What a busy week it has been at Brunel Primary and Nursery Academy. Please enjoy catching up with all the latest news and events in this week's edition of The Brunel Bulletin. Have a wonderful weekend and we can't wait to see you all on Monday for another incredible week at our school. 

Outside learning

This week in Tregantle Class, we have made the most of the wonderful weather by taking our learning outside into our fantastic school grounds. From exciting obstacle courses to splashing fun with water play, it has been a joy to learn in the sunshine!

Our learning about life cycles has truly come to life this week. The children have been fascinated to see our tadpoles growing their tiny little legs, and there has been great excitement as our caterpillars have started forming their cocoons. It has sparked so many wonderful conversations and curiosity in the classroom.

We have also been enjoying our class story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has supported our learning beautifully. The children have impressed us with their ability to re-tell the story and confidently order the life cycle stages using our toys, naming each stage correctly.

What fantastic learners we have in Tregantle Class!

Here's a round- up of everything that's been happening at both schools in recent weeks:

Eco- Council
The Eco-council have been successful in lowering energy use in the schools. Electricity usage has reduced since their campaign to switch off more lights in rooms which are not being used has made an impact (even at this early stage.) We are using less energy this year compared to last. (January 2026b compared to January 2025.) Look out for news on battery and electronic re-cycling soon.

Mr Arnold
I will be delighted to welcome Mr Arnold into the school during the second half of the summer term for some days. This will be a great opportunity for him to get to know that staff and children better so that he can really 'hit the ground running' in September. I know that you will enjoy having him as the new Headteacher.

Valentine's Disco
Just before half term the children enjoyed a lively, fun Valentine's disco. Thank you to Mrs Wright for organising this and to staff member who helped during the afternoon/evening. £250 was raised for our school funds.

World Book Day
On 5th March we celebrated World Book Day by dressing as our favourite book characters. It was fantastic to see all of the amazing outfits- especially at the end of the day during our 'catwalk'. It was great to see so many parents supporting this event. I would like to say a special thank you to Miss Owen for organising a day full of book-related activities. Also, it was amazing that the staff all dressed as 'Golden Tickets' to match my fancy dress costume theme- what a team!

Y5/Y6 Girl's Football
On 11th March a team of our amazing girl footballers took part in a tournament in Callington, arranged by Arena. They represented the schools brilliantly, coming 5th overall. Well done girls and special thanks to Miss Jenkins for accompanying them.

Trust Music Day
On 16th March our Year 5 pupils attended a Trust music event in Liskeard. They performed the 'Copper Valley' song in St. Martin's Church for an audience of other Bridge schools. They also met Canadian singer and songwriter Luke Wallace and sang one of his compositions. Thank you to Mrs Pearce for driving the group and to Miss Gamble and Miss Jenkins for rehearsing the class.

Bag2School
Our recent Bag2School collection raised £35. Thank you to all who donated items of unwanted clothing.

Tag Rugby Festival

On 17th March a group of pupils from Y4 and Y6 represented the school in a Tag Rugby Festival, held in Tavistock.They played really well, winning two of their matches and drawing one. They represented the school very well and Mrs Hannaford, who accompanied them, was very proud of them.

Red Nose Day
On Friday 20th March the children dressed in their pyjamas and red noses and brought in a donation for Comic Relief.  Thank you, we raised £82.

My Clothing
The company which supply our school uniforms (www.myclothing.com) are having a flash spring sale. If you enter SPRING15 between 23/3/ and 29/3 you will receive 15% off your order.

Tree Planting
To celebrate the opening of the Community Pantry, our Year 6 pupils helped plant a special apple tree next to the new shop. Hopefully, we can all look forward to scrumping a few apples in the years ahead!




Litter Warriors
A group of children from across the school have volunteered to be our first Litter Warriors. The Litter Warriors will use their litter pickers to tidy up of our school site every Friday. The school council came up with this suggestion when asked to think about ways our school could be improved. They also suggested we improve our recycling, so Class 4 children made some signs to ensure children use the correct bins for their rubbish.



Community Litter Pick
Following on from our own litter pickers, we have been asked to share details of a community litter pick:

Callington Lions Club are spearheading a series of community litter picks as part of Lions Environment Week (18-26 April), celebrating World Earth Day on 22 April.

