Key differences between year one and year two?

[Cortina]

What are the main differences between year one and year two?

Interested to know what changes people saw in their DC and if they made more or less progress than year one?

Anything important to remember? Support in particular this year?

Thanks

Have no idea as DS is going to be in Year 2 in September. Having looked round lots of schools recently (as we moved earlier on this month and so I visited many places to find the right school) it looks like there is more of an emphasis on sitting down and getting on with your work rather than the more play based learning DS has had in both his previous and current schools in Year 1.

and they do SATS. I think they have been doing some sat stuff with ds1 already this year. on the SATS thread they were talking about sharks. ds1 came home a month later and told me very similar stuff. preparation, i assume.
i have no idea what the overall idea/general objective is for them, though.

YR2 was far more work focused when DS went through it, he is in YR3 at the moment.

I think he mnaintained his progress really, no huge leaps or jumps in attainment. The amount of actual written work he had to do was a bit daunting, but he came to terms with it eventually. Don't get me wrong, it's not all work, but there is ia major shift in expectations, especially in the last 2 terms as they start to think about moving up to the juniors.

DD is in YR1, so will move up this year. I think she may struggle with the written work too, as she is a slow worker and does the bare minimum to get by. She drives her teacher potty. She says she is very able, the best reader and speaker in the class and vocab and number work excellent, but she cant prove it as it's not on paper.

On the Sats side of things, I knew from reading on here that DS would have them, but they were never mentioned by the teacher.

He came home telling us about special tests they did, but was not overly concerned by them.

We got his scores in the end of year report, so they school did not make that big a deal of it at all, which is surprising as they are known as a pushy academic school, and from friends I know that they really push the YR6 kids for theirs.

Year 1 - my dc was completely bewildered and not interested - really not ready for school and I was told that on nearly a daily basis.

Year 2 my dc developed more interest in the subjects taught...came home full of stories about what he'd learnt....like a different child really....something just clicked.

I'm not sure if the difference was teaching style, curriculum or maturity level but I would say Year 1 was the hardest, most horrible year we've had yet. Too academic, too soon.

As others have said it feels like they are doing more real work. There's also a bit more homework (in year one DS1 had 1 sheet a week, now it's 1 each of numeracy and literacy plus 10 spellings and sometimes something a bit longer like a story, or fact file on something).

On the whole I think that's sensible preparation for juniors - and necessary prep for SATs, but as manky said most schools try not to make a big deal of this for the kids (although a friend of DS1 in another school told him they were going to do lots of eacms ).

IMO one of the best things you can do to support them at this age is keep on reading good stuff with them - some of the school books are just dull, and if you are reading Roald Dahl or Harry Potter or whatever it is a good reminder that it is worth their while keeping up the practice as they will soon be reading this stuff themselves.

Exams no eacms!

Ds1(6.5) reads well and has achieved his year end target already. most of the children have. no probs there. his handwriting is terrible. but teacher says not to worry, becasue most of the boys are.
heavymetal describes in yr2 what ds is like in year 1 now. enthusiastic. comes home telling me facts about australia, sharks, etc etc. their topics. seems keen. assume thats all the matters at this stage. or maybe i'm being naieve.

DS is just finsihing Yr 2. He has always been strong at maths but this year his writing has improved in leaps and bounds as they focus much more on this. His spelling resembles the correct spelling rather than the phonetic sounds . I did love some of his spellings as they made me giggle. They have covered some fantastic topics which he has really become absorbed in. He has matured; less silly though still likes poo/fart jokes . His teacher thinks he is sensible and capable of compromise which is news to me but obviously school brings this out. Only problem is the free reading books are not to his taste but I feel this is an excuse not to read .

My year 2 class is much more exciting and fun than year 1 ever was

Bother - rather hoped that poo jokes were going to bite the dust in year 2 .

DS also comes home with all sorts of facts and has great enthusiasm - am hoping it stays that way