A week of Pablo Picasso

The children have learned about Picasso this week and used his unique techniques to create their own piece of art based on cubism. They chose to either create a 2-D or 3-D version of a portrait. They had so much fun and laughter doing this activity.

During maths, the children have finally grasped the concept of multiplying numbers using the column method. They will progress to division next week.

The children's magnificent stories are now completed and have been edited to include many features of figurative language: metaphors, passive voice and expanded noun phrases. It was so enjoyable reading the children's stories and seeing huge progress in all of the children's writing techniques. Thank you, Talland Class.

Best wishes, Mrs Swabey, Mr Parry, Mrs Walters, Mrs Payne and Miss Rowlands.

Welcome to The Brunel Bulletin!

This week, we have been raising the awareness of Children's Mental Health Week 2025 and our Art Week has tied in brilliantly with this theme. We hope your children have enjoyed their week with us at Brunel.

We are delighted to bring you the latest edition of The Brunel Bulletin, your go-to source for all the exciting news, updates, and achievements happening within our school community. Whether it’s celebrating pupil successes, sharing upcoming events, or showcasing the incredible work of our staff and pupils, this newsletter keeps you connected and informed. As we end another week filled with learning, growth, and creativity, we invite you to join us in celebrating the vibrant spirit that makes our school truly special. Let’s dive in!

Year 1 Visitor
On Wednesday, Year 1 were lucky to have a visit from Rosie Needham and her partner, Nick, who came to talk to us all about Rosie’s two visits to Antarctica. Rosie followed in the footsteps of Sir Ernest Shackleton, visiting and walking some of the places Shackleton explored on his Endurance expedition. As the year group have been learning about Shackleton in their History lessons, the children were able to impress Rosie with their knowledge, including that of penguins. After showing them a video of her trip and lots of photographs, the children asked some brilliant questions and were then able to explore the books Rosie had kindly brought in.

Reception and Year 2 Trip to The Eden Project
Reception Ice Explorers: Reception had the most amazing time at Eden. They loved the coach and enjoyed singing a few songs on our journey. When we arrived, we dropped off our bags and headed to the ice rink where there were lots of fun things to play on. After the ice rink, we headed back to have some lunch, before finally ending our day with a walk around the Rainforest Biome. The children were wonderfully behaved and we were so proud of how they were on our trip. Thank you Reception! Thank you to all the parent helpers for your help; we hope you had as much fun as we did.
From the Reception Team

Year 2 Rainforest Rangers: Year 2 took part in a 'Rainforest Rangers' workshop. They had a chance to share the knowledge they had gained from recent science lessons about what plants need to grow and stay healthy. The Eden staff were very impressed! After talking about the bio-diversity of the rainforest, the children watched a video of a Rainforest Ranger, currently working in the Amazon Rainforest to ensure it is well looked after. The children discussed what would be needed to survive in the rainforest (food, water and shelter) and were given materials such as bamboo and rattan to explore. We then ventured into the Rainforest Biome and searched for plants that would provide us with what we needed to survive. The children were so engaged and curious and asked many questions to the Eden staff. Year 2 were a credit to WPA; the Eden staff commented on how respectful our pupils were - a lovely bit of feedback to receive.
From the Year 2 Team

House Competition – Perfect Plots for Superb Stories
We recently launched our next competition with the whole school. Children need to use their imaginations to come up with ideas, however the plot outline can only be a maximum of 300 words. The deadline for entries is next Thursday. The overall winner will receive a £5 voucher, with the runners up winning a book of your choice. Put your entries in the entry box, which can be found on the House Captain display along the corridor. If you have any questions, please ask one of us.
From your House Captains

Year 6 Stay and Learn
We had a fantastic morning at our Year 6 ‘Stay and Learn’, where parents joined in to bring the session to life! The morning started with the No, No, Yes game, sparking plenty of creative and entertaining stories. The children then worked alongside their adults, letting their imaginations run wild as they wrote about the Mystery of the Missing Shoe or penned heartfelt letters to their future selves. It was truly wonderful to see their faces light up as they shared their work, with some even stepping up to the microphone to read aloud with confidence. A huge well done to our Year 6 pupils, and a big thank you to all the parents who took part—we loved having you with us.
Some of the parental feedback:
“Loved spending time with the children and seeing the amazing writing that they can do and ideas they come up with. Was great to see everybody and the children's books were wonderful.”

