soap and warm water.
Spring 2-week 3
We would like to say a huge 'thank you' to everyone who managed to make our parent writing workshop on Friday morning. There was a great turn out! We hope that you enjoyed learning about the expectations of Year 2 writing. The children were amazing during the workshop, and they loved showing off some of their achievements in writing.
Spring 2-week 2
We have had such a busy and exciting week. Not only have we done all of our usual literacy, maths and topic learning, but we have also had a visit from the local church in Aspley.
We attended a fun workshop with the members from the church and learned all about Easter. We even got to taste some food which was delicious.
On Thursday, it was World Book Day and we all came to school either dressed as a book character, or in our comfy clothes. We did so many activities throughout the day including, making bookmarks, writing book reviews, learning how to be an illustrator and listening to some of our favourite books.
Please see some photos from our busy week below...
Spring 2 -week 1
This week we have kick started our new topic with our WOW day. The children in year 2 had great fun making their own marvellous medicine, using unusual ingredients! We started to learn about Florence Nightingale and then made our own lanterns to hang in the classrooms.
In maths we have finished our unit on multiplication and division, and are starting to learn more about measures.
In literacy we had a go at writing instructions telling people how to make their own marvellous medicine.
Spring 1-On Safari
This term our Geography based topic is called 'On Safari'. We will be learning about the continent of Africa, with a particular focus on Kenya. The children will learn the names of all of the oceans and continents, and will also find out about which animals live in the African Savannah.
See our planning below for a weekly break down of the topic...
Spring term-week 6
What a busy week this has been! We have been so busy completing assessments and completing our double page spreads to show off our learning from this term.
The children definitely deserve a restful half term!
Spring Term-week 5
This week we have been busy planning and writing our own non-chronological texts about elephants in literacy.
In maths we have been learning how to multiply and divide by 2, 5 and 10. We have done some practical sharing, and then used our knowledge to solve word problems in our deep thinking tasks.
In topic work we have been developing our field work skills and used question wheels to generate questions about Nairobi. We then used the i-pads to find the answers to our questions.
As this week was 'Children's Mental Health Week', we spent some time thinking about the phrase 'Know yourself to grow yourself' and we created some art work around imagining ourselves as roots of a plant, growing into thriving plants and flowers.
Spring term-week 4
This week we have been very busy continuing our numeracy understanding of multiplication and division. To help us understand our work we have done some practical work sharing out counters into equal groups.
In literacy we have started to learn about non-chronological texts. We have been learning actions for our new text map about lions, and will be working towards writing our own texts about elephants.
In topic work we have been thinking about different habitats, and why they are suited to different animals. We have also been creating our own food chains.
Spring term-week 3
This week in maths we have started a new unit based on multiplication and division, we have been looking at equal groups and starting to link multiplication and repeated addition.
Ex: 5+5+5+5+5=25 is the same as 5x5=25
In literacy we are writing our poem based on The Ugly 5. We are trying really hard to make our poems rhyme and are really focussing on our handwriting.
In topic we have started to compare life in the UK and Kenya, and children can suggest some ways in which life is similar or different in both places.
Did you know that not all children in Kenya go to school ?
Spring term-week 2
This week we have been busy trying to consolidate basic money skills, recognising coins, adding amounts and giving change from 10p, 20p,50p and £1.
In literacy we have been making changes to our class poem 'The Ugly 5' and changing it to 'The BIG 5', using Africa's big 5 animals as our inspiration.
In our topic work we have been learning to name the 7 continents and 5 oceans, and also learning some facts about them. The children enjoyed using atlases to locate the continents and oceans, and also used them to answer some challenge questions.
Which continent is Italy in?
Which continent is Canada in?
Which continent is Kenya in?
Spring term-week 1
Have you ever eaten chin chin or plantain chips? The children in Year 2 have as part of our WOW day. We spent some time on Tuesday tasting some African foods including pineapple, guava juice, chin chin, plantain chips, cous cous and Jallof rice. They were all very brave and tasted every item of food. They then had to describe each food with an adjective and give them a score out of 5. Interestingly, there was a real mix of foods featuring in their favourites. See below for some photographs from the food tasting.
Autumn 2-Mission to the Moon
This half term our topic is called 'Mission to the Moon'. We will be learning all about the first moon landing , and learning about important people from the past such as Catherine Johnson, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. We will be creating some gorgeous art work linked to the moon, and will be designing and making our vey own moon buggies in DT!
This is such an exciting topic and is always one of the children's favourites.
See more information below in our knowledge organiser ...
Autumn 2-week 7
This week has been full of Christmas celebrations such as parties, quizzes, making decorations, achievement assemblies bringing lots of fun to everyone.
The children in Year 2 deserve a well earned rest over the Christmas holidays, and we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Autumn 2- week 6
This week we have started to get excited about Christmas. We have been wearing Christmas jumpers, been singing Christmas songs and have been rehearsing for our Atumn term Achievement assembly which takes place next Tuesday morning.
In maths we have been completing our work on 2D and 3D shapes by completing shape patterns and counting the faces, edges and vertices on 3D shapes.
In literacy we have been planning and writing our own news report about the first elf on the moon.
Autumn 2-week 5
We have had yet another hard working week, which we ended with a very busy parent maths workshop.
Thank you so much to all those that attended our workshop. We hope that you found the workshop helpful and that you enjoyed completing some addition and subtraction work with your child.
