Year 2 News  

What A Term We’ve Had In Year 2!!! 

As we come to the end of another busy and successful term, the Year 2 teachers would like to congratulate all students on their hard work, enthusiasm, and commitment to learning. We are incredibly proud of the progress the students have made across all areas of the curriculum. 

In Literacy, students have shown excellent focus and application during our Phonics Plus lessons, resulting in noticeable improvements in their spelling and confidence when writing. Our Text Study sessions continue to be a highlight of the week, and students have been excited to begin exploring Fantastic Mr Fox. 

Throughout the term, students have developed their understanding of a range of literacy skills, including using boundary punctuation correctly, identifying and applying subordinating conjunctions such as before and after, recognising pronouns, and learning about possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns. 

In EMP, students have been building strong mathematical foundations by learning to read, write and represent 4-digit numbers, round numbers to the nearest place value, identify the attributes of 3D shapes including faces and edges, use regrouping strategies, and solve change problems using number bonds. We are delighted with the effort and growth demonstrated by all students and look forward to seeing their continued success next term. 

Billycart Incursion 

A highlight of the term was our exciting Billycart Incursion, which connected perfectly with our Unit of Inquiry, How the World Works. 

Throughout the unit, students have been investigating contact and non-contact forces, including push and pull forces, gravitational force, magnetic force and electrostatic force. 

During the incursion, students worked collaboratively in teams to plan, build and test their own billy carts using Tubelox, timber and real tools. As they designed and refined their creations, students explored how weight, friction, balance and momentum can affect movement and performance. They made predictions, solved problems and adjusted their designs before putting them to the test in a series of friendly races. 

Students also had the opportunity to ride billy carts with a partner and explore Ezy-Rollers while applying their understanding of forces in a real-world context. The hands-on experience was highly engaging and helped develop teamwork, communication and resilience, while bringing our science learning to life in a fun and memorable way. 

Year 2 Marble Runs 

Another exciting highlight of the term was our Marble Run Challenge. Working in pairs and small groups, students designed and constructed marble runs using cardboard, cardboard tubes, icy-pole sticks and sticky tape. Applying their understanding of forces and motion, students carefully planned their designs, incorporating features such as vortexes and other creative elements to slow the marble down as much as possible.

Before building, students sketched and labelled their ideas, then tested and refined their marble runs throughout the design process, making adjustments based on their observations and results. Each trial was timed, with teams competing to achieve the slowest marble run and be crowned the overall winners.

This engaging STEM activity encouraged problem-solving, creativity, collaboration and perseverance, while providing students with a fun and practical way to apply their learning about forces and movement. 

Electrostatic Forces Experiments 

As part of our investigation into non-contact forces, students thoroughly enjoyed exploring electrostatic force through a series of hands-on experiments. 

They discovered how static electricity can be created by rubbing materials together and observed its effects in a variety of engaging activities. Students rubbed balloons on their hair to create static charge, used rulers rubbed with cloth to pick up small pieces of paper, and even pulled ping pong balls across a desk without touching them. They also experimented with moving a piece of paper suspended from a pencil secured with Blu Tac and challenged themselves to move aluminium cans using only static electricity. 

These experiments encouraged students to make predictions, observe carefully and discuss their findings while developing a deeper understanding of how electrostatic forces can cause objects to attract or repel without direct contact.

The excitement and curiosity shown throughout these investigations made for a memorable and enjoyable learning experience. 

Sticky Notes In Phonics Plus 

One of the students' favourite activities in Phonics Plus this term has been using sticky notes to practise and apply their growing knowledge of sounds and spelling patterns. 

Students wrote a range of learnt sounds and graphemes onto sticky notes and used them to create and manipulate words. They enjoyed experimenting with changing just one letter or sound to make a new word, helping them develop a deeper understanding of how words are constructed. 

This hands-on approach has strengthened students' phonics knowledge, spelling skills and word-building confidence. The sticky note activities have proven to be highly engaging, with students demonstrating excellent focus, enthusiasm and independence as they explore and apply their learning.