🌞 Well, that was one hot week! 🌞

We are so proud of how brilliantly the children have coped with the soaring temperatures while continuing to persevere with their learning. Their resilience and enthusiasm have been amazing! ⭐

We started the week with our usual trip to Storyland, where we went on an exciting imaginary tour of London aboard a sightseeing bus. We spotted lots of famous landmarks and talked about how busy the streets of London are compared to Shelton. The children then put their creativity to work by drawing fantastic pictures of landmarks such as Tower Bridge and the London Eye, as well as using their construction skills to build impressive bridges and even Big Ben!

In Maths, we have been learning all about collecting data using pictograms. The children put these new skills into practice by finding out everyone's favourite sandwich filling, ready to make some delicious afternoon tea-style sandwiches. 🥪📊

To help keep cool, the children also enjoyed making colourful crowns and fans, which were certainly put to good use by both the children and the staff! 👑🌬️

To finish the week, we even sneaked into the Year 6 classroom on Friday to enjoy the cooler temperatures and escape the heat for a little while! ❄️

It's certainly been a hot, busy, and fun-filled week in the Sunshines class. We hope everyone has a lovely weekend and manages to stay cool! ☀️💛

🌟 What a fantastic week our Reception Sunshines have had! 🌟

During our Magic Story Box time, we met Marmie from our story, who had a very important predicament. Should she leave Trinidad and sail all the way to England, or stay at home with the children? Marmie asked our Sunshines to help her make this big decision, and they shared some wonderful ideas and thoughtful opinions.

We explored how Marmie's feelings changed throughout the story and worked hard to write sentences describing her emotions. In the construction area, the children impressed us with their amazing building creations, and they also showed their creativity by making some beautiful Father's Day cards.

We thought carefully about boat safety for the children in the story and became geographers too, creating a fantastic class map showing the journey from Trinidad to England and the important landmarks and features that would be seen along the way.

To top off an incredible week, our class won the attendance treat! 🎉 We are very excited to enjoy our film and popcorn treat this week.

We’re so proud of all our super Sunshines for their hard work, enthusiasm, and brilliant learning! ☀️⭐

The photos are in our album

The children in Reception had a great start to their learning when they held a carnival in the playground. The children had been learning all about life in Trinidad and learned that they hold carnivals to celebrate their culture. Throughout the week they made decorations, costumes, hats and musical instruments to play.

A fantastic end to a busy week

There are more photos in our photo album.

 

✈️🌟 What a fantastic day the Sunshines had at the Runway Visitor Centre! 🌟✈️

The children were an absolute credit to our school, behaving impeccably throughout the day and helping to make it a truly wonderful experience for everyone.

We began our adventure with some exciting plane spotting before enjoying a quick play in the park and a delicious picnic lunch. After lunch, it was time to explore the amazing aircraft on site! The children had the opportunity to stand in a wheel bay, climb inside a test aeroplane, and even get up close to the world-famous Concorde – the fastest passenger aeroplane ever built!

One of the highlights of the day was stepping into the role of a real pilot. The children sat in the cockpit, wore pilot hats, and learned all about the airport and the many important jobs that help it run smoothly every day.

It was a day full of discovery, excitement, and unforgettable experiences. We couldn't be prouder of our Sunshines – they represented us brilliantly and made the day so enjoyable. You are all amazing! ⭐👏 

We have added the photos to our album.

1. We had a very important phone call from a boy called Jack, who told us that his Granny was poorly and needed our help. Not long after, Granny came to visit us… and oh dear, she really wasn’t well at all! She had big purple spots, a high temperature and had even lost her appetite. 

The children were amazing and jumped straight into action! Together, we shared lots of thoughtful ideas about how we could help Granny feel better and improve her health and wellbeing. 

Throughout the week, we kept very busy helping Granny in lots of different ways. We painted beautiful pictures of her, talked about how we look after ourselves when we are feeling unwell, and made healthy food and drinks for her in our role play area and water tray. 

In the construction area, the children worked as a team to build a cosy, comfortable home for Granny to rest and recover in. We also became history detectives and looked at hospitals from the past, thinking about how much they have changed over time! 

We are so proud of how caring, kind and creative the children have been. We really hope all of our fantastic ideas help Granny to feel much better very soon!  

2. We began with our usual magical visit to Storyland, where we met a coastguard with an urgent mission. He told us about Jack, who had sailed into shark-infested waters! The children jumped into action, acting out brilliant rescue scenarios—not only tackling the sharks, but also solving problems like a hole in the boat and even a man overboard. This tied in perfectly with our story Jack and the Flumflum Tree.

We also became eco-heroes this week, thinking carefully about how to look after our oceans. Instead of throwing things away, we explored recycling in the most creative way! When Mr Blake challenged us to reuse some boxes, the results were incredible—art galleries, boots, telescopes, beds, and even boats! Who knew cardboard boxes could be so much fun?

In Maths, we’ve been working hard on place value and ordering numbers to 20, while in RE we explored the features of a Christian church and created our own beautiful stained glass windows. In Science, we investigated materials that float and sink, testing and evaluating the boats we made last week to see if we chose the best materials.

We finished off the week in style with our attendance and Dojo treat—wearing our own clothes and enjoying time on the trim trail outside. What a fantastic way to celebrate such a hardworking week!

3. 

Reception had a busy week last week! This week we jumped straight into Story World where we met a travel agent who invited us to visit the mysterious Isle of Blowyernose! In return for our tickets, she asked us to create detailed descriptions of the island, paint beautiful pictures and think of exciting activities we could do whilst visiting there. The children worked incredibly hard, using their imaginations to create wonderful travel leaflets inspired by real holiday brochures. We also had great fun making islands and sea creatures out of playdough! 

In Maths, we have been exploring doubles and using our knowledge to sort and play domino games. The children showed fantastic teamwork and mathematical thinking throughout the week. 

In RE, we explored the features of a mosque and learned that Muslims see it as a peaceful place. We then reflected on our own peaceful places, sharing ideas and drawing thoughtful pictures of spaces that make us feel calm and happy. 

Our Geography learning took us around the world as we compared different islands, exploring warm and cold climates as well as mountainous, volcanic and high-rise islands.  We also became food explorers, tasting fruits from around the world and identifying the countries they came from on a map! 

To finish the week, we returned to Storyland where we listened carefully to the sounds of forests and the sea, imagining what it might really feel like to explore the Isle of Blowyernose. We thought about how the sounds made us feel and even acted out how we might move around and discover the island ourselves.

What a fantastic week full of imagination, creativity and adventure! 

4. Recently, Sunshine Class jumped into Storyland where we met an explorer eager to find out more about the jungle!  We discussed the animals he might discover, the dangers he could face and what a mysterious Flumflum tree might look like.

The children had a fantastic time sorting animals into their different habitats, making their own binoculars and creating beautiful jungle animals through painting and craft activities. In the construction area, they used their imaginations to build jungle habitats and adventurous jungle vehicles! 

Later in the week, disaster struck when the fruit from the Flumflum tree was stolen! The children became detectives, searching for clues and creating ‘wanted’ posters with their predictions of who the thief could be. Reading further into the story revealed the answer and inspired the children to paint the cheeky monkey and the stolen fruit. 

In RE, we explored the features of a mosque, while in Geography we compared the similarities and differences between the jungle and Shelton, carefully sorting features into the correct groups.  

5. 

To start the final week of last half term, we finally had a visit from Jack during our Magic Story Box time!  He told us all about his adventures on the Isle of Blowyernose and even showed us the special Flumflum fruit he had collected for Grandma. Jack then asked if we could create some gifts to help Grandma remember all of the amazing adventures. 

The children got straight to work creating fantastic 3D clay models of the animals Jack had seen on the island. It was wonderfully messy fun as we designed, rolled, shaped and moulded our creations!  

In Maths, we explored odd and even numbers using numicon, ten frames and numerals to deepen our understanding.  

At the end of the week, Grandma returned to visit us with some very exciting news — the spots had gone! Eating the Flumflum fruit had cured the Moozles! 

 

There are loads of pictures in the album for you to have a look through

What a blast we had in the final week of term! We began the week by discovering a mysterious egg, which sparked great excitement and curiosity as we all wondered what might hatch from it. Together, we created a cosy nest and placed the egg in the safe hands of Mrs Sadler, who carefully monitored its progress throughout the week.

In the meantime, we made thoughtful predictions about what could be inside, built our own nests, and began designing and creating animal masks as part of our Design and Technology learning. We also focused on the Easter story in RE, practised adding with eggs in maths, and explored 3D shapes.

By Friday morning, the excitement had reached its peak when we discovered that the egg had hatched! There were footprints all over the window, glitter spilling out of Mrs Sadler’s office, and even a mysterious green liquid in Mrs Nicholl’s classroom. We felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness as we investigated what could have happened.

Monkia joined us during our morning of investigation, where we imagined hatching from eggs and acted out different creature movements. We built dens and sang songs linked to our theme, bringing our learning to life in a fun and creative way.

