Positive Penguins (Year 2)

Spring 1 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers,

Happy New Year to you all! We hope you have had a fantastic Christmas break! This half term our main topic is ‘Winter Wonderland’. This will focus mainly on Geography where we will revise our knowledge of the World from Y1 by answering questions about the countries which make up the UK and name their capital cities. The children will be comparing Barlborough with the Svalbard Islands in the Arctic looking particularly at seasonal weather patterns along with human and physical features. We will identify hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the North and South Pole and the Equator. The children will use an atlas to locate the 7 continents and oceans of the World. You could spend time with your child looking at an Atlas, Google Earth or a globe if you have one.

Reading and Spellings

The children will continue Twinkl Phonics which covers Y2 spelling rules right up to the end of Year 2. Alongside Twinkl Phonics, we use Rhino Reader Reading Books which align with Twinkl Phonics. They are fully decodable, exciting and cover a variety of topics which reflect our modern world. We will continue to send books home on a Friday and may send home some books already read before moving onto Level 6b. Children should read each book at least three times. Once for decoding, a second time to improve fluency and a third for comprehension. Please remember that the children will need to return their book on a Friday before being able to swap it for a new one. Lost books will incur a charge of £3.40.

The children will also be able to pick from the independent box and will have access to an online Mini Book linked to the sound we are learning using their Twinkl Login. Please ask if you need a reminder of your login.

In order to meet the expected standard for a Y2 reader, your child would need to be fluently reading and understanding the books stated below by the end of each term.

 We will continue working as a team to fill our Reading Reward Jar. The children need to read at home at least five times per week. It is important that an adult or older family member makes a note in your child’s Reading Diary after they have read. The diaries will be checked on a Friday morning and if your child has read five times, they will receive a marble to pop in our Reading Reward Jar. When the jar is full, we will celebrate with a Book Brunch where the children can bring in books from home to share with their classmates and delicious treats to share too.

A spelling overview for the half term was sent out on the last day of term. Please keep hold of it or take a photograph it.  Phonics lessons take place every day for 45 minutes. The children will apply their new skills in a Phonics Workbook everyday culminating in sentence dictation on a Friday where they will be challenged to write four sentences using the spelling rules for that week. Please try to support your child in learning their spellings as it impacts on their reading & writing attainment. Spellings will be tested on a Friday so please make sure your child has their red spelling book in school on a Friday. Our spelling tests are often delayed by children searching for their spelling books then getting scrap paper to use instead.  

Maths

Miss Edwards will finish addition and subtractions before moving onto our Multiplication and Division Unit of work covering the following objectives: Calculate mathematical statements for multiplication and division within the multiplication tables and write them using the multiplication (×), division (÷) and equals (=) signs

Recall and use multiplication and division facts for the 2, 5 and 10 multiplication tables, including recognising odd and even numbers.

Mrs Furniss will spend the first few weeks finishing off Money before starting Length and Height and covering the following objectives:

• Choose and use appropriate standard units to estimate and measure length/height in any direction (m/cm); to the nearest appropriate unit using rulers.
• Compare and order lengths record the results using >, < and =

 Science

This whole term the children will learn all about plants. If you have any plants at home that you would be happy to donate to us, I would love to fill the classroom with plants for the children to take care of. Our science targets this half term are:

Homework

Homework will always be set on a Friday and must be handed in by the following Wednesday.

Occasionally some children may bring home some extra work from the homework outlined above. This may be because they are working in an intervention group and need some extra practice at something or it may simply be that your child needs a little extra work on something they have not understood.

Further information:

Our P.E lessons will be on Mondays and Thursdays. The children are invited to come to school in their PE kit on those days. Children should not be wearing any jewellery on PE days. If your child is not able to take out their earrings, you must send them to school with earrings taped up on these days or provide tape that they can put on themselves.

Miss Edwards works on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Mrs Furniss works on a Thursday and Friday. PPA time will take place on a Wednesday for Miss Edwards and alternate Friday afternoons for Mrs Furniss. PPA will be covered by Mrs June Armstrong. Mrs Gilbert will work in the class full time and Miss Heath-Smith will be in Y2 every morning. 

