Year 2 Blog

Welcome back to school! We really missed you over the break. We hope you have had a lovely rest and are ready to work hard this half-term.

English

Phonics

We will continue to have Phonics in our classes every day, which will follow the outlined plan from the ELS (Essential Letters and Sounds) programme. We will also have ELS Spelling sessions in our classes and these will help us with the writing that we will be doing in class.

Reading

We will be exploring a range of texts this half term including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We will continue to use our reciprocal reading skills of prediction, questioning, clarifying and summarising to further support our understanding of the texts we will read.

Writing

We will be writing a variety of different texts this term, focusing on developing the writing skills the children have already learnt this year. We will be writing and performing interviews linked to our History topic, ‘How did we learn to fly’. The children will be writing their own interview questions for Neil Armstong, so they can find out what it was like to fly to the moon. We will also be writing short setting descriptions based on inspirational video clips. The children will also be writing a narrative.

Things to try at home:

Please continue to hear your child read as often as you can and read to your child, discussing the books that you are sharing.

You can also conduct your own interviews at home with different family and friends. Encourage your children to write down their questions and practice their handwriting.

Maths

In our Maths lessons we will be working on the following areas:

Statistics

• Interpret and construct simple pictograms, tally charts, block diagrams and simple tables

• Ask and answer simple questions by counting the number of objects in each category and sorting the categories by quantity

• Ask and answer questions about totalling and comparing categorical data.

Fractions

• Recognise, find, name and write fractions , , and  of a length, shape, set of objects or quantity

• Write simple fractions for example, of 6 = 3

• Recognise the equivalence of and .

Things to try at home:

Practise making your own tally charts and pictograms at home, using items around the house or items you collect on a walk.

Science

Our topic this term, will be based on Animals, including humans. We will be working on the following areas:

• Notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults

• Find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air)

• Describe the importance for humans of exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food, and hygiene.

Things to try at home:

Discuss the importance of hygiene and establish routines for keeping clean eg brushing teeth and hand washing.
Get outside and go for a walk to the local park if you can!

Foundation subjects

Our focus in foundation this half term is D.T. and History.

In D.T., we will be focusing on the topic ‘Freestanding Structures’.  This includes:

• Identifying man-made and natural structures.

• Identifying stable and unstable structural shapes.

• Identifying features that make a chair stable.

• Working independently to make a stable structure, following a demonstration.

• Explain how their ideas would be suitable for a throne.

• Produce a model that supports an object, using the appropriate materials and construction techniques.

• Explain how they made their model strong, stiff and stable.

In History, our new topic is called ‘How did we learn to fly?’. We will be learning about key historic figures and important events surrounding the history of flight. This is a very exciting topic in which we learn about significant people such as Neil Armstrong, Bessie Coleman and Amelia Earhart. Other skills include:

• Identifying important events surrounding the history of flight.

• Explaining how a significant event has changed the lives of others.

• Asking questions about people and events in the past.

• Using primary sources to find out about people and events in the past.

• Correctly ordering five events on a timeline.

Music

In Music, we will be exploring ‘Myths and Legends’. We will be focusing on keeping the rhythm. We will also be producing our own rhythms by thinking about structure and patterns.

Computing

In Computing, we will continue to learn about how to stay safe online. We will be thinking about screen time and how it affects our bodies and our health. We will then move onto our exciting stop motion animation topic where we will be creating our own animation project. The key skills we will focus on are:

• creating a flip book animation.

• decomposing a story into smaller parts to plan a stop motion animation.

• creating stop motion animations with small changes between images.

P.E./Sports:

We will be exploring some of the different sporting skills in our new topic Athletics. Where the children will focus on improving their speed when running and their throwing skills when using a shotput. In bowling, the children will be using their hand eye coordination to bowl down a set of pins.

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit. Where possible, we will be conducting P.E. lessons outside so school sweatshirts/cardigans should be worn over P.E. t-shirts. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days: 

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option. 

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson. 

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to. 

P.E. Kit reminder 

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils in Year 2 should come to school in their P.E. kit. 

Indoor and outdoor P.E. lessons (during warm weather): 

• Plain white t-shirt. 

• Plain black/grey shorts (or leggings if required). 

• Black pumps/plimsoles (slip-on or velcro) or appropriate trainers (suitable for sport, not fashion trainers). 

Outdoor P.E. lessons (during cold weather): 

• Plain white t-shirt. 

• Plain black/grey tracksuit bottoms (normal fit, not 'flared') or leggings. 

• School sweatshirts/cardigans to be worn over P.E. t-shirt. 

The following items are not appropriate: 

• Football (or other sports) kits or tops. 

• Hoodies, jackets or non-school sweatshirts. 

• Coloured t-shirts or t-shirts with slogans or pictures on. 

• Coloured shorts or shorts with patterns or pictures on.

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should wear their school jumper/cardigan over their P.E. kit. No additional hoodies, jumpers, sweatshirts or jackets should be worn. 

All P.E. kit must be labelled with your child's name and class. 

R.E.

In our R.E. lessons, we will be learning about different places where people go to pray. The lessons will explore places of worships within the Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Sikh and Alevi worldviews. The children will be able to identify some features of a mosque, church and a synagogue.

P.S.H.E.

In P.S.H.E. lessons, we will be learning about economic wellbeing. We will learn about where money comes from and how banks and cards help to manage money.

Learning at Home

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please follow us for updates - use the buttons below. 

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack is available to download using the button below. Please let us know if a paper copy is required. 

You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below. 

As you know, the weather is starting to get a little warmer. Please can we ask that you send your child to school with a water bottle and summer hat.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support,
Year 2 team

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter)!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

As this term comes to a close, it’s a perfect time to pause and reflect on all the wonderful moments and achievements we have experienced during Spring 2. This term has been a whirlwind of learning, laughter and growth.

Aspire

During Spring 2, the children have shown our aspire characteristics - resilience, determination, decisiveness and curiosity - in every aspect of school life. In Maths, the children tackled the topic of length and height with determination, using their curiosity to measure objects around the classroom and compare different units. Their ability to think critically and make decisive choices was very impressive. We were able to use those skills to solve the case of ‘Who stole Tiny?’. In P.E., their resilience shone through during football lessons, where they developed teamwork and co-ordination skills. I am also very impressed with their determination to improve their multiplication recall of the 2, 5 and 10 times tables.

Inspire

The children showed our inspire characteristics positivity, creativity, enthusiasm, and trust whilst completing a range of activities this term. Our Science lessons about living things and their habitats, were filled with curiosity and enthusiasm as the children explored different environments and the animals that live in them. They approached their investigations with positivity, asking thoughtful questions and eagerly sharing their discoveries. This learning carried over into our English lessons, where they used their creativity to write a detailed non-chronological report about habitats. It was wonderful to see their growing confidence in structuring information and using technical vocabulary. Through collaborative research and discussions, they demonstrated great trust in each other’s ideas, working together to create informative and engaging pieces of writing.

Teamwork

In 2A, it has been lovely to see how the children have shown a sense of community, respect, consideration, and equality this term. Learning about the U.K. monarchs and castles in History sparked a wonderful sense of community in our classroom, as the children worked together to explore the past. We all had a lovely time visiting Warwick castle. They showed great respect when discussing historical figures, recognising the impact of different monarchs and the significance of castles in shaping the country’s history. In Art, their consideration for each other’s ideas was evident as they experimented with mixing colours and creating different textures using a range of materials. We thoroughly enjoyed using our techniques to create different artistic collages of sea creatures. Through teamwork and shared creativity, they demonstrated equality, ensuring that everyone’s contributions were valued and celebrated in their final masterpieces.

Wishing everyone a joyful and restful break. See you all next term for more learning and fun!

Miss Ashmore x

Thank you for joining us again and welcome to our blog.

Aspire

Pupils are continuing to have a lot of fun, learning and playing. There’s a buzz about the summer arriving but there’s a lot to be said first about the recent Spring half-term. Pupils have shown a lot of resilience and determination in their work this half-term. In English and Phonics, pupils have been developing their writing abilities to explore narrative structures and descriptive techniques when writing recounts. Pupils have also been enjoying our class story ‘Adventure Mice. It’s lovely to share stories at the end of the day. We call it ‘Yardley Loves Reading’ time! And what a superb World Book Day we had. There were so many incredible costumes and a real love for reading across the day. Pupils were curious about my favourite books, so I read one of my classroom favourites: ‘Mr. Cool’ – check it out! Thank you to all the parents who attended our Year 2 Handwriting and Spelling workshop. We hope you left with an understanding of what your child is taught at school, and we hope you enjoyed learning with them.

Inspire

In Maths, pupils have been displaying much positivity for their learning, enjoying working on their skills of multiplication, division and measurements. Please continue to work on times tables at home, specifically the 2’s, 5’s, 10’s and 3’s. Recently, pupils have taken home their ‘Times Tables Rock Stars’ log-in details. Pupils can log on via the website or app and it’s an incredible way to learn the tables. It’s encouraged throughout school and will continue to be recommended by teachers going forward, too. Find it at TTRockstars.com and continue to spread the enthusiasm at home. In other subjects, pupils have enjoyed getting outside to play football and tennis during better weather. Do take your child to the park in the Easter holiday for them to show you what they’ve learned. In History pupils have been learning about the monarchy, including the dramatic story of The Battle of Hastings, as told by the Bayeux Tapestry. Pupils even found space to display some creativity in History by acting out the coronation of King Charles. In Science, we’ve enjoyed learning more about food chains and what animals, including humans need for survival.

Teamwork

Many thanks to those parents who attended Parents’ Evening. It was lovely to see so many there being considerate and supportive and of their children. ‘Eid Mubarak’ to those who recently celebrated in our community – we hope that you had a wonderful time. I know many of the pupils did; they returned after the celebration with lovely tales of time with family and wonderful food. Well done also to Rosie and Ruby who bravely put on a stomping performance this half-term as part of their ‘Rocksteady’ extra-curricular music lessons. They brought the house down! (In the best way, of course!) This half-term, pupils were treated to not one, but two educational visits. We were blessed on both days with wonderful weather for trips to Brighouse and Warwick Castle. Both times, pupils represented Yardley beautifully and were engaged the whole time. It was fantastic to first see so many pupils enjoying the outdoors, breaking free from pens, pencils and decks and going free-range. Warwick Castle held many surprises, some delightful, some a little scary and all of them exciting. The Archer, the castle, the bird show, the waxworks, the grand hall… incredible! The pupils were extremely respectful each time.

Have a very lovely break and we’ll see you again soon. 

It has been another fantastic half-term in 2H. The last few weeks have been full of fun, passion for new topics and great behaviour and maturity in our classroom. I have loved seeing the children’s resilience grow every day as we have tackled new concepts in our subjects, whilst remaining respectful and caring towards our friends.

Aspire

During this half-term the children have shown incredible resilience and determination, especially when faced with challenges in both the classroom and outside during P.E. and Outdoor learning. Non-fiction has been a big focus of our writing lessons this half-term and in English lessons the children wrote fantastic recounts, reflecting on their wonderful time at Warwick Castle. The children demonstrated fantastic curiosity as we developed a new style of writing for a different purpose. We had to consider using a new range of skills such as using facts and opinions to make our writing interesting. In our History lessons, children have displayed a great sense of curiosity when learning about Monarchs. This topic has opened many interesting and thought-provoking discussions, with children developing a passion for learning about significant people, such as William the Conqueror and Queen Elizabeth II. It was great to see children retelling the story of how William the Conqueror became King of England!

Inspire

This half-term children have also demonstrated our school value of Inspire. In Maths lessons there has been a real excitement to learn about measure. We have loved reading scales and exploring capacity and temperature in a practical way. Our enthusiasm for learning also shone through in our Science lessons, where children enjoyed learning about animals and their different habitats. The children were curious and eager to learn about how animals adapt to their environments, asking thoughtful questions and sharing interesting facts. To show their amazing understanding, they wrote detailed non-chronological reports, demonstrating their knowledge through clear writing, headings and fascinating information. We also got the chance to read our non-chronological reports to Year 1 children!

Teamwork

The children exhibited outstanding respect and consideration during a recent trip to Warwick Castle, where their excellent behaviour made the trip a fantastic day for all. Their attentive listening, polite interactions and eagerness to learn about the castle’s history was brilliant. This same respectful spirit has carried over to our P.E. lessons, where the children eagerly took part in learning Football and Tennis, demonstrating fair play and encouraging their peers. It has been wonderful to see their display of respect both on educational visits and in the classroom.

Have a lovely, restful half-term 2H! I will see you very soon for more great learning!

It has been another great half term. It has been filled with exciting opportunities to learn new things and explore different topics. The children have truly enjoyed every moment, embracing each challenge with enthusiasm. It has been an absolute pleasure to watch them grow day by day.

Aspire

This term the children have truly demonstrated the qualities of aspiration through their resilience, determination, decisiveness, and curiosity. In History, we have been learning all about monarchs and William the Conqueror, the children showed a strong sense of curiosity when asking many questions about the lives and decisions of past rulers. In English, they were determined to produce detailed non-chronological reports about various habitats, using information from their own research. They showed great decisiveness in choosing which scientific terms to include and they worked hard to put these into their writing, reinforcing what they had learned in Science.

Inspire

This half term, the children have shown our school value of inspire in many ways throughout their learning. Showing enthusiasm and a positive attitude in all lessons. In Maths, they demonstrated a keen interest when exploring mass, capacity and temperature. The children were very excited to use the practical weights and water jugs to support their learning. In Science, pupils were incredibly creative when learning about food chains. They drew and designed their very own underwater food chains. In P.S.H.E., the children discussed who they trust in their local community. I was very proud of the vibrant and detailed collages the pupils made in the most recent Art topic. They spent a long time selecting the desired textured paper and piecing their work together.

Teamwork

The children have really showed their impressive teamwork skills throughout the term, both inside and outside the classroom. During P.E., they worked well together in team football games, demonstrating a strong community spirit, respecting each other and following the rules of the game. Their consideration for others in the class is wonderful to see and they truly support each other. Their consideration for each other and the public was noticed on our amazing trip to Warwick Castle. Where we walked around the grounds showing respect and asking inquisitive questions. The children motivated each other to climb the Conqueror’s Tower, showing resilience and determination as a group.

Enjoy your break and have lots of rest. I will see you all very soon for more fun and learning.

Miss Marshall

Welcome back to school! We really missed you over the break. We hope you have had a lovely rest and are ready to work hard this half-term.  

English 

Phonics 

We will continue to have Phonics in our classes every day which will follow the outlined plan from the ELS (Essential Letters and Sounds) programme. We will also have ELS Spelling sessions in our classes and these will help us with the writing that we will be doing in class.  

Reading 

We will be exploring a range of genres this half term including non-chronological reports, biographies, interviews and a range of narrative texts. We will be continuing to read ‘The Enchanted Wood’ and using our reciprocal reading skills of prediction, questioning, clarifying and summarising to understand the text further. 

Writing 

We will continue to write a range of genres and for different purposes this half-term. We will have a focus on non-fiction writing such as non-chronological reports, biographies and interviews. This will link nicely to our foundation topics, and we will be using our knowledge of our History topic to produce pieces of non-fiction writing. 

