Curriculum Information

To see an overview of the curriculum for the academic year 2023-2024, please click on the link below.
Year 2 Curriculum map 2023-2024

A meeting for Year 1 and Year 2 parents January 2024 will explain how we teach reading and writing.
Literacy Meeting Jan 2024 Years 1 & 2

Helpful hints for teaching literacy at home can be found here:

helpful hints for literacy Years 1 and 2 January 2024

The children learn that there are lots of ways to spell different sounds. See the sheet below which is taken from Ruth Miskin’s Read, Write Inc Scheme. For example “i” could by ie (as in tie), y (my), igh (high) or i-e (kite)!
complex speed sounds

The children learn that some combinations of letters look the same but can sound different (eg the double o sound could be in “look” and also in “spoon”). Whilst other sounds look different but sound the same (eg meet and meat)! It can be very tricky and we use lots of repetition to help the children to remember. See the link below for word families i.e. groups of words with the same spelling/sound.
phonic families

Children start learning “sight words” from Reception i.e. those words that cannot be sounded out using phonics – for example words such as “said”, “the”, “they”, “what”.
red words
We expect children to be able to read and spell these words by the end of Year 2.
spelling list yr2

Spelling is tricky! Have a read of this poem. Eye I halve a spelling checker

The children learn to write using a cursive script. The style we use can be found here.
handwriting yrs 2&3

Learning to read isn’t just about finding out how to read the words. It is essential that children understand what they are reading about. This is called reading comprehension. See the link below for ideas you can use to develop your child’s comprehension.
Reading in Infants – info for parents
See the bookmark which shows the different reading skills and questions you can ask your child at home.
Reading Bookmark – questions for Years 2 & 3

We use a colour book banded system to help children progress with their reading. Children are assessed using the PM Benchmark assessment scheme. The expectation is that the children reach gold or white band by the end of Year 2.

There is an expected standard of writing for the child to reach at the end of the year. See the link

Writing exemplification Years 2&3