Busy week for all

It’s hard to believe that there are only 4 more days until half term! The last few weeks have been so busy with learning, trips, events and so much more that we have blinked and missed it! We break up next Thursday as the 24th is a staff training day. We have lots to get through before then though so please stay posted through the blog and website!

Year 6 had a fantastic "Breakfast week" this week. They enjoyed delicious bacon and egg sandwiches cooked by Lisa - and completed some tests as well. We were, as always, blown away by their hard work, dedication and resilience for the SATs and each and every one of them gave 100% all week. We could not be more proud of them and they can now relax, ready for their final few weeks at Darite. They celebrated today by destroying their practice papers outside and using them to toast marshmallows. They folded their paper into various shapes and said a little personal goodbye before burning them. The children were thankful for all their hard work to prepare for the SATS! Miss Edwards said that the group were wonderful and it was lovely to hear their reflections on the work that they had put in and improvements they had made. Well done Year 6!

Thank-you also to those of you who were able to attend the reading breakfast in aid of the Book Trust. The donations helped us raise a fantastic amount of money to give to this worthy cause. It is a real bonus for the children to have an audience for their reading, and being able to raise money as well is a bonus. The children joined in with PJ day fantastically - even though some of the pyjamas were a bit warm! 

Have a fantastic weekend. 

Hello everyone

Here's an insight into some of our learning in Class 1 this week....

In PE we have been developing our awareness of distance and weight and if we were able to throw in a coordinated way for accuracy. We had three hoops to throw the bean bags into and had to adjust the way we threw the bean bag to enable us to try and reach the hoop that was the furthest away. We then completed a carousel of activities such as hoopla, target practice and throwing bean bags over a distance. 

Our focus in Maths has been around shapes. We have been selecting shapes for a purpose, exploring how shapes will appear once they have been rotated, manipulating shapes and making tangram pictures. 

In English, we have been reading the story 'Superworm'. We have been thinking of adjectives to describe Superworm and Wizard Lizard and then writing our own character descriptions. We have also been practising writing a list when writing what rubbish Superworm finds underground. 

In art we used Lichtenstein’s “Ben Day Dots” as inspiration to create a piece of artwork. We used pop art style dots to show colour without filling a space completely. We are all so proud of our pieces! 

In PSHE we have been looking at using ‘calm me time’ to manage our feelings. We spoke about if we had ever felt angry and discussed different ways we could calm down. One of the ways we spoke about was to listen to calm music. We decided we wanted to do some drawing whilst listening to calm music. 

The theme for Show and Tell is: Free Choice. As it is the last day of the term I thought the children could choose something of their own choice to bring in and tell us about. Please bring into school on Thursday morning or if emailing photos please send to rhorn@pelyntprimary.co.uk by 8:40am on Thursday.

Points to note for next week:
Class 1 Assembly on Wednesday 9am - children to come to school wearing their Superhero costume.
INSET Day on Friday

Class 1 Team

A Creative Week

Talland Class have enjoyed exploring the Batik art form during this week. This is linked to our study of the Maya civilisation and to the beautiful colours they used in the materials they used: their clothing, in particular. The children noticed the use of complementary colours, shape and shading when they produced their own representations. 

English

During this week, the children have entered a poetry competition using their own unique poems. They have developed good confidence in using many poetry devices to good effect: metaphors and similes, for example.

Maths

The children's knowledge and understanding of place value is becoming clearer. Due to this, they have been able to add and subtract decimals to 2 decimal places.

best wishes,

Mr Parry, Mrs Swabey and the Talland Class team (Mrs Walters and Ms Rowlands)

This week's jokes:

Why should we always look up to the sun for positivity? – He always focuses on the brighter side of life.

What did the sun say to the ice? – You’re gonna have a total meltdown!

Summer 1 - Week 5 - Innovating, researching and recording! 

English

In English this week, the writing genre focussed on information texts. The children read up to chapter 7 gathering information about Podkin, his siblings and most importantly the 12 gifts from the Goddess.

The children used a planning format to innovate their own gifts from the Goddess. They had to consider its name, its magical properties, its history and its current whereabouts. They used 3 of the original gifts to give them inspiration before generating their own. The plan would then provide them with notes for writing their information texts independently.

The children then began writing the introduction, here they had to provide the reader background context, what the text would be about and some information about the Goddess.

Finally, they began writing their main body of the text; this was broken down into weapons, tools, armour/clothing. For each, they had to explain information about the gifts using descriptive language.

Next week, it’s poetry where the children will explore how to use onomatopoeia.