“Really enjoyed working with small groups of children and other parents; seeing some of the work they've been doing (Darwin/evolution projects is gorgeous work) and spending a bit of time in school sharing creativity!” From the Year 6 team


Trust Dodgeball Competition
Congratulations to our Year 3 ‘Dodgeballers’ on Thursday. They played fantastically well and showed great teamwork and perseverance.

Parent Teacher Consultations
A reminder that we have our Parent Teacher Consultations the first week back after half term. If you haven’t already, please sign up on Arbor to make your appointment. See email sent on Wednesday 29th January for further details.

School Crossing Patrol Update
We have been informed by CORMAC that there will be no school crossing patroller in place on Gonvena Hill, until further notice. We will keep you updated should CORMAC find a replacement. Please be mindful when crossing the main road.

PE Kit - Outdoor PE Socks
Should you want your child to wear non-white PE socks for outdoor PE, where they may get muddy, e.g. football, please send them in with a spare pair to change into just before their PE session.

House Points
Congratulations to this week’s winners, Choughs. Overall, Swans are still just out in front:
Swans – 5282
Choughs – 5215
Puffins - 4546
Cormorants – 4474

Welcome to Charlotte Cloke
Next week, we look forward to welcoming Charlotte to join the team as a Lunchtime Supervisor.

Year 1 Assembly – Thursday 13th February
Next Thursday, family members of Year 1 are invited to join Year 1 for their assembly. The doors will open at 08:30, where tea and coffee will be served in the Hall. The assembly then starts at 09:00. The staff car park (through the green gates) will be available for Year 1 families to use at drop off.

Bridge Kids – Breakfast Club Vacancy
We are seeking an enthusiastic Breakfast Club Assistant to join our team, supporting children during breakfast before school (07:30-08:30 Monday-Friday). This role involves creating a safe, engaging, and fun environment, helping children develop social skills and enjoy play-based activities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Supervise and support children during breakfast sessions.
• Ensure the safety, well-being, and inclusion of all children.
• Build positive relationships with children, staff, and parents.

Requirements:

• Experience working with primary-aged children in a similar setting is essential.
• Food hygiene certificate (or willingness to undergo necessary training).
• A positive, proactive attitude with strong communication skills.
• Enhanced DBS check (or willingness to undergo one).
• A genuine passion for working with children and promoting their development.

For further details on how to apply, please see our Vacancies page on our website.


Have a great weekend.
Chris Wathern

Dates coming up

Tuesday 11th February
Safer Internet Day

Thursday 13th February
09:00 Year 1 Assembly

Friday 14th February
School closed - INSET

Monday 17th – Friday 21st February
Half term break

Monday 24th February
Back to school
No Teacher-led after school Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs) this week
Pro20 running as normal

Tuesday 25th February
Parent Teacher Consultations

Wednesday 26th February
School Council & Year 4 Group Charity Bake Sale @Breaktime
Parent Teacher Consultations
No DT Sports ECA

Thursday 27th February
School Council & Year 4 Group Charity Bake Sale @Breaktime

Friday 28th February
School Council & Year 4 Group Charity Bake Sale @Breaktime
Dance after school running as normal

This week we have been talking about animals and answering our enquiry question "Do all animals like the cold?"
We have been looking at different animals such as polar bear and penguins and the children have been comparing them to animals that live in the jungle or in our own homes.
They have made some wonderful polar bear pictures using sponges and a bear template and have been making all sorts of arrangements and objets in the tuft tray with the playdough.
This week the children have made paper plate musical shakers and we have taken part in lots of singing. The children have all been very confident in standing in fornt of their peers and performing a song for us.

At story time, we have enjoyed the story of "The penguin who wanted to fly". The children have really enjoyed this story and helped to decorate our book area and our very own Flip Flop the penguin.

In phonics we have been exploring jungle animals. We have been matching different musical instruments to different jungle animals, clapping out the syllables in words and the children have enjoyed a game of jungle eye spy!

In maths, the children have been recognising and matching shapes, continuing to notice different patterns and forming numbers and marks that represent their numbers.