We hope you have found this letter informative. If you have any questions about any of the above or any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact us via Dojo. If you have an important message which we need to be made aware of on the day, please contact the school office. We won’t always check Dojo if we are teaching, and we would hate to miss something important.

Wednesday – Homework Due in. There is a box in in the classroom to pop it in.

Friday – spelling test, change reading books, change library books and Must Reads.

Thank you

Mrs Furniss and Miss Edwards

Class Teachers

Curriculum Web and Topic Knowledge Organisers for this half term. 

Please take a look at the wonderful things we will be learning about this half term. 

Knowledge Organiser 

Please see below for this half terms spelling list

Key Vocabulary 

 Please see below the vocabulary that we will be using in class this half term.

Autumn 2 Newsletter

 Dear Parents/Carers,

Thank you for a fantastic first half term in Year 2. We have been so impressed by how often the children read at home, the amount of homework regularly completed and high weekly spelling scores. This is down to the support given to the children at home so thank you very much. We are lucky to have a great bunch of parents and a fantastic group of children. Autumn 2 is always an exciting term as it brings with it our Christmas Performance, Whole School Pantomime, Christmas Stalls and Christmas Party. We will send out more information about our Christmas events closer to the time.

This half term our main topic is ‘Light Explosions’. We will look at historical evidence and the reasons for the Gunpowder Plot. As many of you like to know what we are learning about at school so that you can help your child, we are sending home a topic web for your information. It really is beneficial to the children if you can support and reinforce their learning at home. If your child has any books or artefacts that support our topic and they would like to bring them into school then that would be wonderful.

 Maths

On a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Miss Edwards will continue teaching Addition and Subtraction. Throughout the unit, we will be working on the following objectives:

• Recall and use addition and subtraction facts to 20 fluently, and derive and use related facts up to 100.
• Add and subtract numbers using concrete objects, pictorial representations, and mentally, including: a 2-digit number and 1s, a 2-digit number and 10s, two 2-digit numbers and adding three 1-digit numbers
• Compare and order numbers from 0 up to 100; use and = signs

On a Thursday and Friday, Mrs Furniss will teach Money whilst reinforcing number fluency.

• Recognise and use symbols for pounds (£) and pence (p); combine amounts to make a particular value
• Solve simple problems in a practical context involving addition and subtraction of money of the same unit, including giving change

It is really important that the children can recognise coins and notes so please familiarise your children with them over half term. The children have learnt to recognise coins in Y1 so should just need a quick reminder.

Supporting videos are available at: https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-2/ should you wish to do some additional work with your child at home.

We really recommend the White Rose 1 Minute Maths app which is available on the Apple Store, Google Play and Amazon Kindle.

Reading & Spelling

We will be moving the children onto Rhino Readers Level 6a after the half term holiday. The children will also be able to pick from the independent box and will have access to an online Mini Book linked to the sound we are learning using their Twinkl Login. Children should read each book at least three times. Once for decoding, a second time to improve fluency and a third for comprehension.

To encourage your child to read at home, we have a class reading reward. The children need to read at home at least five times per week. It is important that an adult or older family member makes a note in your child’s Reading Diary after they have read. The diaries will be checked on a Friday morning and if your child has read five times, they will receive a marble to pop in our Reading Reward Jar. When the jar is full, we will celebrate with a Book Brunch.

Again, thank you for your support in learning these spellings, the children are regularly scoring full marks. They also have table mats with the Y2 common exception words written in alphabetic order. Any new or challenging words which are used in a story map are displayed around the classroom for the children to refer to.

Science

Each half term your child will be working on specific science targets that go with their current unit of work. Our science targets this half term are:

Homework

Homework will always be set on a Friday and must be returned by the following Wednesday. We have a box for homework in the classroom so it can be handed in earlier if it’s completed over the weekend. Homework should be completed in pencil and should be of an acceptable standard. We alternate between a maths booklet and a reading comprehension booklet. We also send home an additional spelling worksheet to support the upcoming week in phonics.