Maths

For Maths, we continued with position and direction. The children learnt about translation, and then translation using co-ordinates in order to be more accurate. They then were introduced to symmetry, where the children had to make connections to previous learning. Using mirrors, they located lines of symmetry on shapes and identifying horizontal and vertical lines of symmetry.

On Thursday, the children then completed their end of unit assessments. Their scores were recorded and next steps/targets set.

On Friday, the children then completed their half termly arithmetic assessment. This is where the children can work towards their targets making progress in their scores!

Wider Curriculum

This week, the children were Geographers learning how to describe and understand key aspects of the water cycle, whilst outlining the impact on human geography through the distribution of natural resources.

This was a heavy research lesson, with lots of discussion and use of retrieval skills to unpick information and record key facts. The children then created a double page spread explaining their understanding of the above. They then use iPads to continue gathering data and statistics.

Next, the children then looked at natural disasters, again the recorded what they had learnt making links to the UK and other foreign countries, outlining the impact on human geography.

We’ve had a busy week, next week is the countdown to half term!

Have a lovely sunny weekend,

Best Wishes,

The Year 5 Team

Summer 1 - Week 4 and 5

Adding to our learning journey

Over the last 2 weeks, the children have been busy impressing us with their writing and maths skills. 

Writing - Every morning, the children have been coming into class and writing sentences based on a picture stimulus. The progress the children have made in their writing has blown us away. They are saying their sentences aloud, applying their phonics knowledge, correctly forming their letters and getting more confident in using finger spaces. Great work Reception!

Maths - We have been working on addition and subtraction  stories over the last two weeks. In their addition stories, the children started with using concrete objects, and were then able to move on to writing addition sums. We moved onto subtraction within 10 this week which the children are starting to grasp. 

Music - We were lucky enough to have Mrs Wade join us to give the children an African drumming lesson. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning how to play the drum. They were able to copy rhythms and made their own rhythm up to perform it to the class. Thank you Mrs Wade for giving up your time to give the children this experience.

PE - After half term,  Reception will be lucky enough to have Pro20 for a sports session each week. This weekly session will be on a Monday afternoon, starting from our first day back. For this session, the children will need to come into school already in their P.E kits. They will not need to wear their school uniforms on a Monday until Pro20 has finished (we will inform you closer to the time when this will be). P.E kits can then be kept at home. It would be handy to still keep a spare pair of clothes/uniform in their bags daily or kept on their pegs, just in case of water play accidents etc. The children will continue to have a P.E session on a Thursday but this will be in their uniforms, as it is rehearsing for sports day.

Thank you so much for your help in making drop off and pick up a smooth transition through our new gate. We really do appreciate it. 

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Best wishes,
The Reception Team 

w/e 17.5.24

We had a great day on Friday, enjoying some cricket coaching! We learned loads and had such fun!

Also this week, we’ve observed Mental Health Awareness Week, with some FA football stars! 

Whilst the sun shines...

This week Lantic class have been learning how to jump in our PE lessons - jumping high and jumping a distance.  We were really good at jumping from 1 foot to 2 feet.

During science, we focused on trees this week and went on a leaf hunt, we then drew and labelled our leaves back in the classroom and looked at how we could classify them into different groups.

We've also been very busy with our Year 2 Reading SATs - the children coped really well and took them in their stride!  The should be proud of their efforts.

In RE, the class learnt to to understand what it means to belong to the Jewish community, they drew a Jewish family having their Shabbat meal and then wrote what the family do on Shabbat.  Perhaps you could ask your child what they learnt?

Over this week we have been learning to tell the time... we have really been working really hard on quarter past and quarter to the hour!!  We have also had a go at building tractors from various construction toys.  

As the sun was shining, we started to weed our patio area... it's looking good already!! 

On Friday, we were very lucky to have a Cricket Chris come in to explain and show the children how to play rapid cricket - we had great fun!  Locally, the children can play All Stars Cricket (5-8yrs) at  St. Stephens Cricket Club - Fri 10th May - Fri 28th Jun 2024 17:30 - 18:30. All Stars Cricket provides boys and girls from 5-8 years old with non-stop fun. The activity and game based programme is suitable for all skill levels, providing your child with the foundations to begin a lifelong love of physical activity and cricket, while making friends in a safe and enjoyable environment.

This week we have been exploring all things dinosaur related with our question "Where did the dinosaurs go?"
The children have been hand painting and decorating different dinosaur pictures. We have a few dinosaur experts at nursery and they have been teaching us all of the different names of the dinosaurs. Everyone's favourite appeared to be the T-Rex!!
The children had a go at bubble blowing painting this week and enjoyed watching all of the paint move around the paper as they blew through the straws.

