February

This term, we are paying particular attention to different life cycles and engaging in the theme 'minibeasts'. 

Our literacy is based around the author Eric Carle. We are having great fun with his books, engaging us in our topic in literacy, science, DT and art. 

We are excited to have our caterpillars, which we hope will transform into beautiful butterflies. We have been on a minibeast hunt, and although we did not find any caterpillars outside, we found worms, centipedes, spiders, woodlice and beetles. 

Our Design Technology, this term is also all about minibeasts. We are busy trying new techniques using levers and pivots so that we can then design and make our own minibeast moving picture.

Finally, we are going to be visiting a farm to continue investigating lifecycles. We are hoping to see some lambs and maybe baby chicks. 

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” Neil Gaiman, Coraline

Thank you for filling our World book Day 2025 with imagination and colour.

A very busy week two!

What a week it has been at school! From celebrating St. Piran’s Day to enjoying the sunshine in our outdoor area, there has been so much to look forward to.

We kicked off the week by celebrating St. Piran’s Day, a special day for Cornwall! Our school was filled with excitement as we all came together in the morning to sing traditional Cornish songs on the playground.
The fun didn’t stop there! In the morning, we got our hands dirty making Cornish pasties. With the help of our teachers and the very kind Will from Ginsters, we mixed, folded and crimped our yummy pasties. 

Thursday was another highlight with World Book Day! The school was buzzing with excitement as everyone arrived dressed as their favorite book characters. From Mog to Matilda, we had a range of creative costumes. It was amazing to see so many of our friends dressed up as characters from the books we love.

As if the week wasn’t already packed with fun, we were lucky enough to have some beautiful sunshine to enjoy! Our outdoor area was the perfect place to play and soak up the sun. We spent time running, playing games, and just enjoying the fresh air. It was so nice to take a break from the classroom and play outside, especially after all the busy events of the week.

In phonics we learnt the sound 'a' a a apple!
In maths we are looking at representing number 1-5 can you count 4 objects and then find the number 4? have a go at home and let us know. 

Come back next week to see what else we get up to. We have special visitors coming in to see us!

Miss Whitty, Miss Ronald and Mrs Evans. 

Thank you so much for sending your children in on World Book Day in their amazing costumes. Entries to our Extreme Reading competition were brilliant – Thank you for sending them in. Rev Richard judged the entries after our St Piran’s Day assembly on Tuesday (there were so many to consider!). Well done to the class winners (Henry, Flora, Nevaeh, Max and Felix) and to Everly, the overall winner. Winners will each receive a book (kindly funded by FOPS). Our book sale raised over £40.00, which school will spend on books for guided reading.

FOPS Quiz FOPS raised over £500 at their quiz night last Friday. Thank you to those who organised an enjoyable evening and to those of you who attended. We have other fundraisers in the pipeline including Easter Discos for the children on Thursday 3rd April. More details to follow.

Comic Relief This year Red Nose Day is on Friday, 21st March. The School Council would like the children to come to school in MUFTI (bright colours/funky clothes!) with a minimum donation of £1 for this MUFTI day. We will be selling Red noses for £2 during the week commencing 17th March.

Parent/Carer Consultations Thank you for attending this week’s parent/carer consultations. We are so pleased that everyone has arranged an appointment. Your involvement and support play a crucial role in helping your child succeed, and we truly appreciate your partnership in their learning journey at our school.

Orwell Project We had a visit this week from Jay Gates, from Bodmin Airfield who spoke to the children in Talland and Chaipel Classes not only about the planes at the Airfield, but also about the wildflower meadow there which has County Wildlife Status and is home to rare orchids and other wildlife. Later in the year, the school will be working with the airfield to rewild some of the school grounds using seeds from the Bodmin Wildlife Meadow.

Wild Wellbeing Sessions The Mental Health Support Team (MHST), along with Natural England and Cornwall Wildlife Trust, are running several Wild Wellbeing sessions over the Easter break. These are nature-based, creative, practical workshops where pupils learn about the Five Ways to Wellbeing: Give, Connect, Take Notice, Be Active and Keep Learning. Details are included in the attached poster.

 
Have a good weekend.

Mrs Hillman

Can You Always See Things Grow?

What a week! This week we launched our enquiry for this half term, 'Can you always see things grow?' by setting up an investigation to grow beans in a bag. We plan to keep a weekly bean diary to document the changes our beans undergo over the next 5 weeks. In PE, we have been loving our Striking and Fielding unit with Mrs Phillips! 

