Weekly Blog

It is hard to believe that we have only got 2 weeks left of the term! This week was another busy one with Mrs Lake and I having the opportunity to speak to parents and carers about progress and how well the children are doing. Remember, if you have any questions, don't wait for parent's consultations, get in touch with the office and we can arrange a phone call or meeting. We have been lucky enough, through our work with St Luke's, to play host to Elmer this week. He has been in our library listening to children read! Thank-you to St Luke's for letting us borrow him this week. Congratulations also to our cross-country runners, all of whom have become "Medal Qualifiers" in this season's events. Three of them have also become "Results Qualifiers"/ I am always impressed by successes outside of school and we are very proud of all of our runners. Following the success of the Lego coding team last Thursday, we have been included in lots of publicity including The Cornish Times and the Marine Biological Association. To find out more about our project and what the team got up to, please follow their links for more information. We could like to say a huge thank-you to everyone who has been able to donate to our Go Fund Me page to help send the team to Harrogate in May. The link is here if you would like to donate but it is truly heartwarming that so many members of the community have been able to help support our school. Ocean science meets innovation: Darite Marine Marvels win First Lego League competition On Thursday, March 13th, the Darite Marine Marvels, a group of Year 5 and 6 pupils from Darite Primary Academy, claimed the First Lego League Robot Performance Championship at RNAS Culdrose for the fourth consecutive year! 

Across the school, there has been so much to celebrate this week. See below for some of the highlights. To end the week, we welcomed family members in for Reception’s Stay and Learn. We hope you enjoyed the experience of learning phonics alongside your child.

Perfect Plots for Superb Stories
The House Captains have judged their recent House Competition, 'Perfect Plots for Superb Stories'. Congratulations to Lennon (2W) and Abbie-May (6W) who were both awarded a £5 Amazon voucher. Runners up: Demi, Bertie, Lowan and Sydney all received a new book as their prize. We would like to thank author Philip Reeve who was the final judge, choosing the winners and also giving all of the children feedback on their writing. Well done to all those who entered the competition earning points for their house.
From Mrs Orme

Diamond Cup Football Competition
On Monday, our Year 6 boys represented the school in the first round of the Diamond Cup (not the final as we originally thought!). They displayed fantastic sportsmanship, encouraging each other and shaking hands with their opponents. We're thrilled to announce they won 3-0. The teamwork and determination they showed on the field were truly inspiring, making us all proud. It was a super outing for everyone involved, and we can't wait for the next match.
From Mrs Callister

Year 4 Boys’ Football Festival
The Year 4 boys also took part in a football festival this week. There were 7 schools involved from East Cornwall and it was fantastic to see so many players enjoying some school matches. Our team performed brilliantly demonstrating some silky skills, tenacious tackling and glorious goalkeeping. Through our excellent teamwork and solid defending we only conceded 2 goals in the 6 matches and managed to score 7. We were particularly impressed with our team's sportsmanship with all the players demonstrating great respect to the opposition players, coaches and referees. All the players received medals which were well deserved. We now look forward to Year 3/4 Girls’ Football Festival just before the Easter break.
From Mr Langton

Year 3 Roman WOW Day
On Wednesday, Year 3 had a fantastic day learning all about the Romans and Celts. They took part in a range of activities linked to the wider curriculum areas they have been learning about, including: Roman numerals; historical costume art; mosaic making and cooking pizzas. The afternoon was spent learning some Roman songs (which you will hear at our upcoming Year group assembly) and our re-enactment of the Roman invasion of Britain. The battle was long and fierce and it could have gone either way…but it ended in a draw! A big thank you and well done to the Year 3s who were amazing.
From the Year 3 Team

Year Group Newsletters
To see what else has been happening in classes these last two weeks, please take a look at the Year Group Newsletters on the class pages of our website.

Term 2 After School Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs) end next Friday
A reminder that our after school ECAs end next Friday. This Tuesday, you should have received an email about signing up for next term’s ECAs. Do contact the school office should you need any support signing up.

FOWPA Uniform Sale – Wednesday 2nd April
FOWPA will be holding a second hand uniform sale on Wednesday 2nd April after morning drop off and after school. All branded items (jumpers, ties, sportswear) and yellow checked summer dresses suggested donation £1. We will also have white shirts, skirts, pinafores and trousers and PE kit available. Cash/card!
If anyone has any clean uniform including sportswear to donate, please leave in the new FOWPA box in reception. Thank you!

FOWPA Disco – Thursday 3rd April
Get your dancing shoes on; it's nearly time for our FOWPA Disco! As well as having a fun time, the event will also raise money for FOWPA. Do check your email for further information.
All FOWPA fundraising goes towards supporting various school projects, resources and experiences. For example, FOWPA have recently kindly supported the purchase of new puddle suits for the whole of Nursery – thank you!
From FOWPA

MHST Wild Wellbeing Sessions
Following on from the success of the previous Wild Wellbeing sessions, the Mental Health Support Team (MHST), along with Natural England and Cornwall Wildlife Trust, are running further Wild Wellbeing sessions over the Easter holiday. These are nature-based, creative, practical workshops where we will be learning about the Five Ways to Wellbeing: Give, Connect, Take Notice, Be Active and Keep Learning outdoors in nature. These sessions are open to all primary school aged children (5-11), with each session lasting approximately 2 hours long. Check out the poster for further information.

House Points
Congratulations to this week’s winners, Choughs, who also now take the overall lead this year:
Choughs – 7070
Swans – 6862
Puffins – 6308
Cormorants – 6062

Dates coming up

Friday 21st March
19:30 Term 3 after school ECAs sign up opens

Tuesday 25th March
Year 4 Minack Theatre Workshop at school

Friday 28th March
(pm) Year 6 Science Fair at Wadebridge School
Term 2 after school ECAs end
19:30 Term 3 after school ECAs sign up closes

Monday 31st March
14:30 Coffee Afternoon & Helping Your Child Stay Safe Online Workshop

Tuesday 1st April
09:30 & 14:00 Year 3 & 4 Performance – The Bee Musical Year

Wednesday 2nd April
After drop off & after school – FOWPA Nearly New Uniform Sale
14:45 Year 1 Phonics meeting for parents/carers
15:30 Year 3 & Year 4 Girls’ Football Festival

Thursday 3rd April
Non-Uniform Day
14:15-15:00 Reception-Year 3 FOWPA Disco
15:15-16:00 Year 4-Year 6 FOWPA Disco

Friday 4th April
School finishes for Term 2: Nursery – 12:30; Reception-Year 2 – 13:20; Year 3-Year 6 – 13:30
Please note Bridge Kids After School Club won’t be running today; Breakfast Club running as normal

Saturday 5th - Monday 21st April 
Easter holiday

Tuesday 22nd April
Back to school

Monday 28th April
Term 3 after school ECAs begin

What another wonderful week we have had at Brunel! It has been a week full of exciting learning opportunities for all our children. Please take a look at the Brunel Bulletin to find out what our incredible school community have been up to. Have a wonderful weekend.

The Little Red Hen

This week in Tregantle Class, our Year 1 and EYFS children have been immersed in a variety of engaging activities to introduce our new text, 'The Little Red Hen.' To introduce the classic tale of The Little Red Hen, our Year 1 children embarked on a hands-on bread-making adventure! They measured ingredients, mixed dough, and observed the transformation as their creations baked into delicious bread rolls. This activity not only brought the story to life but also reinforced practical maths skills through accurate measuring.


Our EYFS children have been busy writing sentences and words inspired by The Little Red Hen. Their creativity flourished as they described their ideas and used their Fred fingers to write the words they wanted. Additionally, they delved into the world of patterns and 3D shapes, identifying and creating repeating patterns and learning the names of various 3D shapes.

On Red Nose Day, both Year 1 and EYFS children joined in the festivities by wearing red attire. Thank you so much for all of your contributions!

With the arrival of warmer weather, we've taken our learning outside and enjoyed our amazing outside spaces. The children have relished the opportunity to engage in outdoor activities and enjoy the sunshine.

We are all very much looking forward to our theatre trip next week to watch The Little Red Hen!

This week we have have been talking about Healthy foods and good practice with regards to hygiene practices such as hand washing and brushing teeth.
On Monday, we read the story of "Oliver's fruit" at snack time and the children were able to select from a range of fruits that matched the story and then eat them for their snack.
They have been using toothbrushes in the tuft tray to make teeth nice and clean and practicing how to brush with them and we have been fine tuning hand washing skills to the tune of "Farmer's in his den".
The children have been printing with fruit in the tuft tray and have made pictures of cherries using corks.

At story time, we have read "Oliver's fruit" and "Handa's surprise"
In phonics this week we have been practicing different songs and rhymes, talking bout the sounds of objects and creatures that you might find in rock pools and talking about sounds that are loud, quiet, fast and slow.

On Friday it was Comic Relief. The children looked great all dressed up in their bright coloured clothes and your donations were very kind.
The children enjoyed decorating a red nose biscuit to take home.

We look forward o seeing you next week

The Nursery Team

The children at Storytellers Nursery are making the most of the spring sunshine, embarking on exciting outdoor adventures that fuel their imaginations and love for nature. With the warmer weather, the nursery’s mud kitchen is a favourite spot, where little hands mix mud, water, and leaves to create their masterpieces. Whether they’re pretending to cook up a storm or exploring the wonders of the garden, each day brings new opportunities for creativity and discovery. The joy of playing in the sun, getting a little messy, and learning through hands-on experiences is all part of the experience at Storytellers Nursery.

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Hello Everyone!

There was a lot of excitement this week in Penhallow as some mysterious spotty egg shells and dinosaur shaped footprints were discovered in the outside area. We also found a note from the cleaner, who had spotted a large creature running away from the classroom. We therefore used our English lessons to create some  'missing dinosaur' posters, just in case anyone in the school had spotted them. So far, there have been no dinosaur sightings.

During our computing lesson this week, we learnt about coding, by creating mazes for a robotic mouse. Each team gave the mouse precise instructions, so that they could reach the cheese via a series of tunnels and steps. There was some fantastic collaboration and team work throughout the lesson.

In Geography, Year 1 continued to learn about the countries of the UK. We learnt about the capital cities and sang a song to help us to remember the 4 countries. We have also been enjoying singing the 'Spring Chicken' song which linked with our learning about Easter and seasonal changes.

In maths, we have been comparing length and height. We made use of the school garden and found sticks and objects to make comparisons using mathematical language. 

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

From The Penhallow Team.

w/e 21/3/25 

We’ve had an action-packed and exciting week in Year 3 and 4, full of discoveries, creativity, and teamwork!

Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to:

English – A Mysterious Discovery! A thrilling discovery on the school field has sparked curiosity and debate in our classroom! The children have been formulating arguments for and against various possibilities, using the language of debate in their writing. They have also been practising their amazing oracy skills, confidently discussing their viewpoints in preparation for their balanced argument writing.

Maths – Measuring Up and Mastering Numbers. Year 3 have embarked on their new topic of length and perimeter, exploring how to measure and calculate distances and boundaries. Meanwhile, Year 4 have been delving into fractions and decimals, developing their understanding of how numbers can be represented in different ways.

History – Marching Like Romans. The children had a fantastic time drilling like Roman soldiers! They researched what made the Roman army so powerful and put their knowledge into practice with some impressive marching and formation exercises.

Science – Investigating Forces Our new science topic, Forces and Magnetism, began with an exciting investigation into how different forces affect moving objects. The children loved experimenting and observing how things move in different ways.

Computing - the Year 3 children learned lots about 'Fake News' in their Online Safety lesson and the Year 4 children tried out the Data loggers, collecting data from various places around school. Which places were the quietest, brightest or hottest, for example?

RE – A Special Visit to St Stephen’s Church On Thursday - we had a wonderful visit to St Stephen’s Church, where we learned all about the creation story and how to be stewards of our Earth. The children behaved beautifully and participated enthusiastically in discussions and activities.

Dance – A Creative Collaboration Many children had the amazing opportunity to take part in a dance workshop on Monday, where they worked with children from other schools to explore creative dance and build friendships. It was a truly inspiring experience!

PE – Fielding Skills in Cricket. In PE, we focused on fielding techniques in cricket, practising catching, throwing, and teamwork to improve our game.

PSHE – Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds Our PSHE lessons this week centered around the importance of exercise. The children explored what happens to their bodies and minds when they exercise and why staying active is vital for their well-being.

It has been a fantastic week of learning, and we can’t wait to see what next week brings!

Best wishes, The Year 3 & 4 Team

An update on a few on the areas we have covered this week-

In Maths, we focused on understanding place value up to 50, using tens and ones to help visualise and organise numbers. 

In Science, we embarked on an exciting bug hunt, exploring the natural world around us to identify and learn about different insects and their habitats. We also had the opportunity to toast marshmallows in the Forest School area, learning about fire safety while enjoying the experience of cooking outdoors.

In Geography, we delved into the fascinating culture of the Maasai tribe, locating their homeland in East Africa and studying their traditions, lifestyle, and the unique aspects of their society. This helped us understand global diversity and the rich cultural heritage of different communities.

In English, we worked on innovating the story of Zahra, reimagining different parts of the narrative to make it our own. 

Science

This term, we have been exploring the fascinating world of rocks and soils. We became rock and soil detectives, examining samples to discover their properties. We tested if rocks were hard or soft, if they floated or sank, and even tried to scratch them with a fingernail! For soils, we checked how much water they held and felt their texture. We now knw that rocks and soils play a crucial role in our environment plus, fossils found in sedimentary rocks teach us about life from millions of years ago! Some of our favourite activities included testing rocks and making fossils.

On Thursday 27th, we are going on a field trip to further investigate rocks and also the properties the sand to link with our Geography unit of work on deserts.
Next week:
Wednesday is swimming in the morning and Mother’s Day service at St Saviour’s at 2:30pm
Thursday: Science and Geography field trip
Friday: Concert at St Neot pm

St Patrick's Day and Jack and the Beanstalk stories! 

On Monday, we celebrated St Patrick’s Day. We talked about who St Patrick was and where it is celebrated. We also talked about what people do, such as eat Irish food, Irish dancing and Irish parades. We then did lots of St Patrick’s Day activities.

In English this week, Year 1 have finished their Jack and the Beanstalk stories. We were so proud of them that we got the English Lead, Mrs Marshall, to come and read our stories. Year 1 have worked so hard to include all the features of traditional tales and have produced some fantastic work. Well done Year 1. Foundation have also been drawing a picture from the story and then writing key words/captions to match. We have really enjoyed our Jack and the Beanstalk learning that we’ve even made our own Beanstalk in the classroom!

Just some updates:

Comic Relief on Friday. Children can come dressed in their own clothes for a donation of £1.
Easter Crafternoon on Friday 28th March. An email has been sent with information about this.

Thank you!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Spring has sprung!

What a fantastic few weeks we have had in Canute.  The children have been working so hard on their learning.

World Book Day was a fantastic day as usual, with the children fully embracing the day.  We had a whole host of costumes on show and we enjoyed a day of fun.  As a part of the day Canute opened their class library!  The children decorated some beautiful bags to use to transport their books to and from school, made covers for their own reading logs and chose a first library book to take home.  The children can exchange their library books on any day of the week, we have a lovely selection and we are awaiting some more.  We finished our day with some buddy reading with Tregeagle who also taught us a poem and made us beautiful bookmarks.  We have also been lucky enough to have a visit from the Library Service who shared the wonderful story of 'Owl Babies' with us.

In English we have been looking at the structure of a non-chronological report and the children have begun to plan their own reports on spring animals.

There has been a lot of measuring in maths over the past weeks in Reception and Year 2 and the children have been comparing and measuring length using different units of measure including cubes, cm and m.  In Year 1 the children have been exploring the place value of numbers 20-50.

In our RE work we have been learning about why Easter is special to Christian people, exploring the stories behind the events of Holy week and sharing these in different forms including role play and art activities.

In PSHE the children have been thinking about what it means to be healthy in regards to diet, sleep, exercise and medicine.

We have been so lucky to have Miss Northcott working with us over the past 7 weeks and unfortunately this week will be her last and she will be back to university.  We wish her all the luck in the rest of her teaching journey.

Some things coming up...
Thursday 20th March - The Very Hungry Caterpillar day - come to school in bright clothes for a day of caterpillar fun!
Friday 21st March - Red Nose Day
Monday 24th March - Nancarrow Farm trip
Wednesday 26th March - PCSO Cocks visiting for a road safety morning.

Please continue to look on Seesaw for photos and learning that your child is taking part in.  If you have any questions then please get in touch.

Mrs Andrew, Mrs Fernie, Mrs Hicks, Miss Talbot, Miss Northcott