Welcome to Year two! Mrs Butler Mrs Smith Mrs Kjelstrom-Page Miss Gill

Muntjacs Hedgehogs Red Squirrels All children should come in through the main doors from the front playground. At the end of the day, Mrs Smith’s parents need to wait by the fire exit door to her classroom. Muntjacs and Red Squirrels will be sent to you via the same doors they come in by. Until we get to know your faces a little better, please come forward to claim your child!! If you need to speak to one of the teachers at the end of the day, please wait until we have dismissed all the children safely.

Structure of a typical day Snack and chat Maths: Breaktime Literacy & Guided reading Lunchtime Topic / Science / PE Home time 3pm

Daily Routines The doors will open at We would like you to say good bye to your child at the door to encourage their independence. Your child should put away their book bag, order their lunch and chat to their friends while having their healthy snack. If you need to speak to any of us, it is best to see us after school so we can give you our full attention. If it is an urgent message, please catch us or pass the message via one of the LSAs. Please let the office know if anyone else will be collecting your child at the end of the day so we can ensure they go home safely.

Healthy Snack It is essential that your child brings in TWO healthy snacks and a named water bottle every day. These snacks MUST be: a sandwich, plain biscuit, fruit, cheese, crackers, raisins etc. Your child will not be allowed to eat sugary snacks such as chocolate biscuits, packets of crisps or Fruit Winders as these are bad for their concentration. Our school is a nut free school, so please make sure snacks comply with this. Eating a healthy snack is vital for the children so they have bagfuls of energy, concentration and focus for their morning lessons. Please name snack pots to avoid confusion.

New curriculum There is a much higher expectation for all pupils in primary schools across the UK. In maths, there is a greater emphasis on mental maths skills and children being able to recall facts as fluently as they can say the alphabet e.g, times tables, number facts and counting skills. In writing, there is a far greater emphasis on spelling and grammar. Children are now expected to use accurate punctuation every time they write and make accurate spelling choices most of the time. In May, the Y2 children will be formally tested for maths, reading, writing, spelling, punctuation and grammar. These tests form part of our ongoing assessment procedures and we ensure that the children do not feel any pressure at all during this time.

Homework Reading homework: We expect children to be reading daily for a minimum of 20 minutes at home which will help them consolidate the reading skills they have learned in school. This could be parents reading to their child as well as listening to your child read. It is important for all children to be hearing the use of language through a wide variety of books and in general conversation. One of the new expectations is that children are able to read fluently at 90 words per minute. Practising reading flash cards for high frequency words as well as re-reading their book will enable children to read more fluently..

Homework Maths homework: Autumn term: Counting skills: counting on and back in 1s within 100 Fluent recall of maths facts. Once the children have settled, we will be sending home maths fluency facts which will be tested the following week. The whole school will be reviewing our homework expectations early in the new term.

Spelling homework Once the children have settled, we will be sending home spellings to practise. We will be giving the children some different ways to practise these spellings. Using Spellodrome is also part of the Y2 homework expectation.

Each day we like to celebrate somebody who has shown one of the school values during the day, for example; persevering, cooperation, having a respectful attitude to each other and the classroom. The star of the day will take home the class mascot and a book for you to enjoy with your child. (That could be your daily reading task!) This should be returned the following day for the next star Star of the day

PE kit This must be brought in on a Monday and kept in school everyday. Everything must be named please! Look out for information on our weekly newsflash about any coaches.

School uniform Please make sure your child starts the year with the correct uniform. If you need a reminder, please look on our website. Girls must wear their hair tied back with no inappropriate fashion accessories. Trainers are not allowed to be worn unless it is a PE lesson. School uniform must be named and any items found in the wrong place will be put in the lost property box.

Year two will be doing a Christmas production. Details to follow nearer the time! Please let us know if you are creative and would like to help with costumes or scenery

We will a newsflash out every Friday. This will explain what the children will be learning the following week and give you any key messages.

Parent help Please let us know if you can come in and help with readers (or anything else!) during the mornings or afternoons. We really would appreciate your help and it is a lovely opportunity for the children to share their learning with another adult. Please volunteer!! We would love to have grandparents, aunties or uncles too!

Our Autumn topic Our topic this Autumn is... Under the Ground. A curriculum letter will be sent out at the beginning of September. Details of Year 2 clubs will also follow. We have booked a science workshop to enrich our topic. We will be sending out an information letter with a request for payment at the beginning of term. This will be approximately £5 per child.

Have a lovely summer holiday Please see our holiday homework sent separately.