On Thursday, we celebrated World Book Day across the school by dressing up as a book character of our choosing. We had a lovely time designing bookmarks, sketching Dr Seuss and Nathan Bryon book characters and reading stories. Year 3 joined Talland and Chaipel to participate in a Live BBC lesson on the day and Year 2 spent time with Penhallow sharing stories. We had a fabulous day! 

In English, we read the story of Jack and the Baked Beanstalk by Colin Stimpson. We made comparisons between this version and the original story, and have written some fantastic descriptions using our senses. We also began to plan our stories for our imaginary world stories, inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk.

This week in Maths, Year 2 have been refining their ability to multiply, using arrays to support our understanding of multiplication. Year 3 have continued working hard on length and perimeter, converting between measures. 

I have attached this half terms KIRFS, Knowledge Web and Homework Grid. Of course, let me know if you have any questions. 

We hope you have a lovely weekend and see you on Monday. 

Mrs Wilkie, Mrs Phillips, Miss Bowden and Miss Colton

 Storytellers had a blast celebrating World Book Day this year, and the theme was all about fun and imagination! The children came dressed in their comfiest pajamas, ready to curl up and immerse themselves in the world of stories. The highlight of the day was the reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a classic favorite. The little ones were fascinated by the caterpillar’s journey as he munches through all kinds of food before transforming into a beautiful butterfly.

Adding to the excitement, the children explored their very own pot of baby caterpillars, closely observing them and talking about their growth and changes that might occur. It was a hands-on experience that brought the book to life, making it even more magical as they witnessed the caterpillars move around. 

Another week has flown by and Chaipel have been very busy.

We have been writing a setting description to set the mood for our Anne Boleyn diary writing next week. We have used a range of figurative devices as well as some colloquial language fit for a Queen! We also wrote up our cinquains which we will transfer to a poetry book for all to read.

In Maths, Y5s have been looking into equivalent fractions and decimals and the Y6s have been tackling percentages! We also did an arithmetic assessment and everyone has significantly improved their scores - WELL DONE CHAIPEL!

It was World Book Day on Thursday and we really made the most of it. We took part in a live lesson at 11am and a nationwide 60 second read. In the afternoon, we looked at the characters from a reknown author and one that was not as well-known as they should be. We all agreed that Nizrana Farook has made many children's stories that we are dying to read!

In PE, Chaipel have been brushing up their skills at Rounders, learning the language needed and practising their fielding techniques. In DT, we have investigated materials which make our clothing, together with the stitches, joins and the washing and drying instructions on the labels. In History, we have been looking into the social hierarchy and how 'God's will' determined your status in life. Next week, we will investigate the housing and diet differences between classes.

Sean will be begin our Wednesday afternoon Art from next week so we are very excited regarding what we will produce. 

CONGRATULATIONS to our People of the Week - Harrison, Martha and Phoebe - for demonstratiing our school values.

That's all from me so have a lovely weekend!

Miss Randle, Mrs Clary, Mrs Hodge and Miss Colton.

TALLAND'S BLOG 7.3.25

We hope you have all had a brilliant week! We've had lots of fun here, especially with a special guest from Bodmin airfield coming in to talk to us about how it has the largest wild flower field in the UK, which is amazing for insects and bees. World book day was tremendous fun. The children looked absolute fabulous in their costumes! It was lovely for me to get to chat to so many parents and guardians about how great their children are... thank you so much for coming in for a chat!

Maths:
Year 5 have just finished fractions and are now moving on to decimals and percentages.
Year 4 have been focusing on converting improper fractions into mixed number fractions.

English:
We have jumped straight into diary entries and Talland have had fun by turning themselves into everyday classroom objects and writing a diary entry about their day. E.g. The day in the life of a bit of blue-tac. They will move this on to creating a diary entry about one of the soldiers from Harold Godwinson's army and how they felt whilst marching to face William, Duke of Normandy, and his huge army for one of the most famous British battles of all time... The Battle of Hastings. 1066 was the year and this was the year of the 3 Kings. The beginning of the Norman reign!

History:
Children have been learning all about the battle of Hastings and the year of the 3 Kings. It's has been really interesting so far and we've only just scratched the surface!

Science:
We have looked at the lifecycle of a human and how our bodies change as we grow older. We spoke about what part of a humans lifecycle would you like to be stuck at (baby, toddler, teenager, adult or a senior). What part of the lifecycle would you prefer to be stuck at?

PE:
We had a great time during rounders where Talland were learning a variety of throwing and catching techniques and thinking about when you might use an under arm throw apposed to a shoulder throw.

