Hello everyone! Welcome to Year 2!
Hello Year 2! My name is Miss Malcolm and I am so excited to be working with you all this year! I hope you all enjoyed your Summer holidays and are looking forward to having lots of fun in Year 2. Our Year 2 team is made up of Mrs Bates, Mrs Price, Mrs Beddow and myself.
Attached above is a copy of our weekly timetable.
Our day starts at 8.45am when I will greet you at the door. Mrs Bates and Mrs Price will be waiting in the classroom to help you get settled in ready for our day. There will be a spelling or maths activity waiting for you in the classroom to get started on. The school gate is closed at 8.55am, so arrivals after this time need to come through the front door. Our day finishes at 3.15pm.
On a Thursday, Mrs Beddow will be working with Year 2 whilst I am on PPA.
In the mornings, we will be looking at Spellings/Phonics, English and Maths. When we come in from lunch, we will spend some time reading. Then, for the rest of the afternoon, we will be exploring foundation subjects including: History, Geography, Computing, Music, PE, RE, Science, Art, DT and PSHE.
Our first week back is looking lovely and sunny! Please make sure your child has a labelled water bottle, a labelled sun hat and is wearing sun cream!
Year 2 Curriculum Web for Autumn Term
Things you need for Year 2
- Labelled uniform
- A water bottle with your child’s name on
- A book bag
- Children will need to come to school in their PE kits on Thursday and Friday.
Year 2 Planners
In Year 2, your child will be given a Pikemere Planner.
It is important that your child brings their planner to school everyday so adults can record any reading that has taken place during the school day. The planners can also be used for brief, home to school communication and they will be checked regularly by your child’s teacher and teaching assistants.
It would be extremely helpful if your child’s reading books were kept with their planners as the children will be taken them out of their bags each day for reading or book changes.
Our Special Guest
We will be having a special visitor in our class at the beginning of term. He/she (name to be decided by Year 2) will be able to come home with each child at some point during the first term! Our furry friend will be sent home for 2 nights with a class book. In here, your child can write a couple of sentences about what they have been up to with our furry friend!
Reading in Year 2
This year we have introduced Accelerated Reader in our school. Accelerated Reader gives the children a huge choice in levelled books to choose from.
In our Year 2 Reading Corner, we have labelled, beige baskets full of AR books. The children can pick their own book from a basket which matches their reading level. The books in each range will be challenging enough but not too hard to read. This is because children develop reading skills most effectively when they read appropriately challenging books – difficult enough to keep them engaged but not so difficult that they become frustrated. This is called the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
If your child exited the Little Wandle programme in Summer, they will have completed a Star Reading test before the summer holidays. This test gives children a starting reading range for Accelerated Reader. Your child’s ZPD range will be given to them at the start of term on a bookmark that is for them to keep hold of. The children can use this bookmark in school to help them choose the right AR books for them. Children will have the opportunity to choose two Accelerated Reader (AR) books to read in school time on a Monday. These will be kept in their trays. One will be a school reading book and the other AR book they are welcome to take home. At the end of the week, children will take a short quiz online to check their understanding of their book. The quiz will be done in school time.
At the end of each half term, the children will take a reading assessment. Your child’s reading range may change depending on what is best for them.
Your child may have a ‘Big Cat, Little Wandle’ reading book as opposed to an AR book. Your child will have read this book at least 3 times in the week within a group reading session. By the time the reading book comes home, your child should be able to read it with 95% fluency. The key purpose of practising the book at home is to increase reading confidence and embed the skills that have been learned throughout the week at school. It may appear that the book is too easy, or that your child has learned it by rote, but this sharing time is a vital part of the process and allows the children to celebrate their successes as readers. Once children have reached a certain level of reading fluency, they will exit the Little Wandle programme and be set up ready for Accelerated Reader.
To read at home, children will have their AR or LW book and an additional black or grey banded book to read for pleasure. Please encourage your child to read this book at least 3 times before they change it.
AR book change day is on a Monday. This will be monitored by Mrs Price.
If children finish their AR books, there are of course other opportunities in the school day for children to change their books.
It is fantastic if your child reads their school books at home, however please still encourage a varied diet of books! There is so much to discover through stories and non-fiction texts!
A letter will be sent home to explain Accelerated Reader in more detail.
https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/6699614
Outdoor PE Kit
We really enjoy our PE in Year 2. Our PE days are Thursday and Friday-so please come to school in your outdoor school PE kit on those days! We will try to be outside as much as possible so make sure you wear your hoodie for cool days and bring a bottle of water for warm days. Ear rings will need to be removed for PE days or you could bring in some tape to cover them.
Year 2 Homework
For the time being, I will be setting My Maths homework on a Wednesday. This will be due the following Wednesday.
To access the My Maths tasks you will need to log on to your account and there are email notifications to tell you when a new task is set. Your child will receive a letter with login details.
Maths in Year 2
There are lots of resources on here to help your learning at home.
Try and practise your 2x 5x and 10 x tables so that you can use TTRS.
Try searching ‘Hit the Button’ to practise your maths skills.
Try searching ‘Daily 10 Top Marks’ to practice your times tables.
There are links at the bottom of this page.
TT ROCKSTARS LINK
Time
In Year 2 we will be learning to tell the time to 5 minutes. If possible, please try and familiarise your child with an analogue clock. Any home learning to do with telling the time is encouraged! There are lots of great games on the online website ‘Top Marks’. It may be helpful to find your child an analogue watch of their own (however, this is not compulsory). We will have a ‘time teller’ each day who will get to wear our class watch and help us tell the time at different points throughout the day!
Year 2 English
These are called ‘Common Exception Words’ because they do not follow the usual spelling rules. For example, ‘sugar’ does not start with ‘sh’.
