African countries in the Atlas

To start our learning adventure about the Kingdom of Benin we first discussed what we knew about Africa.  We were able to ask Anenyasha about his ideas about Africa and he explained that Africa has many different countries and regions which have very different cultures and religions.

We used the Atlases to learn about the different countries which make up the continent of Africa.  We discovered that there are 54 countries - the most in any continent.  We used the Atlases to help us locate different countries on the continent of Africa and went on to discuss how we can use an 8 point compass to begin to be more accurate in our discussions about where different countries are in relation to each other.

We really enjoyed using the atlases and are looking forward to finding out lots more about the Kingdom of Benin.

Hockey Skills

Despite the wet weather this week, we were able to introduce the children to hockey.  None of us had played hockey outside of school so our first session was about how to hold the hockey stick correctly and then a range of different drills to help us feel more comfortable running and dribbling with a hockey stick.

In the beginning we felt awkward and our dribbling skills were very slow and deliberate but after a few practice runs we were much more confident and dribbling with speed and accuracy.

We are very keen to get onto passing, pushing and hitting the ball in the weeks to come.

Friday 13th September

We have reached the end of our first full week in school, and it has been a very busy one! The children are all tired, but because they have had so much fun exploring!

Some of this weeks learning has included:

Learning phonemes s/a/t/and p. We have also practiced holding our pencils with a tripod grip and learning to write these sounds! All the children have worked so hard! The phonics sheets have been sent home via email today! 

We have been making our hands and fingers strong by completing doh disco activities, threading, making small peg patterns and using scissors to make wonderful creations!

This week the children started to explore the story Were Goin on a Bear Hunt. They listened to the story and recited the tory so well. They went on a bear  hunt around our outside area using lost of different words. We then learnt the story using a story map and made-up actions to imbed our knowledge of the story. Next week we explore sequencing a story.

In maths this week we have been exploring counting to 5. The children have been helping ‘Bruno’ our puppet to count, match and make numbers to 5!

We have also made ourselves from playdough, explored building blocks and Lego, made sandcastles, practiced our name writing, riding the balance bikes and SO MUCH MORE!

We really have had the best week.

Have a lovely weekend

The Foundation Team 

We love books at Nursery and we have lots of book stations around our room so the children can access books in many places.

We share a special focus story each term and as you may know, our current story is Owl Babies; we have been sharing the story at group story time and the children have even been reading the story to our own owl babies.

The children have been sharing books with their friends or reading them on their own, but they especially like it when Mr Woolner comes down to share books with them!

Love to Learn!

What an amazing first full week of Tregantle Class we've had! Our EYFS children have settled in incredibly well and have come to school with a happy smile on their face each morning. They have been very busy exploring their new learning environment and have already achieved so much. As you can see from the pictures we have had children learning to climb over a high wall, use scissors successfully, use a screw driver and paint an outside wall! During our phonics sessions the children have learnt 4 sounds - m, a, s and d. They have been practicing their sounds both at school and at home which means they are making a real strong start in phonics. 
Our Year 1 children have been busy bees; they are absolutely loving their story 'Paddington Bear' and have written some fantastic sentences to describe Paddington. In maths the children have been counting objects and matching them to the correct number. In science we have been learning all about the materials that are all around us - they did a great job identifying what things are made of.
Despite such a busy week all of the children have remembered to use their 'Issy Manners' around school and have been showing off their 'please' and 'thank you' to grown ups and their friends. What a great start to school! 
 

The children have been amazing in the way they have already thrown themselves into their new routines and learning this week. Our class enquiries have started. Questions this half term are: ‘What Makes me me?’ Penhallow Class; ‘What makes our world go round?’ Landaviddy Class; ‘Why do we age?’ Talland Class and ‘What have the Romans done for us?’ Chaipel Class. Please look at the class blogs to see how the children’s learning is going.