Next week is the last before the half term break.
We finish on Thursday 13th as Friday is an INSET day.

Have a good weekend

The Nursery Team














































Lor

A Wonderful Week in Landaviddy!

What a brilliant week Landaviddy class have had! On Wednesday, we were lucky enough to have a wonderful visitor, Muhunthiny (Tinni) Sivasothy, come into school and share with us about her beliefs as a Hindu. We loved listening to her stories and learning more about the Hindu faith. 

In Science, we have continued investigating shadows by conducting an investigation measuring the length of shadows and how they change. Can you remember what happened to the shadow when the torch was moved further away? In DT this week, we explored different materials and had a go at joining these together. We now know what we will need to make strong shadow puppets.

Today, we spent a lovely morning with the whole school in recognition of Children's Mental Health Week. We started off the day by completing the RSPB's Birdwatch and then participated in a range of activities throughout the morning, designed to promote mental health wellbeing. What was your favourite activity? 

In Maths, Year 2 have completed their unit on Money. We have explored how to find change and completed two-step problems. Year 3 have been exploring division by dividing 2-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers using flexible partitioning and finding remainders. 

In English, we have been progressing to finish writing our explanation texts on bees. We have particularly focussed on including subordinating conjunctions in our writing. 

Congratulations to Dexter and Oliver for being chosen as Landaviddy's People of the Week and a big well done to Dexter and Lowen H for achieving their 99 club badges this week. 

We hope you have a super weekend and look forward to seeing you on Monday, ready for the last week before half term arrives!

Mrs Wilkie, Mrs Phillips, Miss Bowden and Miss Colton

Learning all about Chinese New Year! 

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

We were very lucky to have Eva come and talk to us all about Chinese New Year. We listened to songs and learnt about traditions and Chinese food. We then made lanterns out of card and paper. We loved making the lanterns so much we made them all week! As it is the year of the snake, we made snake puppets, coloured in pictures and used our cutting skills to cut out a snake. We learnt lots and felt very lucky to have such a special visitor!

In our learning, we have been focusing more on minibeasts this week. Outside, Foundation labelled different minibeasts and talked about how they are similar and different. We have been learning about growing plants too, and what we need to grow a plant. Foundation have also been writing initial sounds using their phonics that are focused around our gardening story Christopher Nibble. Year 1 have begun planning their own gardening stories and will begin writing these next week.

We have had another wonderful week and I cannot believe we only have one week of half term left. This half term is really flying by!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

This Week at Blisland Primary Academy

It has been another exciting and eventful week at Blisland Primary Academy, with pupils taking part in a range of fantastic activities, from sporting competitions to creative projects and themed celebrations!

One of the highlights of the week was the dodgeball tournament held at Callywith College. Pupils from Blisland competed against 14 other Bridge Academy schools in a fast-paced and energetic competition. Our team showed incredible teamwork, determination, and sportsmanship, demonstrating quick reflexes and strategic thinking in every match. It was a brilliant experience for all involved, and we are so proud of their efforts!

We also celebrated Valentine’s Day in style with a special Valentine’s Disco at the village hall. Pupils enjoyed an evening filled with music, games, and dancing, with plenty of sweet treats to keep their energy levels high! The event was a fantastic opportunity for everyone to come together, have fun, and enjoy the festive atmosphere. A huge thank you to everyone who helped organise the disco – it was a wonderful success!

In the classroom, Nessa Class has been busy learning about plants and the Earth’s rotation. Pupils explored how the movement of the Earth creates day and night, deepening their understanding of space and science. As part of this topic, they also created stunning space-themed artwork using a combination of print and collage techniques. Their vibrant and imaginative pieces truly captured the beauty and mystery of the universe!

Meanwhile, Kensa Class has continued with their fascinating topic on China. Pupils have been learning more about Chinese traditions, geography, and history, further developing their knowledge of this incredible country. Alongside this, they have been working hard on their gymnastics routines, focusing on balances and rolls. Their dedication to improving their strength, flexibility, and coordination has been fantastic to see.

It has been a week full of achievements, creativity, and fun at Blisland Primary Academy. Well done to all our pupils for their enthusiasm and hard work—we can’t wait to see what next week brings!

