Year 2
Welcome to Year 2
Our teacher is Mrs Hodgson. Mrs Dubre works with us every day too. Miss Nicholson works with the class for a few session and we have P.E. with Mr Graham on a Wednesday afternoon.
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.
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.
Year 2 Key Information
Long Term Planning Overview Year 2 2024-25
Classroom Routines
Reading
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 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.
Homework
Homework is distributed on Fridays. We ask for all homework to be handed in by Tuesday at the latest. If your child is struggling or has been unable to complete their homework, they can work with Mrs Hodgson on Tuesday lunchtime to complete it.
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We have P.E. twice a week; on Tuesdays with Mrs Hodgson and on Wednesdays with Mr Graham. 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.
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.
Communication
If any parents have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Mrs Hodgson 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.
Curriculum Areas
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!
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. We also have logins to Sumdog which we can use at home too.
1-minute maths from White Rose and Hit the Button are two more apps which are great for practising our maths skills.
Science
We learn lots of new skills and knowledge in our science lessons by carrying out practical investigations.
Our topics are:
- Animals including humans
- Living things and their habitat
- Uses of everyday materials
- Plants
History
In the autumn term, we look at 'Why are some places special?' including special places in our local area. In the spring term, we study Fantastic Firsts including the first flight, the first railway and the first trip to the moon. Finally, in our summer term block, we look at how holidays have changed from the past to the present day.
Geography
Our autumn term topic looks further afield and we look at maps to study our wonderful planet. Our spring topic studies hot and cold climates around the world and we see what it is like to live in different countries. The final topic in Year 2 looks at a comparison of Durham and Saltburn.
Physical Education
In P.E., we practise our fundamental skills including: throwing, catching and agility. We also enjoy gymnastics, yoga and athletics in the summer months.
Music
In our music lessons we develop our use of musical language as well as playing a range of percussion instruments.
PHSE and RSE
Our PSHE lessons are adaptable based on the needs of our class, however, we do also take inspiration from the Jigsaw units of work which are:
- Being Me
- Celebrating Differences
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
Computing
We follow the Teach Computing scheme of work to develop our computing knowledge and skills. At the start of every lesson we focus on an aspect of Online Safety to ensure we are confident in staying safe online.
Our Computing units are:
- Computing Systems & Networks - Technology All Around Us
- Creating Media - Digital Photography
- Programming - Robot algorithms
- Data & Information - Pictograms
- Creating Media - Digital Music
- Programming - Programming Quizzes
Art and Design
In Art we follow the Access Art scheme of work to build on our skills and knowledge. We get to use a range of art mediums and resources such as clay, paints and oil pastels to explore our creativity and create a range of individual art pieces.
Our art units are:
- Drawing & Sketchbooks - creating works using varying media
- Paint - Surface and colour - expressive painting
- Sculptures - Working in 3D
Design Technology
Every other half term we undertake a DT project in which we evaluate existing designs to get inspiration, design our own before making and evaluating our final product. We focus on a range of skills throughout the year and often link our projects to other areas of the curriculum.
Our DT projects are:
- Smoothies
- Freestanding structures
- Wheels and Axels
Religious Education
In Year 2 we look at the following topics:
- What it means to belong
- Harvest
- Why is the Bible special to Christians?
- Why is light important at Christmas?
- The story of St Cuthbert
- The Easter Story
- Buddhists and their beliefs
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HOW YOU CAN HELP US WITH OUR LEARNING AT HOME:
We will be learning to 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.
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!