House Captains At a special assembly this week we thanked last year’s house captains and vice captains for doing a wonderful job and announced our new Captains and Vice-Captains for this year who have been chosen because they consistently demonstrate our values. Congratulations to Max B, Martha H (Willow); Skye and Hector (Oak); Tabbi and Amber (Ash) and Martha F and Archie (Chestnut). House Points are given to the children when they demonstrate our school values: Curious, Creative, Excellent, Responsible, Determined and Enthusiastic and pupils can see how many points their house has by looking at our House Point Tracker in the corridor by the library. Our value for this half term is ’I am responsible’ and houses have met to consider what this means.

Meet the Teacher: 2:45pm, Wednesday 25th September It is extremely important for us to work together to ensure that every child makes as much progress as possible each year. Each year we hold a Meet the Teacher session at which you will find out about your child’s classroom, the adults working alongside your child, classroom routines and timetable, and most importantly, how you can help your child at home. It is also an opportunity to find out about all of the exciting learning and activities the teachers have planned. Of course, the teachers will also answer any questions and try to eliminate any worries or concerns you may have. We understand if you are unable to make the meeting because of work commitments and will find a mutually convenient time to chat to you about your child’s new school year if this is the case. If you have children in more than one class, please attend one session and we will find another time for you to meet your other child/children’s teacher/s. Our ‘Meet the Teacher’ session will be on Wednesday 25th September starting at 2:45pm. Please come in through the main gate from 2:40 and access your child’s classroom by the external door. We look forward to seeing you then.

Keeping Active We actively encourage the children to do at least 30 minutes physical activity each day in school. This is in the form of playground activities at break and lunchtime, movement breaks such as Supermover active videos in between lessons, and the daily mile round our playground. As part of this challenge, we have introduced a new active timetable for lunchtimes which includes a range of activities across the week including football, basketball and playground games. Every Friday in School is Funky Friday when lunchtime is reserved for dancing. Today the children managed 25 minutes of dancing and chasing bubbles from our new bubble machine.

Water Bottles As a Heathy School and a Sugar Smart school we encourage children to drink water throughout their day at school, rather than juice or squash. We would prefer that your child’s water bottle contains water only, to encourage healthy habits. This also helps us when there is a spill as water doesn’t stain! If there is a reason why your child cannot drink water, please let you child’s teacher know. Please note that this applies to their classroom drinks.

Clubs Reminder that clubs start next week. Please contact the office to sign your child up.

Space Please find attached a poster with details of the SPACE programme which is a free programme for any parent or carer who wants to better understand and support their children’s emotions, as well as their own.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Hillman

This week at nursery we have been answering our enquiry question of "Who am I?". The children have been busy making paper plate portraits and naming and drawing parts of their faces. We have been discussing their likes and dislikes and what makes them, them.
On Monday, the children enjoyed making and creating their own wrap snack faces. They selected their own fruit and vegetables to make the different features and then enjoyed eating them at snack time.

At story time we are looking at the story of "The Three Little Pigs". We have started to talk about the different houses in which the pigs live and talking about our own homes.

In phonics we have used our bodies to make different sounds such as stamping and clapping and have been listening and trying to identify different sounds in our environments both indoors and out.

In maths we are finding numbers in everyday life. Kirfs learning will be sent out soon.

Just a reminder that flu vaccinations will take place next Friday (20th Sept) and can all forms be back to nursery by the end of Tuesday 17th.

Have a great weekend

Julie, Sarah and Jade

Dark is...Exciting!

Our first full week in Landaviddy class is over! In English, we have continued reading our story The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark' and used role play to explore what the characters might be thinking, saying and feeling. In Maths, Year 2 have been partitioning two digit numbers into tens and ones, with Year 3 recognising and exploring hundreds.

During our Wider Curriculum lessons this week, we have been busy in Art, sketching and using our observational skills to draw like an artist. In Geography, we learnt the names of the continents and oceans by learning a song. In Science, we looked closely at what offspring are and how they change into adults. Who knew a baby goat is called a Kid!? In PE, we have been practising our Yoga, and we are already showing how flexible we are! This afternoon, we enjoyed learning about possession and what this means when you are an attacker or defender during team games. The sun shone too, which we were grateful for after a wet week! 