Nessa Class Explores the Roman Invasion of Britain

Nessa Class has been on an incredible historical journey, completing an engaging six-lesson unit all about the Roman invasion of Britain. Through research, discussions, and creative activities, pupils have explored key questions surrounding this fascinating period and developed a deeper understanding of how the Romans shaped British history.

The unit began with an investigation into Roman buildings. Pupils examined ancient ruins, mosaics, and artefacts to infer what life was like in Roman Britain. They discovered how advanced Roman engineering was, learning about structures like roads, bathhouses, and amphitheatres. These buildings demonstrated Roman power and organisation, leaving a lasting impact on British society.

Next, the class explored the reasons behind the Roman invasion. They learned that the Romans, led by Emperor Claudius in AD 43, wanted to expand their empire, gain access to valuable resources like tin and gold, and boost Claudius’ reputation as a strong leader. The pupils debated whether the invasion was justified and considered the long-term effects on Britain.

One of the most exciting lessons focused on how the Britons responded to the invasion. Pupils learned about key resistance leaders, including the brave warrior queen Boudicca. They explored how different Celtic tribes either fought fiercely against the Romans or chose to cooperate. The class discussed the strengths and weaknesses of these different responses and considered what they would have done in the Britons’ position.

A highlight of the unit was studying why the Roman army was so successful. Pupils investigated Roman military tactics, armour, and weapons. They discovered how discipline, training, and clever battle formations like the testudo (tortoise) formation helped the Romans defeat their enemies. The class also examined how Roman roads allowed troops to move quickly across the country, ensuring control over Britain.

To tie everything together, Nessa Class put their learning into action in English lessons by writing a discussion text on whether the Celtic tribes should accept Roman rule. Pupils considered both sides of the argument, weighing up the benefits of Roman roads, trade, and new technologies against the loss of Celtic traditions and independence. Their writing showcased strong reasoning skills, with some pupils arguing that embracing Roman rule would bring stability and progress, while others passionately defended the Celts’ right to resist.

This unit has been a fantastic opportunity for pupils to develop their historical thinking skills, debate important issues, and engage with the past in a meaningful way. Nessa Class should be very proud of their hard work and enthusiasm – well done, everyone!

In PSHE, we have been learning about dreams and goals and how important it is to set stepping stones to achieve success. We've discussed how setting smaller, manageable goals can help us work towards bigger dreams and how persistence is key to overcoming challenges. We've also explored different strategies that can help us stay motivated along the way.

In Maths, we've recently started learning about addition. We've been practicing using number lines to help us understand how numbers increase and how to solve addition problems more easily. It's been really helpful because the number line allows us to visualise the process and double-check our answers.

In PE, we've been working with the gymnastics frame and practicing our jumping skills. The gymnastics frame has allowed us to explore different movements, and we've been learning how to balance, climb, and jump safely. It's been fun to challenge ourselves and see how our skills improve.

In History, we explored classrooms now and in the past. We compared how classrooms have changed over time, looking at old-fashioned desks and how lessons were taught many years ago. It's fascinating to think about the differences in technology, teaching methods, and even the layout of the rooms. We also discussed how these changes affect how we learn today.

In English, we've been working on sequencing the story of The Tiger Who Came to Tea. We've focused on understanding the order of events in the story and practicing how to retell it clearly. 

Food Food Food

Photos:
A visit from the Royal Cornwall Show to talk about and discover where our food comes from. 

A maths biscuit project to enhance our skills with money and maths.

January 29th 2025, marks the first day of the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.

 

The Lunar New Year is an international holiday celebrated in many countries throughout Asia and around the world. The holiday goes by different names depending on where you are celebrating, and it symbolises a hopeful transition from the cold winter to the season of renewal.

 

As we say goodbye to the Year of the Dragon, we welcome the Year of the Snake. People born in the Year of the Snake are seen as charismatic, intelligent, and artistic; they are also often considered cunning and mysterious.

