Meet the teachers 2023-24

Autumn 1 Curriculum Newsletter

Home Learning Term 1 – Capital Cities

Autumn 2 Curriculum Newsletter

Home Learning Term 2 – Treasure Hunters

 

Curriculum documents:

Year 2 Spellings: The children will be tested on these 3 times a year

Year 2 Common Exception Words

Year 2 Curriculum statements: These are the expectations for Yr 2 for the end of the year

Yr 2 Reading comprehension

Yr 2 Reading word reading – spoken language

Yr 2 Writing composition

Yr 2 Writing spelling handwriting

Yr 2 Writing

Yr 2 Maths- Number Place Value Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division

Yr 2 Maths Properties of Shape Statistics Measurement

Handwriting

Handwriting skills in Year 2 are taught regularly and systematically through the use of the PENPALS Handwriting scheme (Cambridge University Press).

Five stages are identified and these form the basic organisation of the scheme:

 1.Readiness for writing: gross and fine motor skills leading to letter formation(Pre-school and Reception)

 2.Beginning to join (Upper KS1)

 3.Securing joins (Lower KS2)

4.Practising speed and fluency (KS2)

 5.Presentation skills (KS2)

 Exploring Cogenhoe

24/11/23

Linked to our current theme of Treasure Hunters, we explored Cogenhoe using two different maps and learnt about the history of some of the place names. We had a wonderful time and saw our village in a different light. In our Literacy lessons, we wrote a persuasive posters to encourage readers to look for lost items. As we are rehearsing our Nativity play, we discussed how kindness is shown in the story. In Maths, we investigated 3D shapes and their properties.

Year 2 Goes Wild!

17/11/23

What a week! An incredible day on Tuesday when we met Steve Backshall and learnt more about wildlife and the environment, when he opened our Forest School. We took part in Anti-Bullying and Odd Sock activities throughout the week and created our own Odd Socks washing line. To celebrate Diwali, we took part in a dance workshop which helped to retell the story of Rama and Sita – our teachers were the judges and we were top of the Cogenhoe Leader Board. In Science, we continued to explore our Solar System. Our Nativity play is coming nicely, but remember that costumes need to be in by 23rd November in a labelled bag.

A Time to Remember

10/11/23

Firstly, an apology as last week’s post about Explorer week has disappeared, so we have included some photos from the previous week too. Clearly there were more than just spooky characters going on last week!

This week, we focussed on remembrance and why this is a time for reflection each year. We were very lucky to have a special assembly with Miss Fraser, who brought in some of Grandfather’s war items. Later in the day, we used watercolours to create some stunning images of poppies and watched the CBeebies Poppies animation. We explored compasses and directions this week, which we were very good at – no need for Sat Navs when Year 2 are around! In Science, we continued to travel deep into space and continued to journey with Pirate Tom in our Talk for Writing sessions. Nativity practice is in full swing now, with our first run through with all our lines! Remember if you have problems with any of the costumes, please let one of the team know.

Mrs Reeve needs lots of small cardboard boxes please, for an activity linked to maps – it’s going to be very exciting.

Thank you in advance.

Forest School Fun

20/10/23

End of term saw our last Forest School session, where we made smores and evaluated our time in there – we can’t wait to return next year. We completed our Hot Write on non-chronological reports all about sea turtles; we even amazed some guests with the facts that we have learnt. We also finished our term of cricket coaching with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club – perhaps we have a budding player who will be playing in a future World Cup. In PSHE, we discussed scenarios about how to be a good friend and what happens when you are not a good friend.

We’ve had a wonderful term to start Year 2, with plenty more to come. Next term’s spellings are already set on Spelling Shed, all documents about next term are at the top of the class page. Remember our Explorer Day is on Wednesday 1st November.

Mrs Reeve, Miss Noble and Miss R

 

 

Loopy for looms

13/10/23

We celebrated our whole school Art Day by looking at the skill and art of weaving. We absolutely loved it and want to do more. We learnt a bit of history linked to weaving and looms and then made our own creations. We looked after our Mental Health this week by identifying our Trusted 5 at home and school and discussed our worries and what we can do it we have one. We used the wonderful book by Tom Percival – Ruby’s Worry and created our own worry monsters. In Literacy, we planned our Hot Write about Sea Turtles and finished our work linked to the artist Stephen Wiltshire.

 

The Great UK Bake Off

06/10/23

Move over the Great British Bake Off, this week in Year 2 we had the Great UK Bake Off, we were the judges of Soda Bread, Shortbread, Scones and Welsh Cakes. We had a great afternoon of testing and tasting and established which baked product came from which country. To celebrate Black History Month, we explored the work of the phenomenal Stephen Wiltshire and began to imitate his work. In our Talk for Writing lessons, we looked at different animal non-fiction texts and their layout and features, and also complimented this with our Book Talk sessions. We continued our Computing Week, by looking at the uses of IT and how to use it safely.

 

Patron Saints and National Anthems

29/09/23

We have been very patriotic in Year 2 this week, by exploring the patron saints and national anthems. Linked to PSHE, we also thought about our feelings as we listened to the different national anthems and when we would hear the anthems. In Literacy, we moved onto looking at non-chronological reports and wrote our Cold Writes about how to look after a puppy – we even took a quiz to see if we could look after a puppy! We had another wonderful time in Forest School when we printed using leaves to create some wonderful artwork.

Thank you Ranger Stu!

22/09/23

There may have been a lot of rain this week, but we did have the rainforest visit us! Ranger Stu visited our classroom thanks to the wonderful PTA. He brought some amazing creatures with him, including: a bearded dragon, python, tarantula, armadillo and an animal called a tenrec…you have to ask the children about this incredible creature – Mrs Reeve and Miss R loved this animal, as did all of the class. In Literacy, we explored nouns, adjectives and verbs and understood how to put commas in a list. Maths continued with place value and in Topic we compared the different capital cities of the UK. In all weather, we visited the Forest School, so make sure to always have the right clothing, especially coats.

The children are progressing well in their Book Talk sessions, and would to show you their reading at home. Make sure to write comments in their Reading Diaries, as they love sharing and it is lovely to see others’ comments too.

 

Forest School Fun

15/09/23

Another wonderful week of exploring, including our first trip into the Forest School. We explored our feelings in PSHE this week, and recalled times when we had felt a certain way. This link to our Book Talk session, where we looked at the feelings and emotions expressed in our different books. This week’s Phonics and Spellings revisited the digraphs: ie, ou, ay and ea. We designed our own emblems and located the different capital cities of the UK in our Topic lessons. Although it may be coming to the end of the cricket season, we started our cricket lessons with the Steelbacks’ Community Coaches.

Remember, it is our postponed Sports Day next week – information has been sent to emails.

 

Going on a journey

08/09/23

What a fabulous start to Year 2! We’ve been on several journeys this week already. In our Talk for Writing unit, we have learnt the story of Little Charlie and his journey to the Lighthouse. We then went on a bus journey around the UK, visiting the capital cities of Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast, looking at some of the major landmarks. We discovered how important our school value of Courage is and explored times when we have shown courage. In Maths, we looked at place value within 20 using different types of manipulatives. In our Phonics and Spelling lessons, we focussed on the trigraphs ear, air, ure and th, qu, j. The children were introduced to SPAG Monster, but before they went onto the laptops, we had an Online Safety lessons. All passwords and logins are at the front of the children’s Reading Diary. PE this term will be split over Wednesday and Thursday, while the other half of the class will be completing Forest School with Mrs Minney. On Fridays, we are very lucky to have a cricket coach in to teach the children this term.

Here’s to more fabulous weeks in Year 2 to come.