Further information:

Our P.E lessons will be on Mondays and Thursdays. The children are invited to come to school in their PE kit on those days. Children should not be wearing any jewellery on PE days. If your child is not able to take out their earrings, you must send them to school with earrings taped up on these days or provide tape that they can put on themselves.

Miss Edwards works on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Mrs Furniss works on a Thursday and Friday. PPA time will take place on a Wednesday and alternate Friday afternoons for Mrs Furniss. PPA will be covered by Mrs June Armstrong. Mrs Gilbert will work in the class full time and Miss Heath-Smith will be in Y2 every morning.

We hope you have found this letter informative. If you have any questions about any of the above or any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact us via Dojo. If you have an important message which we need to be made aware of on the day, please contact the school office. We won’t always check Dojo if we are teaching, and we would hate to miss something important.

Wednesday – Homework Due in. There is a box in in the classroom to pop it in.

Friday – spelling test, change reading books, change library books and Must Reads.

Key Dates for Year 2:

• Monday 11th November to Friday 15th November -Anti-Bullying Week “Choose Respect”
•  Monday 11th November – Armistice Commemorations 
• Tuesday 12th November - Odd Socks Day (Anti-Bullying Week)
• Friday 15th November -Children in Need Day 
• Friday 22nd November and Friday 29th November- Christmas Enterprise days and Christmas stalls (29th)
•  Friday 29th November- Christmas Wreath Making Pack Collection (After school)
  
  DECEMBER 2024
•  Thursday 5th December- Reception Nativity Book and Story Telling to Parents
• Sunday 8th December- PTA Christmas Fair- (Starting 1pm) 
• Monday 9th December- Whole School Pantomime 
• Wednesday 11th December - Nativity for KS1 parents (Starting at 9.45 am)
• Thursday 12th December - Nativity for KS1 parents (Starting at 1.45)
• Thursday 12th December – Christmas Jumper Day
• Monday 16th December - Christmas Lunch
• Wednesday 18th December – Class Christmas Parties (KS1)
• Thursday 19th December – Class Christmas Parties (KS2)
• Thursday 19th December – PTA Disco (KS1 3.30pm-4.45pm KS2- 5pm- 6.15pm)
• Friday 20th December – Last day of term

Thank you

Mrs Furniss and Miss Edwards

Y2 Class Teachers

Curriculum Web and Topic Knowledge Organisers for this half term. 

Please take a look at the wonderful things we will be learning about this half term. 

Knowledge Organiser 

Please see below for this half terms spelling list

Autumn 1 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers,

 Welcome back to the start of a new academic year. We hope you had a lovely summer break. We would like to invite you to a Welcome to Year 2 meeting on Thursday 12^th September at 5pm in the Y2 classroom. The meeting will give you the opportunity to meet the both of us, see the classroom and ask us any questions you have.

This half term our main topic is ‘Barnaby Bear’s Highland Adventure’. We will learn where Scotland is, the features of Scotland and look at some of the traditions and landmarks of the country.

As many of you like to know what we are learning about at school so that you can help your child, we are sending home a topic web for your information. It really is beneficial to the children if you can support and reinforce their learning at home, below you will see some of the topic words your child will be introduced to this half term. Please discuss these with your children and encourage them to use the words at home. If your child has any books or artefacts that support our topic and they would like to bring them into school then that would be wonderful.

Maths

We will continue to follow the White Rose Maths scheme which the children began in Y1. During the first half term, Miss Edwards will teach Place Value on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Mrs Furniss will teach shape on a Thursday and Friday.  

Supporting videos are available at: https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-2/  should you wish to learn more about how we teach maths in Year 2.  

We really recommend the White Rose 1 Minute Maths app which is available for free on the Apple Store, Google Play and Amazon Kindle.

