Year 2 Curriculum

In Year 2, children grow into confident readers, writers, and mathematicians as their core skills take off. They learn to read more fluently, write connected paragraphs, and master key multiplication tables like 2, 5, and 10. Science and humanities come alive through simple experiments, map work, and exploring historical timelines. By the end of the year, children work with greater independence and apply what they know to solve everyday problems.

Overview of learning

Summary of Year 2 core learning objectives can be found here

Reading

Reading for pleasure is at the heart of our curriculum, nurturing curiosity, empathy, and a lifelong love for learning. Every day, teachers set aside dedicated time to read aloud to their classes, giving children the chance to immerse themselves in rich vocabulary, diverse cultures, and captivating stories purely for the joy of reading.

Fostering a Love of Books

Daily Teacher Read-Alouds: Every class ends the day with a shared class novel, picture book, or poetry collection read aloud by the teacher.

Our Library Bus: Pupils visit our library bus which is stocked with a wide range of genres, graphic novels, non-fiction, and diverse voices.

Book Talk & Recommendations: pupils share peer reviews, swap favorite titles, and participate in school-wide reading celebrations.

Books We Are Reading in Class:

Guided Reading

At our school, shared texts are paired with the VIPERS framework to explicitly teach key reading comprehension skills, providing a clear bridge between teacher modeling and independent reading.

The VIPERS Framework with Shared Texts

At our school, shared texts are paired with the VIPERS framework to explicitly teach key reading comprehension skills, providing a clear bridge between teacher modeling and independent reading.

The VIPERS Framework with Shared Texts

Focus Area	Classroom Application
Vocabulary Word meanings & context	Unpacking ambitious vocabulary, root words, and figurative language as a group.
Inference Reading between the lines	Using visual clues and character actions to uncover unstated motives and feelings.
Prediction Anticipating outcomes	Forecasting plot developments based on text clues, layout, and prior events.
Explain Author choice & purpose	Analysing why an author chose specific words, text structures, or themes.
Retrieve Locating facts	Finding and highlighting specific details, quotes, or answers directly within the text.
Sequence / Summarise Structure & main ideas	Ordering key plot events (KS1) or synthesizing main themes and arguments (KS2).

Classroom Organisation

Texts are sgared, projected onto digital boards or displayed on large easels, allowing teachers to annotate print and model VIPERS question types in real time

Guided reading tables are equipped with VIPERS question cards, sentence stems, and tracking pointers to scaffold group discussions

Books are organised into sets aligned with specific VIPERS focus areas (e.g., non-fiction texts rich in retrieval facts vs. narrative poetry built for inference).

Multiple copies of shared texts are stored in the classroom library, enabling pupils to re-read familiar texts and practice VIPERS strategies independently.

Supporting Reading at Home

Read Together Daily: Shared reading isn't just for younger children—reading to older children or taking turns with chapters builds comprehension and connection.

Celebrate All Reading: Audiobooks, comics, non-fiction magazines, and graphic novels all count toward developing a rich reading routine.

Keep Books Accessible: Keep books near bedtime routines, in car seats, or in travel bags to make reading an easy, go-to habit.

Writing

The Fortnightly Learning Journey

Writing units at St John's run on a two-week learning cycle focused on a single stimulus text, film, or theme alongside a targeted writing genre.

Week 1: Immersion & Guided Writing
- Monday (Text Immersion): Oracy-rich immersion using practical hooks such as drama, art, role-play, and guided discussions.
- Tuesday (Genre Features): Analysing exemplar texts (WAGOLLs) to unpick the specific structural and language features of the genre.
- Wednesday (Planning): Structuring writing using planning frames and sentence rehearsal.
- Thursday (Shared & Guided Writing): Teacher-led modeling (shared write) followed by targeted section writing with live teacher feedback.
- Friday (Misconceptions & Continuation): Addressing class misconceptions from Thursday, co-constructing the next section, and writing independently.
Week 2: Application, Stamina & Publishing
- Monday (Recap & Inspiration): Recapping the text and co-creating success criteria alongside creative stimulus activities.
- Tuesday (Planning): Developing independent planning frames tailored to the final genre outcome.
- Wednesday (Shared Writing): Teacher modeling focus skills and grammar targets in context.
- Thursday (Independent Write): Extended independent writing time dedicated to building writing stamina.
- Friday (Editing & Performing): Systematic proofreading, editing for impact, and sharing or performing finished work.