Things to try at home

Please continue to hear your child read as often as you can and read to your child, discussing the books that you are sharing. 

You can also practise writing about events you have done at home or things that interest your child.  

Maths 

In our Maths lessons we will be working on the following areas: 

Comparing, describing and solving practical problems for: 

• lengths and heights [for example, long/short, longer/shorter, tall/short, double/half]  

• mass/weight [for example, heavy/light, heavier than, lighter than]  

• capacity and volume [for example, full/empty, more than, less than, half, half full, quarter] 

Measuring and beginning to record the following:  

• lengths and heights  

• mass/weight  

• capacity and volume 

We will be completing a range of practical activities to practice the skills of measurement.  

Things to try at home

Practise measuring items in your house. You could compare items and discuss which ones are longer/shorter. When cooking or baking, get your children involved and ask them to help you measure out ingredients!  

Science 

In our science lessons we will be working on the following areas: 

• explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive  

• identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other  

• identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including micro habitats  

• describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food. 

Things to try at home: 

Go on a walk around your local area and look out for things which are living, dead or have never been alive.  

Talk about what different habitats animals live in and how they are suited to these habitats.  

Foundation subjects 

Our focus in foundation this half term is Art and History. 

In Art we will be focusing on the topic ‘Life in Colour’. This includes: 

• naming the primary and secondary colours. 

• talking about the colour changes we notice and making predictions about what will happen when two colours mix. 

• trying different tools to recreate a texture and deciding which tool works best. 

• applying knowledge of colour mixing to match colours effectively. 

• choosing collage materials based on colour and texture. 

In History, we will be learning about famous monarchs. We will learn what a monarch is and identify some famous monarchs. During this topic, we will also learn what a coronation is and how a new monarch is crowned. This topic is very exciting because we will also learn about castles and identify features of castles. This links in nicely to our upcoming trip to Warwick Castle! 

In Music, we will be exploring contrasting dynamics. We will be developing our knowledge and understanding of dynamics by using instruments and learning to compose rhythms to represent planets. 

In Computing, we will continue to use the computers in our 'Media Suite'. We will focus on the program ‘Lego Story Starter’ where we will use our creativity to create a comic strip style story. We will then use the webcams to take photos of characters and edit them onto our storyboard. 

P.E./Sports: Football and Tennis 

In football, we will learn key skills such as dribbling, passing and shooting. We will work together as a team to develop our game skills. In tennis, we will be practising our hand eye co-ordination. We will be practising forehand and backhand as well as getting into rallies.  

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit. Where possible, we will be conducting P.E. lessons outside so school sweatshirts/cardigans should be worn over P.E. t-shirts. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days: 

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option. 

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson. 

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to. 

P.E. Kit reminder 

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils in Year 2 should come to school in their P.E. kit. 

Indoor and outdoor P.E. lessons (during warm weather): 

• Plain white t-shirt. 

• Plain black/grey shorts (or leggings if required). 

• Black pumps/plimsoles (slip-on or velcro) or appropriate trainers (suitable for sport, not fashion trainers). 

Outdoor P.E. lessons (during cold weather): 

• Plain white t-shirt. 

• Plain black/grey tracksuit bottoms (normal fit, not 'flared') or leggings. 

• School sweatshirts/cardigans to be worn over P.E. t-shirt. 

The following items are not appropriate: 

• Football (or other sports) kits or tops. 

• Hoodies, jackets or non-school sweatshirts. 

• Coloured t-shirts or t-shirts with slogans or pictures on. 

• Coloured shorts or shorts with patterns or pictures on.

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should wear their school jumper/cardigan over their P.E. kit. No additional hoodies, jumpers, sweatshirts or jackets should be worn. 

All P.E. kit must be labelled with your child's name and class. 

R.E. 

In our R.E. lessons, we will be focusing on how people communicate with their God. We will continue to show respect as we learn about a range of different religions. We will discuss why people might pray and how different religions pray.  

P.S.H.E. 

In P.S.H.E. lessons, we will be continuing to learn about how to be healthy and safe. We will learn about how to stay safe with medicine before moving onto our new topic of Citizenship. This topic will teach us about community and include interesting topics such as what jobs people do in our local environment. 

Learning at Home

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please follow us for updates - use the buttons below. 

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack is available to download using the button below. Please let us know if a paper copy is required. 

You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below. 

We also have an exciting trip coming up this half-term to Warwick Castle. Please check X and school letters for any updates or communication regarding the trip.  

Dates for Warwick Castle trip:  

• 2A and 2H – Wednesday 19th March 

• 2DH and 2M – Thursday 20th March 

As you know, the weather is very cold this time of year. Please can we ask that you send your child to school in a warm coat. 

Thank you so much for your ongoing support. 

Year 2

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter)!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

What a fabulous start to 2025! The children have all grown so much and we’re only 8 weeks into the New Year. I am so impressed with all the hard work you have done this term.

Aspire 

The children have all worked so hard this term and have shown our aspire characteristics - resilience, determination, decisiveness and curiosity - in every aspect of school life. In particular, the children showed determination in our English lessons as we have been improving our presentation and writing skills. It was clear to see their hard work paid off when they wrote wonderful narratives based on our class text - ‘The man on the Moon’. The children have also loved our Geography topic this term – Why is our world wonderful? The children showed their curiosity when we explored the different human and physical landmarks around the world. We thoroughly enjoyed using Google Earth to get a close-up look.  

Inspire 

In 2A, the children showed our inspire characteristics positivity, creativity, enthusiasm, and trust whilst completing a range of activities this term. Firstly, the children showed enthusiasm and positivity when practising and performing our class assembly. The children have also thoroughly enjoyed developing their Spanish this term. We look forward to our lesson every Friday. We have especially enjoyed learning how to say the different colours and fruits this term. In Maths, the children showed ‘trust in the process’ when developing their understanding of money. At the start of the term, we found this a little challenging, but we continued to work hard and trust ourselves. By the end of the topic, we were all confident in calculating with money and finding change. 

Teamwork 

It has been lovely to see how the children in 2A have shown a sense of community, respect, consideration, and equality everyday this term. In our Computing topic this term, we learnt how to send emails to each other using Purple Mash. The children showed respect and consideration when sending each other emails. In P.S.H.E. we have discussed how to be safe online and what to do if we ever feel upset or scared. We worked together to make wonderful internet safety posters. We have been learning about different habitats in our science topic this term and the children have shown a real sense of community when we have had conversations about our local environment.  

Have a truly wonderful break 2A, I look forward to welcoming you all back very soon and starting the next chapter of Year 2. 

Miss Ashmore 

Aspire

We’ve had a great start to the Spring term here in 2DH. Pupils are really enjoying their learning journey, showing excellent curiosity and are making a lot of progress all round. 

In English and Phonics we’ve been enjoying many different books together and using the creative ideas within to inspire our own reading and writing adventures. A recent class favourite was ‘The Whale Watchers’, a gift from The Yardley Book Fairy, about a boy who saved a beached whale. It was very gripping. The class have been determined to try a read a range of texts and often request poetry. We recently enjoyed the (sometimes strange) Victorian poetry of Edward Lear. Some poems got plenty of laughs! During writing, the pupils continue to cover a range of genres including learning to write recounts as diary entries. The class have enjoyed using the story ‘Man on the Moon: A Day in the Life of Bob’ as a hook for their narrative work!   

Inspire 

In Maths, pupils have really been applying their basic number skills in new ways; we’ve really been diving deep into the topic of Money. Pupils have been creative when setting up their own imaginary shops. Pupils are feeling confident with recognising coins and adding values together. There has been a lot of enthusiasm around the topic and this is something you can continue exploring at home too, parents. 

