Sunstone Class 2023-2024

Mrs Willison

Welcome back to school!

We are looking forward to a busy and exciting year with plenty of wonderful learning.

This page will give you an overview of our learning from term to term. Remember to logon to your child's Class Dojo page for regular updates, photos, notices and information.

PE will be every Wednesday.

Academic Year 2020-2021

Below you will find a grid with a summary with our home learning. Please do remember that the videos and lessons will be on our Class Dojo  page to explain your learning fully. 

Sunstone Class will have PE with Mr Franco on Wednesdays. Please ensure your child comes to school wearing their PE kit.

As the weather is unpredictable at this time of year. Please ensure your child has a named coat with them everyday as we do outside learning as much as possible.

Reading books are to come into school every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They will then be changed and given back.

In English this half term the children have started off gathering facts and information to write their own non-chronological reports. We have looked at and identified the different features of non-chronological reports. We are then moving on to a new story for the rest of the term. This is called ‘The princess and the white bear king”.

In Maths the children have been learning and refining their addition and subtraction skills. We have looked in to new methods such as using tens frames, number lines and beginning to use column methods. The children are applying these skills to solve a range of number and word problems.

Our Science topic this half term is ‘Animals Including Humans’. We have started off by looking at humans. The children have been learning the different parts of the human body, all about the senses, keeping healthy, hygiene and what a balance diet it. The children will be learning about the different food groups and what the body needs to keep healthy.

In English this term the children have been reading and exploring the story of Rapunzel. As  a class we have looked at different versions of the well known story and compared them. The children have created their own villain to write in their own versions of Rapunzel.

In year 2 the children have been partitioning numbers into tens and ones, solving problems and explaining their answers. The children have also begun to practice their counting up and down in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.

Our topic in Science is materials. The children have explored all the materials around us both inside and outside. They have been brilliant at naming the materials. The children have been describing the materials properties using the words opaque, transparent and translucent, as well as investigating the different uses for different materials.

The children have begun learning about Castles with brilliant enthusiasm. They have learnt about the parts of castles and have used their new found knowledge to create a range of artwork. They have also been learning about how castles have changed over time and why they are built in specific locations.

Summer Term Home Learning

Your new homework grids will be put on here every fortnight. There will be 20 activities on each grid for you to complete, aim for 2 each day as well as numbots and reading. Make sure you are still staying at home safe,  helping your grown ups and staying healthy and active (PE with Joe at 9am everyday!).

Make sure you log in to our Class Dojo page to see the rest of the work, ask any questions and share what you have been doing too.

English

This term we have started to read Mrs Armitage on Wheels. The children have looked at the clues on the front cover and inferred from that. We have been able to re-tell the story and explain why she has added lots of wonderful gadgets to her bicycle.

Mathematics

We have been busy learning all about the world of shapes. We organised, sorted and compared lots of different 3D and 2D shapes. The children were able to use shape vocabulary to describe the features of both 2D and 3D and sort them accordingly.

Design Technology - Baking Bread

The children have learnt all about Thomas Farriner and his bakery this term. In response to this they have all made and baked their own bread roll. They were taught how to prepare their area for working, prepare the ingredients for the recipe, knead the dough and to bake it at the correct temperature.

They were all very successful and proud to take home their own baked bread roll.

ICE Zone Learning - The Great Fire of London.

This is our main History topic this year and the children are thoroughly becoming experts on the Great Fire of London. The children have a variety of challenges and activities for them to access and complete on a daily basis. They may chose a subject or learning activity that appeals to them and show their learning in a number of different ways. So far the children have been re-creating London landmarks in the construction area, using the building blocks. Ordered and sequenced the timeline of events in the bakery area and investigated floating and sinking in the Science Lab.

Everyday the children are enthused and eager to tell their teacher new information, facts or share their learning, which is very exciting. 

Science - Materials

Throughout the half term the children have been investigating, discovering and learning all things materials. As a class we explored our environments (inside and outside) for the different types of materials there are a round us. As a result we were able to realise that materials have different properties which made them suitable for different jobs.

