In Year Two we provide a curriculum that is broad, balanced and meaningful. Children will take part in a range of relevant, memorable, first-hand experiences that allows them to continue building on the knowledge and skills of prior learning.
The teachers in Year 2 are Mr Lopon and Mrs Neil .
The teaching assistant is Mrs Sherwin and Miss Cooper.
At Gordon Children’s Academy, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We start teaching phonics in Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
Children in Year 2 who still require phonics, will take home a decodable book, matched to their phonic ability. They should be able to read this fluently and independently.
Moving beyond fully decodable books, we use Rigby Rocket and Collins Big Cat books in school which follow the UK Book Band colours. This is to expose the children to a wide range of text types, characters and settings. Children in EYFS and Year 1 take home one of these books as well as their phonetically decodable book to enjoy and share with their parents. Children in Year 2 and beyond take one of these books home to read, matched to their reading age. When a child has a reading age of 11+ years, they then move onto free reader.
Band: Purple (Age appropriate for Year 2)
Band: Gold (Age appropriate for Year 2)
Band: White (Age appropriate for Year 2)
Band: Lime (Age appropriate for Year 2)
Band: Copper (Age appropriate for Year 3)
Band: Topaz (Age appropriate for Year 3)
Band: Ruby (Age appropriate for Year 4)
Band: Emerald (Age appropriate for Year 4)
Band: Sapphire (Age appropriate for Year 5)
Band: Diamond (Age appropriate for Year 6)
Band: Pearl (Age appropriate for Year 6)
At Gordon Children’s Academy, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, most children read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.
In June, children in Year 2 who did not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year One will retake this. This is a statutory requirement for all children in all schools.
For additional information on our chosen SSP, Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, please visit the following website: https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
The resources on this page will help you support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters. There are also some useful videos so you can see how they are taught at school and feel confident about supporting their reading at home.
In May, Year 2 children sit statutory tests to support with building up a picture of their attainment and progress over the year. Your child will sit these tests in their classroom and will be unware that they are ‘tests’. They are then marked by teachers in school and each child is given a standardised score. They will sit two Maths papers and two Reading papers. A meeting to explain what happens during the SATs will take place later in the year.
Seesaw is a secure online account which we use in Year One to communicate with parents, assign homework and share your child’s learning journey. Your child will receive weekly English and Maths homework on Seesaw. This is based on the learning that they have completed that week in class. It is assigned on a Thursday and needs to be submitted by the following Tuesday.
As well as the academic homework, including daily reading that the children complete, we want to encourage and celebrate the children’s creative side. The children are encouraged to use their thinking hats to create a piece of homework that we can share with the whole school community, including parents, at parent’s evening. They can pick from one of the suggested ideas included in the above curriculum information sway or create an idea of their own. The children will vote for the most creative homework (green hat thinking) from each class. Good luck!
The information below provides details about the areas of learning that you child will cover whilst in Year 2. Children are expected to meet these requirements by the end of Year 2. These are based on the guidance from the National Curriculum (September 2014).
The below websites may be useful for supporting your child further with their learning:
Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Spelling Shed https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb
TT Rockstars https://ttrockstars.com/
Letter Join (Handwriting) http://www.letterjoin.co.uk/
White Rose Maths Reasons Problems https://whiterosemaths.com/resources/classroom-resources/problems/
Educational Top Marks Games https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