All relevant insurance, risk assessments, and volunteers are in place, and members of the local community are warmly invited to join them on Sunday 19th April at 11am to litter pick at Harrowbarrow Village Hall and the surrounding green areas. They would love to see as many people as possible helping to keep our local environment clean and cared for. 

On  Monday 16th March we joined together as a Trust in music and song to celebrate our passion for the county we live in and protecting our land on a local and global level. Each school brought their own unique style and personality to the showcase. St Cleer were very lucky to be supported by Sally Butlin who helped us carve out a rap to express our thoughts about this global issue. We loved spending time with Nick Hart who was a headteacher at St Cleer for many years as well as Luke Wallace - a world renowned musician who came to join us al the way from Canada! It really was an event to treasure. Thank you so much to the Trust and wider community for enabling this enriching experience to take place. 

This week we congratulate our First Lego League competitors from Year 6. On  Wednesday, the team of Talan, Jayden, Josh V, Cadan, Josh M, Belle, Arabella, Jack, Eli and Rioch joined hundreds of children from schools across Cornwall for a day of Lego robotics competition at RNAS Culdrose. There were many ways in which teams could excel and be recognised for their achievements. Although the team were unable to secure the most points and progress to the national finals, they received the judges award for engineering excellence for their robot design (below). We are very proud of the team for their efforts and the work they have done over the last two terms in preparation for this event. As well as building the robot to complete different missions, the group had to come up with a presentation which they delivered to judges on the day. They also built a model drone in support of their presentation. Thank you to volunteer Karen Brinson for her work supporting Sam Watts and the team over the last few months.




Year 3/4 football match

Only one competitive match this week, which saw the team lose narrowly to South Petherwin. They will have one more opportunity to secure a win on Tuesday as the competition draws to a close. Whatever the outcome, we are proud of their efforts and know they will have learnt lots of lessons from being involved in competitive sport. 

Cross-country round-up
The league season came to a close with the final race at Lanhydrock. Abi Flashman thinks that almost every runner finished with a personal best in this race, which is brilliant. A special mention goes to Jacob Bloye, which secured enough points to be invited to the county finals. Thank you to all the parents who supported their children with races, whatever the weather!

End of term
As we enter the last few weeks of term, a reminder that our last day is Thursday 2nd April and pupils will need collecting at 1.30pm on this day.

This week in pre-school we have been discovering rock pools and all the wonderful sea life we may discover in them!

Our rockpool tuff tray set up was hugely popular with the children and gave them a good immersive experience of how the animals may hide under rocks or seaweed. The children were able to understand that if we were to go rock pooling on a beach, we must be very careful whilst exploring, and that it is important to not disturb the creatures in their homes.

We took our playdoh play to another level with lots of shells, google eyes, pipe cleaners, gemstones and sea creature shapes to expand our experimenting to make our own sea creatures.

The children have all shown tremendous teamwork to help us tidy up our playground area with lots of sweeping and scrubbing with bubbly water. We were then able to enjoy some ocean themed water play and practice our scooping and pouring skills with the water play area.

We even gave our box of shells a good clean using scrubbing brushes.

During our phonics this week we have also been discovering Jungle Animals - our activities including recognising and naming the animal sounds, using instruments to move like the animals, and listening to the first letter sounds.

Lastly, the children were busy creating a special card for Mother's Day and we hope that all our lovely pre-school mums have a special day on Sunday.

The Pre-School Team.

We are incredibly proud of the many leadership roles our children take on across the school. These opportunities help our pupils develop confidence, responsibility and a strong sense of community.

Today we are celebrating our wonderful Brunel Buddies, who support our Reception and KS1 children at lunchtime. They help younger pupils play together, solve small problems and make sure everyone feels included and happy during their break times. All of our Brunel Buddies had to advertise for their positions, sharing why they would be great for the role and how they would support others. Thus week, they were officially recognised and awarded their Brunel Buddy hats - a proud moment for them all. We are so proud of the kindness, leadership and responsibility they show in helping the younger children in our school community. Well done, Brunel Buddies.

