Year 2

Welcome to the wonderful world of Year 2, where we take all the wonderful skills that the children have learnt in EYFS and Year 1 and continue to develop them. Year 2 is made up of three classes - Attenborough, Edison and Gilbert. Like all classes in The Discovery School, the classes were named after a famous scientist or inventor. 

Meet the Team

Gilbert Class

  • Mrs Ismail, Class Teacher (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday), RE leader and Year 2 Phase Leader
    Email: zismail@discovery.kent.sch.uk
  • Miss Baker, Class Teacher (Friday)
    Email: jbaker@discovery.kent.sch.uk
  • Mrs Oakley, Class Teaching Assistant.
  • Mrs Caitlin, Specialist TA.

Gilbert Class is located in the back of the school.  In the morning, the children will come in through the main gate on the left hand side of the school by the bike racks.  They will need to travel round the outside of the building, turn right past the Year 4 classrooms and then turn right again onto the playground.  The classroom is then the third one you come to. At the end of the day, parents will collect the children from outside the classroom doors.

Attenborough Class

  • Mr Miller, Class Teacher and PE leader
    Email: tmiller@discovery.kent.sch.uk
  • Mrs Catt, Class Teaching Assistant

Attenborough class is located at the back of the school. In the morning, the children will come in through the main gate on the left hand side of the school by the bike racks.  They will need to travel round the outside of the building, turn right past the Year 4 classrooms and then turn right again onto the playground.  The classroom is then the forth one you come to. At the end of the day, parents will collect the children from outside the classroom doors.

Edison Class

  • Mrs Coldwell, Class Teacher (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) and mathematics leader.
    Email: ccoldwell@discovery.kent.sch.uk
  • Mrs Healey, Class Teacher (Thursday and Friday)
    Email: chealey@discovery.kent.sch.uk
  • Mrs Cox. Class Teaching Assistant

Edison class is located next to the EYFS and Key Stage One gate. The children can come in through this gate and straight into their class. At the end of the day, parents will collect the children from outside the classroom doors.

Communication

The communication between yourselves as parents and ourselves as teachers is paramount, so we thought it would be helpful if you knew when and how to liaise with us. It is best email us any messages. If you feel that you need to speak with us in person, please email to arrange an appointment. 

Mrs Ismail is the Year 2 phase leader.

Please allow 48 hours for teacher to reply to emails. For all urgent messages or enquiries please call the school office on 01732847000.

Meet the Teacher

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the 'Meet the Teacher' session.

For those who were unable to attend or who couldn't hear through the Teams link the presentation is attached below. 

Meet the Teacher Presentation

If you have any questions please email your child's class teacher. Thank you once again.

A Friendly Reminder

Our PE days in Year 2 are Tuesdays and Fridays (starting from Friday 13th September).

Please ensure that your child comes to school in the PE kit on these days.

Please remember to bring in the following items labelled with your child's name:

                  - Wellington boots in wet/snowy weather (please also pack shoes for the classroom if wellingtons are worn to school).

                  - A spare set of clothes in a separate bag (for toilet accidents and falls in the playground).

                  - In the colder weather, hats, gloves and a scarf are needed and in the warmer weather sun hats and sun cream will be required.

Our Curriculum

The curriculum at The Discovery School is an enquiry based one in which the children are encouraged to ask and answer questions about a topic.  

Through this enquiry based learning, the children will get the opportunities to experience a range of activities which will help to develop further their knowledge and skills of the wider world. 

 Year 2 Learning experience guarantees 2023-2024

Throughout the year the children in Year 2 will be trying to discover the answers to these 'Questions for Discovery':

Term 1 - What is friendship

We will starting this year with a topic all about friendship. We will getting to know each other, talking about our friends, discussing what makes a good friend/friendship and learn how to solve conflicts within friendships.

What-is-friendship-Term-1-Year-2-2024-25.pdf

Our key text is 'Meesha Makes Friends'.

Year 2 Timetable

Below is an example of a weekly Year 2 timetable.

Our Homework and ideas for supporting your child's learning at home

Please watch the Key Stage 1 Sway below to find out more about our Year 2 homework.

Go to this Sway

 

 

In year 2, books will be changed twice a week and the children also have the opportunity to take home a 'class library' book once a week. Please record your child's reading at home in their reading record. We love to see and talk to the children about their reading interests, so this is really useful. 

We will continue to give maths homework in the form of Learn It's and Big Maths. We will hand out practice sheets as and when the children request them, we do not need the practice sheets to be handed back to us. Each week the children will be timed to see how many questions they can complete, their achievements will be celebrated and their sheet sent home so you can see their progress. Learn It's and Big Maths are a way for the children to learn and quickly recall their number bonds. Knowing the number bonds supports with all the mathematical teaching and learning in class.

We also highly recommend downloading and using the White Rose Maths App, '1 Minute Maths'. The App is free and each quiz takes one minute to complete. The children compete against themselves and really enjoy their achievements.

White Rose 1 Minute Maths App

Reading and Phonics

Throughout Key Stage 1, the children will be asked to read every night for their homework.  The school has a book scheme that is grouped into different stages.  These books are from a number of different publishers and school book schemes to enable the children to develop a love of reading a wide range of texts.  The children are encouraged to read every night for their homework.  Once they complete the book scheme, they will become a 'Free Reader' and will be able to select books from the classroom to read at home, under the guidance of the class teacher or teaching assistant. This year we are introducing a reading challenge which will encourage the children to read for at least 10 minutes every night.

At The Discovery School we use the 'FFT Success for All' phonics and guided reading scheme. This scheme supports the children's learning in reading and spelling. We will eventually move to using the 'FFT Routes to Reading and Jungle Spelling'. This will look at a variety of spelling rules and expand the children's reading skills and develop their reading fluency.

The FFT texts are available for you to read with your child at home. Please use this guide to access them.

FFT Parents Guide