Homework
Please find attached the Homework grid for this half term, along with the KIRFS for Autumn 1 for you to practise at home. In addition to this, please continue to read daily and practise your Common Exception Word spellings (attached below). I have also uploaded some spelling challenge cards which may help you when practising these. Children can also access TT Rockstars to practise their times table facts. Anything you can do at home can make a big difference to your learning! 

Reading Books
Everyone was sent home on Thursday with their new reading record and colour banded book. We ask that children read their book twice at home before getting it changed, however longer reads can be changed after being read once. Additionally, Year 2 will be sent home next week with their minibooks, relating to the sound we are learning in Phonics. In future, a new minibook will be sent home every Friday. 

PE
Our PE days are Tuesday and Friday, so please make sure PE and swimming kits are complete in school everyday.

Congratulations to Frankie and Nevaeh for being Landaviddy's People of the Week!

We hope you have a fabulous weekend and look forward to seeing you all on Monday!

Mrs Wilkie, Mrs Phillips, Miss Bowden and Miss Colton

What a busy week for Team Brunel!

This week, we’ve been so impressed with how hard the children have been working on using their 'Issy Manners' throughout the school day. From polite greetings to helping each other in class, it’s wonderful to see them putting these important values into practice. Our challenge for the children this week is to use their 'Issy Manners' at home as well! Please encourage them to continue their good habits and let us know how they’re getting on— we’d love to hear about the positive impact their manners are making at home too!

Last Saturday, we launched our very first Brunel Bedtime Stories. Our story this week was 'The Koala that Could' by Rachel Bright and Jim Field. Here is a link to the video again for anyone who missed it. https://fb.watch/uv0RqfVsyD/ We are excited to find out what the story will be this Saturday. Join our Facebook page at 7pm on Saturday to find out.

On Thursday evening, we hosted our first Maths Games Evening of the academic year. It was fantastic to see so many of our families at this event which has become a popular part of our school calendar. Our next Maths Games Evening takes place on Thursday 14th November. We hope you will be able to join us.

Welcome to Year 3.

A warm welcome to you to Copper Valley Junior Academy! We in Year 3 hope that you have had a restful break...though a bit more sunshine would have been welcome. I shall continue to be the full-time teacher in Year 3 (no longer Lusty Glaze just Year 3) with Ms Vine and Miss Hindle as support staff. Mrs Cox will cover my PPA on a Thursday afternoon. We are still using SeeSaw to document much of our wider curriculum and you can contact me on there with any updates, news or concerns. Please be aware that out-of-office hours apply to that and messages sent after 5pm will likely not be picked up until 8am the next day. 7

Our first step in learning is investigating the question ‘How did we live before metal?’ An exploration into the Stone Age and life for those early humans. After half term we are looking to find out ‘Where do rocks and volcanoes come from?’

Any questions or concerns I’m about most days at the end of the day for a chat. Best wishes Miss Owen

Welcome to Year 2

A warm welcome to Year 2.

It has been lovely to see all the children back in school, happy and smiling and ready to learn.

Please see the attached newsletter for all the information you need about our class.

 We are so proud of how Marazion class have settled in these last two weeks. They have really shown us how incredible they are with their 'Issy Manners' throughout the day and they have enjoyed starting our learning for the year.

In English, we have started our unit on descriptive settings, where we have retold the text, found some features and worked a lot with vocabulary.

In maths, our Place Value unit has started in year 3 and year 4. The children are working hard in number and knowing their values.

Our topic of 'How active is our planet?' has sparked interest and many many questions which we look forward to finding out this term! We learnt, this week, about the different layers of the Earth. In art, we began to look at the artist Jackson Pollock who will inspire our EXPLOSIVE volcano paintings later this term. We talked a lot about changes; how they makes us feel and about different thoughts we may have in PSHE. We worked on how to help ourselves when these thoughts and feelings are troubling us.

We have also enjoyed our first reading assembly this week where Miss Pentreath read the inspirational true story 'Emmanuel's Dream'-can your child tell you what it was about?

Don't forget to log reading so that we can give out more awards and prizes to the children please! 

The children presented their vocabulary findings with the rest of the class with their groups. They discovered lots of impressive 'wow words' to use in their own writing!