Reading and Spelling

The children will continue Twinkl Phonics which covers Y2 spelling rules right up to the end of Year 2. Alongside Twinkl Phonics, we use Rhino Reader Reading Books which align with Twinkl Phonics. They are fully decodable, exciting and cover a variety of topics which reflect our modern world. We will continue to send new books home on a Friday, just as the children did in Y1. Children should read each book at least three times. Once for decoding, a second time to improve fluency and a third for comprehension. The children will continue on 5c until we have covered the initial sounds of 6a and then we will begin handing those out to the children. Level 6 Rhino Reader books are quite long so we don’t expect the children to read the whole book in one sitting. However, we know that some children will get through their book quite quickly so we will leave a box of our old reading books outside the classroom on a Monday and Friday for either you or the children to independently borrow. As the Rhino Readers are brand new and we have a limited number of books, the children will need to return their book on a Friday before being able to swap it for a new one. Lost books will incur a charge of £3.40.

 The children will receive a new reading book on Friday 6^th September.

 In order to meet the expected standard for a Y2 reader, your child would need to be fluently reading and understanding the books stated below by the end of each term.

We can’t emphasise enough what a difference regular reading makes to your child’s development. It has the single biggest impact on their progress across the curriculum. To encourage your child to read at home, we have a class reading reward. The children need to read at home at least five times per week. It is important that an adult or older family member makes a note in your child’s Reading Diary after they have read. The diaries will be checked on a Friday morning and if your child has read five times, they will receive a marble to pop in our Reading Reward Jar. When the jar is full, we will celebrate with a Book Brunch where the children can bring in books from home to share with their classmates and delicious treats to share too. We usually buy a new book linked to the children’s interest to use as a class reading book too. Reading Diaries will be checked on Fridays from Friday 13^th September.  

 A spelling overview for the half term will be sent out on Friday 13^th September so please keep hold of this.  Y2 Phonics lessons will begin w/c 16^th September and take place every day for 45 minutes. The children will apply their new skills in a Phonics Workbook everyday culminating in sentence dictation on a Friday where they will be challenged to write four sentences using the spelling rules for that week. Please try to support your child in learning their spellings as it impacts on their reading & writing attainment. Spellings will be tested on a Friday so please make sure your child has their red spelling book in school on a Friday (They will be given a new one for Y2).

Science

This half term we will be learning about ‘Living Things & Habitats’. Children will look at living, dead and things that have never lived. They will also name a variety of animals and look at how their habitats meet their needs.

Each half term your child will be working on specific science targets that go with their current unit of work. Our science targets this half term are:

Homework

Homework will always be set on a Friday and must be returned by the following Wednesday. We have a box for homework in the classroom so it can be handed in earlier if it’s completed over the weekend. Homework should be completed in pencil and should be of an acceptable standard. We alternate between a maths booklet and a reading comprehension booklet. We also send home an additional spelling worksheet to support the upcoming week in phonics.

Occasionally, some children may bring home some extra work from the homework outlined above. This may be because they are working in an intervention group and need some extra practice at something, or it may simply be that your child needs a little extra work on something they have not understood.

 Further information:

Our P.E lessons will be on Mondays and Thursdays. The children are invited to come to school in their PE kit on those days. Children should not be wearing any jewellery on PE days. If your child is not able to take out their earrings, you must send them to school with earrings taped up on these days or provide tape that they can put on themselves.

Miss Edwards works on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Mrs Furniss works on a Thursday and Friday. PPA time will take place on a Wednesday and Friday afternoon and will be covered by Mrs June Armstrong. Mrs Gilbert will work in the class full time except for Friday mornings. Miss Heath-Smith will be in Y2 every morning.  

We hope you have found this letter informative. If you have any questions about any of the above or any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact us via Dojo. If you have an important message which we need to be made aware of on the day, please contact the school office. We won’t always check Dojo if we are teaching, and we would hate to miss something important.

Wednesday – Homework Due in. There is a box in in the classroom to pop it in.

Friday – spelling test, change reading books, change library books and Must Reads.

Thank you

Mrs Furniss and Miss Edwards

 Class Teachers

Curriculum Web Autumn 1

Please take a look at the wonderful things we will be learning about this half term

Knowledge Organiser Autumn 1

Please see below for this half terms spelling list

Key Vocabulary 

 Please see below the vocabulary that we will be using in class this half term.