The children have gathered their own materials from around the school and sorted them in different ways (see pictures below). During one lesson we learnt the words transparent, translucent and opaque- can your children remember and explain these words? 

English

In English we have been beginning to read ‘The Adventures of Egg Box Dragon’. The children have made their own amazing dragons, then written instructions about how to make them. This week the children have used their inference skills to predict what might happen next in the story, some have got very imaginative as the dragon comes to life! As we have read more of the story the children have asked some fantastic questions about what they would like to find out about the dragon and sequenced pictures.

Mathematics

In maths the children have been focusing on their place value knowledge.

In year 1 the children have explored numbers to 20, representing them in different ways and comparing numbers and quantities using greater than and less than.

In year 2 the children have been partitioning numbers into tens and ones, solving problems and explaining their answers. The children have also begun to practice their counting up and down in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.

Science

Our topic in Science is materials. The children have explored all the materials around us both inside and outside. They have been brilliant at naming the materials. The children have been describing the materials properties using the words opaque, transparent and translucent, as well as investigating the different uses for different materials

ICE Zone

The children have begun learning about The Great Fire of London with brilliant enthusiasm. They thoroughly enjoyed their History off the Page day last week and have used their new found knowledge in their learning in the ICE Zone. They have been leaning about how artefacts have changed since 1666 and what their uses were during the fire, as well as what life was like in London in 1666.

During Science this term we have been learning about plants. The children have been able to identify and name a range of common garden plants. They have learnt what plants need to grow big and healthy. As a result of this the children grew their own runner bean plants, looked after them and cared for them. Each week the children recorded the changes of their beans into a weekly bean diary.

Our Summer Term topic is Africa. We have already researched, designed and made our very own African drums. The children carefully selected their own materials and tried to make their drums look exactly like their designs. Needless to say they were all very proud of the final out come. They look and sounded like real drums.

Rexroth - Bosch Visit 

We were lucky enough to be visited by two engineers from local company Rexroth. Dave and Jim taught the children about forces by using rockets to inspire and wow the children.

World Book Day

The children embraced world book day by dressing up as their favourite book characters and sharing their favourite stories throughout the day.

English

Both Year 1 and 2 have been focusing on the second of Traction Man's adventures, 'Traction Man meets Turbodog'. They have inferred from the front cover and made predictions about the story. They have sequenced the events of the story and used actions to retell it. Year 2 have also written a recount. In Exciting Writing, both Year 1 and 2 imagined that they were Scrubbing Brush and wrote a diary in role. Year 2 have also been completing their reading assessments.

Maths

Year 1 have been learning all about 2D and 3D shapes. They have been identifying the properties of the shapes, including lines of symmetry, and have used these to sort them into categories. The children in Year 2 have also been learning about 2D and 3D shapes. They worked together to find multiple lines of symmetry a shape has and used their categories to sort 3Dshapes. Both Year 1 and Year 2 have also been completing their arithmetic and reasoning assessments.

Science

We have been looking at parts of the human body. The children can name the basic parts of their body and label these on a diagram. We have also made posters about how to keep their bodies healthy.

Maths

We have been busy learning how to interpret graphs and data. The children made their own bar charts from different data. After the bars were made the children thought of questions to ask and answer based on the information presented.

English

This term we are reading 'Traction Man' by Mini Grey. The children have explored the journey Traction Man. They have also have started to imagine their own journeys and missions for Traction Man to take.

Science

The science topic this term is 'Animals including Humans'. So far the children have classified animals, identified different habitats.

English

Over the last two weeks, both year 1 and 2 have been looking at non-fiction texts. They have been sorting fiction and non-fiction texts, and identifying the differences between facts and opinions. In Year 1, we have been writing factual sentences about autumn. We used our senses to help us with our writing. The children in Year 2 have been learning about the structure of non-fiction texts and learning the difference between facts and opinions. They will use this in their own writing about castles.

