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Holgate Primary and Nursery

Holgate Primary and Nursery

Year 2

Welcome to Year 2

Miss Baker

(2EB Class Teacher & SENCO)

Mr Gleave

(2DG Class Teacher)

Mrs Hicklin

Miss Willett

Mrs Morgan

Mrs Scothern

To find out more information about Mr Gleave and Miss Baker, please see their 'Meet the Teacher' sheets at the bottom of this page. 

Key Days in Year 2 are: 

  • PE  in Y2 takes place on a Monday and Tuesday.

Learning in Year 2

Year 2 is another big milestone. As the final year of KS1 the children are encouraged to work more independently. At this age, most children will have improved their ability to coordinate movement and their language/speech will be increasingly complex and grammatically correct, so it’s an exciting year for children, parents and teachers. .

Like all year groups, Year 2 has government statutory schemes of learning to follow. The children will be assessed throughout and at the end of the year to see if they have reached the expected standard. All children are supported and are given extra support and guidance if needed. Year 2 is also the year of the Key Stage 1 (KS1) end-of-year attainment tests known as SATS, which mark the end of their KS1 journey.

 

Our Year 2 Learning:

 

During the Autumn term, our Year 2 children will explore a Vehicle called ‘Save our Oceans.’  This Curriculum Vehicle has a focus on the children learning about conservation, pollution and how we can look after our world better. They will learn about recycling and reducing through a wide range of texts and the damage that pollution can cause to animal habitats as packaging is discarded.  The children will explore the oceans and the impact of pollution exploring Australia as a non-European study and the impact of plastic on the Great Barrier Reef. The children will work with local conservation groups to litter pick in a local conservation area to learn about being a good citizen in our community and how we can play in a role in global improvements.

 

After Christmas, the children will learn through a Vehicle called ‘Gruesome Germs’ which includes a study of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. The children will be working towards delivering their own workshop about health and safety – with a specific focus on First Aid and will be supported with this learning through a careers link visit from a nurse who will teach the children basic first aid skills including CPR, how to bandage wounds, how to make a 999 call and make a sling. This Vehicle will focus on changes in modern day medicine and children will use this knowledge to compare modern day medicine to that used during the time of Florence Nightingale. 

 

In Spring 2, children in Year 2 will study the Vehicle ‘London’s Burning’ through which they will learn about London as the capital city of the UK and how this compares to their local area. Through History lessons and a visit from Partake Theatre Company, the children will complete a study of the types of houses during the time of the Great Fire of London in 1666. As a part of this vehicle, Year 2 children will look at those careers involved in the fire service and will meet members of the local fire crew to discuss the job that they do and the pathways into this role. To bring all of their learning together, children will create a video news report on the Great Fire of London, including the impact on today’s society with reference to firefighting, buildings and notable people, e.g Sir Christopher Wren, King James I.  This will be shared with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue.

Finally, in the Summer term, our Year 2 children will learn through the Curriculum Vehicle ‘Let's get Growing’ which includes a trip to Brackenhurst. This Vehicle will build upon the Science learning about plants in Year 1 and will look at the job of a horticulturalist and how these interact with chefs as they learn the Science knowledge needed to grow vegetables and herbs used to create their own Pizzas. In Geography, the children will look at different areas in the world where farming is the main source of food and how landscapes can impact on this. The learning from this vehicle will culminate in a Design and Technology unit through which they will develop their chopping and peeling skills to design, make and evaluate healthy Pizzas.

English (Writing, Reading and Phonics)

  • Phonics remains a big part of Year 2. The children will continue to work on the phonics they started in Year 1, aiming to read words by sight without having to sound them out. They will learn further spelling patterns and rules, and begin to apply those in their writing. They will look at the possessive apostrophe, homophones, and near-homophones and suffixes. For more information about our phonics progression, please visit our Phonics page. *please note that our phonics progressions has involved significant catch up sessions. 
  • In their English sessions, children will use quality texts to develop their understanding of writing. They will produce extended written outcomes. We encourage the children to explore a wider range of texts and stories. The children will develop their understanding of sentence structure for example, they will begin to look at subordinate clauses. For more information on our English curriculum, visit our Curriculum page. 
  • There is a big focus on handwriting with children encouraged to form their letters correctly, learn which letters are to be joined and make letters a consistent size.

Maths

Mathematics in Year 2 focuses on the 2, 5, and 10 times tables, and they will learn multiplication and division facts for these tables. Children in Year 2 will also learn to add and subtract with two-digit and one-digit numbers.

In fractions, they will find ⅓, ¼, ½, and ¾ of a shape or a quantity of objects. They will study measures, including weight, capacity, and length, and they will learn to tell the time to five minutes. They will also study properties of 2D and 3D shapes, as well as a range of data-handling methods such as bar charts and pictograms.

We employ the ‘mastery’ style of teaching concentrating on breadth of knowledge, and Year 2 are encouraged to use their understanding of the new concepts to solve challenges to deepen their understanding.

If you want to see how Year 2 at Holgate are taught to apply different calculation techniques in maths, click here to view videos support guides. 

The Wider Curriculum

We teach our wider curriculum through a mix of discreet (stand-alone) sessions and those taught through the curriculum vehicle. For more information on our Curriculum Offer, please visit our Curriculum pages.