Primary School days are meant to be memorable. but I have a feeling that the residential visit to London for many of our Year 6 pupils last week was one of their most memorable experiences ever and hopefully one that will last forever.  With huge thanks to Mrs Davies for organising the experience and for all of the adults attending, including one of our governors, I think it is safe to say that they all had a wonderful time.  With over 29,000 walking steps on one day in particular, the visit was packed full of new things to enjoy and experience.  The main reason for the trip at this time of year was tickets to visit the Houses of Parliament and because it is the party conference season, the children were allowed to enter the Houses of Commons and Lords as there were no sessions on the day that they were there.  It meant that they could experience being in the chambers, rather than observing debates and questions from the viewing galleries.

They stayed very close to St.Paul's Cathedral and saw the outside art in the grounds, walked to the Tate Modern via the Millenium Bridge, went to the Tower of London and saw The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre as well as their visit to the Houses of Parliament.  They walked and experienced the London Underground and they saw many of the other London sights on foot, such as the Embankment, Tower Hill and Paddington Station.  I am sure you will agree that it was an action packed few days!  They were all exhausted when they returned, but all smiling and very excited to share their time away with their families.  All adults reported how well the children coped and they were hard to miss in their brightly coloured group hats.  I think we all wished that we had been with them!

On Wednesday, we had our first class trip of the year to Dartmoor Zoo. We had a fantastic time. We started off the day with a close encounters workshop, where we got to see a cockroach, python and many other fascinating artefacts up close. After lunch, we explored the rest of the zoo and met their resident tiger, African lions and visited the reptile house. Our final workshop before heading home was a climate change problem solving activity, which really got us thinking. I have uploaded some pf the best photos from the day below.

In Maths, this week we have been using number lines to count and estimate numbers to 1000. This is often a tricky concept for the children, but they have all persevered and worked so hard.

In English, we finished writing up our postcards and have started our new unit on recount writing. We will be using our zoo trip as inspiration for our next piece of writing. 

Congratulations to Darragh, Rosie and Dexter for being chosen as Landaviddy's people of the week.

We hope you have a well rested weekend and look forward to seeing you. 

Mrs Wilkie, Mrs Lister and Miss Colton

This has been been a week of firsts. Our first school trip of the year took place this week, with Landaviddy Class visiting Dartmoor Zoo as part of their enquiry topic, "Who Rules the Animal Kingdom?" The children had a fantastic time exploring the wide variety of exotic animals that the zoo provides a sanctuary for - from tigers and lions to snakes, parrots, and meerkats. They also took part in two excellent workshops: Close Encounters, which offered a unique opportunity to get up close to reptiles and invertebrates, and Climate Change, a fun and thought-provoking sustainability challenge. You can see some lovely photos from the trip on Landaviddy's blog. We're very grateful to the Friends of Polperro School (FOPS) for generously subsidising the trip.

This week also saw the first meeting of our new School Council. The children have already shared some fantastic ideas, including suggestions for new playtime equipment and themed activity days. I'm looking into their requests and will keep you updated!

And finally, our new school choir met for the first time on Thursday. There was a great turnout and it was lovely to hear them singing some familiar songs together with such enthusiasm.

School Open Morning Do you know anyone looking for a school for their Reception age child in September 2026? If so, please pass them the attached information regarding our open morning on Wednesday 12th November, 9:30 - 11am.

Spooky Discos We will be holding Spooky school discos on Thursday 23rd October, the last day of this half term. Tickets will be on sale in the office from Monday 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.

Mental Health Support Team (MHST) Wellbeing Sessions Please see attached details of the MHST Wild Wellbeing sessions being run this October half term. These sessions are open to children aged 5-12, each session will be approximately 2 hours long. Details of how to sign up are included in the attached poster. Sign up will close one week before the session date, or when the session reaches capacity, whichever comes first.

Have a good weekend.

Mrs Hillman

TALLAND'S BLOG 3.10.25

What a great week it's been at Polperro. Music, sport (with some speedy mile of the day-ers) and a whole load of learning.

Let's have a little break down of our week:

Maths:
Year 4 have been rounding numbers to the nearest 10 / 100 / 1,000 and have been identifying different triangles - why not quiz them to see if they remember what they are...

Year 5 have continued to round up to the nearest 1,000,000 and we have been experimenting with protractors.

English: The children have been planning to write their story of the Great Tree. They have thought carefully about characters and how to describe them; how to use emotive devices to persuade our tree surgeon to stop and the choice of sentence techniques to help make their writing sound descriptive, imaginative and gripping. I can't wait to read their independent attempts next week!

PE: With Mrs. Hillman in Yoga, the children have been practicing balances which involve strength, particularly within their core. In football, we have been using both the inside and outside of both feet to dribble and turn in different directions to evade defenders. 

Science: Talland class thought about which mini-beasts might reside within our local habitats and then researched one that took their particular fancy. Messy day incoming where we will go on a mini-beast hunt.

Computing: We got to create a quiz on Scratch where everyone added Sprites, an icy background and popped in instructions for the computer to follow. 

CONGRATULATIONS to Kayla for becoming our first success in 99 club this year and to Zach for being noticed for his brilliant Sportsmanship manner and his leadership skills - showing the traits of a responsible, mature and kind young man.

That's all from us in Talland. We hope you have a lovely weekend and hope to see many of you tonight for the George Orwell Project. The children's work is up in the hall and it looks fantastic! 

Signing off from Mr. Langley and Mr. Bishop.

A roundup of some of this weeks learning-
This week, Year 1 have been exploring adjectives to describe the characters in Little Red Riding Hood, enhancing their descriptive language skills. In Maths, they have focused on systematic number bonds to 10, using tens frames to identify patterns and deepen their understanding.

Reception have been practicing forming their numbers, with a special focus on 2 and 3. They also had a fantastic time in PE using the apparatus, and thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon in forest school, engaging with nature and outdoor learning.

In PSHE, Year 1 have been reflecting on the feeling of pride and what it means to be proud. They also explored the inspiring story of David and Goliath. In History, their learning adventure on the Titanic continues as they describe the different passengers onboard, bringing history to life.

Meanwhile, in music, both Reception and Year 1 have been practicing harvest songs in preparation for the upcoming Harvest Festival.

What an amazing week of learning we have had! We began by investigating 3D shape properties in Maths, before moving onto addition and subtraction. Everybody worked so hard to line up their columns accurately and improve on their presentation.

Carrying on the theme of presentation, in English, we have had a real push in improving our handwriting this week. We experimented with a range of pens and have begun to write up the best copy of our planet descriptions. 

In the Wider Curriculum, we were exploring foreground in Art and have sketched possible designs using a range of sketching pencil grades, deciding on the exact pencil grades we will use for our overall piece which we will start next week. We have worked on our 'flow' in Yoga and finally conducted our shadow experiment in Science, identifying that we recorded 12:55pm as our midday Sun this week. 

On Friday evening, we hosted our Orwell Exhibition, showing the incredible work of last year's Y4/5 and 6. Many ex-Y6 pupils came back to see their work and a great evening was had by all.

That's all from us this week  so have a lovely weekend and see you all on Monday.

Miss Randle and Mrs Clary 

This week has been jam-packed with learning and fun. 

We finished our poems and wrote them up neatly on decorated paper - I am proud with how beautiful the handwriting and presentation is. We have now started a new unit of work in which we will write a non-chronological report about where energy comes from. So far, we have looked at the features of a report and started our research. Did you know that the blades on a wind turbine can measure up to 90 metres long?

In maths, we have been building confidence and accuracy with short division and long multiplication by practicing our formal written methods and then solving puzzles and problems. 

In PSHE, we have been learning how to calm our brains down by taking part in guided meditation in the hall. We laid on PE mats and got comfy, it was a wonderful atmosphere and I was pleased with how mature they all were. 

In art, we have been studying 'The Harvest' by Vincent Van Gogh. We discussed the colours, textures and shapes in the picture and researched Van Gogh. Then we had a go at recreating out own versions using pastels. I was extremely impressed by the wonderful creations that the children produced; their sketchbooks are looking fantastic. 

Have a relaxing and fun weekend.

Miss Burton

We love Learning! 

This week in Tregantle Class we have been busy little learners!

In Maths, we explored repeating patterns, using colours, shapes and objects to create our own designs. The children worked so carefully, spotting what comes next and proudly sharing their patterns with friends.

In Phonics and Writing, we have been practising writing our names every day, helping us to form letters correctly and with confidence. We also focused on our new trick word 'to', which we enjoyed spotting in sentences and practising in our play.

During Wild Tribe, we went on a colour hunt in nature, finding lots of wonderful natural shades and textures. We then used these ideas to create our very own Colour Monsters using paper plates. This gave us a great chance to practise our- folding and designing with care and creativity.

We are so proud of how well the children are settling into school life. They are showing such enthusiasm for their learning and making fantastic progress already. Well done Tregantle Class!

Welcome to another busy week in Perranporth class! We've been finishing the final drafts of our stories in English and as it was National Poetry Day on Thursday, we've written some Blackout Poems, really focusing upon making each word count.

In our oracy work this week, we have concentrated on using our physical oracy skills; using our voice, body language and aiming to engage our audience effectively.

