Welcome to Year 2

Year 2 marks the end of Key Stage 1. Throughout the year we will focus on securing reading fluency, accuracy and comprehension skills, plus cursive handwriting, spellings and problem-solving within maths. Children will engage in a variety of useful Hinterland experiences over the year, such as a visit to the seaside, an art gallery and a place of worship.

 

Two young boy pupils turn back to look at the camera whilst seated at a desk with their friends opposite

Upcoming events for Year 2

Here’s what you’ve got to look forward to over the coming weeks.

Settling in Catch Up With Class Teacher
Mon 29th - Fri 3rd Oct
3.30pm-4.15pm

Please check with your child’s class teacher for the specific date.

Open Classroom
Mon 13th - Fri 17th Oct
8.45am-9.15am

Please check with your child’s class teacher for the specific date.

Curriculum

Art and Design / DT / Food and Nutrition

At KS1 and KS2 we follow a two year sequence:

2025/2026 and 2027/2028

Autumn 1 – 3D: Clay

Autumn 2 – Food Technology

Spring 1 – Printing

Spring 2 – Mechanica | Systems (axles and wheels)

Summer 1 – Portraits, including photography/digital

Summer 2 – Structures

2026/2027 and 2028/2029

Autumn 1 – Painting

Autumn 2 – Mechanical Systems (Sliders and Levers)

Spring 1 – Collage

Spring 2 – Food Technology

Summer 1 – Portraits, including photography/digital

Summer 2 – Textiles – weaving

Computing

Each year through KS1-2 we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:

  1. Productivity
  2. Programming
  3. Computational Thinking
  4. Creativity
  5. Networks
  6. Communication/collaboration

The Year 9 curriculum is both the culmination of Key Stage 3 studies and introduces many concepts and skills that form part of the GCSE syllabus.

Topics taught this year include:

  • More advanced graph work
  • Algebra work, including simultaneous equations, algebraic products and factorising quadratics
  • Number work, including trial and improvement, recurring decimals, percentages work with appreciation/depreciation and rounding (upper and lower bounds)
  • Trigonometry
  • Congruency and similarity for triangles
  • Transformations, particularly enlargements.
English

Learning to Read

Children in the early years who are learning to read (decode) follow the Read Write Inc, synthetic phonics program.

This enables them to work to decode a book appropriate for their phonic knowledge, to begin to develop reading stamina and fluency. At this point, children take part in our Oral Shared Reading program, so they can work on their comprehension skills using a shared text, read by an expert teacher.

Click here to see which books we read in Year Two.

Geography

Children in Year 2 learn about the following subjects:

The living world

  • Biomes
  • Hot and cold climates
  • Rainforests

The economic world

  • Food, water and energy
  • The changing economic world
  • Tourism and ecotourism
  • Case study: Cambridge

 

History

We cover two topics a year for History in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In Year 2 we look at Food and Trade, then Punishment and Medicine.

Mathematics

Our school uses Maths Mastery to teach the subject.

In Year 2 we cover:

  • Numbers within 100
  • Addition and subtraction of two digit numbers
  • Addition and subtraction on word problems
  • Measures: length
  • Graphs
  • Multiplication and division 2,5 and 10
Music

Autumn 1 – Film Music

Autumn 2 – African Music

Spring 1 – Folk Music

Spring 2 – Bhangra

Summer 1 – Samba

Summer 2 – Reflect, Rewind and Replay

PE
  • Gymnastics
  • Dance
  • Attack/defend/shoot
  • Hit/catch/run
  • Send/return
  • Run/jump/throw
Religious and Non-religious Worldviews (RE)

We follow a three-year cycle (see below) covering the major world religions as well as worldviews.

The programme is designed so that each previously taught religion is reviewed and comparisons are drawn between the content. Over six years, each child will have studied each identified religion/non-religion twice, studying in greater depth and making connections between religions.

Pupils are taught key substantive knowledge for each religion and worldview and each lesson is broken down into one of 3 disciplines: Theology, philosophy and Human/Social Science.

2024-2025: Christianity and Islam
2025-2026: Judaism and Humanism
2026-2027: Hinduism and Sikhism
Parents/carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE – please contact the principal if you wish to explore this as an option.
RSHE and PSHE

The Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.

From September 2019 we have allocated 45 minutes per week to PSHE at KS1 and KS2.

  • Being Me in My World
  • Celebrating Difference
  • Dreams and Goals
  • Healthy Me
  • Relationships
  • Changing Me
Science

Autumn 1 – Plants and Seasons

Autumn 2 – Materials and Forces

Spring 1 – Animals including Humans

Spring 2 – Plants

Summer 1 – Materials

Summer 2 – Living things and their habitats

Children colour with an activity at the desk
Ukeleles in red, blue and pink adorn the walls of the music room
A teacher leans in to assist a young pupil with problem solving a maths exercise with cubes

Inset days:

1st September

2nd September

3rd September

 

Pupils should not attend school on these days.

Term Dates
Start Monday, 1st September
End Friday, 19th December
Half Term Holiday Dates
Start Monday, 27th October
End Friday, 31st October
End of Term Holiday Dates
Start Monday, 22nd December
End Friday, 2nd January

Inset day:

5th January

Pupils should not attend school on this day.

Eid Ul-Fitr

Tower Hamlets has advised the provisional date of Friday 20th March for school closure.

Term Dates
Start Monday, 5th January
End Friday, 27th March
Half Term Holiday Dates
Start Monday, 16th February
End Friday, 20th February
End of Term Holiday Dates
Start Monday, 30th March
End Friday, 10th April

Eid Ul-Adha

Tower Hamlets has advised the provisional date of Wednesday 27th May for school closure.

Term Dates
Start Monday, 13th April
End Tuesday, 21st July
Half Term Holiday Dates
Start Monday, 25th May
End Friday, 29th May

Frequently Asked Questions

When happens in PE?

What do I need to know about homework?

When is Book Change day?