WELCOME TO Y2
Miss Belcher, Miss Spenceley, Mrs Jones, Miss Ford, Mrs Gorman and Mrs Willis
WELCOME TO Y2
• Please feel free to have a look around our
classrooms following the meeting. We will also
be around if anyone has any questions.
DAYS TO REMEMBER
• Y2B have PE on a Monday and a Friday, Y2S have PE on a Wednesday and
a Thursday and Y2JF will have PE on a Monday and a Wednesday- please
make sure children have the correct PE kit in school each day, long hair
should be tied back and earrings should be taken out before the school
day. We will send PE kits home for a freshen up each half-term.
• Homework and spellings will be sent out on a Friday and will need to be
returned the following Friday.
• Spellings will be set each week and tested the following Friday.
• Celebration assembly will take place on a Friday afternoon at 2.40.
PE & HOMEWORK
• If for any reason your child is unable to take
part in PE or complete their homework they will
need to bring in a note from home that has
been signed by an adult.
NEW CURRICULUM-ENGLISH
• In Y2 we will teach English everyday. The children will work through a range
of objectives and activities taken from the new English curriculum.
• As part of the new curriculum children will be taught through a text that is
age appropriate and challenging.
• The new curriculum places a greater emphasis on children’s spoken English
and encourages drama activities to be used on a regular basis.
• It also requires children to be taught discrete sessions of spelling, punctuation
and grammar.
• We will be holding Parent Workshops later in the Autumn Term.
READING
• Your child has been given a school reading book. This must be taken home
every night and brought into school every day. Your child should be aiming
to read for at least 20 minutes each night.
• Reading books can be changed each day in Year 2. When you have read
with your child, please can we ask that you sign their reading record. We will
then check this before your child changes their books.
• Their school reading record book should be completed by an adult to say
they have read and feedback any difficulties or concerns within the week.
They are allowed and encouraged to read other books of their own at
home and these may also be noted in their reading record.
• The wider the variety of reading material they experience, the better.
READING
• In Year 2, there will be a greater focus on comprehension. In order to aid
your child with this, please can you ask your child lots of questions about
what they have read to support their understanding.
• If you are unsure of what types of questions to ask, please see a member of
Year 2 staff.
READING
• Guided reading happens everyday, each child will read with an adult
at least once a week.
• Other activities during guided reading may include post reading
activities linked to a book they have read with an adult in school,
comprehension tasks or a variety of interesting reading based
activities.
SPELLINGS
• Every Friday, your child will bring home a list of spellings to learn. These
are to be practised at home, ready for a spelling test the following
Friday. It might help if they decide to learn perhaps 2 words each
night and then practise them all on the Thursday night before the test.
We often find that the Read, Cover, Write, Check method is effective!
• They will probably require some adult help with this, to check they
understand the meaning of the word as well as the spelling. An older
brother or sister could maybe help here.
NEW CURRICULUM-MATHEMATICS
• Again we will teach mathematics each day in Y2, this session will
teach objectives taken from the new curriculum.
• Topics will be taught in a practical and fun way and time will be given
for children to apply their knowledge independently through follow up
problem solving activities later in the week.
• Separate sessions will be dedicated to mental maths and the times
table challenge.
TIMES TABLES
• We must stress the importance of times table knowledge as this
underpins a lot of the learning that will take place in Y2. We
recommend that children spend 15 minutes each night practising their
mental recall of times tables facts.
• Once your child can confidently recall the multiplication fact of a
chosen times table they should move on to practising another times
table.
• In Year 2, children will be expected to know their 2, 3, 5 and 10 times
tables by the end of the school year.
LEARNING WALLS
• Learning walls will be used as part of English and
Mathematics to display helpful learning hooks for the
children.
• Learning walls allow children to refer back to what
they need to include in their work.
• They are also an interactive area that the children
can take ownership of.
NEW CURRICULUM –COMPUTING
ICT
• ICT/Computing will be taught on a weekly basis as
a discrete lesson. Children will be taught from the
new ICT curriculum that encompasses computing
elements such as programming.
• Children will have the opportunity to use the new ICT
suite and facilities, laptops and iPads as part of their
weekly timetable and Learning Challenge new
curriculum.
LEARNING CHALLENGE CURRICULUM
• In previous years the children have accessed foundation
subjects such as history, geography and art as part of PLT
(personalised learning time). This will now be called the ‘Learning
Challenge curriculum’.
• Children will be able to personalise their learning around a given
context for learning and choose which topics they would like to
learn about.
• Each context for learning will be introduced with a ‘WOW
moment’ that will inspire and engage the children’s interests to
learn more.
• Here are the topics we will be learning about in Y2:
Y2 LEARNING CHALLENGE TOPICS
Why don’t we
have Lions,
Elephants and
Giraffes in
Menses Park?
Fire, Fire! – Guy
Fawkes/ Bonfire
Night
Who is Queen
Elizabeth?
The World at
Night
What makes
Newton and
the North West
special?
Oh I do like to
be beside the
seaside
Art: African Art
Art: Picassoportraits
Art: Gaudiarchitecture
Art: Van Gogh
Art: Lowry
Art: Earnst
Heakel
ART
• The children will be taught art as part of the ‘Learning
Challenge Curriculum’ and will focus on one art skill across
the whole school each half term.
• Please look out for our half termly overviews for more
information!
THE NEST AT
NEWTON
Nurture Group
A nurture group is a small class of six to eight children which acts as a
kind of bridge between home and school. It offers additional help for
pupils within a small, structured ‘home like’ classroom. We incorporate
curriculum activities although the majority of the learning is social,
emotional, behavioural aspects of learning.
A.O.B
• If possible, please could your child bring in a water bottle with their
name on so that they can drink throughout the day.
• We do encourage children to go to the toilets at playtimes and dinner
times rather than during lessons.
FINALLY
We appreciate all the help you can give. I hope we can work together
to make Year 2 a successful and enjoyable experience for your child.
Teachers will be around on their classroom door each morning for any
short messages that you want to pass on. If you wish to make an
appointment after school to speak to your child’s class teacher please
do so via the office, we are always happy to discuss any of your
concerns or queries that you may have.
Miss Belcher, Mrs Jones, Miss Ford and Miss Spenceley.