What a busy week it has been at Team Brunel. With the Storytelling Caravan and Space Odyssey Dome making a visit to our school as well as a theatre trip by train. It has yet again been quite a week at our wonderful school. Sit back, relax and enjoy this week's edition of The Brunel Bulletin.

 

Week 5 of fun 

This week at preschool, we had an amazing time learning and playing outside. There’s something special about being in the fresh air while discovering new things, and we made the most of it!

One of our favourite activities was playing with play dough – what a fun way to help our hands get stronger! Rolling, squishing, and moulding the dough helped our little fingers work hard and build fine motor skills.

We also had fun learning the sound of the letter T. We practiced saying "t t tower" and looking for things that start with the sound, like tiger, tree, tent and toy. We even made the letter T out of our play dough! It was a great way to connect our learning to the hands-on fun we were having.

We have also been working on writing our names helps us recognise letters and practice holding our pencils. We are  getting better at writing the first sound of our names and some of us even wrote our full names by the end of the week! Next week you will all be getting a copy of the dotted names to have a go at over the Easter holidays 
Learning outside is always a great way to stay engaged, have fun, and practice important skills in a new way. 

We were also very lucky to have the easter bunnies come in today!! Thank you Miss Selby for teaching us all about how to look after a bunny and letting us stroke them.

Come back next week to see what we get up to. 

**REMEMBER NEXT FRIDAY EARLY FINISH 1:30 PICK UP**

This has been a busy week full of trips. On Wednesday, our Planet Protectors Club went to the recycling plant in Bodmin to research what happens to all of our recycling and why it is important to recycle. They will be sharing what they found out with the rest of the school in an assembly shortly. Year 5 visited Liskeard Fire Station to learn all about safety on the railways; online; on the roads; on the beach and when using electricity. They also tried their hand at choking prevention and CPR. This morning Penhallow and Landaviddy Classes had a really enjoyable trip to see ‘Little Red Hen’ at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.

More Cross-Country Success
The Polperro team yet again did brilliantly well in last week’s Landrake Inter Schools Cross Country Race. Congratulations to the children who all completed their races, with or without shoes. Thank you to Mrs Turnbull for her wonderful team support this season and for running alongside the children too, and to parents and carers for transporting our runners to each race come rain or shine. An amazing effort all round from Team Polperro. A huge well done too to Flora who came a magnificent 34th in the Cornwall Cross Country Finals on Tuesday.

Clubs Please note that there are no clubs next week because of the football match, the disco and staff training.

Drop off and pick up Polite reminder when you are picking up and dropping off, please do not park or wait on the zigzag lines outside school. This is likely to result in drivers receiving penalty notices (a £75 fine). Cars are still blocking this area causing problems for children crossing the road.

FOPS Easter Discos Reminder that Easter Discos for the children on Thursday, 3rd April. Tickets are on sale in the office and cost £3. The disco for Reception, Year 1 and year 2 will be from 3:15-4:15pm. Pupils should bring a change of clothes and will be able to change after school. KS2 (years 3-6) children should go home at the usual time of 3:15pm and then return to school for their disco which will be from 4:30-6:00pm.


The last day of term is next Friday 4th April and school will finish at 1:30pm. On Friday morning we will have a visit from the Easter Bunny. Monday 21st April is a bank holiday, therefore the first day of the Spring term for the children will be Tuesday, 22nd April.

Have a good weekend

Mrs Hillman

w/e 28.3.25

Wow, these weeks are flying past, they're so jam packed! Let's see what's been going on this week!

It started off with the most AMAZING visit to the Space Dome - as we lay on our backs admiring the night sky, we were transported to space stations, moons, meteors and even back in time! A wonderful, memorable experience had by all!

English - we are planning our balanced arguments about digging up our school field for the Roman remains - will they turn out to be genuine or not? Will we lose our field?

On Monday, some children from each class visited the 'Story Caravan', a truly magical place full of awe and wonder! What a special treat!

History - we learned about Hadrian's wall and Vindolanda fort - some amazing artefacts from Roman times have been found there and we analysed some of these to see what we could learn about the Romans that lived there. Fascinating stuff!

In RE, we learned about the weird and wonderful Penzance festival of Golowen. We were all really taken by the Obby Oss! What a strange creature it is! It looks like a really exciting festival, too!

Science - we learned about how different surface textures affect the speed of objects moving down them - we used ramps and toy cars to experiment with the hypothesis that a rougher surface creates more friction and will therefore slow the car down. We were right!

Also on Friday, Year 4 were taken over to the library to take part in 'Biowatch' and do some arts and crafts about the world around us! Can they tell you all about it?

Have a lovely weekend and we'll see you all back on Monday for the final week of term!

We have been thoroughly enjoying the spring sunshine and being able to open the doors and venture outside without wellies and waterproofs!

For a change we got out all of the bikes, trikes, scooters and push along toys.

The children enjoyed a different type of play and were developing a different range of skills and muscle toning as they played.

w/e 28.3.25

Wow, these weeks are flying past, they're so jam packed! Let's see what's been going on this week!

It started off with the most AMAZING visit to the Space Dome - as we lay on our backs admiring the night sky, we were transported to space stations, moons, meteors and even back in time! A wonderful, memorable experience had by all!

English - we are planning our balanced arguments about digging up our school field for the Roman remains - will they turn out to be genuine or not? Will we lose our field?

On Monday, some children from each class visited the 'Story Caravan', a truly magical place full of awe and wonder! What a special treat!

History - we learned about Hadrian's wall and Vindolanda fort - some amazing artefacts from Roman times have been found there and we analysed some of these to see what we could learn about the Romans that lived there. Fascinating stuff!

In RE, we learned about the weird and wonderful Penzance festival of Golowen. We were all really taken by the Obby Oss! What a strange creature it is! It looks like a really exciting festival, too!

Science - we learned about how different surface textures affect the speed of objects moving down them - we used ramps and toy cars to experiment with the hypothesis that a rougher surface creates more friction and will therefore slow the car down. We were right!

Also on Friday, Year 4 were taken over to the library to take part in 'Biowatch' and do some arts and crafts about the world around us! Can they tell you all about it?

Have a lovely weekend and we'll see you all back on Monday for the final week of term! 

TALLAND'S BLOG 28.3.25

We hope you have had a fantastic week! Children in Talland have been brilliant. They have worked so hard and we've had such a great but busy week! 

Maths:
Year 4 have been learning all about different types of charts and thinking about how to read and use the data on them.
Year 5 have come to the end of their unit in decimals and percentages where they have been learning how they all link to each other.

English:
We have been using similes, personification and descriptive language to create settings. It's ben fun using AI to generate their ideas.


PE:
We've had some intense games of rounders this week where we've used lots of different rackets and balls to get some distance with their strikes. Home runs were pouring in! 

Art: 
Sean, our artist was in again and we continued our scrap books where we drew leaves and shaded them using different sized circles...they look amazing!

PSHE:
Children learned about what to do if they found a casualty that needed some assistance. We practiced rolling them into the recovery position and used 'Anne doll's' to talk to them and demonstrate resuscitation.  

CONGRATULATIONS to all the runners from last week. We heard that they performed superbly on an extremely harsh course. Well done to Zac for being noticed this week for his tremendous effort throughout and for being an incredible learning partner... such a helpful, polite and hard working young man!

That's all from us. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Signing off Mr. Langley, Mr. Bishop and Miss. Colton.

Theatre Trip!

Tregantle and Lantic classes have had the most incredible trip to Plymouth Theatre Royal to watch The Little Red Hen! They walked all the way from school to Saltash Train Station where they eagerly awaited their train to Plymouth. There was much excitement when the train arrived! Traveling over Brunel Bridge was wonderful - the children saw the road bridge and lots of boats below. Next was another walk from Plymouth Station to the Theatre Royal. The show was just fantastic - the children were so engrossed from start to finish. There was time for a picnic in the theatre before walking back to the train station to return home. All of our children behaved impeccably and were a joy to take out!

28th Mar 25

The weather is finally starting to improve and the children have been making the most of it this week with Class 1 looking at compass points in the playground and Year 3 and 4 enjoying a Wild Tribe morning. It has been a busy week and we have only got another one before a well-earned Easter break. Year 5 and 6 enjoyed a visit from the National Marine Aquarium and the Ocean Conservation Trust today. They learned all about the treats to the ocean, climate change and how to protect the planet. They did some great science experiments as well. The whole school were able to join in in the afternoon with another workshop. Thankyou to the NMA for their time in providing this great day. Year 5 also had a busy afternoon on Wednesday with a visit to the Cornwall Life-Skills roadshow at Liskeard Fire Station. They took part in short activities including electrical safety, CPR, the RNLI and how to stay safe near railways. They got to meet other children from local schools and they had a fantastic time. I would like to thanks Mrs Richardson-Calladine (one of our governors) for giving her time this week to talk to the school council about breaktimes and lunchtimes and how we can make them even better. Governors play a huge role in the school, providing support and challenge to myself and the pupils. I was very proud of the children for their sensible ideas, maturity and welcome that they gave her. If you think that becoming a governor and supporting the school in another way is something that you are interested in, please get in touch. Finally, with the improving weather, I know that many of the children take advantage of the school field after school. We have been contacted by members of the community about loud and boisterous behaviour after school and ask that if children do go into the field they are mindful of our community and neighbours. They should also not be climbing the wall into the cow field as this can disturb the animals and cause unnecessary stress. We have spoken to the children in school but appreciate your support in this matter. Can we ask that pupils do not use the trim trail before or after school as insurance will not cover them. We welcome children scooting and cycling to school but can we also ask that these are walker across the playground to avoid accidents.

