Tonight we steal the Moooon!

Well - not quite!  As part of our science learning about space we have been learning about the solar system.  We have learned about the different planets and asteroid belts.  We have also looked at some historical theories about the Solar System and how the earth's orbit creates different seasons.

Finally, we looked at what causes Earth to have night and day - and then we learned about why the moon appears to look different at different times of the month.  Our learning about the phases of the moon was made memorable by using Jaffa cakes to replicate the different phases.

Good fun - and delicious!

Santa's Elves visit St Cleer

ELF DAY ARRIVED!  Hundreds of excited and Christmassy elves descended on St Cleer to raise funds to Alzheimers UK.

We had a great day full of Christmas learning, from 'Naughty Elf adventure stories' to Christmas codebreakers - we had a great day, learned lots and raised money for a great cause!

Fantastic gymnastics

Our PE theme this half term has been Gymnastics.  We have learned lots of different ways to lead, balance and travel.  Our lessons started by learning how to complete the Stag leap and the Split leap using mats on the floor.

We then moved onto the apparatus, looking at different ways we can travel using different apparatus and also different ways to balance.  Finally, we introduced the springboard and had great fun using the springboard to leap higher and try to complete more complex gymnastics moves.

Its been great fun - but Mr H finds it difficult to capture good photos when children are moving so fast!!

Christmas has arrived in pre-school! The children have all enjoyed our festive themed role play corners, with Santa's Reading Grotto and Santa's Post Office.

Lots of stories have been shared in our cosy grotto, and our postbox is almost full of letters and pictures for Santa.

The children have been busy crafting some special decorations and artwork.

The final 2 weeks in pre-school are set to be busy and exciting for all.  We have lots of lovely activities planned.

There is no party day planned as in our final week we will be doing games and some special snacks on our 2 of the days when we have all the children in. 

A reminder that we the 'Stars' in the performance of Lights, Camel, Action! We are making sparkly headbands in pre-school, but we would like the children to come in the final Friday wearing something yellow/gold or white on top if possible.

Please speak to a member of the team if you have any questions regarding our last day.

A reminder that Wednesday 17th December is Christmas Jumper Day and  FOPs Xmas fair in the school hall from 2pm.

Friday 19^th we are going to church for 12.30 so only a light lunch is needed, and ALL children will be collected from Pre-School at 1.30 after the performance.

The Pre-School Team.

IT SNOWED! Naturally, we had to enjoy ourselves.

Blisland Primary's Wonderful Nativity Performance

On Friday, Blisland Primary Academy was filled with festive cheer as our pupils took to the stage for this year's nativity performance. Families and friends were treated to two fantastic shows - an afternoon performance and an evening performance - and both were truly magical.

The event began with a heartwarming film created by Roxanne, featuring clips of the children sharing their favourite parts of Christmas. Their smiles and thoughtful answers set the perfect tone for what was to come.

This year's nativity, titled The Big Little Nativity, was packed with humour, catchy songs, and plenty of festive spirit. The children's acting was outstanding, bringing the story to life in a way that had the audience laughing and clapping along. One of the highlights was the appearance of a talking donkey, which added a fun twist to the traditional tale. And, of course, we can't forget Mr Smith's memorable cameo as a Christmas tree - a moment that had everyone smiling!

After the nativity, the children showcased their musical talents by performing Jingle Bells using hand bells. It was a beautiful way to round off the evening and demonstrated just how much effort and practice had gone into every part of the performance.

The night concluded with a raffle, which was a huge success. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we raised an incredible £700! This will go a long way in supporting future school activities and resources.

A massive thank you goes to all the staff who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make this event possible. From rehearsals to costumes, music, and organisation, your dedication ensured that the children could shine on stage and create memories that will last a lifetime

Hello Everyone,

It's looking very Christmassy in Penhallow this week, and we have been practicing hard, for our Christmas performance. We are looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday at 11:00 or at 2:00.

This week we have also enjoyed decorating the classroom, and learning about a different nativity character each day. We have also been practicing our Christmas songs with plenty of enthusiasm.

As you will have read in the letter that went out this week, as part of our RE learning this half term, we will be visiting Polperro Methodist church on Wednesday afternoon. As the weather has been quite wet recently, please can you make sure your child has a waterproof coat available for our walk to and from the church. 

During our English lessons this week, we have started to learn the story of 'The Magic Snow Globe'. We have written some lovely setting descriptions of a Wintery scene. Some of our older children in the class have used similes and alliteration, while all of us have been able to use noun phrases including some fantastic adjectives. 

As always , there have been plenty of hands on learning activities in Penhallow. This week, this has included investigating magnets, which has linked to our learning about the North and South Pole. We have also been investigating ice and materials for keeping warm which has linked to our learning about polar animals.

We look forward to seeing you next week.

From The Penhallow Team

Our Children Celebrate the Festive Season at the Christmas Tree Festival

This week, our school community had the joy of visiting the Christmas Tree Festival at St Nicholas and Faith Church.

It was a wonderful opportunity for our children to experience the festive spirit in a beautiful and meaningful setting. The festival was a feast for the senses, with each tree uniquely decorated and brimming with creativity.

Our children were fascinated by the imaginative designs and the care that had gone into each display. The children reflected on themes of kindness, creativity and excellence linking beautifully with our school values. 

