Year 2
Hello and a very warm welcome to Year 2!
We are delighted to welcome you to Year 2! This is a year full of exciting opportunities and rich learning experiences. From mythical dragons and medieval castles to amazing animals and daring explorers, our engaging topics are designed to spark curiosity and make learning both meaningful and fun.
Who's in the team?
The Year Two team consists of:
Mrs Jawad - Badgers class teacher (Mondays to Thursdays) and Year Group Leader
Miss Sadique - Badgers class teacher (Fridays)
Miss Gilmore - Otters class teacher
Mr Tagg - Foxes class teacher
We are pleased to have Mrs Joyce and Ms Rowe, who teach Otters and Badgers during teachers' planning time. Supporting the classes are our wonderful support staff: Miss Fisher, Miss Bubnikova, Miss Alderman and Miss Ioannou.
Mrs Jawad has been teaching at Grand Avenue Primary and Nursery School for 7 years. She is the Year Group Leader and also Assessment Lead for the school. In her spare time, Mrs Jawad enjoys travelling and baking.
Mr Tagg has worked at the school for thirteen years! A keen sports person, Mr Tagg loves teaching PE and he loves to attend sporting events with the children.
Miss Sadique first started teaching at Grand Avenue Primary & Nursery School in 2014. Having taught in Years 3,4,5 and 6 she is looking forward to getting to know Badgers and life in KS1. She loves teaching History and English and is excited for all the new topics in Year 2.
Miss Gilmore
Trips and Visitors
In Year 2, we are fortunate to go on many school trips! We plan trips that will support the children's learning in class and link with our topics of learning. These include:
Autumn
- The Tower Of London visit supports our learning within the topic 'Towers, Tunnels and Turrets'. The cost of this is approximately £25.
- Emmanuel Church visit - as part of the religious education curriculum, pupils visit the local church and watch live actors recreate the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus. No cost
Spring
- Zoo Lab Workshop - children look at how animals have adapted to their habitats to link in with our science topic of living things and their habitats. The cost of this is approximately £8.
- African Drumming Workshop - to compliment the music curriculum and our African topic, the children have a drumming workshop where they learn to play traditional African drums and music. £4
- Tolworth Library visit - to promote the love of reading, our children visit Tolworth Library and talk to the librarian about all the fantastic books on offer for them to borrow if they become a member. No cost
Summer
- Every year group gets the opportunity to visit one of the parks that has inspired our school house teams. Year Two visit Claremont Gardens, where the children will have fun exploring woodland areas and identifying minibeasts.
- Every year group gets the opportunity to visit one of the parks that has inspired our school house teams. Year Two visit Claremont Gardens, where the children will have fun exploring woodland areas and identifying minibeasts.
- The children will take part in our Sports Day at Kingsmeadow Stadium this term. The children will be training to take part in different races to earn points for their house team. This event is free, but children will need to be dropped at Kingsmeadow Stadium.
There may be additional workshops over the year which link to themed events or occasions the school is celebrating.
PE and swimming
Throughout the year, PE lessons happen twice a week for the children.
Badgers Class: PE days are Wednesday and Thursday
Foxes Class: PE days are Monday and Friday
Otters Class: PE days are Wednesday and Friday.
Children in Year 2 will begin with one indoor and one outdoor PE lesson ehac week during the first half of the Autumn term. In the second half of the term both sessions will take place outdoors. During the Spring Term, all Year 2 children will participate in swimming lessons as part of the PE curriculum. In the Summer Term, PE returns to a combination of one indoor and one outdoor session each week.
Sharing our learning
In every term, there is an opportunity to come and see your Year 2 child perform! In the Autumn Term, we have the Christmas Show, and in the Spring and Summer Terms, we have class assemblies where you can see for yourselves the great learning that has been taking place in school. We also invite parents/carers in for our parent showcases, each term, throughout the year so that you can see some of the children’s work in the classrooms.
Our popular Reading Cafe runs on a Friday morning at select times in the year. This is an opportunity to come in and visit the school library with your child.
How parents can support
Home Learning
In Year 2, the children are set weekly spellings to practise at home. Children are encouraged to learn the spelling of common exception words. These are words that are spelt without using the normal spelling rules. Click here to see the list for Year 2. They are encouraged to practise these spellings in a variety of creative ways! The children are also set an English or a maths task.
We also encourage daily reading and the children receive a sticker if they have been reading regularly at home. If a child completes all of their homework within a half term, they receive a certificate to commend their efforts.
Useful websites:
https://www.ictgames.com/resources.html
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/5-7-years/letters-and-sounds
http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/literacy/
www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-owl/reading
www.topmarks.co.uk/parents/ten-tips-on-hearing-your-child-read
http://grammar.lgfl.org.uk/year2.html
Parent volunteers
We are grateful for any support that parent helpers can offer us throughout the year. In Year 2, we love having parent helpers in school who can read with the children. There are also projects that happen during the year such as sewing cushions in the Spring Term and painting portraits in the Summer Term where any help from parents is gratefully received. Having the support of parent helpers during swimming lessons in the Autumn and Spring Terms is also warmly welcomed. Thank you in advance for any time that you can give us!
Year 2 Parent letters
For letters applicable to all year groups, please click here.
Year 2 Letters: