Well, this week we have had a change in the weather, but it hasn't stopped us from going outside!

Although it has taken us a little longer to get 'booted and suited' we have still been able to come in and out depending on where we like to do our learning.

Some children prefer to stay indoors in the warm and dry but others have been keen to get outside to explore and find some puddles to splash in. We didn't have many puddles on the playground so we made some of our own!


 

This morning Class 1 walked over to the ancient site of Duloe Stone Circle. Following our art lesson from Ellie Russell – Hsieh we sketched the monument into our sketch books and looked in wonder at the stones. We are so excited to begin our history work based on our enquiry question ‘How has Duloe changed since it’s stone circle was created?’

Blackbeard story

In Nessa class we have begun to learn a new story. It is an exciting Pirate tale featuring Blackbeard and Davey Swift. The two brothers are locked in a battle. The story climaxes with Blackbeard setting alight his ship to intimidate his enemy. Pupils have been learning and applying the rules of speech - inventing their own conversations between the pirates. Year 5 and 6 pupils will need to use pirate slang to enliven their speech. This week we have also been focusing on character descriptions. We will use a range of sentence structures to describe the character's appearance and mannerisms.

Next week, pupils will be acting out sections of the story before writing an innovation of our class text. It will be fantastic to see which direction their Pirate Tales take.

Friday 27th September

The children have had yet another impressive week of exploring and learning in Foundation.

In phonics this week the children have been learning g/o/c/k – They have been working really hard to orally blend sounds that they know to read words, and they are progressing well. Lots of writing practice would be great to progress them even further- the phonics sheets have been sent home for you to follow.

Foundation children have continued with their big question- Who Am I?

This week the children made people using natural resources with Mrs Gregory in outdoor learning. The children are becoming great at following instructions when walking around the school and in the forest area. They have been exploring some wonderful adjectives to describe the materials they are using.

In English the children have been sequencing the story of Were Going on a Bear Hunt and saying words from the story and writing the initial graphemes they know! The adults are VERY impressed!

The children have also been exploring capacity, mass and patterns in math’s this week and the children loved being human weighing scales. They have been identifying patterns and making patterns of their own using the peg boards.

Foundation have also been preparing items to sell at the 40^th birthday celebration, they are wonderful so please come and see our stall and purchase some of their creative work. We will also have a pirate chocolate tombola and pirate cupcakes!

The children have explored and chosen so much wonderful learning activities this week!

Have a lovely weekend

The Foundation Team 

Brunel Primary and Nursery Academy Takes the Lead in Terracycling Initiative!

Brunel Primary and Nursery Academy in Saltash is excited to announce its participation in a fantastic

Terracycling programme aimed at making a positive environmental impact while competing for a brand-new playground!

What is Terracycling?

Terracycling is an innovative recycling program that transforms waste into valuable resources. This initiative not only reduces landfill waste but also encourages communities to actively engage in sustainability practices.

At Brunel Academy, we are thrilled to take part in this effort, demonstrating our commitment to environmental stewardship. As part of this initiative, our school is competing to win new playground equipment, and we need your help! We are collecting specific items that are often overlooked in traditional recycling programs.

If you have any of the following items, please consider donating them to our school:

Takeaway containers

Reusable plastic bottles

Baby bottles

Tupperware boxes

By donating these items, you’ll be helping us reduce waste while supporting our efforts to enhance our playground facilities.

Drop-Off Information
We invite all community members to join us in this exciting endeavour! Please drop off your donations at Brunel Primary and Nursery Academy. Together, we can make a significant difference for our school and the planet.

Let’s work together to create a cleaner, greener environment for our children and give them the playground they deserve!

Thank you for your support!

Road Safety Roadshow

Today we had a road safety talk to help us to stay safe whilst out and about. The children were really engaged and we were really impressed with their understanding of the key rules for road safety.

We had our Road Safety Roadshow come into school today!  The children were taught a song that said "Stop, Look and Listen".  The session was highly engaging and the children learned many things about Road Safety.