See below for some photos...
Autumn 2 week 4
In Year 2 this week we have been working very hard!
in literacy we have started to learn a new text map for a newspaper report. In maths we have started to learn about the features of 2D shaped by counting sides and vertices. We have also had a go at drawing shapes-this was very tricky!
In our topic learning we found out about the first Briton to go to space-Helen Sharman. We worked in groups to produce some fabulous posters about her.
Autumn 2-week 3
The highlight of this week was on Thursday when we all designed, made and evaluated moon buggy models. We used recycled materials for the moon buggies, and we added wheels and axles to make them move. We had such great fun, and were all really pleased with our final models.
Autumn 2- week 2
This week we have been enjoying taking some of our learning outside. In our science work, we went outside to look for different materials in our environment. We found lots of things are made out of plastic, wood and metal because it is a strong material.
In literacy we have been improving our writing skills, by writing extended sentences with conjunctions, and we have started to plan a character profile for an alien pet parrot!
In maths we have been doing lots of practical work to help us understand how to solve addition and subtraction work using the column method. Below are some photographs of us working in pairs using base 10, and investigating different materials.
Autumn 2- week 1
This week in Year 2 we had great fun opening our new topic
with our WOW day. We started off by responding to the theme tune to 'Star Wars' and using our imagination to create space backgrounds for our display. Then we made some beautiful, bright rockets to add a 3D element.
We have watched a video clip of the first moon landing, and started to learn about Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins who were all on the Apollo 11 during that amazing global event.
Autumn 1 - In to the Woods
Welcome back to school Year 2! We are very excited to start the term and can't wait to start all of the exciting things we have planned. Our topic is called In to the Woods. Each Tuesday afternoon, you will be taught art by the tremendous Mrs Maker and PE by our talented sports coach. We will also have weekly Computing and Music lessons. We will have a daily phonics and shared reading session just like year 1. In writing, our two Talk for Writing units will focus on writing a descriptive Warning Poster and writing a traditional tale. Our main math's focus will be place value.
You can see our overview for the half term and knowledge organisers below:
Autumn 1-week 7
This has been such a busy 4 days in school. Not only have year 2 been competing their double page spreads to show us everything that they have remembered from our learning, but they have also completed assessments for reading, maths and spelling and grammar. The children have been incredibly resilient and we rae very proud of them.
On Thursday we all wore red clothes to school to show that we support the 'Show Racism the Red Card' message. We talked about the many ways in which we are all different, and we designed our own posters.
Autumn 1-Week 6
In Year 2 this week, we have started to learn about addition and subtraction using different methods. We are trying really hard to learn our number bonds to 10 to help with solving addition calculations with speed and accuracy.
In literacy, we have been busy writing our own traditional tales. The children really enjoyed putting their own 'twist' on original stories, whilst trying to make sure they still used traditional story language and exciting new vocabulary.
We have finished our topic for this term, so we have had our 'end of topic quiz'. Congratulations to the children below who won the quiz with their excellent knowledge of work from this term.
Autumn 1-Week 5
This week we have been very busy in literacy, learning our new text map for Little Red Riding Hood. We will be writing our own traditional tales next week.
In maths we have now completed our work on place value and will be moving on to addition and subtraction.
In topic, we have been thinking about why different animals live in different habitats, and thinking about woodland creatures in particular. We have also been busy designing posters showing countryside rules.
Thank you to all of the parents that came to pupil review meetings, it was so nice to meet you and discuss your children's successes so far.
Autumn 1- week 4
Another busy week in Year 2! This week we have been building up to write our first innovation write. We loved writing a WARNING poster for our own woodland creature.
In maths we have been learning about comparing numbers up to 100, and have also been using the < and > symbols.
In the afternoons we have been using drama to act out and remember how a bulb grows into a daffodil, and we have had great fun in dance lessons with Miss Talia.
Autumn 1 week 3
This has been such a busy and exciting week. We started off the week with a silent disco in the hall as a special treat-it was so much fun dancing around with each other to music wearing headphones.
In lessons we have been learning all about seeds. We have planted cress seeds in home made greenhouses in our classrooms, and dissected white kidney bean seeds, to learn what is inside a seed. We have also planted some daffodil bubs which should look beautiful in the Spring.
In literacy we have listened to the story 'The Gruffalo's child, and spent lots of work describing the big bad mouse and writing sentences using conjunctions.
In maths, we have continued to learn about place value, and have been using equipment to partition two-digit numbers in different ways.
Below are some photos showing highlights of the week...
Autumn 1-week 2
We have had an amazing week in Year 2. We have had our new topic WOW day in which we made maps of the Gruffalo woods, played a Gruffalo game in the hall, and we even made delicious Gruffalo crumble-YUM YUM!
In literacy we have written about a mystery visitor to our trim trail. We looked at lots of strange cluses such as feathers, bones and giant footsteps, then wrote WARNING posters.
In maths we have started our unit on place value and have done lots of work on tens and ones.
See below for some photos of our week...
Autumn Term-Week 1
What an amazing first few days in Year 2!
We have been incredibly busy this week learning all of the rules and routines in Year 2. We have completed lots of fun activities based on the book 'I Can' by Alexandra Strick and Steve Antony. This week we have been...reading, writing, speaking, listening drawing, making, painting, and most importantly settling in to our new classes
-Well done Year 2!