Year 2
Welcome to the Year 2 blog!
The children have made a fantastic start to the term and we have been really impressed with how focused and enthusiastic the children been returning to school.
Please find some key information below. If you have any questions, please speak to your child's class teacher.
PE:
PE days for Y2 are Wednesday and Friday.
The children can come into school in their PE kit and stay in it all day (no need for uniform on these days). PE kit requirements can be found via the link: https://www.stleonards.devon.sch.uk/parents/uniform
Reading and Practice Reading:
We will start this term by teaching the rest of the Phase 5 programme of study from Little Wandle.
We will start Practice Reading next week so your child will bring home a reading book on Thursday.
It would be great for all Practice Reading books to be returned on the following Thursday so a new book can be given out.
To revisit and review the children's phonics knowledge, your child may bring home a book which they read at a point in Y1. This is to ensure that children have retained their knowledge over the summer break. We will re-assess and move children accordingly during the following week.
Friday 20th September 2024
We have been so impressed with how all the children have been settling into the new routines of Year 2 - what superstars!
We have been really enjoying our new English text, 'Beegu' and have been thinking about how it must feel to be Beegu, who finds herself lost and alone on an unfamiliar planet. Our focus has been on adjectives and we have had lots of fun describing our own 'perfect' friend for the lonely alien.
In Maths, we have been learning about partitioning two-digit numbers into tens and ones and also thinking about the different ways numbers can be partitioned with varying multiples of 10.
We have also been getting really stuck-in with our topic learning of 'Explorers'. The Year 2s have been fascinated with their History learning and have loved hearing about the adventures of the explorers Amy Johnson and Ranulph Fiennes. In DT, in preparation for making our Moon Buggies, we have been learning about the different components of a car, with a particular emphasis on the importance of axles (to attach the wheels to the chassis).
In RE, we have enjoyed thinking about places that our special to us, as well as the differences and similarities of sacred places in Christianity and Islam.
Our PE focus this term is netball and during these sessions we have been refining our chest passes and bounce passes!
Friday 11th October 2024
We are well and truly in the swing of our learning and are enjoying developing our understanding of topics across the Year Two curriculum.
Our English focus continues to be 'Beegu' and over the last week, the Year 2s have been developing their own story based on the text. We have been working like real authors and editing our work as we go, to make sure that we are using exciting and precise adjectives, as well as accurate punctuation.
Having completed our initial 'place value' sequence, our new Maths topic is 'addition and subtraction' and we have been using our number bond knowledge to help us recall addition and subtraction facts speedily.
In DT, we have absolutely loved the process of designing our moon buggies and have now completed making them. Like true designers, we will be evaluating their effectiveness and thinking about what we would do differently next time.
In RE, we have been learning about the features of a church and also have been considering how music and hymns are a type of worship and can help Christians feel closer to God.
In our History lessons, we have been learning about the explorers Christopher Colombus, Neil Armstrong, Ranulph Fiennes and Amy Johnson. We have learned about what it was like to be an explorer through different periods of history and that not all explorers did good things, as in the case of Christopher Colombus.
Over the last couple of weeks in Science we have been learning about the different ways in which we can look after our bodies through diet, basic hygiene and also exercise. We have performed some simple tests using our Science skills and were shocked to discover how much sugar is in certain drinks!
Our phonics lessons continue to follow the Little Wandle programme. Please continue to read at home as much as you can with your child as it helps significantly with their their fluency and comprehension.
Autumn 2
All children have made a brilliant start to the term and we’re excited for the rest of the term ahead. The children loved the Space Dome last term and were mesmerised by the show about Space. The children also really enjoyed crawling through the tunnel to get into the dome!
Writing: In writing, we are focusing on a text called 'Traction Man' which the children are really enjoying. The children have learned about past tense and present tense, expanded noun phrases and the conjunctions and/because/when. The children have planned their own story based on a toy coming to life. Their toy character then goes on an adventure. The children are really enjoying writing their stories.
Maths: We’ve continued our focus on addition and subtraction with a specific focus on finding 10 more and 10 less, adding and subtracting a multiple of 10 to a 2-digit number, adding and subtracting two 2-dgit numbers using a number line.
Geography: This term we are learning about colder climates with a specific focus on Antarctica. So far we’ve learned about the physical geography of this continent, how penguins are well adapted to live there and how Antarctica compares to the Sahara desert.
Science: Our Science this term is animals including humans. So far, we’ve learned about what a human wants and needs in order to survive, the children we able to provide some brilliant definitions of what a ‘want’ and ‘need’ is. We’ve also learned about the different stages of the human lifecycle.
Art: We’ve had some lovely art lessons so far this term – our first focus was on pattern making and the children had time to explore and create their own patterns using a range of colours and objects. The second session focused on rubbings which the children thought was magic! We explored different textures and created a range of different rubbings.
RE: Our RE focus this term is ‘Why does Christmas matter to Christians?’. So far, we’ve learned about the Nativity story and to understand the living conditions Jesus was born into.
Home learning spellings - please see the 'home learning' tab for weekly spellings.
Home learning spellings - Autumn 2 Week 1
most
alone
float
time
bright
eye
parents
Home learning spellings - Autumn 2 Week 2
true
useful
share
where
hurt
circle
world
about
mouth
Home learning spellings - Autumn 2 Week 3
before
talk
vision
usual
pitch
adventure
station
sure
Home learning spellings - Autumn 2 Week 4
gem
badge
castle
once
young
colour
brother