Please can you continue these conversations about Road Safety to keep our children safe :)

Clive from Emazdad came to school today to give us a Safety Roadshow came to see us today. The children learned all about road safety and the things to watch out for whilst out and about.

He mentioned the benefits of wearing an item that reflects on our clothing as the evenings draw in and the mornings are darker for longer.

He will be visiting us again to help us celebrate our 40th birthday. Watch out for the magic show!

Wednesday 25th September

We have had another lovely week!  In English, the children wrote a letter to Grandma from the Wolf, apologising for all of the crimes that he had committed!!

In maths, we are on our last leg of the place value unit and learning the number line to 100 (YR2) and the number line to 1000 (YR3).  

For science, Year 3 pupils learned about Endoskeletons and Exoskeletons and which animals have no skeleton at all!  They sorted them into groups!

For Art, the children have been learning all about the famous artist Jasper Johns and recreated his art piece "Numbers in Color" which was painted in 1958!  They really enjoyed this today!

For History, the children learned all about a Victorian classroom and made comparisons to our classroom now.  They will be going back in time and writing a letter to a Victorian child to tell them all of the things that will change in the future!

What we've been doing!

We have had another great week in Foundation / Year 1!

In English, we have continued our learning on ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt.’ The children have loved learning this book and we know the story very well now! We have been sequencing the story with pictures. Foundation have been writing a sound they have learnt in phonics to match the picture and Year 1 have started writing words to match.

In Maths, Foundation have been sorting and matching objects. They have been making sets and thought about what objects match in each set. Year 1 have been continuing their place value unit of numbers up to 10. We are also continuing to practise counting in 2s in the classroom.

In the wider curriculum, Year 1 have been learning about their bodies in science. This week, we learnt about our ears and hearing. We have thought about how we hear and what it would be like if we couldn’t. We did this through learning a little bit of sign language, including the first letter of our names. Foundation have been exploring all about themselves in our provision inside and outside. They have been finger painting faces, mark making and using blocks to build.

Raffle tickets have gone home for our celebration on the 4th October. We are really looking forward to this and will begin making preparations for this in the next week!

Have a great week.

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Slate and Chalk

As part of our Victorian topic, the children have been learning about what school was like then compared to now.

Some of them were shocked to find out the punishments children had back then. Ask them what else they found out.

We completed a Venn Diagram in our books and then took part in rote learning of our times tables. Finally, we tried writing on slate with chalk to practise our handwriting and spelling. 

Luckily, nobody got the dunce's hat!

Forest School

This week year three and four went for a wander along the bridle way to collect some foliage as we wanted to make some natural clay tiles.
They looked for leaves with prominent veins which would help to make a clearer imprint on clay. Luckily, they found a wonderful variety along with some interesting seed heads. Once back on the field the children spread out their collected treasures and began by breaking off a small handful of the air-dry clay to knead in their hands until it is soft and pliable. Adding a few drops of water to the clay with there fingertips if it began to crack. They pinched out the clay and then gently rolled it out until about 5 mm thick. The children placed some foliage onto the clay and firmly rolled it in to imprint the pattern onto the clay, making sure that they didn’t press too hard and distort the shape. Watching the children’s delight as they peeled away the foliage to reveal a pattern was a pleasure. The children enjoyed some free time to create little birds and animals. Working with clay is an invaluable experience for sensory development, motor skills, self esteem, and self expression, problem solving skills, discipline, and pride. Clay also has a uniquely therapeutic quality that often settles and calm children; it keeps their attention for a considerable time. Clay is a unique art medium because it is highly responsive to touch and very forgiving. As soon as children are given clay, they immediately begin to mould and shape it. They become aware that they are in charge and have influence over the medium as it is quick to respond to their fingers. The feeling that they are in command of the clay gives children the confidence to try any project which opens the door to greater self expression and imagination. Clay also allows a child to learn to repair mistakes and therefore not be afraid to make them. Making mistakes is essential for self improvement but can be difficult and even an obstacle for some children. The forgiving quality of clay, and therefore the ability to readily fix mistakes, gives a child a sense of control over their project’s success which improves self esteem and self expression as they realise that mistakes are not going to stop their progress