CONGRATULATIONS:
A huge well done to Chilali for being noticed for her creativity this week. Her diary entry was so imaginative. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! And a massive well done to our 99 club achievers: Tristan and Archie! 

That's all from us. We hope you have a fantastic weekend and can't wait to see you on Monday!

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

Spring 

Week 2 of swimming and everyone is already making progress in terms of confidence and stroke technique. It is great to see independence growing and the pride and importance the children attach to making the most of their learning in the pool. It is particularly important for them to gain confidence around water as this supports their continued learning with watersports in summer term. Last year, we saw the children transfer their knowledge of water safety from the pool to the open water and I am certain this will be the same again this year.

On Friday, we had most of the class attending the Girls’ football tournament in Bodmin so the remainder of the class had the opportunity to start Science Week early and experiment with scientific processes. They made some fantastic colour patterns, made water travel and created an airshow with ping pong balls.

PE is swimming on Wednesday and OAA on Thursday.
We also have Tag Rugby at Looe on Wednesday afternoon.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mr Twaite and Mrs Wills

w/e 7.3.25

We have had another busy week!

English – Poems from the past - This week, we finished writing our Stone Age poems and turned to celebrating the end of WWII by writing VE80 poems for a local competition!

Maths – Year 4 have continued using Peri the snail to help them learn about perimeter and Year 3 have been continuing their work on multiplication and division.

History – When did the Romans come to Britain and why? We used our Historian skills to set up a timeline of events and discussed why the Romans came over to little ole Blighty!

RE – Cornish Folktales - This week, we learned the strange and interesting story of St Piran - it tied in brilliantly with it being St Pirans day and Talland class's assembly all about St Piran, too! We loved watching the Furry Dance!

Science - More Shadows! We had great fun creating shadow puppets, learning about how to change the shape and size of shadows.

Thank you for your continued support!

w/e 7.3.25

We have had another busy week!

English – Poems from the past - This week, we finished writing our Stone Age poems and turned to celebrating the end of WWII by writing VE80 poems for a local competition!

Maths – Year 4 have continued using Peri the snail to help them learn about perimeter and Year 3 have been continuing their work on multiplication and division.

History – When did the Romans come to Britain and why? We used our Historian skills to set up a timeline of events and discussed why the Romans came over to little ole Blighty!

RE – Cornish Folktales - This week, we learned the strange and interesting story of St Piran - it tied in brilliantly with it being St Pirans day and Talland class's assembly all about St Piran, too! We loved watching the Furry Dance!

Science - More Shadows! We had great fun creating shadow puppets, learning about how to change the shape and size of shadows.

Thank you for your continued support!

Friday 7th March

What a busy week we have had in Foundation! So much learning and so much fun!

In English this week we have been writing captions to match pictures from Jack and the Beanstalk. The children have been making huge amounts of progress with their writing and it has been lovely to see them use their sound mats and phonics knowledge to write small words.

In math’s this week we have been exploring 9 and 10. We have looked at combining two groups to make 9 and 10 and how we can represent these numbers too.

In outdoor learning this week, we made the most wonderful dinosaur skeletons from twigs and sticks. We continued to work on our teamwork, and we were in pairs collecting the right size a sticks to make the pictures!

On Tuesday afternoon, we explored why some families celebrate Pancake Day / Shrove Tuesday. Janet explained to the class that she would be giving up chocolate for Lent. We then had so much fun making and eating pancakes in class! They were yummy!

On Wednesday it was St Piran’s Day. In the morning, we had a wonderful singing assembly as a school and the children sang Cornish songs and our favourite ‘Looe My Home’ which is an adaptation on ‘Cornwall My Home’. In the afternoon some parents were able to come to our Crafternoon and it was amazing. The adults and children made bunting, St Piran’s flags, collaged flags, crimped playdough pasties and made Cornish patterns! It was lovely!   

Thursday was World Book Day, the children looked amazing in their costumes. Our activities for the day were all based on a book. We explored: Room on the Broom, Tiddler, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Super Worm and The Rainbow Fish. Each table had the book and corresponding fun activities to go with it. The children made puppets, masks, fingerprinted, designed book covers and drew their favourite characters!

It’s been a super busy week but super amazing too!

Have a wonderful weekend

The Foundation Team

What an incredible week it has been at Team Brunel! The week has been filled with so many wonderful learning opportunities and successes for our children. Please sit back, relax and enjoy this week's edition of The Brunel Bulletin.