Year 2
Summer 1, 2026
Welcome back we hope you have had a lovely half term break making memories and are ready for lots of learning and fun this half term in Year 2. We are really looking forward to teaching your children.
Start time – 8:40am Pick-up time- 3:15pm
If you have any questions, concerns or worries, please contact us at year2@cpa.dsat.education and we will do our best to respond as soon as we can.
Please ensure that your child brings a labelled water bottle to school each day as well as ensuring that all items of your child's uniform is clearly labelled too. A healthy fruit snack is provided for all our Year 2 children.
Year 2 Long Term Plan Year 2 Summer 1 Timetable
Please follow the links below to view information from Year 2 meetings.
Reading Information Meeting 2025
International Democracy day 15th September 2025
Well done to all the children in year 2 for their courage to deliver a fantastic speech. It was difficult to choose between you all! We are proud to announce that our Year 2 class School Council Representatives are: Luna and Luca S :)
Picture news
"Picture News" is a UK-based educational resource that provides schools with weekly current affairs packs, featuring a relevant photo, a "big question," and teaching materials to help children discuss real-world events, develop critical thinking, and learn about British Values, respect, and empathy in an age-appropriate way, often linking home and school learning.
Purpose of our PICTURE NEWS assembly at Canon Popham:
To make the world more accessible and understandable for children.
To develop speaking, listening, and vocabulary skills.
To foster independence, drive, and a passion for learning.
To build empathy and teach children to find their own voice.
PICTURE NEWS is delivered in a whole school assembly once a week with a thought-provoking question by class teacher throughout the school year. Each week in assembly, the children learn about an exciting or important story that has been in the news. They consider their responses to the story and are invited to feedback their thoughts. They reflect on each story and learn how they relate to British Values and Protected Characteristics - Equality.
Reading
As a school we follow the Read, Write, Inc programme to deliver our phonics teaching. During this half term, we will continue to work hard embedding our knowledge of phoneme / grapheme correspondence, as well as continuing to segment and blend. We have lots of information on our schools phonics page.
For those children who have progressed from the RWInc phonics lessons, we will deliver whole class reading lessons which are taught in a similar style to KS2. We will focus on different skills each week (vocabulary, inference, predict, explain, retrieval and sequencing) and how to answer different styles of questions based on these. Children will focus on a class text each week and on a Friday will revisit a vipers skill and apply their learning to some questions with an unknown text.
Alongside reading, there are some words which children are expected to be able to read and write confidently by the end of year 2, which we call Common Exception Words. These are part of the statutory requirement for the year 2 spelling curriculum and are also known as sight words or tricky words because they are not spelt the way we would expect them to be spelt. Click on the link below to see the list of Year 1 and Year 2 Common Exception words. Please support your child in learning these.
Year 1 and Year 2 Common Exception Words
Writing
Our writing this half term will be based on the book ‘The Last Wolf’ by Mini Grey.
One day Little Red sets off into the woods to catch a wolf . . . But the woods aren’t all they seem - and are there even any wolves left?
In response to the book, we will engage in a variety of writing opportunities, including writing a guide, rules, a setting description, a character description and messages. Our writing outcome is to write a letter to persuade others to save the trees.
Spelling
Children will begin following the Head-Start spelling programme this year, with a dedicated spelling lesson each day. Each week will follow the same format with an introduction to the weeks spelling pattern on a Monday, a writing words exercise on Tuesday, an activity applying the spelling pattern on Wednesday, Another writing words exercise on Thursday and a final activity to apply new knowledge on Friday.
Please click on the links below to see the spellings we will focus on over the year and also the spelling pattern rules which explains how we apply each spelling pattern (please note these are not in the same order as the spelling patterns taught through the Headstart scheme). Please help your child to practice a few of the spellings each week.
In addition to spellings, children in year 2 need to be able to read and write the year 2 common exception words which can be found in the link below. These words do not follow spelling patterns we just need to keep practicing to learn them.
Summer term 1 - We are now working on Term 2 and will begin with week 12, Set 2 list a and Set 2 list b on Monday 13th April 2026. Each week after will then follow on from this with Set 3 in weekly order with a set a and set b list each week.
Spelling pattern rules Year 2 Common Exception Words
Term 1 Spelling Overview Term 2 Spelling Overview Term 3 Spelling overview
Maths
This half term we will be learning about:
'Shape' - In this unit we will focus on identifying and describing the properties of 2-D and 3-D shapes, comparing and sorting common 2-D and 3-D shapes and everyday objects, ordering and arranging combinations of mathematical objects in patterns and sequences and use mathematical vocabulary to describe position, direction and movement in a straight line and distinguishing rotation as a turn and in terms of right angles.
'Fractions’ - In this unit we will learn how to write fractions and understand the meaning of the vinculum, numerators and denominators. We will identify unit and non-unit fractions of halves, thirds and quarters of shapes, objects or quantities and begin to explore equivalence through exploring how one half and two quarters are equivalent.
Key Instant Recall Facts
This half term we will also be focusing on knowing and remembering our Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs). Please click on the link below for Year 2 Summer 1 KIRFs that will support your child with their knowledge of telling time. The online game link below, Time games, will help support this half term's focus. The link HIT THE BUTTON will also support your child with key recall in many mathematical areas previously taught.
Year 2 Autumn term KIRFs Year 2 Spring term KIRFS Year 2 Summer term KIRFs
Hit the Button Time games Odd and even song
Times Table Challenge
We will also be learning our times tables, particularly focussing on the 2, 5 and 10 times tables this year. Times table fluency is important and children now take a multiplication check in year 4 based on all the times tables from 1 to 12. Each week children will complete a times table challenge answering multiplication and division questions. The aim is to complete the award within 3 minutes and once achieved three times they will progress to the next level. Please see the links below for examples of our times table challenges. We will all start on the Bronze award and you will be notified each time your child has achieved an award and moved onto the new level. Please note that children are exposed to this from the start and regularly revisit how to answer the different styles of questions, but children may chose which questions they would like to answer and in which order they would like to develop their confidence in success.
