Year 2
Welcome to Year 2!
Welcome to our Year 2 class page. Here you will find all the information you will need for your child's year group and it will give you an overview of what to expect from Year 2 over the coming year.
Reading and Reading Books
Children still following the Read Write Inc programme are assigned phonics books to read at home and books linked to their phonics lessons, to read online. The logins for the phonics books from https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ can be found in the children’s reading records (on the inside front cover). A new book will be assigned once they have completed the corresponding phonics lessons in school.
Children who have moved on from the Read Write Inc phonics programme will also be able to access reading for pleasure texts from the Oxford Owl website.
A second book will also be sent home. This is a general reading book to expose your child to a range of fiction and non-fiction books this is a book children choose themselves. This book should not be too challenging and is to help promote confidence and a love of reading. However, if you wish to add more variety to your child’s reading diet, reading books of your preference alongside our books are always welcome.
General home reading books should be returned to school daily and once fully read, it will be changed. Books will only be changed if an adult has signed to say their child has read the book. Please make sure that your child has their reading books and reading record in school every day so that we can listen to them read and change books when needed.
In school, more challenging texts will be explored during Guided Reading sessions where we focus on developing vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarising skills. The children have whole class Guided Reading daily. We also listen to them reading regularly.
When reading with your child remember to:
- Encourage children to sound out difficult words and look for groups of letters that go together e.g. igh, ow, ai, ee, ou, ar, or, ng.
- Ensure children understand the story. Ask them questions throughout and make sure they understand the vocabulary and punctuation used in the story.
- Check the children know features of stories such as the author, illustrator, blurb, title etc.
Reading is very important and if you want to read more books throughout the week, Year 2 have a login to Oxford Owl. Children can also access a range of audio books on Epic https://www.getepic.com/
Independent learning
Children can access a range of online platforms to support their learning at home. These online resources are an excellent way of consolidating learning, which has taken place in class. Individual log-ins for each site are stuck onto the inside cover of their Reading Record.
- Spelling Shed https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb Spelling lists are available for your child to practise spellings taught in school. These lists are updated regularly.
- TTRockstars https://ttrockstars.com/ (The children need to know their x2, x5 and x10 confidently by the end of Year 2)
- Numbots https://play.numbots.com/#/intro
These sites are regularly monitored and in-school incentives are awarded for children who regularly practise their spellings and maths facts.
Deepening Understanding https://www.deepeningunderstanding.co.uk/ and Purple Mash https://www.purplemash.com/sch/stmaryssk16 are also used in school but usually in class. However, there may be an occasion that work will be set for home on these platforms.
Uniform and PE Kit
Please make sure your child’s name is written into all items of uniform, coats and P.E kit. This makes identification of lost items so much easier. The school uniform consists of a navy blue sweater or cardigan, white shirt and tie with grey school trousers, pinafore dress or skirt. Grey tights can be worn by girls (as part of winter uniform). Dark blue gingham dress (Summer Uniform for girls). As always, we encourage the children to come to school looking smart, with shirts tucked in, top buttons fastened and black sensible shoes. Trainers and boots are not allowed. Nails should be clean and free of nail varnish. Earrings should not be worn on P.E days and long hair should be tied back.
PE lessons are held on two afternoons a week (the day depending on each half term). P.E. uniform is: white T-shirt, navy blue shorts and plimsolls (pumps). A P.E. bag is required to store P.E. kit. Beach or play clothes are not suitable. It saves a lot of worry if all items of clothing are clearly labelled with your child’s name. We expect children to be able to dress and undress themselves for P.E. (help will be given to young children if necessary). Children can bring an outdoor P.E uniform for the colder seasons. This needs to be a warm navy or black tracksuit, free from any logos/sporting clubs.
Snacks & Packed Lunches
As a healthy school, we encourage the children to eat a wide range of healthy snacks and lunches. In Key Stage One, fruit and vegetables are provided for playtime snacks. Your child will need to bring a bottle of water, clearly labelled, for drinks during the day.
Please follow our school Twitter feed, to share in the wonderful work going on in school @StMarysDuk
Class Dojo
We use Class DoJo to set online learning, share examples of good work and share whole school messages. Please ensure that you are linked in to our class page.
To further enhance the children’s learning experience, if you have any photographs or video clips of any interesting or exciting activities completed at home or anywhere outside of school that you would like to share with us, please upload them on to Class Dojo.
We are really looking forward to working with you and your child over the coming year. With your help and support, each child will be able to fully access their learning in order to achieve their full potential.
Thank you for your continuing support,