Welcome Back Brunel Families!

We hope you've had a wonderful summer making special memories.

A very warm welcome to all our families - and an especially big hello to those joining Brunel for the first time. We can't wait to begin another exciting school year together! Staff News We're delighted to welcome: Mrs May-Bracey (Duckpool & Leadership Team) Mrs Scott (Lantic) Mrs Morris (Mousehole - Fridays) And huge congratulations to Mrs Swabey on the safe arrival of her baby boy.

What's New Around School
Issy's Nursery has moved to a bigger EYFS space with a fantastic outdoor learning environment. Tregantle Class now has a brand-new classroom and outdoor area.
Our pond is alive again thanks to CO-OP funding & the BFA.
A huge thank you to Brook and his team from Total Landscape Ltd for all their hard work.
A new outdoor classroom has been created in the garden. 4
KS2 playground equipment has been upgraded.

Exciting Extras
Plymouth Argyle joining us every Monday & Friday lunchtime.
Clubs start w/c 15th Sept (letters coming soon).
The Brunel Builders Yard & new play equipment will keep children active at playtimes.
Little Locomotives toddler group returns Wednesday 17th Sept (10:00-11:15am) - free, teacher-led, open to all!
Reminders Gates close at 8:45am sharp - being on time every day really matters!
Free Breakfast Club (Rec-Y6) runs daily 8:15-8:45am.
Kids Club wraparound care available via ParentPay before and after school.
Healthy snacks at playtime & water only in bottles (unless medical note provided).
Children must wear Brunel uniform & school shoes, with PE kit on PE days.
Please remember our pre-loved rail which is accessible for all and absolutely free. We're so proud of our wonderful staff who have worked hard over the holidays to get everything ready - and we can't wait to see you all on Thursday 4th September (please note this is different for some of our Reception children) for another brilliant year at Brunel. Have a great last few days of the Summer holidays.

We are so excited to begin a brand new school year together. Our new classroom has been carefully designed to support the needs of all our children, and we can't wait to see it filled with learning, laughter, and curiosity.

For the first half of the autumn term, our class topic is 'All about Me.' Children will have the opportunity to talk about themselves and find out more about their new friends. We will be learning a new song or rhyme each week and our focus texts for the half term will be Farmer Duck, Whatever Next, Slug needs a hug and Tadpoles promise. Our story time author books will be by Eric Carle and Tom Fletcher. We will be starting our phonics lessons following the Read Write Inc program straight away. Our maths sessions will focus on numbers to 5, counting accurately and making and continuing patterns.

This year we have lots of exciting learning opportunities planned and we're really looking forward to getting to know each and every child as they begin or continue their journey in Tregantle Class. Here's to a wonderful year ahead!

With warm wishes, Mrs Grinsted, Mrs Orchard, Mrs McIntyre, Mrs Bennett, Mrs James & Mrs Newman

Another Year is over!

We can't believe another year has flown by. We have had a fantastic year, with pupils making some fantastic progress. We have enjoyed adventures to London and across Cornwall to support our learning. We finished the year with a fantastic spots day at Par Track and a performance of Shrek. Here are some highlights from the final term of the year. 

Have an amazing summer and we can't wait to start a new school year! 

Class 3, along with Lansallos Class from Pelynt visited the Hall for Cornwall to watch the Royal Shakespeare Company perform a First Encounter production of King Lear.

This 80-minute edited version of Shakespeare's plays was a perfect introduction to his work. The production was made to be accessible and interactive, whilst keeping in tone with the key plot points and premise of the story.

This term the children have been looking at the enquiry question 'Famous authors: Why do their stories still matter today?'

We are delighted that you are interested in our Nursery for children aged 2 to 4 years. Please do have a look through the blog to find out about the exciting learning taking place in Big and Little Nursery. We have two rooms in our Nursery provision at Wadebridge Primary Academy.

Welcome to the Year 6 page where you will find out about the great things taking place in our classes.

Home Learning
Maths Fluency: Learning times tables is really important. After all, they're the building blocks of maths, and with their multiplications mastered, they can do anything! Therefore, each child from Year 2 - Year 6 has a log in for 'Times Tables Rock Stars' (TTRS). This is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practise online which helps your child learn their tables in a fun and engaging way. Please encourage your child to log on to TTRS as often as possible. Children's use of these apps are monitored closely by teachers. Each week, one child per class is awarded the TTRS Champion.

Reading: Throughout the school, we emphasise developing a love of reading and books. From Reception to Year 6, reading should take place daily. We are happy for children to read their allocated reading book, their school library book or any other reading material. In Year 6, the children are encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own reading. Due to the varying length of books, the children will be responsible for changing their own books weekly. They will be able to change their books during morning work, guided reading sessions and at free reading times. Class teachers keep a record of book changes to support the children and give reminders if needed.

PE
Our PE lesson is on a Thursday. Please ensure that your child wears their PE kit to school every Thursday.

This web page will be updated throughout the year with our fortnightly weekly news, termly curriculum maps and other useful information, so please do watch this space!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes,

The Year 6 Team

Welcome to the Year 5 page where you will find out about the great things taking place in our classes.

