Year 2
Welcome to Year 2!
From Miss Williams, Mrs Bennett, Mrs Southern and Mrs Rooney!
Welcome to our Year 2 class page! In year two, we love making learning fun and are always here to help you on your learning journey. Don't forget that there are many adults in class and around school who are always here to help you, and that God is always here for us too.
On this page you will find all the key information you’ll need throughout the year along with information about our learning.
Key things to remember:
- Homework books will be sent home on Mondays and must be returned to school on Thursdays.
- Reading records must be signed by your parents on a daily basis and returned to school each day.
- On Fridays, we will have arithmetic and spelling tests based on the homework you have completed during the week.
- You will need to wear your PE kit on Thursdays this half-term.
Our Mission Statement and school prayer
Religious Education
“Love your neighbour as yourself.”
Luke 10:27
This half term, our focus is on Dialogue and Encounter. The children will be learning about the importance of treating everyone with dignity and respect, recognising that each person is unique and valued by God. They will explore how Christians are called to be good neighbours, reflecting on the story of the Good Samaritan and considering how they can show kindness and care in their own lives.
As part of our learning, the children will also develop their understanding of Judaism, making simple links between beliefs, worship and daily life. We will encourage thoughtful discussion, questioning and listening to others’ experiences, helping children to understand and respect people from different faiths and communities. Through this, we aim to nurture empathy, curiosity and a deep sense of respect for others.
Writing
During this term we will be focusing on using great language, punctuation and more complex sentence structures to write fiction and non-fiction texts based on high-quality texts. The texts we will use this term are:
- The Marvellous Fluffy Squishy Itty Bitty (Fiction)
- The Crow's Tale (Fiction)
- The Day the Crayons Quit (Non-fiction)
We will focus on the structure and elements that are characteristic of each genre (narrative, poetry, instructions and letter writing) in order to ensure each piece of writing is coherent and cohesive. As well as this, throughout their writing, the children will be encouraged to use new language and grammar to make their writing clear and engaging. They will also be taught to re-read their work and begin to check that it makes sense and to find any errors in spelling and punctuation, as well as ensure their presentation is up to a high standard. They will also continue to edit their work, often with a purple pen and identify areas where they can level up their sentences.
We will continue to practise our handwriting and the cursive script, checking that letters are all of a consistent size and ensuring capital letters and ascending letters are much taller and well-formed.
Reading
In Year 2 we begin our transition away from phonics to support us in becoming confident, fluent, life-long readers. Alongside the children's daily reading groups, we will have a whole-class reading lesson where we begin to think more deeply about the texts we read, as the children develop their fluency, prosody and comprehension skills. This term we will read extracts from a range of books and texts, including:
- My Dad's Thumb ( Michael Rosen)
Each day ends with story time, where the children are given the opportunity to immerse themselves in a class book read by the teacher. Children will also have plenty of opportunities to visit our school library, where they can explore a range of genres, discuss books they have read with others and find books written by authors they have discovered during the year.
Please see the link below which will take you to our literacy page. Here you will be able to access a range of documents and videos to help with the pronunciation of phonetical sounds to help your children with their reading.
Mathematics
Fractions
In this unit, children learn that fractions are equal parts of a whole. They explore sharing shapes and quantities into equal groups and learn to recognise and use simple fractions such as one half (1/2), one quarter (1/4) and one third (1/3). They begin to find fractions of amounts, for example, finding half of 6, and are introduced to non-unit fractions like 2/4 and 3/4. Children also learn that some fractions are equivalent, such as 2/4 being the same as 1/2, and practise counting in fractions up to a whole.
Time
In the unit of Time, the children in Year 2 develop their understanding of time by reading the time to the nearest 5 minutes on analogue clocks and using a.m. and p.m. They learn about minutes in an hour and hours in a day, and begin to compare and sequence intervals of time. Children also solve simple problems involving time, such as calculating durations and knowing key facts like the number of days in each month, helping them apply their learning to everyday situations.
Statistics
During this unit, children learn to collect, organise and interpret data. They explore different ways to present information, including tally charts, tables, pictograms and simple block diagrams. Children ask and answer questions about data, such as comparing amounts and finding totals. They begin to understand how data can be used to answer questions and solve problems, building confidence in reading and interpreting information presented in different formats.
Position and Direction
Finally, in this unit, the children describe position, direction and movement. They use language such as left, right, forwards, backwards, above and below to describe where objects are and how they move. Children also explore turns, including whole, half and quarter turns, and begin to describe movement in a clear and logical way. This helps them develop spatial awareness and apply their understanding to practical and real-life
In Year 2, we use base 10 representations to solve additions and subtractions. Below are two videos which show the method we use in class. When completing homework, please ensure your child uses this method and not others, as it is crucial for them to comprehend the reasoning behind regrouping and exchanging before moving on to using formal methods of addition and subtraction in Year 3.