At story time we have enjoyed listening to the story of "Aliens love dinopants" and have enjoyed reading and moving our bodies to the story "1,2,3, do the dinosaur". In phonics, the chldren have been matching different objects to their initial sounds, counting syllables in words at the garden centre and comparing sounds that instruments make.

In maths, we have been stacking and counting bricks and writing and recording our findings from this and we have been ordering numbers 1-5.

Just a reminder that next Friday 24th May is an INSET day so nursery will be closed to the children and then it will be half term from the 27th-31st May.

Have a lovely weekend and see you next week.

Julie and Sarah

These two boys impressed me with their achievement at the weekend. This week, we have continued to learn about explanation texts: ‘How animals have adapted to their habitats.’ In maths, we finished our Fractions unit and have started Mass and Capacity. We have enjoyed our art lessons where we have continued be inspired by Henri Rousseau’s jungle paintings and consequently have planned our own piece in his style. Thank you to those that came to support the Reading Café. I know some couldn’t make it or forgot so you are welcome to come to the year 5/6 one next month.

The children have been learning about the  'Life cycle of a butterfly’.
We have had some real caterpillars for the children to observe and to watch grow.

Over the past few weeks, the children have been lucky enough to see the caterpillars develop into chrysalis' and then turn into butterflies. 
This week, the children went to woody corner to release the caterpillars that had come out of their chrysalis.’

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, your KS2 child will be coming home from school with a copy of My Brilliant Place To Be Me. This is a journal for 8-11 year olds, designed to help them to explore and nurture their well-being. It is full of activities and information, created to encourage the children to:

• Become more aware of their emotions, and recognise and name their feelings
• Understand that all feelings are OK
• Become better able to manage uncomfortable feelings with simple self-soothing strategies and by seeking help
• Identify the people in their lives who can help them if needed

Mountain bike club

This half term we have been running an mountain bike club at Lanhydrock. We began by shredding the green family trails before progressing to the technical blue trails. All the pupils have made fantastic progress. We have even attacked the skill track where there are drops and jumps. A huge thank you to the parent helpers who have transported the bikes and children as well as joining us on the trails.

War Hammer club

Mr Coates has been running a War Hammer club this term. Pupils have been making and painting models as well as learning how to play the game. Thank you Mr Coates for volunteering your time to give our pupils this unique opportunity.

Insect topic

In Kensa class pupils have been studying insects. As part of this topic pupils have: been on a bug hunt, created bug environments and made bug art. In the classroom there are live caterpillars who are moving through there life-cycle. Our young scientists are observing the changes daily.

Ancient Greece




SATS

Every Thursday afternoon, we walk to Hillcrest Residential Home. We enjoy craft and singing activities together with the residents. This is the highlight of our week and the children are building multi generational relationships, and making links to our local community. This week was World Nurse Recognition week, so we made thankyou cards for the nurses at the home together.          

We have been super busy here in Pre school. 

We have been very busy with our 'At the seaside' topic this half-term. We have spoken about beaches we have visited on Cornwall and learnt a bit about our costal paths. The children have also enjoyed learning 'Cornwall my home' as our sea shanty and learning about the RNLI. 

The children have also really enjoyed our outdoor area as it has changed a little bit. We now have a gross motor area, the children enjoy playing with the ball and putting all their skills they learn with coach James on a Monday in to their play. They also enjoy building, running, skipping and balancing on our scooter. 

We have been learning our sounds last week we learnt 'o' and this week it's 'c' the children enjoy writing these with chalk and spotting them in our environment. 

Forest school is a big hit and the children are really enjoying exploring it while its dry ' It looks different!' 

On drop off please feel welcome to come in and have a look at all of the work they have been up to on the display board. 

Throughout the year, several trips and experiences are planned into the seven areas of learning to help the children broaden their knowledge by exposing them to things they may not encounter. These experiences enhance the children’s awareness by seeing real-life examples of what they have been learning; the children gain a deeper understanding of the topic, increasing their motivation to learn and retain the information. We focus heavily on our local environment, with trips and walks around the local community, which is why our visit to the Lost Gardens of Heligan was a fantastic experience for the Storytellers as they were able to see lots of the things they have been learning about on a far grander scale: beehives, sculptures, conservation, unique colours within the world of plants and lots of rare breed animals. This language-rich experience is essential and also fun which is always at the heart of everything we do. It is our role as a setting to help the children experience the awe and wonder of the world in which they live, and what a pleasure it is to be able to do that with these fantastic little people 

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At Storytellers, we have been outside enjoying the sunshine while learning about various habitats for the minibeasts that we have been looking at resonantly. The children each picked a mini beast and set to work, making it a house. This involved lots of fine motor skills as they assembled their little homes.