We have been exploring the needs of animals including looking further at habitats in Science. We have also been getting very creative to produce some excellent abstract compositions based on maps in Art. We’ve also recently finished our Geography topic exploring landmarks around our planet. In P.E. the class have enjoyed activity skills and basketball. Both topics required pupils to develop their communication skills and trust within one another. With the weather getting better, now would be a great time to continue working on those throwing and catching skills. Ask your child about words they know in Spanish, too. They’ve taken to the subject positively, learning about numbers, colours, and greetings. 

Teamwork 

Remember to follow us on X (Twitter) to see each week what the class are up to in their classroom community and to receive any other useful updates. Also, please remember P.E. days are Tuesday and Thursday and respect that earrings should be taken out or covered and hair tied up.  

Please consider that secure Velcro shoes also help with Outdoor Learning days too as pupils are responsible for putting their shoes on and off several times during the morning.  

Have a very lovely break and we’ll see you again soon. 

Mr Hodgkinson

Well done 2H, you have completed another brilliant and busy half-term! I have been so impressed with how you have returned to school after the Christmas holidays and how your maturity and resilience grows week on week. 

Aspire 

In Maths, children demonstrated resilience and determination throughout our topic of ‘Money’. We learnt the value of coins and notes, as well as making amounts in different ways. I was so proud of how you carefully solved worded problems that required logistical thinking and lots of persistence! We enjoyed ‘playing shops’ with our friends and calculating which coins would need to be given, as well as working out change. This was a tricky concept, but we worked together and were eager to learn and progress in every lesson. In Geography we have developed a passion for ‘Our World’ and have loved learning about amazing places around the globe. Our topic question was ‘Why is our world wonderful?’ and we certainly enjoyed finding out! Children in 2H excitedly learnt about the seven wonders of the world, from the Great Pyramids of Giza to the beautiful Taj Mahal, whilst also investigating the world’s oceans. Through hard work and enthusiasm, children have expanded their knowledge and vocabulary and now have a fantastic understanding of the world around us. We loved using Google Earth in the classroom to virtually visit all the places we had learnt about!  

Inspire 

In English we have been inspired by a wonderful fiction book called ‘Man on the Moon’. We loved discussing well-known stories and authors that we enjoy reading, before studying this narrative. With great enthusiasm, children in 2H worked hard to produce a narrative, using exciting vocabulary and interesting ideas. We then showed wonderful creativity by adapting the story and adding their own unique characters and storylines. I loved reading your adaptations of the story. We have some budding authors in 2H! In Computing, the children have also been enthusiastic about sending emails to each other. They have shown respect and consideration in their messages, demonstrating a fantastic understanding of online safety.  

Teamwork 

2H have shown amazing teamwork this half-term, whilst preparing for our class assembly. Everyone worked together beautifully to learn their lines, practice their parts, and sing the songs with enthusiasm. We loved showcasing our wonderful work and were so proud to perform in front of our families. A big thank you to all the parents for coming to watch and support us – it made our assembly even more special and demonstrated what fantastic community we have at YPS. Well done 2H for a fantastic performance!  

Have a lovely, restful half-term holiday 2H. I will see you after the break for another fun-filled half-term.  

Miss Hanif. 

It has been a fantastic half-term 2M. Well done for all your hard work and commitment, it has truly been a great start to 2025. You have all achieved so much and impressed me with your resilience and continued passion for learning.  

Aspire  

This half term, the children in my class have truly demonstrated resilience, determination, decisiveness, and curiosity. In English, they worked hard to produce amazing narratives inspired by the class text ‘The Man on the Moon’, showcasing their creativity. Their resilience was evident in maths, especially when solving word problems in our money topic, where they never gave up. In P.E., their curiosity shone through as they eagerly picked up new skills in basketball, learning how to dribble and pass the ball using techniques like the chest pass and bounce pass. It has been lovely to watch their growth and enthusiasm across all subjects this term. 

Inspire 

This term, the children have shown incredible enthusiasm and curiosity while learning about the Seven Wonders of the World in our geography topic ‘Why Our World is Wonderful’. They were excited to use atlases and Google Maps to locate these famous places, sharing their findings with one another. In Spanish, the children demonstrated their creativity by designing vibrant posters to showcase their knowledge of colours in Spanish, which added an extra layer of fun to their learning. Their positivity towards one another has also been evident during our class reads, where they encourage each other to read and participate. During Yardley Loves Reading time at the end of the day, the children show such kindness and support, always motivating one another to grow in confidence and enjoy the reading experience together.   

Teamwork 

This term, the children have demonstrated an outstanding sense of community within our class, supporting each other in various ways. When preparing for the class assembly, they worked together to learn their lines and choreography, encouraging one another to be confident and do their best. Not only did they show respect and kindness to each other throughout the performance, but they also proved to be a fantastic audience for the other Year 2 classes, cheering them on with enthusiasm and respect. In our recent computing topic, the children displayed great consideration for their peers by sending kind and thoughtful emails, showing their understanding of how to communicate responsibly and empathetically online. The way they have supported, respected, and encouraged each other this term has truly highlighted the strong community spirit in our class. 

Have a lovely break 2M, I look forward to welcoming you all back very soon.  

Miss Marshall

Welcome back to school! We have really missed you over the holidays. We hope you have had a lovely rest and are ready to work hard this half-term.  

English
Phonics 

We will continue to have Phonics in our classes everyday which will follow the outlined plan from the ELS (Essential Letters and Sounds) programme. We will also have ELS Spelling sessions in our classes and these will help us with the writing that we will be doing in class.

Reading 

We will be exploring a range of texts this half term including: The Day the Crayons Quit, Man on the Moon and a range of poetry. We will be sharing these stories as a class and using our Reciprocal Reading skills of Prediction, Questioning, Clarifying and Summarising to discuss them.

Writing 

We will continue to focus on basic skills and ensuring all our sentences include the following; beginning with a capital letter, finger spaces between each word, using our sounds to write the words, ending with a full stop and then reading back our writing to check that it makes sense. We will also continue to work on our handwriting with a focus on the correct letter formation and size. During our English lessons we will produce a range of different genres such as poetry and a narrative.  

Things to try at home

Please continue to hear your child read as often as you can and read to your child, discussing the books that you are sharing. 

You can also practice writing about events you have done at home or things that interest your child.

Maths 

In our Maths lessons we will be working on the following areas: 

• Recognise and use symbols for pounds (£) and pence (p) 

• Combine amounts to make a particular value 

• Find different combinations of coins that equal the same amounts of money  

• Solve simple problems in a practical context involving addition and subtraction of money of the same unit, including giving change 

Things to try at home

Practice recognising notes and coins. You could practice paying for things in the shop. When out in the shops look out for prices of items.  

Science

In our science lessons we will be working on the following areas: 

• explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive  

• identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other  

• identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including micro habitats  

• describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food. 

Things to try at home

Go on a walk around your local area and look out for things which are living, dead or have never been alive.  

Talk about what different habitats animals live in and how they are suited to these habitats.

Foundation subjects

Our focus in foundation this half term is Geography.  

In Geography we will be learning about our world and what makes it wonderful. We will be doing this by: 

• name and locate the world’s seven continents and five oceans  

• name, locate and identify characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom and its surrounding seas 

• use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans  

• use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment 

Music 

In Music, we will be exploring the sounds around us. We will be focussing on the sounds of the seaside and learning traditional songs such as “My Bonnie”.

Computing 

In Computing, we will continue to use the computers in our 'Media Suite'. We will develop our typing skills by emailing each other. We will learn how to be safe online and how to show respect when communicating through email.