Although we never did discover exactly what hatched from the egg, the mystery continues… so keep your eyes peeled!

Spring has finally arrived, and we’ve been making the most of the sunshine while learning, growing, and developing together!

We started the week with an exciting letter from Gozzle, who had migrated all the way to Mexico in search of food and warm weather. This inspired us to think about what we would pack if we were going on our own trip! We learned lots of interesting facts about Mexico and got creative by making posters, flags, and even our own sombrero hats.

We also had a special visit from Monkia from the Magic Story Box team, who took us on an imaginative journey to Mexico. We thought carefully about how we would travel there and what we might take with us on our adventure.

In RE, we have been learning about the Easter story, and the children used their fantastic fine motor skills to create beautiful transient art in egg shapes.

There has also been lots of exploration and learning happening in our sand, water, and construction areas. We truly are busy little bees here in Sunshines! There are more photos for you to check out in our photo album.

Well, it has been a busy week of events and learning in Sunshines!

We started the week by meeting a worried farmer who couldn’t understand what was happening outside. Everything was changing — green shoots were coming out of the ground and new animals were appearing on the farm! The children explained that we are entering the season of springtime and sorted pictures to show the farmer the differences between the seasons. 🌱🌼

In maths, we have been learning all about measuring, with a focus on capacity. The children explored the measurements of full, empty, half full, nearly full and nearly empty, and they demonstrated these skills brilliantly in the water and sand trays. 💧

In computing, we thought about similarities and differences between different animals. The children matched animals correctly using pictures that had been cut in half, showing great observation and problem-solving skills. 🐮🐑

We hope you all enjoyed your Mother’s Day treats this week too. The children worked so hard on their cards and loved visiting the stall at school. 💐

Finally, we finished the week with our visit to the book bus and a trip to Hanley Park to search for signs of spring. No wonder we all felt a little sleepy on Friday afternoon! 📚🌳

We are looking forward to another exciting week of learning, next week! More photos are in the album for you to look through.

Wb 2.3.26

This week in our Magic Story Box time, we met a keen bird watcher who shared a story about a gosling behaving a little strangely—eating the wrong food and living in the wrong place! Inspired by this, the children explored what goslings should eat using a fact file and considered the habitats they belong in. In the construction area, they built different habitats and sorted the correct foods for the gosling.

In art, we looked at the work of a collage artist and created our own collages, bringing scenes from the book Gozzle to life. In maths, we dived into measurement, using our feet, cubes, and metre sticks to explore different units.

Our week ended with a fantastic World Book Day celebration and a computing lesson, where we continued learning about birds by making apple-and-seed bird feeders for our outdoor area. It was tricky work, but with perseverance and teamwork, our feeders were a real success!

 

What a wonderful first week back in Reception! 🐻🪿

We started the term with a very special Magic Story Box surprise… we met a bear and a gosling! The gosling thought the bear was her Daddy — how strange! This led us to explore what a mother goose really looks like and to learn all about the goose life cycle. We talked about families and who we belong to, just like our little gosling discovering her own parents.

The children loved painting beautiful pictures of goslings and learning about different animals and their babies. In Maths, we’ve been busy identifying patterns, spotting mistakes in patterns, and even creating some fantastic patterns of our own.

It’s been a busy but very enjoyable first week — we’re so happy to be back and ready for a term full of learning and fun! ✨

What a fantastic way to end the term! Our final week was all about Art Week, and what a colourful, creative adventure it was! The children explored a wonderful variety of painting and mixed media techniques, discovering that art can be made in so many exciting ways. We got hands-on with finger painting, feeling the paint swirl and blend beneath our fingertips. We experimented with painting using natural materials, including feathers and even mud, to create beautiful textures and patterns. We also created transient art, carefully arranging pebbles, wood and sticks into imaginative designs. The children enjoyed exploring collage, selecting and combining mixed media scraps to design unique pieces full of colour and creativity. To finish our artistic journey, we responded to music through paint, letting rhythm and sound inspire our brushstrokes and movements. The children produced truly amazing masterpieces, each one full of imagination, effort and pride. We were incredibly proud of their creativity, confidence and willingness to try new things — what a brilliant way to celebrate the end of term! We have added more photos in the album to showcase our work.