This week's science centred on an investigation into the thermal insulating properties of various materials. So we considered the best design to keep a teacher's coffee warm on the playground with some surprising results. Please ask your child which material proved to be the best.

Tuesday saw our very first Two Tyre Tuesday in KS2, which was an opportunity for children to bring scooters (plus helmets of course) to school have some playtime fun. This was a huge success, many thanks to Mrs Williamson for organising.

Next Monday will be our Harvest assembly, each class has been working on their contribution. Thank you for all your generous contributions to the Saltash foodbank.

Have a great weekend.

Year Group Newsletters
To see what has been happening in classes these last two weeks, and what's coming up over the next fortnight, please take a look at the Year Group Newsletters emailed home today. Copies can also be found on the class pages of our website.

Year 2 Trip to Cardinham Woods - Friday 10th October
Year 2 are looking forward to going to Cardinham Woods next Friday. A reminder for parents/carers in Year 2 that today is the deadline to complete the online permission form.

Year 4 Trip to Bodmin Jail - Friday 17th October
Year 4 are looking forward to going to Bodmin Jail on Friday 17th October. A reminder for parents/carers in Year 4 to complete the online permission form by next Monday 13th October.

Year 5 Stay and Learn - Friday 17th October
We look forward to seeing family members of Year 5 at their Stay and Learn on Friday 17th October. Doors open after morning drop off for refreshments, with a start time of 09:00. To help the morning drop-off routine, any Year 5 families driving are encouraged to park in the staff car park (double parking is fine).

Early Reading Workshop
Thank you for the positive feedback from the recent Early Reading Workshop. Mrs Hill has made a voice-over presentation which is now available to view on our website: Menu > Learning > Phonics. If you have any problems opening/viewing the presentation, please try double clicking the video and it should then open in a separate window.

The 'Bookie Shed'
A reminder that our 'Bookie Shed' is open every Wednesday (weather permitting) after school. All children and parents are welcome to visit the 'Bookie Shed' (next to the Nursery/KS1 green gates) and help yourself to a free book!

Parent Teacher Consultations (PTCs) - Tuesday 21st & Wednesday 22nd October
A reminder that the booking system on Arbor to make your 10 minute appointment opens today, Friday 3rd October at 18:00. For parents/carers with children in Big Nursery, please note all appointments will be on Tuesday 21st October only. The teachers look forward to meeting with you to share how your child has settled in and the progress they are making. We hope everyone will take this opportunity to meet with their child's teacher.

How to book your PTC appointment
1. Click on the Arbor App
2. Select your child
3. Click on Guardian Consultations

The system works on a first come, first served basis, however there are enough slots for each child's parents. If you have any questions or queries about making your PTC appointment, please contact the school office.

House Points
Congratulations to this week's winners, Choughs. Overall, Choughs maintain the lead:
Choughs - 1389
Swans - 1245
Cormorants - 1097
Puffins - 1042

MHST - Wild Wellbeing October half term
Cornwall's Mental Health Support Team are running some Wild Wellbeing sessions this October half term. These sessions are open to children aged 5-12. Each session will be approximately 2 hours long. You can sign up with this link: https://forms.office.com/e/fwtSJ59Cuv
Sign up will close one week before the session date, or when the session reaches capacity, whichever comes first.

Access4All
A new discount card has been launched in Cornwall to help children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. The scheme, called Access4ALL, has been developed by the council-run Family Information Service. It offers exclusive discounts at Cornish venues, helping families make everyday life more affordable.

We have had another fantastic week at Darite! The total so far for the sponsored triathlon is an amazing £497.20. Thank you for your support with this the PTA and the school are incredibly grateful. Thanks must also go to our PTA who work tirelessly for the benefit of the children. Today we say goodbye and thank you to our trainee teacher, Melanie, who has been with us for the last 3 weeks. She heads back to Switzerland tomorrow and we are going to miss not having her next week. You may have heard the children talking about Christmas cards this week. We have been designing them for our annual fundraising event and you will soon be able to order their unique designs. More details to follow in a couple of weeks. Booking on Arbor is now live for Parent Consultations, please contact us if the available times are inconvenient. We love having time to sit down and talk about your children with you and will do all we can to accommodate this.

This week at nursery we have started to answer our enquiry question "How do I know it is autumn?"
The children have enjoyed spending time in the school garden where we collected different materials such as leaves and acorns. They talked about what they saw and we explored different sounds that things made such as "crunchy" leaves.
We have started arts and crafts such as making paper plate owls and the children enjoyed some cooking this week, making crumpet pizzas.

