Welcome to Y2

1. Welcome to Y2 Miss Belcher, Miss Spenceley, Mrs Jones, Miss Ford, Mrs Gorman and Mrs Willis

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. New Curriculum –Computing ICT • ICT/Computingwill 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.

14. 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:

15. Y2 Learning challenge topics

16. 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!

17. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.