This week in Class, we have been busy developing our writing skills as we began drafting our own stories inspired by Oliver Twist. The children have worked hard to incorporate speech into their writing, focusing on how to use punctuation accurately and make dialogue engaging for the reader. In Maths, Year 5 have been exploring percentages and developing a stronger understanding of how they relate to fractions and real-life contexts, while Year 6 have been tackling two-step function machines, applying their reasoning skills to solve more complex problems. In Science, we have been learning about the fascinating life cycles of amphibians and insects, comparing their stages of development and spotting similarities and differences. Here is a wheel we used to compare the life cycles.  It was fun researching how butterflies develop and comparing their development to how amphibians metamorphosis.  It has been a productive and enjoyable week, and we wish everyone a lovely half term-hopefully with plenty of sunshine to enjoy!

For our final couple of weeks in pre-school, we explored the exciting world of minibeasts!

We have learnt lots of interesting facts about how many legs the insect may have, whether they have wings or not, and what colours or patterns may be on them.

We painted water-colour minibeasts and enjoyed our minibeast garden tuff tray as part of our explore and learn time.

It's been a fun half term learning all about what we can find in a garden, and how we plant seeds and care for them.

The children's young sunflower seedlings have started to be sent home, we would love some photos later in the summer if they flourish into successful sunflowers!

This year pre-school will be entering an art competition at Liskeard show.  Inspired by our recent learning the children have started their 'Spring Time Garden' art to enter into the competition.  

After half term we will be moving on to a new enquiry question, 'How do I stay healthy?'

We will be looking at healthy foods, hygiene and exercise. Perfect timing as we will be practicing for Sports Day when we return too.

More details about Sports Day and other key dates will be available shortly after we return.

On Thursday the children in pre-school got a treat from Miss Edwards when they were able to toast marshmallows over the campfire.  All the children listened well to the instructions to safely hold their marshmallows, and then gave 10 blows to cool them down before eating! Yummy!

We hope everyone has a lovely half-term week and enjoys the planned sunny weather.

We will see you when we return on Monday 1^st June.

The Pre-School Team.

And in a blink of an eye, another half term is done! And what a glorious day to finish a great half term!

This week, albeit a day shorter than normal, Class 2 have learned oodles. In Maths, we have continued learning to tell time using an analogue clock. This week, we have learned to tell time to the hour, half past the hour and have begun to grasp the idea of 5 minutes past the hour. In Literacy, we have bun planning our diary entries. We will begin writing our draft diary entries when we get back after the break.

In Science, we learned about the difference between herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, while in History, we continued learning about the reign of William the Conqueror by looking at the different castles he built. In Computing, we have worked really hard to plan our stop motion animations and cannot wait to create them when we come back.

Finally, a very well done to Roux for getting his London Achievement Award. 

Have a lovely half term break and see you all again back here for more learning adventures on Monday 1 June 2026.

Thursday 21st May- Happy half term 

What an amazing, but quick, half term we have had! 
The children have been progressing so well, and all the adults are extremely proud of them! 

They are definitely ready for a break, and we look forward to welcoming them all back ready for their final half term in Foundation and getting - YEAR 1 READY! WHOOP! 

Year 1 Assembly
This morning Year 1 treated their families to an amazing assembly showcasing some of their recent learning. The children shared their knowledge from science (plants) to the history of the seaside. Thank you to everyone who was able to make it, especially joining the children singing "I do like to be beside the seaside." Well, with this better weather coming up, who knows?!

FOWPA Disco
Thank you to FOWPA for organising the disco yesterday. As well as providing a great event for the children (and staff), it also supported our fundraising efforts. What a lovely way to end the half term.

EYFS Carnival/Sponsored Walk
We would like to thank those of you who attended our Carnival/Sponsored Walk meeting on Tuesday. It was great to see so many faces! For those who were unable to attend, all EYFS parents have been sent an email with the information, including ideas for costumes that can be easily made with your child. We do not expect you to spend money on outfits; you are welcome to collect resources from your child's classroom if needed. If you have any questions, please speak to Mrs Yates or Mrs Divall.
From the EYFS Team

Nursery Open Days
Funded and non-funded places are available for all 2, 3 and 4 year olds. If you'd like to visit us on one of our Open Day sessions: Thursday 18th June 1:30-2:30 or Friday 19th June 9:30-10:30 please call the school: (01208) 814560 or email our Nursery Manager (Mrs Divall): adivall@wadebridgeprimary.co.uk

Class Photos & Year 6 Individual Photos
On Wednesday 3rd June, Tempest Photographers will be taking class photos and individual Year 6 photos. Please ensure your child is wearing their full school uniform that day. For children in Year 4 who have PE on a Wednesday after half term, your child will need to bring in their PE kit to get changed into on this occasion.