Science
This half term in Science, the children will be learning about Scientists and Inventors and discovering how their work has shaped our everyday lives. They will explore the lives and achievements of significant figures such as Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Louis Pasteur and Charles Macintosh. We will learn about important scientific ideas such as health, hygiene, germs and materials. They will begin to understand how scientific discoveries help us stay healthy and solve everyday problems. The children will develop their skills in questioning, discussing and sharing what they have learned, while building curiosity about the world around them.
Geography
This half term in Geography, the children will be exploring our world through the topic Around the World. They will learn to locate continents and countries on a world map, beginning with Europe and then travelling to Asia, Australia, Africa, North and South America, and Antarctica.
Through engaging activities, the children will discover what different places are like, including their cultures, landmarks and ways of life. They will compare these places to the UK and begin to understand similarities and differences across the world. The children will develop their map skills, build geographical knowledge and share their learning through creative tasks such as postcards, fact files and discussions.
Art
In Art this half term, the children will be inspired by the work of artist Faith Ringgold and her beautiful story quilts. They will explore how stories can be told through pictures and fabric, learning how colours, patterns and images can communicate ideas and experiences.
The children will experiment with fabric collage techniques, joining materials together to create their own designs. They will then design a personal “story square” to represent something important to them before working collaboratively to create a class quilt. Throughout the unit, children will have opportunities to talk about their artwork, share their ideas, and listen respectfully to the creativity of others.
Addition without regrouping
Addition with regrouping
Subtraction with regrouping
In the website below you will find some great tools to help bring your learning to life using all the manipulatives we use in the classroom at home on your device!
https://whiteroseeducation.com/resources/digital-tools
By the end of Year 2, our children should be fluent in their knowledge of the 2, 5 and 10 multiplication and division facts. Please, ensure you revise these times tables with your child as often as possible to ensure their recollection of these multiplication facts is secure. The website below is free and it's a great way for the children to revise these independently:
Science
In this science unit 'Living things and their habitats', children learn about living things and the habitats they live in. They explore different types of habitats, such as woodlands, oceans and deserts, and begin to understand why animals and plants are suited to these environments. Children learn about basic needs for survival, including food, water and shelter, and how living things depend on each other within a habitat, including simple food chains. They also compare things that are living, dead and have never been alive, developing their understanding of the natural world through observation and simple investigations.
Other curriculum details
Please see links below for more details about the curriculum.
Homework
- Homework books will contain your weekly homework. They will be sent home on Mondays and must be returned to school on Thursdays.
- For those children still on Phonics, Phonic books will be sent home every Monday. The children must bring these to school each day for their small group reading sessions. Phonic books will change on a weekly basis.
- Reading records must be signed by your parents on a daily basis and returned to school each day.
- All spelling homework is now set online via Spelling Frame every Thursday. You will find your unique login for this in your reading records. Please make sure you are practising these at home each day to help you learn.
- On Fridays, we will have arithmetic and spelling tests based on the homework you have completed during the week.
Remember, if you get full marks on your spelling and arithmetic tests, you will earn a save for each!
Photos
Easter Bonnets Parade
Spring 2- Forest School
World Book Day 2026
Christmas Pyjamas & Movie Day
Autumn 2 Forest school session
Year 2 have really enjoyed their Forest school session this week. They've used a map of the school grounds to map different physical and human features that can be found in school. They have also had time to explore our forest school grounds and hang the bird feeders we made as part of our writing unit.
Bright Colours Day
As the dark nights are drawing in, the children have been learning about the importance of wearing bright/fluorescent clothing so that they can be seen, especially by traffic, when out and about. To encourage this we celebrated Bright Colours Day when, instead of wearing school uniform, the children were asked to come into school wearing bright clothing. Our class didn't disappoint!
Autumn 1 Forest school session
🌿 Forest School – Celebrating Creation 🌿
This week our children enjoyed their very first Forest School session, perfectly timed with the Catholic Church’s Month of Creation. Linking their learning in Science and RE, the children explored Living Things and their Habitats and reflected on the beauty of God’s Creation.
They discovered what animals need to survive and investigated how different creatures make their homes in our own school grounds. We built hedgehogs homes, a bug hotel and designed creation flags. Alongside this, they discussed the important concept of stewardship—understanding that God has entrusted us with caring for the world and all living things.
It was a joyful start to our Forest School journey, bringing faith and learning together in the great outdoors 🌎✨
Helpful links
Click on these extra links below to play some exciting maths games linked to your times tables.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/mental-maths-train
Follow the link below to read free eBooks online on the Oxford Owl library:
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