We are grateful to St Nicholas and Faith Church for hosting this event and for welcoming our children so warmly. Experiences like these enrich our curriculum, bringing learning to life and helping our children make connections between their classroom experiences and the wider world. As we move closer to the holiday season, this visit has reminded us all of the joy of community, creativity and the simple magic of Christmas.

Brunel shines at Lantern Parade

Tonight, Brunel proudly took our place in the annual Lantern Parade in Saltash - a wonderful tradition that brings our community together to celebrate the start of the festive season.

This year's route led us all the way down to the beautiful Saltash Waterside, where the parade came to a spectacular end with an incredible firework display lighting up the river. It was a magical moment for everyone involved!

A huge thank you to all the children, families, and members of our school community who joined us and represented Brunel with such enthusiasm. Your creativity, lanterns and festive spirit made the evening truly special. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to Saltash Town Council for organising this much-loved annual event - it's a highlight of the year and a wonderful way to bring the town together. Christmas is certainly on the horizon.. and what a brilliant way to begin the celebrations!

Another week comes to an end in Landaviddy, and we have finally entered December! This week, we have focused on Christmas play rehearsals and refining the songs for our performances which will take place on Thursday 11th December at 2pm and 6pm. If you haven't done so already, please make sure your costume is in by Monday 8th December, ready for our dress rehearsal on Wednesday next week. 

During Wider Curriculum lessons this week, we were thrilled to take on the role as archaeologists in History, where we analysed specimens of ancient Stone Age poo to determine Stone Age diets. YUCK! We learnt about how diets changed from the Palaeolithic to Mesolithic and enjoyed using tools to examine evidence. In Computing, we began planning for our own Stone Age inspired stop motion animations. We can't wait to bring these to life next week! 

In English, we have been writing up our final Stone Age stories using pen, which has been a big thrill and required a lot of patience. Next week, we will assess our writing and start a new unit focusing on some christmassy shape poems! We have continued working hard on addition and subtraction in Maths, adding 2-digit and 3-digit numbers together, using the column method.

Congratulations to Esme and Tommy for being chosen as Landaviddy's People of the Week. And a big well done to Theo for achieving his 55 club! 

We hope you have a great weekend, despite the weather, and look forward to seeing you next week! 

Mrs Wilkie, Mrs Lister and Miss Colton

Another week has flown by and Chaipel have been busy. Our Mayan narratives are now complete and we have been editing and improving a section we like the most. Next week, we will write up our work in best and assess our writing targets for next half term.

In Maths, we have been identifying and comparing equivalent fractions, learning how to simplify and plotting fractions on a numberline. We have had some real 'lightbulb' moments and Joey now, "really likes fractions!" RESULT!!

In our Wider Curriculum, we have been exploring why Christians believe Jesus was the anionted one in RE, learning about the Mayan writing system - including designing our own glyphs - in History, and identifying major cities in the UK and how they get their energy in Geography.

NEXT WEEK
We will be practising our play most of next week and will need all costumes in by WEDNESDAY 10th. It is looking really good now and we can't wait to entertain parents on the 15th. 

Congratulations to Immy - who achieved her 66 Club this week - and to Leo and Joey for being our People of the Week, demonstrating our school values and being role models to their peers.

Finally... 
Thank you to all who came to our Christmas Fair on Friday; we value your continued support.

That's all for this week,
Miss Randle and Mrs Clary.

This Week in Reception and Year 1

We've had a wonderfully full and exciting week of learning across both Reception and Year 1, with lots of enthusiasm and brilliant effort from all the children.

In History, Year 1 have been delving into the story of the Gunpowder Plot. We spent time discussing what went wrong for Guy Fawkes and his fellow plotters, and the children really enjoyed exploring the events through both primary and secondary sources. They are beginning to understand how we know about things that happened long ago, and why different types of sources can give us different information.

In Maths, Year 1 successfully completed their unit on place value to 100. We revisited counting forwards and backwards, comparing numbers, and partitioning tens and ones. The children showed great progress and confidence. Next week, we will be moving on to an exciting new unit all about shape, where the children will explore 2D and 3D shapes, talk about their properties, and begin to sort and classify them.

Year 1 have also been working incredibly hard on their assessments this week. We are very proud of the effort, resilience, and concentration they have shown. They should all feel very proud of themselves.

In Science, the focus has been on the life cycle of a butterfly. The children learned about the four stages-egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly-and were fascinated to discover how dramatically a butterfly changes as it grows. We looked at pictures, discussed each stage, and had some lovely conversations about other animals that also change as they grow.

In English, both the children and teachers had a real treat as we began exploring performance poetry. The class watched Michael Rosen's famous poem Chocolate Cake, and they were completely mesmerised by his expression, gestures, and humour. This led to lots of laughter and brilliant discussions about how poets use their voices and actions to bring their words to life. We will continue exploring performance poetry next week as the children start to have a go at performing lines themselves.

Meanwhile, both Reception and Year 1 have been deeply involved in their nativity practice. Songs are being sung with growing confidence, lines are being learned, and the children are really starting to bring the story to life. Their hard work and enthusiasm are shining through, and it is already looking absolutely fantastic. We can't wait to share it with you!

We finished the week off dressed as elves, what a week!!