P.E./Sports: Activity Skills and Basketball 

In our Activity Skills lessons we will be practising a range of skills needed to play sports. We will be focussing on throwing and catching in particular. Please continue to practice this at home if you can!  

During our Basketball lessons we will be focusing on passing to our partner and aiming and shooting at a target. 

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit. Where possible, we will be conducting P.E. lessons outside so school sweatshirts/cardigans should be worn over P.E. t-shirts. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days: 

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option. 

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson. 

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to. 

P.E. Kit reminder 

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils in Year 2 should come to school in their P.E. kit. 

Indoor and outdoor P.E. lessons (during warm weather): 

• Plain white t-shirt. 

• Plain black/grey shorts (or leggings if required). 

• Black pumps/plimsoles (slip-on or velcro) or appropriate trainers (suitable for sport, not fashion trainers). 

Outdoor P.E. lessons (during cold weather): 

• Plain white t-shirt. 

• Plain black/grey tracksuit bottoms (normal fit, not 'flared') or leggings. 

• School sweatshirts/cardigans to be worn over P.E. t-shirt. 

The following items are not appropriate: 

• Football (or other sports) kits or tops. 

• Hoodies, jackets or non-school sweatshirts. 

• Coloured t-shirts or t-shirts with slogans or pictures on. 

• Coloured shorts or shorts with patterns or pictures on.

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should wear their school jumper/cardigan over their P.E. kit. No additional hoodies, jumpers, sweatshirts or jackets should be worn. 

All P.E. kit must be labelled with your child's name and class. 

R.E. 

In our R.E. lessons, we will be focussing on the importance of how some people worship God and the places they go to. We will continue to show respect as we learn about a range of different religions.

P.H.S.E. 

In PSHE lessons we will be learning about how to be healthy and safe. This topic includes how to be safe online, when crossing the road and respecting people’s boundaries. We will also be labelling parts of the body.

Learning at Home

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please do follow us for updates - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download soon using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below, as well as websites such as  Times Table Rockstars.

Year 2 class assemblies are approaching and will be this half-term. Please check your emails and the school calendar for your child’s assembly.  

As you know the weather is very cold this time of year. Please can we ask you send your child to school with a warm coat. 

Thank you so much for your ongoing support. 

Year 2

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter)!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

Aspire  

During this half-term, the children have all worked very hard to achieve their goals and improve themselves. In 2A, the children have demonstrated resilience, determination, decisiveness, and curiosity every day in their learning journeys, particularly in subjects like Maths and Science. In Science, the children continued to expand their curiosity as we explored more materials and conducted a range of experiments. We really enjoyed finding out which materials were waterproof. In Maths, when learning how to add and subtract two 2-digit numbers, the children's resilience shone through as they tackled challenging problems. They refused to give up until they found the correct answer. I'm so proud of how much they have all achieved this term. 

Inspire 

In 2A, the children showed positivity, creativity, enthusiasm, and trust when completing activities which inspired their growth and imagination. In English, their positivity sparkled as they embraced the challenge of writing a vivid winter setting description. In P.S.H.E., trust was key, as we practised breathing exercises to find our calm. We also worked on setting future goals, demonstrating positivity and belief in our ability to achieve them. Together, these qualities promoted an atmosphere of inspiration, which encouraged the children to explore their potential and approach both creative and personal challenges with confidence. 

Teamwork 

I am so proud of how the children in 2A have all shown, community, respect, consideration, and equality as they embraced teamwork during our school trip to Brighouse and in P.E. activities. At Brighouse, we worked together on team-building challenges, fostering a sense of community by encouraging and supporting one another to complete tasks. Respect was evident as they listened to each other's ideas and valued every contribution, ensuring everyone felt included. In P.E., while practicing dance routines and balance exercises, the children showed consideration for each other during activities requiring collaboration. They patiently waited their turn and helped each other to overcome challenges. 

We have had a very busy and fun filled half term. The children have all worked really hard and they have all settled into Year 2 life.  

Have a great Christmas everyone and a fabulous New Year.  

See you in 2025! 

Miss Ashmore

Aspire 

It has been a fantastic term in 2DH and the pupils continue to enjoy learning and playing each day. It has been a delight to see pupils transition so nicely from Year 1 into Year 2 showing much determination in their work. It is wonderful to see pupils beginning to enjoy reading books independently, especially those being decisive and choosing their own chapter books. Recently, the class have really been showing off their confidence in their own Maths abilities and arithmetic recall. 

Inspire 

In English and Phonics, we’ve been enjoying many different books together and using the creative ideas to inspire our own reading and writing adventures. The class have loved reading books aloud, displaying great enthusiasm for the subject. In writing sessions, we’ve produced some lovely work around ‘The Twits’ and the Winter time. Pupils have been developing their trust in one another to ensure that being at school is a safe and respectful place for everyone. In Maths, we have been recently building upon our understanding of place value, addition and subtraction and shapes both 2-D and 3-D. In other subjects, we have been exploring materials and their uses in in Science.  We have also been busy learning about schools in the past during History. Did your child come home asking about schools in the 80s and 90s? Mrs Sankey recalled the schools of the 60s and our History lessons introduced us to the schools of the Victorian era. Pupils have been very curious. 

Teamwork 

We have also begun to learn lots of mark-making and drawing techniques in Art. See if you and your child can sit and sketch a favourite toy together showing good teamwork. In P.E. the class have enjoyed gymnastics and tri-golf skills. The respect pupils demonstrated when learning the skills and then supporting their peers was excellent. Remember to follow us on Twitter to see each week what the class are up to in their classroom community and to receive any other useful updates.

Have a very lovely break and we’ll see you again in the New Year.  

Mr Hodgkinson

Aspire 

During this half-term, children in 2H have worked extremely hard and remained determined to grow and improve. They have demonstrated fantastic resilience by working hard in every lesson and challenging themselves to be the best they can be. In Maths, children have tackled addition and subtraction with a strong sense of curiosity, eagerly exploring different methods and problem-solving strategies. In English, children have continued to impress me with their brilliant writing skills. We loved reading the story ‘Lost and Found’ and creating some lovely diary entries. Please continue to read daily at home. In Science, children have shown their inquisitive nature through investigating materials. We have loved completing lots of fun experiments and learning about famous scientists!  

Inspire 

The children continue to shine with positivity, creativity, and enthusiasm in everything they do. During our P.E. lessons, especially in Gymnastics, children have developed their creativity as they have explored different movements and sequences, always encouraging one another with smiles and support. We particularly enjoyed the apparatus lesson, where children showed bravery and determination to climb and jump off a range of equipment pieces. In Computing, 2H have shown fantastic enthusiasm when creating PowerPoint presentations, bringing their ideas to life with vibrant images and thoughtful designs. We loved showing what we can remember about the continents from our previous Geography lessons. I have a feeling we have some budding teachers in 2H!  

Teamwork 

In 2H we have continued to work together as a wonderful community, where respect and consideration are at the heart of everything we do. In P.S.H.E., we’ve been focusing on self-growth, and it’s been inspiring to see how the children are learning to respect themselves and others, and to work together to build positive relationships. Their teamwork is also evident in our Art lessons, where they share ideas, and celebrate each other’s creativity. Our recent works on relief maps and stained-glass windows were beautiful! Our trip to Brighouse was a fantastic opportunity for the children to explore nature as a class and complete team building activities. The children showed great respect for nature and had a wonderful day together. Please check X to see some pictures from the day!  

I want to say a huge well done for all your amazing achievements this half-term and a big thank you for making each day wonderful. Have a brilliant well-earned rest and I will see you in 2025! 

