Core Curriculum

The core subjects in P2 are English, Maths and Irish. Each subject is divided up into different strand units, which are covered throughout the academic year. The Strands for each subject remain the same from K1 all the way through P2. They will get more complex as the child progresses and the child builds on what he has learnt the previous year.

English
The English academic year consists of developing the following key strands using the common strand units of oral development, reading and writing:

• Receptiveness to language e.g. being able to recognise and recite rhymes, learning to internalise reading, using context to understand reading
• Competence and confidence in using language e.g. being able to talk about the past, present and future, reading for pleasure, creative writing
• Developing cognitive ability through language e.g. developing interests and attitudes and the ability to think and question
• Emotional and imaginative development through language e.g. exploration of wide variety of text and being able to maintain an interest

Some of the aims for English

• To enhance listening, speaking, reading and writing skills
• To promote positive attitudes and develop an appreciation of the value of language spoken, read and written.
• To create, foster and maintain the child’s interest in expression and communication.
• To develop the child’s ability to engage appropriately in listener-speaker relationships.
• To enable the child to read and write independently
• To make predictions about stories, to answer question about the story during and after reading them.
• To write simple book reports
• To see their writing as valuable by sharing it with others and putting it on display in the classroom.
• To connect word beginning with their rhyming parts ie onset and rime

Maths
The Mathematics curriculum consists of the following strands:

• Number e.g. counting, comparing and ordering numbers up to 199. Using the calendar and addition and subtraction with regrouping.
• Algebra e.g. extending and using patterns. Being able to count on a hundred square or a timeline.
• Space and Shape e.g. being able to recognise, draw, sort and compare 2D and 3D shapes.
• Measures e.g. Length, area, weight and capacity. Telling the time and using money.
• Data e.g. Sort, classify and represent material on simple charts and tables.

Aims

• To develop a positive problem attitude towards mathematics and an appreciation of both its practical and its aesthetic aspects
• To enable the child to use mathematical language effectively and accurately
• To enable the child to acquire an understanding of mathematical concepts and processes to his/her appropriate level of development and ability
• To enable the child to acquire proficiency in fundamental mathematical skills and in recalling basic number facts.

Irish*
The Irish curriculum consists of the following strands:

• Listening e.g. listening to a tape and carrying out tasks in their workbooks as instructed 
• Talking e.g. asking and answering questions through games and role play 
• Reading e.g. Reading Irish Noun Labels (an Clar ban) in their environment, reading what they have written 
• Writing e.g. filling in blanks, labelling pictures