Home Learning
Maths Fluency: Learning times tables is really important. After all, they're the building blocks of maths, and with their multiplications mastered, they can do anything! Therefore, each child from Year 2 - Year 6 has a log in for 'Times Tables Rock Stars' (TTRS). This is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practise online which helps your child learn their tables in a fun and engaging way. Please encourage your child to log on to TTRS as often as possible. Children's use of these apps are monitored closely by teachers. Each week, one child per class is awarded the TTRS Champion.
 
Reading: Throughout the school, we emphasise developing a love of reading and books. From Reception to Year 6, reading should take place daily. We are happy for children to read their allocated reading book, their school library book or any other reading material. In Year 5, the children are encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own reading. Due to the varying length of books, the children will be responsible for changing their own books weekly. They will be able to change their books during morning work, guided reading sessions and at free reading times. Class teachers keep a record of book changes to support the children and give reminders if needed.

PE
Our PE lesson is on a Monday. Please ensure that your child wears their PE kit to school every Monday.

This web page will be updated throughout the year with our fortnightly weekly news, termly curriculum maps and other useful information, so please do watch this space!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes,

The Year 5 Team

Welcome to the Year 4 page where you will find out about the great things taking place in our classes.

Home Learning
Maths Fluency: Learning times tables is really important. After all, they're the building blocks of maths, and with their multiplications mastered, they can do anything! Therefore, each child from Year 2 - Year 6 has a log in for 'Times Tables Rock Stars' (TTRS). This is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practise online which helps your child learn their tables in a fun and engaging way. Please encourage your child to log on to TTRS as often as possible. Children's use of these apps are monitored closely by teachers. Each week, one child per class is awarded the TTRS Champion.

Reading: Throughout the school, we emphasise developing a love of reading and books. From Reception to Year 6, reading should take place daily. We are happy for children to read their allocated reading book, their school library book or any other reading material. In Year 4, the children are encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own reading. Due to the varying length of books, the children will be responsible for changing their own books weekly. They will be able to change their books during morning work, guided reading sessions and at free reading times. Class teachers keep a record of book changes to support the children and give reminders if needed.

PE
Our PE lesson is on a Tuesday. Please ensure that your child wears their PE kit to school every Tuesday.

This web page will be updated throughout the year with our fortnightly weekly news, termly curriculum maps and other useful information, so please do watch this space!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes,

The Year 4 Team

Welcome to the Year 3 page where you will find out about the great things taking place in our classes.

Home Learning
Maths Fluency: Learning times tables is really important. After all, they're the building blocks of maths, and with their multiplications mastered, they can do anything! Therefore, each child from Year 2 - Year 6 has a log in for 'Times Tables Rock Stars' (TTRS). This is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practise online which helps your child learn their tables in a fun and engaging way. Please encourage your child to log on to TTRS as often as possible. Children's use of these apps are monitored closely by teachers. Each week, one child per class is awarded the TTRS Champion.

Reading: Throughout the school, we emphasise developing a love of reading and books. From Reception to Year 6, reading should take place daily. Regular daily reading at home is so very important to help your child in becoming a fluent reader. We encourage parents to read and discuss literature with their children and believe that reading should be a shared experience where possible. We are happy for children to read their allocated reading book, their school library book or any other reading material.

PE
Our extended PE lesson is on a Wednesday. Please ensure that your child wears their PE kit to school every Wednesday.

This web page will be updated throughout the year with our fortnightly weekly news, termly curriculum maps and other useful information, so please do watch this space!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes,

The Year 3 Team

Welcome to the Year 2 page where you will find out about the great things taking place in our classes.

Home Learning
Maths Fluency: Learning times tables is really important. After all, they're the building blocks of maths, and with their multiplications mastered, they can do anything! Therefore, each child from Year 2 - Year 6 has a log in for 'Times Tables Rock Stars' (TTRS). This is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practise online which helps your child learn their tables in a fun and engaging way. Please encourage your child to log on to TTRS as often as possible. Children's use of these apps are monitored closely by teachers. Each week, one child per class is awarded the TTRS Champion.

Reading: Throughout the school, we emphasise developing a love of reading and books. From Reception to Year 6, reading should take place daily. Regular daily reading at home is so very important to help your child in becoming a fluent reader. We encourage parents to read and discuss literature with their children and believe that reading should be a shared experience where possible. We are happy for children to read their allocated reading book, their school library book or any other reading material. 

PE
Our extended PE lesson is on a Thursday. Please ensure that your child wears their PE kit to school every Thursday.

This web page will be updated throughout the year with our fortnightly weekly news, termly curriculum maps and other useful information, so please do watch this space!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes,

The Year 2 Team

Welcome to the Year 1 page where you will find out about the great things taking place in our classes.

Home Learning
Each child has a Phonics folder that is included within their reading packet. This folder has key information about Phonics along with grapheme charts and tricky words. Each week, the children will be sent home with Phonics learning, in addition to regular reading.