Through our dedicated efforts in caring for minibeasts and other animals, we are instilling in the children a deep sense of respect and care for all creatures. This hands-on exploration of the natural world they inhabit is a testament to our commitment to their holistic development.

It's good to develop children’s knowledge of the natural world they live in.

Over time, the children will develop the skills to talk about what plants and insects need to grow and how they change.

We have been learning to take care of small creatures, hold them without damaging them, and know that we must always place them back where they found them.

Another 5 children received golden tickets today to join our exclusive new book club. The children also received a brand new book: The Kingdom of the Sea by Zohra Nabi.

Mrs Currah will be meeting with the children once a week to read and discuss the book, and the children will also have a virtual meeting with the author as well.

The children will then become ambassadors of the story, sharing with others and encouraging them to choose the book from our school library.

Summer 1, Weeks 3 and 4: Determined designers

Another busy fortnight in Year 1 but we have been particularly impressed with the resilience shown in Year 1 - we have a lot of "Keep Going Koalas"! 

DT

Linked to our wider curriculum learning of the seaside, the children have been busy designing jellyfish puppets. 
Firstly, they had to work with small pieces of felt and investigate the 3 different ways of joining the pieces together - with glue, safety pins or staples. Everyone tried all 3 methods and the glue station got very sticky at one point with no one having much success - but that's ok because designers try things and evaluate whether it worked or could have been better. The children unanimously decided the glue wasn't for them and we tried our hand at stapling. We had more success here but did get through a lot of staples! We also tried joined the felt together using safety pins. We soon realised these were tricky - especially some of the smaller ones - but some of our classmates were amazing at pinning the pieces together and were nominated as "class experts" and they helped others out who were struggling - some wonderful teamwork turtle skills on show! 

Finally, we were ready to design our jellyfish so children chose a colour of felt and sketched out on a template what their jellyfish would look like. These were photocopied before the children used their cutting skills to carefully cut out the template and - back to the safety pins! - pinned the template onto the felt. They then had to cut out the felt and join their 2 jellyfish pieces together. This was where they chose which method they would like to use to join them. The jellyfish need to be finished next week and we can't wait to show them off!


English

We finished off our learning of the Singing Mermaid by reinventing the story together and the children decided they would like their new character to be the Dancing Dolphin. The Dancing Dolphin lived in the deep, blue sea and was warned by William Whale not to go with Sam Sly to the circus where she was trapped in a tank. Luckily, her friend Ollie Octopus helped her escape back to the sea. The children loved writing their stories and we are seeing them apply the knowledge they have learnt in lessons to their writing, often independently. For example, children were using exclamation marks and some wonderful adjectives to describe the characters and their feelings in the story. We really enjoyed reading their stories. 

We then started on a poetry unit, looking at our different senses and thinking what we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel at the seaside. Children worked in groups and studied different photos of beaches to make lists and we added adjectives to these the following day. For example, I can see the sea became I can see the crashing waves; and I can hear the seagulls became I can hear the noisy seagulls squawking. The children are then going to use these ideas to write their own seaside senses poems.

Maths

We have now moved onto learn about fractions and looked at halving an object, such as a pizza or an orange, and talked about now having 2 parts. We moved onto discuss halving a group of objects, talking about having more than 2 objects but still having 2 groups of objects. We identified to be halved, the groups need to have an equal number and we shared out different numbers of counters equally to see what half of a given number was. The children are making the link between halving and doubling, knowing that if 5 is a half, they have to double 5 to find the whole number. 

History

As part of our learning around the question "have people always liked to be beside the seaside?", we looked at what beaches were like in the past and how they have changed over time. The children loved looking at a range of photos of seasides in the past and learning what many Victorians did when they went to the seaside. Their favourite part was looking at the bathing carriages some Victorians were lucky enough to use where ladies were pulled by horse in a carriage into the sea where they would lower themselves into the water and have a swim before climbing back into the carriage to change and be pulled back to dry land. What a wonderful idea! They were less keen on wearing a suit or a formal dress to the beach though - much preferring their t-shirts and shorts! 

Phonics

With our phonics screening check creeping ever closer, we have planned in some fun phonics afternoons where the children have enjoyed playing phonics games in groups to practice their sounds. Please do continue to read with your child at home and practice their phonics sounds. There are some great games on "Phonics Play" website which are free to play and the children do love them! 

Reminders

If you have already done so, please do return your trip consent letter for the aquarium trip. 
Library day is Thursday - please do send your child in with their book so they are able to change it. 
Monday is PE so children should come to school in PE kits please. 

Have a lovely weekend, 
The Year 1 Team