School Uniform
As we enter the last half term, please find below a reminder of our uniform policy.

Years 1-6 (all branded items mentioned)
• Burgundy V-neck jumper or cardigan with embroidered school badge (WPA branded)
• Year 6 (after May half term) - can wear their leavers' hoodie if they wish
• White shirt • Grey school trousers, shorts, skirts or pinafores
• Optional Burgundy & gold striped tie (WPA branded)
• Optional Gold & white checked summer dress
• Socks: Plain black, grey or white
• Tights: Plain black or grey
• Shoes: Black school shoes or black trainers of a leather appearance
• Wellington boots for use in school (EYFS and KS1)

Reception
• As above but pale-yellow polo shirt (no tie)

Nursery
• Optional 'Little Bridges' yellow T-shirt and burgundy sweatshirt

PE Kit
• Plain white T-Shirt/Polo shirt or Optional WPA Sports T-Shirt
• Black shorts/skort or black jogging/tracksuit bottoms
• White socks
• Trainers or plimsolls
• School jumper/cardigan or Optional WPA logo training top

Hair accessories and jewellery
• Gold & burgundy hairbands/scrunchies (branded) or plain style only
• Longer hair needs to be tied up during PE or equivalent activities
• Single pierced small stud earrings allowed (need to be covered for PE and swimming)
• Except for watches, we do not allow children to wear any other jewellery

Naming uniform
• Please label all items with your child's name, thank you

PE days after half term
Please note your child's PE days after half term:
Nursery: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday
Reception: Thursday
Year 1: Tuesday
Year 2: Thursday
Year 3: Friday
Year 4: Wednesday
Year 5: Thursday
Year 6: Monday

Tom Palmer is visiting Wadebridge Library - Tuesday 26th May 11:30am
Wadebridge Library has been selected to host a 'meet the author' session with Tom Palmer, award winning children's author. He has written an amazing selection of books on football, rugby and historical themes aimed at children in KS2. Tom will be reading an extract from his new book, doing an activity with the children and giving away five copies of his new book to the first five families who arrive! 

MHST Wild Wellbeing Sessions
Following on from the success of previous Wild Wellbeing sessions, the Mental Health Support Team (MHST), along with the National Trust, are running further Wild Wellbeing sessions over the May half term. These sessions are open to children aged 5-12. Each session will be approximately 2 hours long.

MHST Transition Workshop for Y6 Parents/Carers
The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) are also running an hour long online session for parents/carers of Year 6 children. The session will cover how to help and support young people with the transition to secondary school. Please note this group is open to parents/carers of children in Year 6 only.

Rainbow Run for Cornwall Hospice Care
Good luck to Isabelle (in Class RW) who is taking part in the Rainbow Run in Newquay on Saturday 20th June, raising money for Cornwall Hospice Care. If anyone would like support Isabelle by donating to Cornwall Hospice Care, please follow this link: https://www.justgiving.com/page/joe-and-belle?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL

House Points
Congratulations to this week's winners, Swans. Overall, Choughs maintain the lead going into the final half term of the year:
Choughs - 11,460
Puffins - 10,619
Swans - 10,314
Cormorants - 9276

We hope you have a wonderful half term break and look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday 1st June. A reminder that school will be closed on Friday 5th June for a Trust-wide staff training day at Brunel School. Best wishes,

Chris Wathern

This week, we have finished our Space Hotel leaflets. I am extremely proud of their writing and love the time and effort they put into the presentation. 

In geography, we have collated our data from the fieldwork to create a map or Fore Street, tally chart of the types of shops and and overview of the results from the questionnaire. The children then worked in groups to create and present the findings to the class. 

In computing, we found out about Infrared devices and we designed our own creations that could be used in school. Some people thought of machines that use heat to detect germs; others created laser machines to protect the school IPads. 

Today, we bent the rules by wearing mufti, painting our nails and doing colouring in when we should have been doing maths!

Have a great half term everyone.

Miss Burton

The Enormous Turnip

What a fantastic week we have had in Tregantle Class!

This week, we have been learning the story *The Enormous Turnip*. We have really enjoyed bringing the story to life by making up actions to retell it, learning songs about the story and even making our very own turnip soup. It was delicious, and we were very proud to try something new!

On Wednesday, we welcomed our parents and carers into school for a 'Mastering Number' session. Everyone had lots of fun playing number games together and sharing our maths learning. Thank you to everyone who attended and supported the children.

Friday was our exciting 'Bend the Rules Day'! We had great fun wearing non-school uniform and especially enjoyed playing football during maths time!

We hope you all have a wonderful half-term break and we look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready for the second half of the summer term.