We are incredibly proud of our School Council. They visited Wesley Methodist Church to deliver their Winter Warmer Bags for members of the homeless community. The bags were thoughtfully prepared to provide warmth, comfort and a reminder that people care. It was wonderful to see our pupils showing such kindness, empathy and commitment to supporting others in the local community. Well done, School Council - you are fantastic ambassadors for our school.

Hello Everyone,

This week in Penhallow, we have been enjoying a little bit of sunshine outside. 

We have been busy singing Spring songs and going on a walk outside, on a scavenger hunt, looking for signs of Spring.

We have been continuing with our Katie Morag and the Isle of Coll unit in English, where we have been writing character descriptions and descriptions of settings. 

In Geography, we have been comparing the Isle of Coll, with K'gari, an Island off the Eastern coast of Australia. We used the internet to find photographs, maps and videos of wildlife, as well as geographical features.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

From The Penhallow Team

This week we have been gathering all the information we know about Edinburgh in order to write a non-chronological report. The children enjoyed sharing facts they have learned and talking about some of the famous landmarks, history and interesting features of the city. They have been working hard to organise their ideas and think about how information can be grouped together in a report.

In maths we have been exploring the ideas of equal and unequal groups. The children used practical resources and pictures to help them understand how groups can be the same or different. We also began looking at odd and even numbers, practising recognising them and sorting numbers into the correct groups.

In RE we thought about the disciples' emotions during the Easter story. The children discussed how different people might have felt at different points in the story and talked about why those feelings might have changed. We also worked together to put the events of the Easter story into the correct order.

In Geography we have been learning about human and physical features. The children talked about the differences between things that are made by people, such as buildings and roads, and things that occur naturally in the environment like hills, rivers and forests. They enjoyed spotting examples and discussing which category they belonged to.

We also spent some time making some lovely Mother's Day cards. The children put a lot of care and effort into their work and were very excited to create something special to take home. During circle time we shared some of our favourite things and listened carefully to each other's ideas.

In PSHE we talked about medicines and how to keep ourselves safe. The children learned about the importance of only taking medicine when it is given by a trusted adult and discussed ways to stay safe and healthy.

In PE we took part in ball skills activities. The children practised throwing, catching and controlling the ball while working on coordination and teamwork.

Everyone has also been practising singing Easter songs with Mrs Butlin, and the children have really enjoyed learning the words and actions. In addition, we have been learning to sing the days of the week in Spanish, which the children have found great fun.

Reception's Reading and Drawing Club has been amazing this week. The children have been very engaged with the stories and have produced some fantastic drawings inspired by what they have read.

We topped off a very busy and productive week by enjoying some sunshine during Forest School, where the children had the chance to explore, play and learn outdoors together.

This week in Year 3 has been full of fantastic learning and great enthusiasm!

In English, the children absolutely blew us away with their brilliant vocabulary choices while using onomatopoeia to create tension in exciting scenes from Traction Man. Their writing was full of wonderful sound words that really brought the action to life. Each piece was a delight to read and we were so impressed with the creativity and effort shown by everyone.

In Maths, we have been enhancing our multiplication skills to help us when multiplying and dividing a single-digit number by a two-digit number. The class has worked very hard and we are seeing some great progress, particularly with their growing confidence in their times table knowledge.

During PE, we have been enjoying cricket. The children have been practising their bowling, fielding and batting skills, and it has been lovely that the weather has been kind enough for us to play outside. There has been some excellent teamwork and great effort from everyone.

On Friday, we were lucky enough to have a special assembly with a visit from the RNLI lifeguards. The session was interactive and very interesting. The children impressed our visitors by showcasing their sea safety knowledge and asking some fantastic, thoughtful questions.

We all hope you have a restful and wonderful weekend.

Mrs Lister, Miss Bolton and Miss Colton

TALLAND'S BLOG 20.3.26

PHOTO DUMP!

Well done to Amelia for passing her next level of 99 club and congratulations to Esmai for becoming a fantastic member of Talland class - she's had a brilliant week and she has settled in to our wonderful class.

That's all from us in Talland this week - we hope you have a brilliant weekend!

Signing off from Mr. Langley and Mr. Bishop.

