Welcome to year 2!
Our lovely class are very fortunate to be working with lots of adults: Miss Wallace (class teacher), Miss Bainbridge and Mrs Alvi (teaching assistants) and Mrs Hallatt (PPA cover).
In Year 2, we value every child’s contribution, showing respect and kindness to one another. We understand the importance of adopting a growth mindset by embracing and learning from mistakes. This helps us to develop our perseverance and resilience, two key skills we are focusing on this year. Most importantly, we celebrate everybody’s achievements no matter how big or small.
Our classroom is a place where we are not afraid to talk about our feelings or worries and understand that they will be dealt with in a sensitive, caring way. We even have a Worry Monster who ‘listens to’ and ‘eats away’ our worries!
Because everyone in our classroom is part of a team and every member is valued, we have collectively agreed on a Class Charter. This is a Code of Conduct to ensure our classroom is a safe, happy and effective learning environment for everyone.
GENERAL INFORMATION
We have P.E. twice a week; on Mondays with Mr Graham and on Wednesdays with Miss Wallace. Please make sure your child has: a plain T-shirt the same colour as their school House, unbranded black or navy leggings/joggers/shorts, and a pair of trainers. However, please remember trainers are only permitted for P.E. purposes and should not be part of the school uniform.
Homework is distributed on Fridays. Miss Wallace explains the activities to us and also posts a message on Class Dojo. We ask for all homework to be handed in by Tuesday at the latest.
Every child is provided with a reading record within their Personal Organiser. This should be kept in their book bag with their reading book as these will be required for daily Guided Reading sessions at school. We ask that you read with your child at least three times a week, completing the record each time. By doing this, you will not only be promoting the value, importance and love of reading by dedicating time to it, but also providing your child with solid foundations as a reader to allow them to enhance their independence and access the whole curriculum. Please note, those children who can evidence at least three signatures per week will be entered in a weekly reading reward draw to win a prize! We aim to change reading books every Friday.
If you wish to support your child’s learning further, I’ll be posting weekly updates on Class Dojo to share learning and resources, including upcoming Mathematics topics which will provide ideas on how these skills can be developed at home.
A day in year 2…
PHONICS
Our first lesson of the day is Phonics where we split into smaller groups with Years 1 and 3. We use the Read Write Inc. phonics scheme to practise our reading and spelling. Read Write Inc. is a daily fast-paced, rigorous and structured phonics programme. We are encouraged to read a text for meaning with three readings of each story to ensure that the story is understood whilst being read with fluency and expression. All of our Read Write Inc. programmes involve Partner Talk; we work in pairs at lots of stages in the lesson to enhance our spoken language and embed our understanding. At Witton Gilbert, we know that we become confident readers and writers as a result of sound and effective phonics teaching.
ENGLISH
Next, we do our English lesson where our learning is often linked to a key text or to special events that are happening in our world. We are continuing to work really hard to improve our writing, grammar and presentation! An example of our work was when we based our English lessons on The Worrysaurus by Rachel Bright to support our understanding of our own feelings and how to self-regulate.
Here are some of the books we have read and enjoyed so far:
MATHEMATICS
Following break and snack time, we have our Mathematics lesson. Our school follows the White Rose Maths scheme of work with a focus on Teaching for Mastery. In Year 2, we look at Place Value up to 100, addition and subtraction up to 2-digits and our times tables (2x, 3x, 5x and 10x). In Year 2, we start to use Times Table Rockstars to promote rapid recall of multiplication facts which can be accessed here.
AFTERNOONS
After lunchtime, we cover a variety of foundation subjects throughout the week. This half term, these include: P.E., Music, Science, Art/D.T., R.E., History, Computing and PSHE.
In P.E., we practise our fundamental skills including: throwing, catching and agility.
This year we are learning about a whole host of extremely interesting Science topics, including ‘Animals including Humans’; ‘Living Things and their Habitats’, ‘Use of Everyday Materials’ and ‘Plants’.
In History we start our year with a unit of work about ‘Why are Some Places Special?’ where we will be exploring our village and the surrounding area over a millennium. This involves looking into the lives of local people in the Norman and Tudor eras and comparing their lives with life now. Very fascinating!
We also look at local figures of historical importance when we go on to study ‘George Stevenson and the Railways’. Finally, we consider how holidays have changed over time, linking local holiday destinations to the introduction of holidays for working people and illustrating significant changes to transport systems.
YEAR 2 WEEKLY TEACHING TIMETABLE
Class 2 – Weekly Timetable 2022-23
Please note this is a typical timetable but lessons are subject to change.
YEAR 2 LONG-TERM PLAN
HOW YOU CAN HELP US WITH OUR LEARNING AT HOME:
We join up our writing in Year 2, so if we had pencils and paper to practise with at home, that would be brilliant. Once we learn the letters in school, we bring them home so you can see how smart our recording looks.
Additional activities which deepen our learning include:
- Reading at least three times per week;
- Practising times tables;
- Rehearsing telling the time;
- Practising the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) through practical problems.
Handy links:
RESPONSIBILITIES AND REWARDS
To make our classroom more inclusive and to give responsibility, we are allocated a classroom job. We have completed our job applications and are appointed to different responsibilities which may include being a Classroom Caretaker, Eco Warrior or Class Librarian.
Each week, we have our Star(s) of the Week ceremony. Our adults look out for positive qualities and attitudes towards learning from all of us. If our work ethic and manners are particularly impressive, we may well be rewarded with a Star of the Week certificate and prize.
Thank you for taking the time to read our Year 2 webpage!
If any parents have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Miss Wallace via Class Dojo. With regard to Class Dojo, please feel free to post and share messages, photos and videos via this platform. This is a really strong way of keeping our learning up to date and staying connected with our class. If you have any difficulties accessing Class Dojo, please contact the school office for further support.
If you have any further questions, please contact school using the details on the contact page.