Summer 1

Spelling

We've been busy investigating spelling patterns; identifying these within our reading books and books for pleasure. We discussed the importance of recognising digraphs and trigraphs when decoding new words we come across in our reading.


Reading Fluency

Year 3/4A have improved their reading fluency this Half Term, accessing regular texts. Within the sessions we partner up and listen carefully for the following reading skills: 
pace, volume, articulation, use of punctuation, emphasis of key words and the application of our phoneme knowledge in decoding 'trickier' words.
We then offer 'constructive feedback' in a 'feedback sandwich' in ways to move our reading forward. We love these sessions!

Maths
We are currently at the end of the 'Decimals' unit having applied our knowledge of Place Value and Fractions.

English
Our knights in shining armour have been busy on their quests to save princesses and slay fictional beasts! We've created and innovated our own knightly tales based on a shared WAGOLL. Year 3/4A have reinforced their understanding of the use of DADWAVERS, expanded noun phrases and dialogue within their writing, editing and up-leveling throughout the planning stages. Please pop in and have a read. They'll be making their way home as books complete with title page and blurb tomorrow for you to enjoy too!

A great half term of learning - Well done Year 3/4A!

DT: A Greek Picnic

The children have been learning about Greek cuisine this week, finding out that olive oil, wheat and wine are food staples in Greece. 

The week started with the children putting their taste buds to the test with a Greek taster session including: tzatziki, kalamata olives, pitta, feta, humous, sun dried tomatoes and dalmades (vine leaves). We were very impressed with how the children challenged themselves and tried thing that were new to them.

They then used cucumbers )a key ingredient in Greek salads) to practise using graters and peelers as well as different knife skills.

After considering which ingredients they had enjoyed tasting and would like to try again, the children designed stuffed Greek flat breads and a Greek salad. 

They worked hard across the day today to prepare a Greek-inspired picnic. Using the skills learnt earlier in the week, they chopped ingredients for their Greek salads; measured, mixed and kneaded their ingredients for the dough; and stuffed their flat breads ready for baking.

This afternoon, both classes came together to sample their products-it is safe to say that the flat breads were a huge success!

This week we finished our bird sculptures. This was a culmination of lots of careful studying of images of birds, still life drawing and stamping of feathers. Plus, exploring the texture of birds inspired by artist, Andrea Butler. This week, we put all of this together to create a stunning flock of birds. Each one is filled with wonderful texture and quirky personality. 

We are inching closer to the end of the preparations and rehearsals for Thursday's festival. The children were exceptional in the space this morning and we are looking forward to enjoying the festival with them and the wider community. Thank you to the Sterts team from including us in this unique creation and celebration. See you there!

Today, Storytellers Nursery were very excited to welcome David from ZooLab for a fascinating animal encounter linked to this term's topic. The children had an amazing hands-on experience meeting a variety of wonderful creatures and learning all about their habitats, features and how they survive in the wild.

The children met Tiny the gecko, Abbey the snake, Gapoy the millipede, Shelly the snail, Lawla the cockroach and Grumpy the scorpion. David taught the children lots of interesting facts about each creature, including what they eat, where they live and how they protect themselves.

The children showed fantastic listening skills and were incredibly gentle and respectful as they carefully held and stroked the animals. Some children were a little nervous at first, but with encouragement and support they bravely explored and joined in with the experience.

Hello!

This week, Year 1 and 2 have completed some fantastic examples of instructions. We have written our own instructions for 'Marvellous Medicine Number 4' which has been inspired by 'George's Marvellous Medicine'. The story has been Penhallow's class text for the past 2 weeks. It has been a joy to read parts of this story to the children at the end of every day, and see their obviously enjoyment whilst listening to the story. 

We have continued with our learning about algorithms in computing this week. Yesterday we followed some precise, and not so precise instructions about how to draw monsters, which highlighted the fact that instructions need to be clear and in a specific order.

Our history learning this week, focussed on Ellen MacArthur. We watched a clip of her sailing solo across the Atlantic, which highlighted the challenges that she faced. We talked about the idea of bravery and perseverance and wrote a fact file about her. We also revised our learning about Christopher Columbus by learning a song about the events in his life.

Have a lovely weekend,

From The Penhallow Team

Well, it's been a tough week but we can safely say that the SATS are over for us! Everyone has been amazing and we have really worked together as a team to support each other. It was Nuala's birthday on the Thursday, and we celebrated the end of the SATS by having cake and lots of fun! We tie-dyed our T-shirts in the afternoons and they have turned out AMAZING!! Next week, we will be sewing on appliques and really personalising them.

There is no much more to say except, "Have a well-deserved rest this weekend. Everyone has deserved it!"

Miss Randle and Mrs Clary.