In writing, Year 2 children continue to practise correct letter formation and begin to use some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters together. They are taught to form capital letters and understand these are used for personal pronouns, names of places etc. as well as at the beginning of sentences. They should continue to use fingers spaces that are appropriate to the size of their letters formed.

Year 2 children will continue to use their phonic knowledge to spell unknown words, and learn the correct spelling for an extended list of Common Exception Words (see document below). They will also learn how to spell words with contracted forms, add suffixes (such as -ful and -ness) to root words and begin to distinguish between common homophones (such as there and their).

In Year 2 the children will have opportunities to write a range of texts such as narrative stories, instructions, poetry and recounts, and will continue to use different sentence styles within these (questions, statements, commands and exclamations). They will learn how to extend their sentences by using adjectives and conjunctions (and, because, so etc.) and begin to practise editing their work to both correct and improve on it.

Use the documents below to practise both handwriting and spelling, and find interactive games in the links underneath.