Welcome to Snowdrop Class (Year 2)

A place where children are nurtured, loved and feel safe; enabling a happy learning environment with high expectations in all aspects of learning that allow every child to reach their full potential.

What makes Snowdrop class special?
Year 2 in my opinion is the most exciting year! You see the children become independent learners. They have a thirst for learning about new things and continue to ask questions that make them think about the world around them. We have an exciting classroom where we encourage everyone to their best and try to get even better.

Drop off and Collection Times
8:45 am, 3:15pm

Lunch
12 – 1pm

Routine/Timetable
Monday – Reading book change day
Tuesday – PE -bring PE Kit
Wednesday
Thursday – Forest School – bring Forest School Kit
Friday – PE – bring PE Kit, Spelling test

What your child needs to bring to class
• Bookbags (no rucksacks)
• Reading diaries
• Reading books every day
• Drawstring bag for PE kit (Tuesday and Friday)
• Water bottle – every day
• Sunhat in the summer months
• A waterproof coat for the cold months
Please ensure that all items are clearly named.

Keeping you informed
• We will hold two face to face parent meetings every year (one in the Autumn Term and another in the Spring/Summer Term)
• We send out annual school reports in July.
• Key information specific to your child will be sent via Parentapps.
• Weekly school newsletters and half termly class newsletters will be sent out on Parentapps and are available to view on the school website.
• Please contact the office for all general enquiries.
• Staff will be available at drop off and pick up times should any quick messages need to be passed on.
• If you have a more specific query relating to your child, please email the class teacher.

Curriculum
Phonics: We continue to support children needing phonics with Little Wandle.
Reading: We read in groups for guided reading where the children read books appropriate to their ability. They read independently and with support if needed and discuss the text.
Writing: We use techniques from The Write Stuff to promote independent creative writing. We experiment with different sentence types verbally and writing them down.
Maths: We use White Rose Maths and supplement this to support the curriculum. We use a small range of concrete resources to calculate numbers to 100.
Other subjects:We have long term plans in place which delivers an ambitious curriculum for the children. We ensure these are exciting and build up on what the children already know and are ready for what they need to know next.

Please see our website for further details about the curriculum that we follow and to see our Long Term Plans.

How we monitor children’s progress

• Children’s progress is monitored throughout lessons and we use a ‘keep up, not catch up’ approach to learning, ensuring every child is given the appropriate support to reach their full potential in class. Marking children’s work will inform next steps and future planning and notes are made regarding progress.
• Each term children complete assessments for Writing, Reading, Maths and SPAG. These assessments are then used to inform planning the next steps for each individual child. They also highlight which pupils need specific interventions to support their learning.
• At the end of year 2, schools in England submit information for the children to the Government. We will report on whether a child is working below, working towards, working at or working at greater depth according to the national benchmark standard.
• Subject leaders will complete data analysis, book trawls and pupil voice activities to monitor progress.

How you can help your child at home
Communication between home and school is an important part of a pupil’s education. Research shows that when parents/carers support their child at home their academic achievement is significantly enhanced. Ways that you can support your child at home could be listen to your child read, encourage to learn / practice timetables and spending quality time developing oracy through conversation.

Reading enables children to learn facts about the world they live in and opens them up to different ideas, stories and opportunities. It helps them in all aspects of the curriculum and research shows children that read for pleasure achieve more academically. Listening to your child read a few nights a week and asking them questions about what they are reading can make a big difference in their reading ability and their love for reading. Letting your child listen to you read exposes them to new vocabulary and letting them listen to your expression can also increase their love of reading.

From November, children have logins for Times Table Rockstars which is a fun and engaging way children can improve their fluency of times table recall.

We hope that you and your child will enjoy a happy and fulfilling time with us. We aim to provide a challenging and stimulating environment, in which children can become motivated, independent learners, who value the contribution of themselves and others. We look forward to working with you to ensure that your child’s education has the best possible foundations.