Core Non-Negotiables

Oracy & Drama: Pupils talk through their ideas and engage in role-play before putting pen to paper.
Daily Grammar Starters: Every writing session opens with a targeted Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling (SPaG) starter linked directly to the genre.
Editing & Proofreading: Dedicated teaching on reviewing vocabulary choices, fixing technical errors, and revising structure.
Writing Stamina: Progressively longer independent writing opportunities to prepare children for upper Key Stage 2 demands.

Weekly Spelling & Handwriting Routine

In Year 2, pupils transition through the Little Wandle spelling pathway, progressing from Letters and Sounds (Autumn 1) to Bridge to Spelling (Autumn 2) and full Little Wandle Spelling (Spring & Summer). Handwriting lessons build on foundational joins to establish comfortable, legible presentation across all subjects.

Transcriptions and handwriting skills are explicitly taught using the Letterjoin framework and structured weekly routines:

Monday: Spelling Lesson 1 (introducing new spelling patterns/rules).
Tuesday: Spelling Lesson 2 (Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check alongside matching games, crosswords, or word searches).
Wednesday: Letterjoin cursive handwriting lesson.
Thursday: Handwriting session directly integrating the weekly spelling words onto Letterjoin practice sheets.
Friday: Weekly spelling assessment covering 10 words from the half-term focus, followed by distribution of new spelling lists.

Year 2 Curriculum

In Year 2, pupils consolidate basic sentence structures, expand their use of expanded noun phrases and conjunctions, and build stamina for writing longer connected paragraphs.

Narrative Writing: Retelling classic stories with character and setting variations; creating alternative story endings.
Instructions & Practical Non-Fiction: Creating detailed instructions (making a salad, setting a trap for a wolf).
Information Writing: Non-chronological reports and fact files on geographical places and historical figures (North Pole, Kenya, Great Fire of London, Wright Brothers, Bessie Coleman).
Letters & Diaries: Writing formal and informal thank-you letters (Traction Man, Greenpeace); diary entries recounting events in character (Bob’s day).
Descriptive Writing & Poetry: Detailed setting descriptions (Gambia, vibrant market scenes); poetry rewrites adapting animal patterns, food themes, and sound collection (The Sound Collector).

Maths

In Year 2, pupils deepen their arithmetic fluency and begin applying their knowledge to two-step word problems using the White Rose Maths mastery approach.

Key Focus Areas: Place value within 100, column addition and subtraction, introduction to the 2, 5, and 10 times tables, simple fractions, money, and telling time to 5 minutes.
How It Looks in Class: Children use base 10 blocks alongside bar models and part-whole diagrams to solve calculations and explain their reasoning.
Support at Home: Practice recall of the 2, 5, and 10 times tables, use coins to pay for small items, and ask your child to read analog clocks.

Year 2 Maths Overview

Maths Calculations Demonstration Videos

Addition 1	Addition 2	Addition 2
Subtraction 1	Subtraction 2	Division

Maths Knowledge Organisers

Knowledge Organisers support pupils with information and methods they should know

Addition	Place Value	Subtraction
Fractions	Shape	Measure
Money	Multiplication / Division	Statistics

White-Rose Home Learning Books - to support Maths learning at home

Autumn Term

Spring Term

Summer Term

Other Subjects

In Year 2, children build on their early skills through interconnected

Kapow Primary

units that encourage deeper discovery

. Science expands into animal habitats, life cycles, and plant growth

. History takes children back in time to explore old schools, the history of flight, and British monarchs, while Geography compares hot and cold places with coastal living

. Hands-on DT and Art projects include building fairground wheels, clay houses, and pouches, while Computing introduces stop-motion animation and basic word processing

Kapow Curriculum Learning

Kapow Spiral Curriculum