Welcome to Year 2
Year 2 is based on developing children’s skills to ‘balance’. As they move from being a young child who needs a lot of adult support to a child who has internalised the process of reading and writing.
Children in Year 2 undertake a gradual transformation from being a child who explores the world in a very concrete way to one that is beginning to make an internalised sense of ‘how the world works’. This transformation needs careful handling. They need adults to allow them independence to make logical connections, however recognise mistakes will be frequent. Adults will need to sensitively ‘catch them’ when their resilience is tested. Adults need to coach children at this age to stay ‘calm’, to internalise social and emotional management techniques. They want adults to be honest and fair so that they can develop a true representation of the world.
Children in Year 2 will begin to master the skills to read, write and use numbers. This will only be achieved if sensitive adults recognise that repetition, practise and demonstration are key. They want to know how to do it the ‘right way. To achieve this desired outcome they will have to learn how to stay ‘calm’. Adults are their role models.
Year 2 children will be tested at the end of the year to identify if the journey from Foundation to 7 years has been successful. Their results are recorded on a national data base and claims are made that a child who achieves a ‘2a’ in all subjects is likely to achieve 5 GCSE’s at A – C grade.