In Maths, we’ve been learning all about place value, focusing on numbers up to 50. It’s been fun working with different ways to represent numbers and understanding the value of each digit. We’ve had a lot of hands-on practice with comparing and ordering numbers, which has helped us get a better grasp on this important concept.

We also went on an exciting trip to Lanhydrock, where we had an amazing time exploring the beautiful gardens. We took part in a nature hunt, which allowed us to discover various plants and animals while enjoying the fresh air. After that, we ventured into the house, where we learned about what life was like during the Victorian times. It was fascinating to see how people lived back then, and we even had the chance to dress up in Victorian-style clothing, which made the experience even more special.

In our Art lessons, we’ve been exploring colours and learning about how to mix them. It’s been so interesting to experiment with different combinations and see the different shades we can make.

In English, we’ve started a new unit all about poetry, specifically focusing on dragons! We’ve been reading different poems about these mythical creatures and even started writing our own. It’s exciting to use our imaginations and come up with creative ways to describe dragons in our poems.

In Geography, we’ve been learning about the Berbers, a fascinating group of people with a rich history and culture. We’ve discovered a lot about their traditions, way of life, and the places they live. It’s been an enriching lesson, and we’ve gained a deeper appreciation for different cultures.

Finally, we are really looking forward to our sharing afternoon tomorrow! We can't wait to showcase everything we’ve been working on and share our learning with others.

Heading Out to Space

Another action packed week for Talland Class. The highlights this week were: a visit to a Cornwall based story caravan where the children heard traditional stories; a morning spent in a Space Dome where they learned about the Universe, the cycle of the moon and other amazing facts, for example, 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea level is the altitude of the Kármán line, a conventionally used boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.

Some of the children have also been honing in on their own self-development, especially using musical instruments.  It's fantastic to watch the enthusiasm, concentration and self-confidence ooze from these children. Well done, Talland Class.

best wishes, 

Mrs Swabey, Mr Parry and Mrs Walters.

It has been a busy week at nursery. We have been finishing all of our learning on farming, food and where our food comes from in preparation for lots of Easter craft and fun next week.
The children have been busy scooping and mixing and cooking up a storm in the mud kitchen. We have had everything from salads to casseroles and soups!!
On the tuft tray the children have been harvesting vegetables and couting how many carrots and sprouts they had collected and used lots of great language such as crunchy carrots.

At story time we have enjoyed stories such as "The great chicken mystery" and we have been singing "Old Mcdonald had a farm" encouraging the children to create the different animal sounds.

In phonics the children have enjoyed making up silly rhyming sounds which they did whilst rowing to the tune of "Row, Row your boat". They have been looking for initial sounds in the sand tray outside and have played different instruments.

In maths we have been exploring shape and position. The children have explored the maths table with interest talking and using words such as on top, above, below, beside, next to. They have been sorting and matching shapes and colour blocks.

We have one more week to go before the Easter holidays, just a reminder that nursery finishes at 1.30pm on Friday 4th April.

Have a great weekend
The Nursery Team

Spring has sprung in Foundation / Year 1!

We have had a great week in Foundation / Year 1.

Our activities have been all about spring this week. We have decorated easter eggs in different ways such as with pastels, collaging and colouring. We have used our funky fingers to pinch pom poms and add paint to a cherry blossom tree and lots of other lovely activities. We have also talked about the signs that Spring is here and my favourite was that ‘daffodils are popping up everywhere!’ Foundation also did some outdoor learning where they collected daisies and added it to their ‘vase of flowers.’ They looked beautiful!

In English, Foundation have continued their learning on Jack and the Beanstalk. This week, they have been drawing their own picture from the story and used their phonics to label the picture. Year 1 have been writing their own Acrostic poems about space. We have been coming up with some brilliant adjectives to describe space and have included them in our poems.

In the Wider Curriculum this week, we have been learning about materials in Science. We discussed the best materials for a piece of furniture and then designed this in our books.

Just a polite reminder that Friday is our Easter Crafternoon. Please feel free to pop up from 2:15 and you are welcome to take your child home at 3pm. Please do not worry if you can’t make it, they will still be able to do the lovely activities.

Thank you!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Class 1 have been looking at Bible stories from Holy Week and Easter. As part of their learning, they made hot cross buns which they learnt was symbolic of the significant day in Christian faith when Jesus was crucified.