Miss Hanif

Aspire 

This term, we have shown remarkable reliance, determination, and curiosity throughout their learning journey. Our class demonstrated great determination in addition and subtraction by consistently practising the new methods taught. They showed resilience by ensuring their working out was accurate and clear, I am very proud of them.  In Science, curiosity led the way as they conducted exciting experiments to explore the properties of materials. Whether testing the strength of different fabrics or discovering which materials are waterproof, they persevered through challenges, asked thoughtful questions, and reflected on their findings.  

Inspire 

This term, children have shone brightly with their creativity and enthusiasm. In English, their imagination took flight as they wrote captivating diary entries inspired by ‘Lost and Found’, vividly bringing their characters’ adventures and emotions to life. Their use of adjectives and descriptive language showed how deeply they connected with the story. In P.E., their enthusiasm was unmatched during gymnastics lessons, as they explored new movements and trusted their classmates to support and guide them. Trust extended to our school trip to Brighouse, where they worked together brilliantly in team games, encouraging and motivating one another to overcome challenges and reach their full potential. The children developed their creativity in our recent Art topic ‘Map it out’ where they used different materials to make maps.  

Teamwork 

This term, 2M have demonstrated incredible teamwork, respect, and a strong sense of community. In R.E., the children showed great maturity and understanding as they listened to and respected each other’s views while learning about Diwali. They celebrated the festival by sharing ideas, creating beautiful artwork, and reflecting on its messages of light and kindness. In P.S.H.E., they deepened their understanding of what it means to belong to a community, discussing how we can support one another and work together to make our class and school a welcoming place for everyone. Their ability to collaborate, celebrate differences, and show kindness has created a warm and supportive atmosphere in our classroom. 

Thank you all for being so amazing and making every learning day so much fun. Enjoy a well-deserved rest, and I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year! 

Miss Marshall

We are pleased to welcome pupils back for another exciting half-term.

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly. Texts are also available to listen to on our Virtual Library.

English

In our English lessons we will be using a range of texts to base our learning from, such as the story 'Lost and Found'. We will also be looking at non-fiction texts. We will be working on writing:

• A diary entry based on the perspective of a character in a story.

• A non-chronological report.

• A winter setting description.

Maths

In our Maths lessons we will be learning about addition and subtraction.

• In addition, we will look at adding ones and tens to a number, adding two 2-digit numbers together and adding three 1-digit numbers together. 

• In subtraction, we will learn how to subtract ones and tens and how to subtract two 2-digit numbers.     

Please support your child's learning at school by practising simple addition and subtraction at home. 

Science

In Science we will be continuing our Materials topic:

• We will find out how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.

• We will be continuing to work scientifically by carrying out a range of investigations. 

Foundation Curriculum

We will be starting a new topic, ‘How was school different in the past’, this half-term, with a focus on History. This topic will include looking at:

• Finding out how school’s have changed. 

• Investigating what school was like in the past.

• Comparing school in the past to what school is like now.

Computing

This half-term we will be learning about how to use PowerPoint. The children will develop their understanding of how to create different slides and add text. They will also add pictures and text from the internet using the copy and paste function. Towards the end of the half-term the children will get creative on a program called Paint. They will learn how to use a range of different tools to create a picture. 

PE/Sports: Gymnastics and Tri-golf

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

• 2A - Tuesday and Thursday

• 2DH - Monday and Thursday

• 2H – Wednesday and Friday 

• 2M - Wednesday and Friday     

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

Dates for the diary

• Thursday 14th November - 2A visit to Brighouse.

• Friday 15th November - 2H visit to Brighouse.

• Friday 15th November - Children in Need (non-uniform day).

• Friday 29th November - 2M visit to Brighouse.

• Tuesday 3rd December - Year 2 Winter Disco (see below).

• Thursday 12th December - Christmas jumper day (details to follow)

• Thursday 19th December - Year 2 celebration assembly (details to follow)

• Friday 20th December - Non-uniform day. 

*Class 2DH's visit to Brighouse will take place in March.

Learning at Home

We really do appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly. 

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please do follow us for updates - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download soon using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below, as well as websites such as  Times Table Rockstars.

Please support your child by hearing them read and encouraging them to read independently as often as possible, they may also like to take a look at our Virtual Library.

Winter Disco

Yardley Fundraisers (our PTFA) will be holding a Winter Disco for Years 1 and 2 on the following date:

• Tuesday 3rd December 2024 / 4.00pm to 5.15pm

Click here for further information and how to book.

We hope to see lots of you there!

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter)!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

Well done 2A. You’ve had a fabulous start to the year. 

In Maths, we have been looking at all things place value. We have been learning how to use part-whole models to partition numbers up to 100, and how count in 10’s and 1’s on number lines. We have also had lots of fun counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, we’ve found lots of fun songs to help us learn them. Don’t forget to keep practicing at home!

In English, we have been very busy working on our sentence structure and making sure we include the correct punctuation and always use neat handwriting. We used wonderful adjectives to write a character description about Little Red Riding Hood. Towards the end of the term, we wrote a set of instructions for ‘How to make wormy spaghetti.’ We focused on including time adverbials and imperative verbs in our command sentences. 

In Reading, we have been developing our retrieval skills by reading a range of different texts. We’ve also enjoyed learning lots of new vocabulary which we have included in our writing.

In P.E, we started the term with developing our teamwork skills. We completed a range of different activities and games to work on our communication skills. We’ve also completed our Bhangra dance topic, in which we created our own routines and performed them in front of our peers. 

In Science, our topic has been ‘Uses of everyday materials’. We have spent the term exploring different materials and identifying the different properties of each material. Through many experiments, we have been able to test, identify and explain which material would be best to use in different scenarios. We have all thoroughly enjoyed this topic.

In Geography, we completed our ‘Hot and cold’ topic in which we answered the question ‘Would you prefer to live in a hot or cold place?’ Throughout the topic, we learnt about the different continents and why some are generally colder or hotter than other. We identified the features of both hot and cold places and explained the benefits of living there. 

In DT, we loved our Wheels and Axels topic. Our task for this topic, was to design, make and evaluate a toy car for a child. We worked in pairs to make our cars and had some help from the reception children to evaluate our final products. They were a big success!!

In Art, we developed our mark making skills to help us learn how to apply facial expressions to a character. At the end of the topic, we created our own characters and backgrounds for a story. 

I hope you all have a wonderful and well deserved half term break! See you soon. 

Love 

Miss Ashmore :)

It has been a fantastic half-term in 2DH and the pupils have made a wonderful start to their time in Year 2.

It has been a delight to see pupils transition so nicely from Year 1 into Year 2 and begin to make so much progress already. 

Pupils have made a flying start enjoying reading books independently, showing confidence in their Maths abilities and respecting each and every one of our Yardley School Values. 

In English and Phonics we’ve been enjoying many different books together and using the creative ideas within to inspire our own reading and writing adventures. The class have particularly enjoyed describing characters from the Little Red Riding Hood story and reimagining their own. We also enjoyed reading Roald Dahl’s ‘The Twits’ and writing instruction texts.

In Maths, we have been recently building upon our understanding of two-digit numbers and growing in confidence with addition and subtraction. 

In other subjects, we have been exploring materials in Science. We’ve done some fantastic investigations such as ‘What material is best to plug a hole in a bucket?’ 

In D.T., pupils have loved designing and creating toy cars. They really enjoyed building them and playing with them, too. In Geography, we have been learning about the continents (ask your child to sing the song!), the equator and the differences between England and Kenya.   

In P.E. the class have enjoyed learning teamwork and dancing skills. Get those Bhangra moves on show at your next party!

