Year 2 "speaking and listening"

[cliffside]

Is this a nationwide part of the syllabus? DD (6) has to prepare a piece of work per term on a specific topic and talk to the class about it. DD loves school and learning but can never volunteer any ideas for this, it always seems to boil down to crafting something which she is not interested in at all. Inevitably it seems to be an opportunity for some parents to go into show-off mode and "help" create the biggest and best creation ever.
I haven't got time for this shit.

Anyone else or AIBU?

The UK National Curriculum for year 2 has 4 strands for English...reading, writing, speaking and listening. So, the teacher is teaching what is required.

Why are you crafting something? It doesn’t say that, it says pick a topic and talk about it:

my pet
how I made a cake
my favourite TV show
where we went on holiday
rainbow camp
what I like most about my mum

the list is endless

Totally this. I've taught year 2 and set this task for homework. We prefer the children to just chat about a topic they're interested in

I’m a teacher and I’ve done this kind of thing many times.

However, I give pupils the option of working in pairs or small groups.
It’s still perfectly possible to assess individual pupils this way.
Lots of children aren’t comfortable doing this type of task on their own.

I don’t think they are being asked to make anything, are they?
It’s very unfair to ask pupils to make things at home.
I usually give them a day or an afternoon and provide resources, with children being free to bring in any bits and pieces from home. I normally gather odds and ends from home, as well.

Yeah but it's not a topic of their choice, it has to be about whatever they're learning that term. This time it is "great fire of London" and everyone is coming in with extravagant dioramas.

It's a bit like show and tell. They can take their favourite toy or an interesting rock they found. They say something about it, the other children get to ask questions and the child answers. It's literally speaking and listening. Most children enjoy it.

My son is in year 2 and this is definitely not part of the syllabus for his school. He hasn't been doing any projects or crafting or show and tell 🤔

We just printed a collage of pictures from the internet out. One page per topic. DS talked about what the pictures showed e.g. the fire starting or people escaping on the river. Easy and quick.

Could she talk about how after the fire news laws were made to stop similar fires and we still have fire safety rules today?

It would be different and could be as long or short as she liked.

@InsolentNoise You sound like a wonderful teacher!

I think speaking and listening is such an important part of the curriculum!

I'm not crafty either, I sympathise. I remember doing the Great Fire in year 2 and we did some work on Samuel Pepys and his diary of the fire. Could that be an angle?

If you're near enough and it's doable, could you do something on London being rebuilt? St Pauls?

My son is in year 2 and he gets 6 projects each term to complete, all usually based around topic they are learning and science they are optional. But any completed work is shown to rest of class in last 30mins on a Monday
this terms are: build a model of a castle
plant some seeds and learn what would make them grow
write a day in the life of someone who lives in a castle
draw a diagram of a castle
use materials around the house to create a catapult
write about a carnivore that lives in the uk

I have found weird and wonderful ways to make it easier! So the castle one we built a sand castle on the beach 🤣

Thank you so much! I’ve been a teacher for 34 years and some of the things I’ve learned, I’ve learned the hard way!

That would be fun. Show her how to start a fire with a piece of flint and a knife, and set it going in the classroom. When the school reopens after the rebuild, they'll probably have rethought their policy on show and tell.
Win all round.

Mini blondes is 7/in year 2

Yes we have this and did in year 2 as well

Perfectly normal

But we have a topic and she research's that

But teacher /topic gives ideas

Fire of london was last term

This term seaside

What can you eat /do /what animals are there /how did you get there

Things like that

Kwym about models tho

Some of the ones that come in have sooooooooooooo obviously been done by the parent and not child or majorly helped

That's not the point of it

Did you also have castles , seaside as that's ours as well as great fire of london last term

I bought a big piece of card and dd made a presentation on Volcanoes with diagrams etc

On the back of the card we printed out a speech so she could read that when presenting.

My son made a PowerPoint presentation and the teacher showed it on the whiteboard.

It really is part of the curriculum...but maybe your son's school do it in class rather than sending it as homework.

I'm a Year 2 teacher (and English Lead) so have a vested interest in the syllabus. I don't send this as homework, as in the past it's been (as the OP described) simply a rehash of what a parent has crafted and produced, rather than what the child has produced. I cover this in school with Sp&L activities such as drama. Perhaps your son's school is the same 👌🏻