Our book corner has changed to show the story of "Owl Babies". We have enjoyed reading this story along with others including "In the woods"

In phonics we have been on a listening walk, beginning to listen to sounds and identify which have the same one and the children have been listening for rhyming words in a game of rhyming pairs.

In maths, we continue to explore shape and have been constructing with shape bricks and blocks.
Have a great weekend

Julie and Sarah

It has been another wonderful week at Brunel and the children have been thoroughly enjoying delving into their learning adventures.

It is always a joy to see their curiosity and enthusiasm shining through in every classroom. This week also saw the launch of our very first Two Tyre Tuesday for KS2, which was a huge success! The children embraced the challenge brilliantly, and we are already looking forward to building on this momentum in the weeks ahead.

A gentle reminder that our Harvest Festival will be taking place on Monday. Every child in school will have a part to play, and we would love our families to join us for this special celebration. The service will begin at 1:15pm, and we are delighted that Rev. Parkman will be joining us for the occasion.

Looking ahead to next week, on Friday we will be marking World Mental Health Day. To raise awareness and show our support, the children are invited to come to school wearing something yellow - whether that's a t-shirt, a badge, a bow, a hairband, or even just a splash of colour somewhere in their outfit. As always, thank you for your continued support.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and I hope you enjoy browsing through this week's edition of the Brunel Bulletin.

Duckpool Diary...

Welcome to another busy week in Duckpool class!

We've been finishing the final drafts of our stories in English and as it was National Poetry Day on Thursday, we've written some Harvest Haiku, really focusing upon making each word count.

In our oracy work this week, we have concentrated on using our physical oracy skills; using our voice, body language and aiming to engage our audience effectively. We combined this with speaking like a geographer to demonstrate our knowledge about the water cycle.

This week's science centred on an investigation into the thermal insulating properties of various materials. So we considered the best design to keep a teacher's coffee warm on the playground with some surprising results. Please ask your child which material proved to be the best.

Tuesday saw our very first Two Tyre Tuesday in KS2, which was an opportunity for children to bring scooters (plus helmets of course) to school have some playtime fun. This was a huge success, many thanks to Mrs Williamson for organising.

Also, as promised here are some of our fabulous self-portraits, how many of our class  do you recognise?

Next Monday will be our Harvest assembly, each class has been working on their contribution. Thank you for all your generous contributions to the Saltash foodbank.

Have a great weekend.

Rocksteady
Today, Zak from Rocksteady Music did an assembly for the whole school and then led junior and infant workshops. Please ask your child about this experience as they will be far better placed to describe their enjoyment of it than I can say through a few words - it was brilliant! We have sent out a leaflet about Rocksteady and lessons they can provide. However, they will need to secure enough children to make it viable.


Morning Maths


We have changed our morning routine this term. On arrival, Year 1 to Year 6 children do their daily maths warm-up tasks. This involves practicing their Key Instant Recall Facts, some daily arithmetic questions and some flashback tasks (revisiting an area of maths outside of their current unit of work). This morning maths is separate to their daily maths lesson. It is an important opportunity to rehearse skills and secure knowledge that will help children in their daily maths lessons. As the children are doing these tasks, the teacher will work with a small pre-teach group. This is for those children who may need some additional input before their daily maths lesson to ensure they can access their learning with minimal support. 
For this system to benefit all children, they need to be on time for school. If children arrive for 8.40am, the time we open the doors to let them in, they will benefit the most. Children arriving at 8.50am, will have less time to complete these task and children arriving late will miss out altogether. Please make every effort to ensure your child benefits from this morning maths by arriving punctually for school. We plan to open our doors to parent carers soon for you to join your children for one of these morning maths sessions, so you can participate with them to see how it works.

Parent Carer Engagement Framework
We are currently working with Cornwall Council to deliver a programme called the Parent Carer Engagement Framework. Shortly, I will be seeking contributions from parent carers on aspects of our work to see how we can improve what we do together with our families. The two principles from the framework that we have identified are Principle 4: Support for Learning and Principle 6: Raising and Realising Aspiration. For more information, I have sent an overview of this programme to everyone. Under the Raising and Realising Aspiration principle, we hope to expand our children's horizons and inspire them so they start to think about their future learning and world of work. Although this work is only at an embryonic stage, I want to signpost everyone to a brilliant opportunity on Saturday 11th October. Futures2025 are holding a Voyage of Discovery event at the University of Plymouth. This free event for families, enables children to explore the world of research, innovation and science and technology through hands-on, interactive activities in areas such as ocean health to robotics. Feedback from last years event was that it was amazing, so I would encourage you all to try and get along. Scan the QR code or use the web address from the leaflet below for more info and to book a ticket (it's free!). There are a few copies of the leaflet in the school office too.