Reading
Throughout the school, we emphasise developing a love of reading and books. From Reception to Year 6, reading should take place daily. Regular daily reading at home is so very important to help your child in becoming a fluent reader. We encourage parents to read and discuss literature with their children and believe that reading should be a shared experience where possible. We are happy for children to read their allocated reading book, their school library book or any other reading material.

PE
Our extended PE lesson is on a Friday. Please ensure that your child wears their PE kit to school every Friday.

This web page will be updated throughout the year with our fortnightly weekly news, termly curriculum maps and other useful information, so please do watch this space! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes,

The Year 1 Team

Learning in Reception
As you know, children in Reception are on the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (EYFS). This curriculum is predominantly play-based and celebrates the whole child's learning and development in a holistic approach. Our planning comes from the children - through careful observations and assessments of their play, noting the gaps in their knowledge and primarily from their interests in an overarching 'topic'.

In school, we typically have a daily 30-minute phonics lesson, a 30-minute maths lesson and a short topic taught session. In addition to this, we have 10 minutes reading a day. We support the children's writing development with weekly small group guided writing sessions. This is where the children can apply their skills and knowledge of letters and sounds from their daily phonics lessons. The rest of the day is child-initiated play in the learning environments inside and outside. We call this COOL time (Choosing Our Own Learning)! This allows children the time for totally uninterrupted play; they can apply their learning from the taught sessions in a range of different activities and contexts. This ensures the learning is meaningful to them and that it becomes embedded. We try to ensure that the children have a minimum of 1.5 hours in the morning and the same again in the afternoon.

In line with our school values, we promote the Characteristics of Effective Learning through our learning characters: Ideas Iguana (Creativity), Have a Go Hippo (Enthusiasm) and Keep Going Koala (Determination).

Morning routines
Each morning, we ask that the children are dropped off at the green gate into the Reception area between 08:30 and 08:45. The children will then independently enter their classroom to organise their belongings and get ready for an exciting day of learning. This time of day is a busy time for teachers so we ask that any messages are passed on via the teacher on duty who will then pass the information on to the class teacher. If you have any further concerns or questions then an appointment can be made via the office.

End of day routines
At the end of the day, please come to the same green gate at 15:10, so that we can dismiss your child to you and pass over any messages about the day. If you are ever unable to collect your child, please either phone the office or pass it on to the teacher on the gate in the morning. We will not send any child home with anyone different unless we have had a message to do so and the adult has your collection password.

Things to bring to school
As well as wearing school uniform, your child will need a waterproof coat, pair of wellington boots, book bag with reading record and book, and a water bottle. In the summer months, please bring a hat and sun-cream. We also kindly ask you to leave a spare pair of clothes on their pegs just in case they are need to change or have an accident. Please ensure that every item is clearly named - including water bottles and packed lunch boxes.

Reading books - changed on a Monday and Thursday / library books on a Monday
Throughout the school, we emphasise developing a love of reading and books. From Reception to Year 6, reading should take place daily. Your child will soon receive a reading packet and a reading record. It is really important that these are brought into school every day in their book bags. We will change your child's reading book every Monday and Thursday. By practising re-reading the same book over a few days, it will help your child to become more confident with the text and fluent. The children will visit our wonderful school library on a Monday morning, where they will get to choose their very own book to take home. They will need to return their library back to school every Monday morning, in order to change it for a new one. We kindly ask you support your child with taking good care of our reading and library books at home, so that we can keep them in a nice condition for everyone to enjoy.

PE - Every Friday
As independent changing for PE is part of the of the Early Years curriculum, we will be supporting and encouraging children to get changed for PE at school. Please leave your child's P.E. kit on their peg. We will send home the kits for regular washing.

Snacks
Free fruit will be provided for all of the children in Reception. However, if your child would like to bring their own fruit then they are more than welcome to. We kindly ask you to bring in a snack for the afternoons. In order to promote healthy eating, we do ask that children only bring fruit to school.

Lunch
The children are entitled to receive a free school lunch each day. Please ensure you order your child's lunch via ParentPay. Alternatively, your child is welcome to bring their own packed lunch.

Showbie
We know that the children often get up to some amazing things out of school too. If you have visited somewhere interesting or achieved an award (swimming, karate etc.) then please let us know and upload onto Showbie. We love to celebrate all types of learning and achievements. We share WOW moments and whole class special events, as well as key milestones of learning and development on the individual child on Showbie.
 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes,
The Reception Team

What a wonderful service performed by Class 3. I especially liked their impressions of the Staff!

A big thank you to Mr Hodgins and Mrs Campbell for their work with today's production, I think the new words for Pink Pony Club are better than the original!

Finally, it is time to say goodbye to our Year 6 children. Many of this group have been with us since Nursery and have therefore been part of the family for up to 8 years.

As a group they have been a pleasure to teach and we can say with complete confidence that they are ready to take on the next chapter of their learning at secondary school.

We will genuinely miss them being here daily, but as the last line from the song at our leaver's service said today:

'For this is my Duloe and this is my school.'

They will always be part of school and will always be welcome here.