Thank you again to all the parents that attended either the Meet the Teacher, Maths parent workshop or Parents’ Evening events. The pupils certainly appreciated it and it was lovely to speak to you all and get to know you a little better. Thank you again for all the generous donations to our Yardley Harvest Festival. If you haven’t done so already, check out our virtual Harvest performance this year here. You’ll see the pupils singing a familiar song with guitar accompaniment – how exciting for the class!  

Remember to follow us on Twitter/X to see each week what the class are up to in their classroom and to receive any other useful updates. Also, please remember PE days are Monday and Thursday and earrings should be taken out or covered and hair tied up. Pupils should be wearing a white tee (with their usual school jumper), black joggers and plain black pumps/trainers.  

Secure velcro shoes also help with Outdoor Learning days too as pupils are responsible for putting their shoes on and off several times during the morning. Outdoor Learning is every other Wednesday.

Have a very lovely break and we’ll see you again in the half-term.

Well done children, we have completed our first half term as 2H! I have been so impressed with your maturity and attitude whilst settling into a new year group.

In English, we have focused on simple basic sentences. We have ensured we can use capital letters, full stops, finger spaces and write using our best handwriting. I have been so impressed with your beautiful presentation. We have also been enjoying our class text: Little Red Riding Hood and completing some fantastic work around character descriptions. It has been brilliant to read your interesting writing that have included adjectives.

In Maths, our focus has been on number and place value. We have been learning all about the value of digits and practicing partitioning and number line work. We have used lots of apparatus to support our learning and have really enjoyed using Base 10, Numicon, 100 squares, cubes and counters. We have also been practicing ordering numbers, comparing numbers and learning our times tables through lots of fun songs! 

We have had lots of fun in foundation topics. We learnt about axles and wheels and how they make our transport move. Through our D&T lessons we designed and made our own products. Our Geography lessons have been very fun. We have learnt about the seven continents and the hot and cold places on our Earth. 

In Science we have been investigating different materials. We now know lots about the properties, suitability and features of different materials. We have enjoyed planning and carrying out a range of investigations. Our favourite was building houses for the 3 little pigs and testing which material would be the strongest!

We have also been very busy in our Phonics and spelling sessions, recapping our sounds and practicing writing them in a word, in a sentence and finding them in a text.

Thank you so much to the parents who attended parents evening. It was fantastic to chat to you about your child’s achievements so far this year. 

A big well done to the children for their Harvest performance. You all sang so loudly and clearly! 

I am very much looking forward to the rest of the year. We have lots of exciting topics coming up next term! Have a lovely, well deserved break and I will see you in Autumn 2! 

Miss Hanif x

What a brilliant half term we have had in 2M. 

In Maths, we began by looking at place value, we were introduced to base-10 and we all feel very confident when using it to represent 2-digit numbers. We have also been using our tens and ones to count on a number line. We have enjoyed singing, dancing and playing games to practice our 2, 5 and 10 timetables. 

In English we have been focusing on how to from a sentence, we have learnt how to use nouns and adjectives in our writing. We enjoyed showcasing this when we wrote a detailed character description about Little Red Riding Hood. We learnt about time adverbials, imperative verbs and commands towards the end of term. We used these skills when we wrote a set of instructions for ‘How to make wormy spaghetti.’

During Reading lessons we have been developing our retrieval skills by answering questions about different texts. 

At the start of the term in P.E, we focused on working as part of a team. We then moved on to Bhangra dancing, where we really enjoyed learning and creating our own dance moves. The communication skills shone through during our class routine. 

Our Science lessons have been full of exciting experiments this half term! We have been learning all about different materials.  We have investigated the suitability of many different materials by testing to see if it is transparent or waterproof.  

In geography we have learnt about the seven continents and what it might be like if we lived in a hot or cold country. Our favourite lesson in Geography was learning the continent song and exploring the countries close to the equator. 

In D.T we used our knowedlege of wheels and axles to plan and design a make a toy car. We worked well in a team to ensure the car was colourful and bright. 

We have used sketching pencils in Art to develop our observational drawing skills. We also used charcoal and oil pastels to mard different expressive marks. 

Enjoy your well deserved break! Please stay safe and have fun. 

I can not wait to see you all soon. 

We are really pleased to welcome back our pupils after the summer break and hope you have all had a lovely and relaxing holiday.

This half-term we will be learning about: 

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas: 

• Sentence structures 

• Use of basic punctuation , . ! ?  

• Using descriptive language/stories with familiar settings 

• Word classes e.g. nouns, verbs and adjectives 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation  

Maths 

We will begin by looking at number and place value. We will be learning about: 

• Counting forwards and backwards in 1s, 2s, 5 and 10s 

• Representing numbers pictorially 

• Place value 

• Ordering and comparing numbers 

• Finding one more and one less of a given number and ten more and ten less of a given number 

Science 

Our first Science topic is Materials. We will be learning about: 

• Recognising different materials and some of their properties 

• Comparing the uses of different materials 

• Investigating how a material can change  

• We will learn about a range of materials in detail

Foundation Curriculum  

• Transport (D&T) 

• Exploring the history of the wheel 

• Investigating how wheels are used and how they work 

• Designing, making and evaluating a vehicle with an axle   

• Hot and cold places (Geography):  

• Name and locate continents 

• Name and locate the 5 oceans 

• Recognise similarities and differences between the UK and a contrasting place.  

Computing  

This half-term we will be learning about Basic Skills and how to navigate a computer. Children will learn how to independently log on and access various programs. They will understand how to use the computing equipment correctly and will learn about how to stay safe online.  

PE/Sports: Team Building and Dance 

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

• 2A - Tuesday and Thursday

• 2DH - Monday and Thursday

• 2H – Wednesday and Friday 

• 2M - Wednesday and Friday     

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

RE/PHSE   

We will be learning about why we need rules in society and how they keep people safe and help us work together. We will develop this understanding in the classroom and practise these skills on a daily basis.  

Dates for the diary 

• Wednesday 25th September – School photo day

• Wednesday 16th & Thursday 17th October - Parents' Evenings

Learning at Home

We really do appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly. 

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please do follow us for updates - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download soon using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below, as well as websites such as  Times Table Rockstars.

Please support your child by hearing them read and encouraging them to read independently as often as possible, they may also like to take a look at our Virtual Library.

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter)!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

Well done 2CM , it has been a fantastic year. 

I want to start by saying how proud I am of ever single one of you. You have been so mature, resilient and lovely the whole year. 

In Maths we have focused on applying our knowledge to solve two step problems. We began this half-term by recapping telling the time and intervals of time. Our skills have improved so much since the last time we had practised time and lots of you are able to tell me the time throughout the school day.  We then spent some time recapping our knowledge of fractions and money and loved our practical lessons.  We have also revisited the four operations and challenged ourselves by answering some tricky arithmetic problems with speed. We were very resilient! 

In English this half-term we really enjoyed reading our class text. Plant Omar. Lots of us found this book hilarious! It was a great focus text for our character descriptions of Omar and Daniel which were packed full of interesting vocabulary and adjectives. We all wrote a detailed and exciting news report about the school trip that went wrong in London. 

Geography has also been lots of fun this half-term. We have focused on the key question ""What is life like by the coast"" and developed our Geographical skills. During our lessons we identified features of a coast, what it would be like to live by the coast and explored Weymouth. We now know lots about continents, oceans and our local area and are looking forward to applying this knowledge in real life! 

We loved our trip to Warwick Castle, the bird show was amazing. We created some lovely memories that we will never forget. 

This half-term we have also had Sports Day. We all worked very hard as part of a team and played fairly. Well done to all the children in 2CM for competing and thank you to all the parents and carers who supported us. 

Finally, I want to say a massive well done. I really have loved teaching you all and you have made me so proud throughout the year. Thank you for being the best!