Mathematics

In Year 1 the children have been securing their knowledge and understanding of place value. They have been ordering numbers, making numbers using resources and writing number facts to 10 and 20. In Year 2, the children have been securing their knowledge and understanding of calculation methods. They have also been learning about money and the value of coins. They have been finding different ways to make a total using the coins and calculating how much money is in a given purse.

ICE Zone

This term we welcomed parents into the ICE zone. The children had a great time showing lots of the tasks they have been completing and sharing their learning about castles.

The children are also very excited about our Christmas play ‘Baubles, a tree-mendous nativity’. They have been busy learning the songs and we have started our rehearsals.

Remembrance

Throughout the month of November, Sunstone class was able to show they were remembering the fallen. The children took part in the whole school poppy installation by creating and planting their own poppy. Each child took a moment to remember and say thank you. As a class we created a wreath to display in the hall for all to see.  

English

Over the last two weeks, we have used our class text ‘The Princess and the White Bear King’ to write our own stories. In year 2, we have written setting and character descriptions, focusing on using exciting adjectives. We then planned and wrote our stories to think of the adventure our prince or princess would go on and who they would meet on their journey. In Year 1, the children have been retelling the story, then wrote their own journey for the princess.

Mathematics

In Year 1 have been learning all about 2D and 3D shapes. They have been identifying shapes around the school. They have also been identifying the properties of the shapes and using these to sort them into categories. In Year 2 have been improving their knowledge of multiplication and division. In division, they have been using equipment and drawings to share, before moving on to using a number line. In multiplication, we have been creating groups, then moving onto drawing arrays.

Science

In Science, we have been planning and carrying out an investigation to find out the best waterproof material. We had a selection of different materials and the children worked in small groups to carry out the investigation.

ICE Zone

Year 1 and 2 are continuing to enjoy learning all about castles. They are using their imagination in the role play corner, pretending to be queens, kings and knights. They are then using their imaginative play to write stories. They have also been thinking about how they have changed since they were born. In art, the children have begun to create their own illuminated letters, using patterns and colour. During outside learning the children have created castles using the wooden blocks and their imaginations.

DT Day

We were lucky enough to have a D.T day to learn, develop and improve our skills. We kick started the day by developing our knife skills. The children had to carefully cut and create their very own fruit kebabs. We swiftly moved on to working with clay and created gargoyles, where the children followed their own designs to create a frightening gargoyle to protect the buildings. Then in the afternoon we made our very own working catapults. The children were able to successfully measure their materials and cut them using a hack saw. The children were able to learn and refine a number of new skills throughout the day.

English

In English we have been looking at the book ‘The Princess and the White Bear King.’ The children have been able to write their own book reviews on the book, expressing their opinions in great detail.

The children have made their own crowns in response to the crowns in the book. We have looked at instructions; the children have written their own set of instructions and sequenced pictures.

Mathematics

Year 1 children have been completing lots of practical work focusing on their number bonds. We are now starting to add other one digit numbers together. The children have also been using their skills to work out missing number problems.

The year 2 children have been focusing on their written methods for addition. They have used tens frames to bridge then tens and then moved on to using number lines to add numbers together.

Science

In Science, the children have experimented with how materials and their properties. The children have been able to carry out their own investigation to see which materials are best for different jobs. The children have also been able to classify different materials into manmade and natural materials.

ICE Zone

Year 1 and 2 are still enjoying their topic of ‘Castles’. The children have been able to explore and name parts of the castle as well as many other castle based activities. Through their outside learning, the children have been weaving, bird watching, gargoyle designing and gardening.

We have already been back at school for three whole weeks now. The children in Sunstone Class have been busy getting to know each other, their new classroom and their teacher.

This week in Maths we have looked at place value and counting. The children in year 1 have been ordering numbers and making them, while the children in year 2 have been busy making 2 digit numbers and representing them.

In English we have started to read "The Princess and The White Bear King". The children have been amazing at inferring from the pictures in the book! That's even before the book has been read.