This week, we made colourful dragon pictures; the children created a dragon dance together and took turns leading. We have looked at different traditions surrounding this special time of year and explored mark-making techniques as we made our Chinese name decoration; our decorations were in red to bring us good luck. Lots of fun was had as we improved our fine motor skills and perseverance, using chopsticks to eat at the special banquet that we prepared together. Everyone enjoyed sampling different vegetables and tastes. Opening our fortune cookies proved very exciting as everyone found a hidden message.

 

 Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate!

We returned in the New Year to a cold snap which gave us a great opportunity to learn about how to dress for winter to keep ourselves warm. Outside we found ice shapes and icicles and used our senses to explore, feeling the freezing cold ice, looking at the pretty patterns in the ice and listening to it crunch on the floor as we stomped on it. We looked at different shaped snowflakes and decorated our own paper snowflakes using pipettes to squeeze paint. We looked at wintery trees and used cotton buds to make snow effects.

We also learnt about animals from colder climates, using Duplo and Megablocks to make them homes and sorting them by size. 

 

We enjoyed lots of visits to other parts of the school, borrowing books to take home as well as developing our gross motor skills riding the wiggle bikes in the hall.

 

January also saw the RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Count and we made seed bird feeders to take home to encourage birds to visit out own gardens. We also learnt about common garden birds in our birdwatching area. Our children also shared their findings by bringing in their charts from home to tell us which birds they saw. 

 

One of our story focus’ this month was ‘Owl Babies’ and our children used some great vocabulary telling us what they already know about owls  - “Owl are nocturnal”. The children observed photos of owls and painted their own, using great details and features.

In our child interest area, the children voted for Space, and we enjoyed lots of space related activities, including games that promoted turn taking and sharing.

The children also chose a horse and pony area and worked together using junk modelling to make them some stables to live in.

Our White Rose Maths focus was Space, Shape and Measure and we looked at the properties of the shaped blocks and used them to create our own models and pictures.

We finished the month with Chinese New Year and enjoyed lots of themed activities and role play learning about China, Chinese foods, costumes and the animals in the lunar calendar. We also made lanterns practising cutting and sticking as well as other craft activities celebrating the Year of the Snake. Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. 

What talented artists we have in Class 1! Throughout our painting focus in art we have been learning all about primary colours and how to mix them to create secondary colours. We have also been thinking about how to apply paint using different techniques such as sponges and rollers and exploring when we would use paintbrushes of different thicknesses. These skills are on display in our classroom next to our beautifully published ‘Goals for 2025’.

I don't know where to begin as this week has been so busy!

On Wednesday, we were visited by Muhunthiny (a Hindu speaker) who gave us a workshop on the Hinduism religion. We had a lovely morning, trying on the traditional clothing, learning about the religion and how Hindus live their lives, day to day. Our behaviour was impeccable and she is looking forward to visiting us again in the future.

ENGLISH
We have written our draft copy of our free verse poetry and are in the process of editng, improving and writing up our best copies: I look forward to reading them all.

MATHS
Y5s have been completing their multiplication and division this week, focusing on the short method of division. Y6s have been multiplying and dividing fractions by integers and are absolutely nailing the learning.

WIDER CURRICULUM
We have been exploring the construction of suspension bridges in DT. Lily has made a fabulous 3D model and Martha, Elsie and Ava constructed a bridge, spanning the length of a 60cm gap. The class will be moving onto designing and constructing their own model bridge in our final week next week. In Geography, Chaipel have been learning about energy sustainability, about the life and times of Gandhi in RE and in Computing, how to compress images to show how pixel quantity enhances an image without altering its size.

WELLBEING MORNING
Recognising that this week is Child's Mental Health Week, Polperro Primary had a fabulous morning ensuring positive mental health. We began with the RSPB National Bird Watch - dedicating an hour to watching and recording the birds that we saw in our area. After that, in our house teams, we then did four different activities designed to relieve stress and support our wellbeing. Ava embraced her love of art and took a piece of chalk to our playground! It was a truely wonderful morning and as a school, we have decided that we should do more mornings like this. 

Congratulations to our People of the Week, Isaac and Lily, for demonstrating our school values of being 'creative' and 'curious' as well as Lily for achieving her BRONZE in her 99 Club.

That's all from me this week. So have a lovely weekend and see you all for a four-day final week of half term from Monday.

Miss Randle, Mrs Clary, Miss Hodge and Miss Colton