It’s been another busy and fun-filled week in the Sunshines class! We’ve been learning all about keeping ourselves clean, with Mummy Pig visiting our Magic Story Box to ask how we could wash her little piglet and explain why staying clean is so important. We talked through the steps for washing our hands, explored how germs spread, and enjoyed outdoor role-play washing our dolls. Alongside this, we’ve been developing our fine motor skills in Kinetic Letters to help us form our letters correctly. In RE, we’ve been learning about where we belong and how different symbols show the groups we are part of. What a busy week it has been! There are more photos in our photo album, so take a look!

It’s been a wonderfully buzzy week in Sunshines! We met a worried bumblebee during Magic Story Box time who needed help caring for his flowers, inspiring the children to learn all about plants, their different parts, and what they need to grow. The children have been fantastic artists, carefully creating observational drawings, making bees with a range of materials in the creative area, and working together to set up a science experiment by changing one element to see how it affected the growth of a daffodil bulb. We’ll continue to observe what happens over the coming weeks. To finish the week, we listened to The Flight of the Bumblebee, thinking about the speed of the music, the instruments we could hear, and the pictures it created in our minds as we relaxed calmly on the carpet with our eyes closed. Please take a look in the photo album for more pictures.

It’s been lovely welcoming the children back after a very snowy start to the week! We began by diving into our Magic Story Box, where we met a paramedic and a very thirsty kangaroo. The children thought carefully about how to help him feel better, making drinks in the water tray and even building him a hospital in the construction area. We learned all about Australia, where the kangaroo came from, and sorted Australian and British animals and clothes, discovering that it’s summer in one country and winter in the other. We were also lucky to have a visit from Monica from the Magic Story Box team, who led some fantastic imaginative drama activities. In maths, we have been ordering numbers to ten and finding one more and one less, and it’s been wonderful exploring winter and all its glories outside in the playground. It’s good to be back! There are more photos in our photo album for you to see.

This week in Sunshines, excitement filled the classroom with the arrival of two cheeky Christmas Elves! They’ve already begun spreading festive mischief, fun and adventure. During our Magic Story Box time, we were also visited by the Big Bad Wolf, who needed our help to learn how to be kind, apologise, and make new friends.

Across the week, the children have been busy creating maps in Geography, designing clever traps for the Elves, evaluating their Christmas tree decorations, and exploring prepositional language in Maths—using words like on, under, behind and next to.

We can’t wait to see what mischief the Elves get up to next week! There are more photos in the album.

It’s been a wonderfully busy week of Christmas preparation! During Magic Story Box time, Santa himself dropped by and asked for our help getting ready for the festive season. We jumped straight into action — making lists, completing tasks, and enjoying every moment.

In maths, we explored shapes by sorting them and using them to create pictures. In the water area, we whipped up some delicious hot chocolate for Santa, and we even practised our wrapping skills by helping him prepare presents.

To make our classroom extra festive, we designed and created our very own Christmas tree decorations for DT week. And on Friday, the excitement peaked as we decorated our classroom tree!

We’ve certainly been busy little elves! 🎄✨ We have added more photos to our photo album.

Our Magic Story box introduced us to a 'tired' Postman, sparking wonderful discussions about helpful vehicles. The children then designed their own transport after learning how vehicles have evolved through time!

We took a moment to honour Remembrance Day with beautiful poppy crafts using counters and enjoyed some scrumptious poppy-themed biscuits thanks to Mrs Baggaley.

Odd socks were on full display for Anti-bullying Day! The children explored what bullying means, brainstormed friendship qualities, and learnt who to talk to when feeling sad. Our superhero cape creations reminded everyone they have the "Power for Good!"

Learning, remembering, celebrating differences - all in just five days! There are more photos in the album for you to browse.

 

In Reception, we have read 'Once There Were Giants' and explored our own families through photos and drawings. We painted baby pictures, played doctors in role play, built tall and short towers in maths and enjoyed outdoor play. Another busy, fun-filled week! There are more photos in the photo album. 

In Reception, we have been focusing on fine and gross motor skill activities and getting our bodies ready for writing in the future.

Lots of climbing activities help to strengthen our shoulders and a range of threading and cutting helps to strengthen our fingers and develop a pincer grip. Look how strong we are getting.

Over the last two weeks in Reception, we’ve had so much fun exploring all of the different learning areas! One of our highlights was listening to the story of Elmer — we loved learning about his colourful adventures and took part in lots of exciting activities based on the theme.

In maths, we created our own patterns just like Elmer’s, and in the writing area, we worked on developing our fine motor skills. We also enjoyed pouring and experimenting in the water tray and used our imaginations to build a forest for Elmer to live in, in the small world area. What a fantastic fortnight of fun and learning! There are more photos saved in our photo album.