We have also started Science this week and are looking at materials. We have been able to identify different materials so far and talk about their uses. The children particularly enjoyed our discussions about what would be a silly material for a chair, a cup and a toilet! They took great delight in explaining why.

In Maths this term the year 1 children have started to solve multiplication problems. They children have used equipment to solve the number problems. They have then move on to division problems by sharing and grouping different amounts. The children have enjoyed sharing different amounts between a few of their teddy friends. The year 2 children have been looking into fractions. They have been able to find fractions of a number and shapes.

This term in English the children have been writing various diary entries in the role of different characters from the book 'Toby and the Great Fire of London'. The children have been able to use their own facts about the Great Fire of London to include in their diary entries. The children then moved on to use their facts to create their very own information booklets.

This term in Science we are looking at the topic of 'Animals including Humans'. The children are busy learning about healthy eating and a balanced diet. The children have already designed their own healthy lunch boxes. The year 1 children have had a very important meeting about keeping their teeth clean while the year 2 children have been busy learning the names and jobs of the different teeth.

History Off the Page Day

The children were very lucky to have a brilliant 'History Off the Page Day' experience. They experienced what life was like during 1666. The children were able to make their own ink, write with quills, make candles, make bread, tether leather book marks, weave and many more activities. Throughout the morning the children took on the role of apprentices at different shops and businesses. Some children were busy pulling down houses and putting out fires. During the afternoon the children became archaeologists, they had to dig to find what was left over from the fire. A long with the activities the children learnt lots of great interesting facts to take away and use in their learning.   

Welcome back and Happy 2018!

The children have come back to school and are ready to go.

This term our ICE Zone topic is 'The Great Fire of London'. We have already so many questions to research and find out about.

The children created some pictures of Tudor houses using charcoal and different grades of pencils for a fabulous display in the ICE Zone.

Autumn Term

In Science this week we went around the school to find lots of different materials and their uses. We found out that wood and metal were the most popular materials used around the school.

In English the year 2 children had been busy researching different planets. They became experts about their chosen planets. The children then dressed like scientists to present their research.

During the ICE Zone topic this term the children were given the challenge to design and build their own rockets. The children were able to use a range of junk modelling materials to create some amazing rockets.

The children in Sunstone Class have entered a high standard of Christmas decorations into the Christmas decoration competition. One winner from each class will be chosen. Lots of entries have been made and entered from our class. 

Christmas is coming so we looked at Christmas adverts in English. The children chose to write about 'Kevin the carrot' from 'Aldi' advert. The children created their own feast for their carrots to jump through. We wrote about our own carrots and the journey we took them own. The children were so proud of their writing and their carrots.

The year 1 children have been busy creating their very own autumn leaf poem. Each child wrote a line of the poem. The children thought about adjectives and similes to describe the autumn. We went and collected some autumnal leaves to surround our poem.

In Maths the children have been continuing to look at and learn about place value, the children have enjoyed using all sorts of equipment to represent their number cards.

In Science we have looked into recycling and how to separate the rubbish into the correct bins. As a class we have discuss why it is important to recycle and what we as a class could do to recycle more.

Sunstone Class have been continuously busy this term. Each week is kicked off by an action packed Monday where the children have the chance to refine and learn new dance skills in their dance lessons. Then the children are on to learning to improve their basic skills in PE.

During English the children received a letter from the Lonely Beast. He asked which material he needed to use to create a book shelf. The children have been learning the key features of letter writing, in order to write their own letters back to the Beast informing him of the best material.

In Maths these past few weeks Sunstone Class have moved on to addition and subtraction. The Year One children have been focusing on their number bonds to and within 10 and 20. The Year Two children have moved on to adding one digit and two digit numbers. As well as starting to add numbers using a number line.

We are looking into Materials in Science. The children have learnt to identify different materials, their properties, their uses and whether or not they are man made or natural.

In the ICE Zone the children have been learning a wide range skills and knowledge. They have been able to mix primary colours to create secondary colours. They have also been venturing outside to find and discover Autumnal changes, of which they have found many so far.