Cuckoo Lane, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN7 6QE
Tel: 01302 840200 (Lower) 01302 842164 (upper)

admin@tsl.dsat.education

Travis St Lawrence CE Primary School

Year 2

 

A very warm welcome from the Year 2 team: Mr Heyes, Mrs Farmer, Mrs Williamson and Mrs Plant. We would like to thank you for visiting our class page. The classrooms (Y2H and Y2F) can be found on lower site to the left hand side of the main reception. The environments we aim to create are clean, welcoming and child-centred enabling children to develop their independence. We work hard to ensure we are polite and always use good speaking and listening skills. We ensure that every child is safe, happy and can learn to their full potential. We endeavor to always try our best whilst taking full responsibility for keeping our classroom and school tidy.

 

Home Learning

 

 Please use Class Dojo to communicate with us about school and home learning. This is a great way to share any achievements with us as we take an interest in what makes children happy and unique outside of school. We value any efforts that children make in their every day lives and are determined to share this with their peers. For ideas on home learning and websites and resources, please see the document at the bottom of this page. 

Reading

In Year 2, pupils will continue using the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme which is for five-to seven-year-old children learning to read and write. It is a rigorous and dynamic teaching programme, proven to create fluent, enthusiastic readers, confident speakers and willing writers by the age of six or seven. At the end of year one, the children are assessed using the Phonics Screening Check. This screening check confirms whether the child has learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard and will identify sounds needing further consolidation in Year 2. The children are assessed one to one by the reading leader, who is a familiar adult to the children. The children are asked to read a mixture of real and alien nonsense words. When pupils have automatic recall of the letter-sound correspondences and can both read and spell texts with a high level of ease and accuracy, they will then begin to embed key reading comprehension skills and measure progress with 'Cracking Comprehension' which will give children exposure to a wide range of wonderful texts and stories. Classrooms also have inviting reading corners and a range of books to ignite a love for reading. Each day, there will also be 'core story' time where children can listen and respond to their favourite authors and further develop their passion for books. 

Please try to read with your child at least three times a week as reading is the best start in terms of what can be done to support your child's education at home. This can be the school banded book or a book from home. It is important to check that, as well as becoming more fluent, the children understand what they are reading, especially as they begin to read longer and more complex books. This can be done by discussing the book afterwards, or during reading. Talk about the characters, setting or main events. Encourage children to develop empathy by focusing on characters' emotions and motivations. 

We no longer have home reading diaries and are excited to share reading through BoomReader. Please share your child's reading experiences at home using this app as it allows us to monitor their engagement with reading at home. In school it is our aim that each child reads with a school adult at least once a fortnight. We ask that at home, reading is valued and a high priority too. Each week we record on our displays how many times children have read at home and each child moves their name accordingly. Children who show great improvement or hit the highest number of reads receive reading dojos. Regular reading is one of our main class challenges this term.

 We encourage a love for reading and aim for our children to be lifelong readers. The children are encouraged to read and enjoy the books in our book area within the school day. Children are welcome to bring their own reading book from home as long as it is of an appropriate level for them to read and enjoy independently. Children will be able to change their reading books to take home each morning during our morning task. Please encourage your child to do this independently.

 

Follow the link if you are interested in looking at the recommended reading books for Y2 children: 

https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks1-school-pupils/suggested-reading-list-year-2-pupils-ks1-age-6-7/

 

Spellings

 Initially in Year 2 we do spelling through our daily Read Write Inc reading sessions and focus heavily on spelling phonetically. Later in the year we look use the Read Write Inc Spelling programme and look more closely at spelling patterns. We inform parents in our weekly class story on dojo of the spelling patterns that we are studying. Unfortunately there are many words, that are referred to as common misconception words, that are not spelt phonetically. A set of these words are sent home for your reference and reading and studying these can be beneficial for your child.

 Spellings are best worked on little and often: 5 or 10 minutes every day is more beneficial than one long session. It is also very helpful if you can encourage your child to apply the spellings in context by using them in sentences and, of course, using new or unfamiliar words in conversation. 

 

 

Home learning Logs

Please hand in homework logs on a Wednesday where they will be marked, shared and given back home on a Friday. At the beginning of each topic you will be given a knowledge organiser which will have key facts and vocabulary to help with the any home learning activities and learning within school. You will also be given a home learning menu of activities to complete at home. They are created by the Year 2 team to cover different areas of the curriculum in a fun and engaging way.

Our Topic Titles

Autumn Term: Why do animals live in different habitats (A geography and science topic)

Spring Term: Was the Great Fire of London really great? (A history based topic)

Summer Term:  How can you make a difference to save the world? (A science led topic)

 

 

 

Maths

At Travis, we teach maths using 'The White Rose' initiative that is proven to enhance maths skills and problem-solving skills. It focuses on depth rather than acceleration, ensuring that key concepts are grasped fully before moving on. The initial Year 2 focus in maths for the Autumn term is recognising, writing ordering and understanding the value of digits in numbers to 100. We then focus on addition and subtraction of 2 digit numbers and apply this to problems. Pupils will also take part in a short, daily maths-meeting session which aims to reinforce and consolidate concepts outside of the core learning.

In Year 2 the children get the opportunity to log in to Times Table Rockstars. This is a fun away for children to consolidate their times tables. Please encourage your child to log in little and often.The Rockstar games will help them become fluent in their tables and also help prepare them for their multiplication screening test in Year 4. In Year 2, we will be focusing on our two, ten, five and three times tables.

PE

Please continue to find updates on Class dojo about PE days. We recommend the children come in their PE kits on PE days. If they are attending a physical after school club they come to school in their normal school  uniform and change into a PE kit at the end of the school day. 

Outdoor kit: t-shirt, dark shorts or jogging bottoms, a hoody if it's chilly and socks and trainers.

Indoor kit: t-shirt and dark shorts.  

Please ensure no earrings or other jewellery are worn on PE days. Thanks.

In addition we regularly do physical games and activities both in the classroom and outside to encourage health and fitness.

Useful Information: