Phase 2
Years 2 & 3
Our Philosophy:
In Phase Two, we build on the strong foundations that were set in place in Phase One. Our outcomes and achievements throughout the phase are strong and our 2018 outcomes were once again considerably higher than other local, national and outstanding schools.
As a phase, we passionately believe in ensuring that all children reach their full potential, and build differentiation and challenge into all lessons. Throughout the phase, in English and Maths, children are taught in whole class and group situations, within highly creative contexts.
Reading is an important part of Phase Two, and we make sure that children are engaged through rich reading resources across the curriculum. Children read with the teacher on a regular basis through individual and guided reading sessions. Reading integrates itself into every part of our curriculum, so it is essential that we build your child’s self confidence to read independently. We introduce reading comprehension in Year Two where the children delve deeper into a chosen text to develop a greater understanding of the books we are reading.
Daily grammar and punctuation sessions are taught in addition to spellings (SPaG) from October in Year 2. These sessions are reinforced through daily reading and writing in English lessons. Mental Maths has also become integral to our weekly learning whereby quick fire questioning aims to unpick each child’s understanding and push their knowledge further.
Within the wider curriculum, pupils have the opportunity to secure and reinforce core skills through topics that interest and inspire them, ensuring learning is exciting, creative and challenging. For example, in Year Two children learn about topics such as ‘The Great Fire of London’ and Australia and in Year Three, our pupils really enjoy learning about World War 2’
Our aim in Phase Two is to develop your child’s passion for learning, whilst ensuring they reach their full potential in a supportive and nurturing environment.
If you Rachel Winstanley
Phase 2 Leader
A Day In Phase 2
As soon as the door opens at 8.45am the learning in Phase 2 begins! Independent learning activities are displayed on the interactive boards for the children to develop and enhance previously taught skills like spelling, handwriting or mental maths challenges. Each morning from 9am – 12pm is dedicated to core curriculum subjects, which includes an hour of English, an hour of Maths and 10-15 minutes devoted purely to spelling, punctuation and grammar teaching.
Mathematics
Maths lessons begin by recalling and enriching rapid mental strategies followed by teaching, learning and investigations in more specific areas such as number, shape, calculations etc. Each week we focus one of our Maths lessons on basic mental arithmetic skills.
The calculation policy is designed to give pupils a consistent and smooth progression of learning in calculations across the school.
Preston-Hedges-Calculation-Policy
English
Our hour of English will compromise of a mixture of shared reading and shared/guided writing. Whilst handwriting is embedded throughout our English learning the children receive dedicated taught time weekly, which is followed up daily with independent tasks as well as smaller group work in the afternoon.
Our afternoons begin at 1pm with ‘Booktime’. In Phase 2 ‘Booktime’ is a chance for teachers to sit and dedicate quality time to quality reading teaching in small groups. Alongside their teacher, the children are able to investigate and examine a shared text in closer detail and through much discussion, develop their individual comprehension skills.
SPAG
A 15-minute Punctuation and Grammar session also takes place during the morning. Here the children learn about age specific areas of Punctuation and Grammar though pacey, interactive sessions. Each session focuses on one area of the punctuation and grammar curriculum and teaches key concepts and success criteria. The children then have the opportunity to practise the new learning through focused questions on that area, preparing them for future assessments.
Afternoon Curriculum
Our afternoons are dedicated to our whole school ethos of fun, creativity and achievement! Both year groups focus their learning on curriculum based subjects such as Geography, History, ICT, Art, P.E and Science all of which are linked to their topic of choice. At Preston Hedge’s we endeavour to centre our curriculum learning around the interests of the children to captivate and enrich their learning journey, investigating topics such as The Great Fire of London, The Wild West and World War 2.
Please visit our page PH Curriculum 19-20 to see the content of our curriculum