Bronze Award Silver Award Gold Award
If you have any questions about these areas of Maths please don’t hesitate to come and speak to us.
Religious Education
Our RE Theme this half term is 'Prayer' continuing the learning started in Spring 1. In this unit, we will be exploring the question 'How and why do people pray?' We will be thinking about what prayer is, why people pray, how Christians and Muslims pray and how Buddhists meditate. We will finish our unit by exploring what prayer / reflection means to us.
Science
Our science theme this half term is ‘Changing Materials’. In this unit, we will find out how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.
We will develop our scientific skills by:
Asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways.
Performing simple tests.
Identifying and classifying.
Using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions.
Gathering and recording data to help in answering questions.
History
Our History theme this half term is ‘significant individuals’ and we will find out about the lives of Emily Davison and Rosa Parks, working towards answering the question ‘How did Emily Davison and Rosa Parks make a difference to how people are treated?’ We will use our historical skills of chronology, significance and continuity and change.
Art
Our Art theme this half term is 'Painting'. In this unit, we will focus on Imaginative leaf shapes, pattern and tone based on the artist: Henri Rousseau. We will develop our painting skills by
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Painting imaginative scenes in an Impressionist/fantasy style
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Using painting dictionaries to add pattern and texture.
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Mixing and applying secondary colours
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Beginning to experiment with tone for effect
P.E.
In PE, our theme is 'Ball skills'. In this unit, we will develop our ball skills such as throwing, catching, rolling, hitting a target, dribbling with both hands and feet and kicking. We will perform these skills with increasing control and accuracy using coordination and balance. We will participate in team games and develop simple tactics for attacking and defending.
Our second theme is ‘Striking and Fielding’. In this unit, we will participate in team games and develop our understanding of the principles of defending (fielding) and attacking (batting) for striking and fielding games. We will learn how to score points, play to the rules and use simple tactics, whilst showing respect towards others when playing competitively and develop communication skills to manage small sided games.
Our PE day is Tuesday afternoon. Please ensure that your child comes to school in their uniform and with the correct P.E kit in their bag to change into before their lesson. If your child wears earrings, these must be removed or provide tape to cover them. Please ensure long hair is tied back away from the face.
P.S.H.E.
In our PSHE this half term we will be focussing on the theme ‘Enterprise’ where we will begin our preparation for the fiver challenge. We will decide on a product using our British value of democracy to vote. Next, we will think about a business name/logo, conduct some market research collating our answers and pitch our class idea to staff. We will create a business plan and think about our budget/shopping list. After that we will decide how to advertise our product and finally, we will make our product to be sold at the school summer fayre. Following the summer fayre, we will calculate our profits, payback our £5 loan and decide how to use the profits.
Computing 
Information Technology
Our computing theme this half term is 'questioning.' We will explore how to ask questions to collect useful information and learn to organise data using tally charts, pictograms, and simple branching databases to help sort and identify objects. Click on the knowledge organiser below for key learning, images, vocabulary and questions.
Questioning Knowledge Organiser Questioning Learning Mat
Digital Literacy
Our online safety theme this half term is ‘Managing Online Information’. We will learn to use simple keywords in search engines, demonstrate how to navigate a simple webpage to get to information we need (e.g. home, forward, back buttons; links, tabs and sections), explain what voice activated searching is and how it might be used, and know it is not a real person (e.g. Alexa, Google Now, Siri), explain the difference between things that are imaginary, ‘made up’ or ‘make believe’ and things that are ‘true’ or ‘real,’ and finally, explain why some information we find online may not be real or true.
Music
In music this half term we will be focusing on the theme ‘Exploring Improvisation' In this unit, we will be thinking about the question ‘How Does Music Make Us Happy?' We will explore improvisation a bit further in this unit using two or three notes and have a go at playing or singing on our own. Singing and listening are at the heart of each lesson. We will play, improvise and compose on a glockenspiel using a selection of these notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B
Supporting learning at home
NUMBOTs –up to 3 x a week
NUMBOTs is an on-line programme to boost addition and subtraction skills. It is available on a range of devices, including mobile phones. You can play online at NUMBOTs Game or download the NUMBOTs app. Playing little and often will significantly improve your child’s recall and understanding of number bonds and addition and subtraction facts. These are critical foundations in maths so we are excited by the impact NUMBOTs will have. In order to get the best out of NUMBOTs children should regularly play for short bursts of time over the week, there are 18 stages to complete! We will monitor NumBots usage weekly and award golden tickets to those who have accessed it at least once a week.
If you have misplaced your log in details or are having trouble accessing the website, please email year 2 to let me know.
REFLEX – Play to get the green light
Adaptive and individualized, Reflex is the most effective system for mastering basic maths facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Full of games that children love, Reflex takes children at every level and helps them quickly gain maths fact automaticity and confidence. We will monitor reflex usage weekly and award golden tickets to those who have accessed it at least once a week.
If you have misplaced your log in details or are having trouble accessing the website, please email year 2 to let me know.
READING – Every day 10 minutes
Please continue to enjoy your reading each day. Reading is fun and a great way to spend time together with your family, as well as developing our imaginations. Encourage your child to talk about what they have read and ask them a question or two about the book. This will help consolidate their comprehension work in school. Adults please remember to record what your child reads at home in their reading record. We will count all entries in the reading diaries weekly and award golden tickets to those who have read 15 times or more in a month.
Our book change day is Thursday.
As always, thank you for your continued support with your child’s learning.
Mrs Rowe and Mrs Watson