Please enjoy your well deserved rest and i wish you all a wonderful time in Year 3.

Miss Marshall

Welcome to our blog. We’ve very nearly come to the end of our time in Year 2. Pupils have made such a lot of progress and we’re proud of every one of them.

During lesson time, pupils have continued to produce excellent writing in English, develop their love for books in Reading sessions and improving their understanding of Maths. In Geography, we’ve been exploring the English Coast, from sand dunes to the white cliffs of Dover. In Music, the class have been diving into soundscapes and reproducing sounds from the countryside, seaside and city. In P.E., pupils have enjoyed plenty of outdoor sports such as hockey and cricket. Get your child outdoors and have them show you what they’ve learned!  

Pupil reports went out last week. If you’ve not done so already, we’d be very grateful for any feedback on them that can be passed on to your child’s teacher.  

Remember to follow us on Twitter to see each week what the class are up to in their classroom and to receive any other useful updates. Do look out for 2DH’s new teacher, Miss Bousyf, on X/Twitter soon for continued updates from the new classroom. (Due to X/Twitter’s recent update to terms it seems you now need a Twitter account to view the updates, so it’s advised to go ahead and do that if you’ve been avoiding signing up before.) 

Please remember that this Friday is a £1 donation non-uniform day and this is the last day of term. 

Enjoy your Summer break and we’ll see you again in the next academic year. 

Meanwhile, here are some activities to keep you all busy: https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/summer/summer-fun-activities-kids-age-7-9/

All the best, 

Mr Hodgkinson

Well done 2H - we have completed Year 2! 

Firstly, I just want to say how proud you should be of yourselves. You have been so mature and resilient this year, and have really taken Year 2 in your stride.

In Maths we have focussed on refining and mastering our skills. We began this half-term by recapping telling the time and intervals of time. Our skills had improved so much since the last time we had practised time and lots of us have been able to tell Miss Hanif the time on daily basis! We then spent some time recapping our knowledge of fractions and money. Our secure understanding of both of these topics allowed us to solve worded problems. We have also revisited the four operations and challenged ourselves with very challenging two step worded problems. We were very resilient! 

In English this half-term we focussed on a new class text, Planet Omar. Lots of us found this book hilarious! It was a great focus text for our character descriptions of Omar and Mrs Rogers which were packed full of interesting vocabulary and adjectives.

In Foundation we have learnt about the coasts. We recapped our learning from Year 1 revised the four countries of the UK. We learnt about lots of new places by the coast such as Weymouth and the Jurassic Coast. 

This half-term we have done our SATs. We completed booklets for Maths, Reading and SPaG. I am so extremely proud of you for your hard work and how you approached these. You should all be very proud of yourselves. 

This half-term we have had Sports Day. We all worked very hard as part of a team and played fairly. Well done to all the children in 2H for competing and thank you to all the parents and carers who supported us. 

Finally, I want to say a massive well done. I really have loved teaching you all and you have made me so proud throughout the year. Thank you for being superstars! 

I hope you enjoy your well-earned rest and you have a wonderful time in Year 3.

Miss Hanif xxx

It’s come to the end 2M- Well done! 

First of all, I want to say how proud you have made me this year. You have shown maturity and resilience and I have loved being your teacher this year. 

In Maths we have focussed on refining and mastering our skills in all areas of the Maths curriculum. We have enjoyed really getting to grips with worded problems and using our knowledge to unpick them. We began this half-term by completing out Maths units on Statistics and Position and direction. We can no create pictograms, tally charts and block diagrams as well as recognise half turns/ quarter turns and if something is turning clockwise or anti-clockwise. 

In English this half-term we focussed on a new class text, Planet Omar. Lots of us found this book hilarious! It was a great focus text for our character descriptions of the members of Omar’s family, which were packed full of interesting vocabulary and adjectives. We also enjoyed writing a news report about their school trip and had to be factual and informative with our writing. 

This half-term we have also had Sports Day. We all worked very hard as part of a team and played fairly. Well done to all the children in 2M for competing and thank you to all the parents and carers who supported us.

Finally, I want to say a massive well done. I really have loved teaching you all and you have made me so proud throughout the year. 

I hope you enjoy your well-earned rest and you have a wonderful time in Year 3.

Miss Miller

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly. Texts are also now available to listen to on our Virtual Library.

Here is an overview of what we will be learning about during this half-term.

English

In our English lessons, we will be using a range of texts to help support our learning. The main books we will use are Planet Omar and we will be writing a recount of our trip to Warwick castle. 

For our reading, we will be developing our:

• use of applying our phonic knowledge when reading and increasing our fluency.

• ability to retrieve from a text.

• understanding of different vocabulary and the impact it has on the text. 

For our writing, we will be working on

• Creating a recount for our Warwick Castle trip.

• Writing a letter of apology.

• Short news report.

• Letter to their new teacher 

Maths

In our Maths lessons we will be completing out statistics and position and direction topics. We will spend the final weeks revisiting areas we have already learnt about and further develop our understanding of them. During this topic, we will learn about:

• using addition, subtraction, division and multiplication to solve two-step problems. 

• recalling multiplication and division facts quickly. 

• telling the time to 15 minute intervals and developing our understanding of 5 minute intervals.

• identify fractions of a shape, fractions of an amount, equivalent fractions and solving real-life problems using fractions.

• movement in a straight line and distinguish between rotation as a turn and in terms of right angles for quarter, half and three-quarter turns (clockwise and anti-clockwise).

Science

During this half-term we will be continuing working scientifically and then we will be recapping our learning about Living Things and Their Habitats. In this topic, we will:

• know that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants.

• compare how the plants/animals/habitats have changed since previous observations.

Geography

We will also complete our Geography topic where we will investigate what is it like to live by the coast? During this topic they will:

• Name and locate the seas and oceans surrounding the UK in an atlas.

• Label these on a map of the UK.

• Describe the location of the seas and oceans surrounding the UK using compass points.

• Define what the coast is.

• Locate coasts in the UK.

• Name some of the physical features of coasts.

• Explain the location of UK coasts using the four compass directions.

• Name features of coasts and label these on a photograph.

• Identify human features in a coastal town.

• Describe how people use the coast.

• Follow a prepared route on a map.

• Identify human features on the local coast.

• Record data using a tally chart.

• Represent data in a pictogram.

• Describe how the local coast has been used.

Computing

This term we will begin by learning about stop motion animation. We will learn how stop motion animation works and create some of our own stop motion animations. We will learn how to capture pictures and edit and delete frames. To further enhance our stop motion animation, we will add sound, titles and text. 

P.E./Sports

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

• 2H - Wednesday and Friday 

• 2M - Tuesday and Thursday        

• 2CM - Tuesday and Wednesday

• 2DH - Tuesday and Thursday 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E.

In R.E, we will be learning about how to use our imagination and appreciating beauty. We will develop our ability to use our imagination and use this skill to be creative. We will also learn how beauty can be in different forms and we will understand how people can appreciate beauty in different ways like in nature.

Dates for the diary

• Wednesday 5th June – 2M and 2CM Warwick Castle Trip 

• Thursday 6th June – 2H and 2DH Warwick castle Trip

• Wednesday 19th June – Class photo day 

• Wednesday 26th June – Year 2 sports day

• Monday 15th July – Year 2 celebration assembly

• Friday 19th July – End of the school year – Non-uniform day

Learning at Home

We really do appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly. 

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download this week using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below, as well as websites such as  Times Table Rockstars.

Please support your child by hearing them read and encouraging them to read independently as often as possible, they may also like to take a look at our Virtual Library.

Follow us on Twitter!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on Twitter.  Click a button below to find your child's class on Twitter.