We have had a busy week in Chaipel. Our WW2 balanced argument is now complete and we have assessed our writing and all agree that we are extremely pleased with what we have produced. Next week, we will be learning about the life and times of Anne Frank, building up to writing a diary entry - from her perspective - on the day her family went into hiding.

In Maths, we have worked together to complete a SATS arithmetic paper and are very pleased with our results. We will continue to do this up to the SATS week to best prepare us. In other areas of maths, we have been investigating algebra (expression/formula/substitution) and the properties of a circle.

In our wider curriculum, we have looked into the Home Front and what the civilians did for the war effort, designed a steady hand game for DT and learnt about the difference between orthodox and progressive Jews in RE.

On Friday, we had the RNLI in to explain how to stay safe at the beach. I was overwhelmed at how much Chaipel knew and feel confident that they are beach-ready for the summer season!

That's all from me, so have a lovely weekend and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Miss Randle and Mrs Clary

At Storytellers, we have been busy preparing something very special to celebrate Mother's Day. The children carefully decorated their own plant pots, using bright colours and patterns to make each one unique. They took great pride in their creations and enjoyed talking about the special people they wanted to give their pots to.

 Once the pots were decorated, the children planted them with beautiful flowers. They carefully filled the pots with soil and gently planted the flowers, learning about how plants need water, sunlight and care to grow.

 The children were very excited to take their special flower pots home as gifts for their mums, and we hope they will enjoy watching their flowers grow together. It was a lovely activity that combined creativity, learning about plants and celebrating the people who care for us so much. 

Tregantle Class - Science Week Fun!

Science Week has been so much fun in Tregantle Class! The children have loved getting involved in lots of exciting activities and experiments. One of our favourite experiments was investigating what happens to wax crayons when they are heated. The children watched carefully as the crayons melted and changed, and then used the melted wax to create some beautiful, colourful pictures. It was fascinating to see how the crayons changed when heat was applied!

We also enjoyed exploring our school pond. During our visit, we released our class newt and some tadpoles so they could live in their natural habitat. The children were very gentle and excited to watch them swim away into the pond.

In maths, the children are doing brilliantly. They have been working hard to find different ways to make 10 using Numicon, and they are becoming much more confident with their number bonds.

Our new gravel pit has also been a huge hit with the class! The children have loved digging, scooping and exploring, and it has led to lots of imaginative play and teamwork.

Well done, Tregantle Class, for such a fantastic week of learning and fun!

It was wonderful to see so many of you at our parent/carer consultations for Penhallow, Talland and Chaipel Classes this week. Mr Langley will be holding consultations for Talland Class next Wednesday. Miss Bolton will be holding them for Landaviddy Class on Wednesday and Friday. If you have not been able to meet with your child's teacher yet, please contact the office to arrange an appointment.

Cross Country Success The Polperro team yet again did brilliantly well in last week's final league race at Lanhydrock. Congratulations to the children who all ran well. Thank you to Mrs Turnbull and Miss Colton for their wonderful team support this season and to parents and carers for transporting our runners to each race come rain or shine (mostly rain!). An amazing effort all round from Team Polperro. Special congratulations go to Flora and Isabelle who have qualified for an Inter Area competition at Par Track on 30th March.

RNLI Beach Safety Assembly Lifeguards from the RNLI visited today to hold an assembly about how to stay safe on the beach. They enlisted the help of pupils to demonstrate how to get help if they get into trouble in the sea. They also discussed where it is and isn't safe to swim and what to do if you are caught in a riptide. Your child will have brought home a leaflet which contains the information discussed.

Comic Relief, Friday 20th March - Crazy Hair MUFTI Day This year Red Nose Day is on Friday, 20th March. The School Council would like the children to come to school in MUFTI with Crazy Hair with a minimum donation of £1 for this MUFTI day.

FOPS Easter Discos Reminder that we will be holding Easter discos on Friday 27th March. Tickets are on sale in the office and cost £3. The disco for Reception, Year 1 and year 2 will be from 3:15-4:15pm. Pupils should bring a change of clothes and will be able to change after school. KS2 (years 3-6) children should go home at the usual time of 3:15pm and then return to school for their disco which will be from 4:30-6:00pm.

Bags for School Collection Monday 16th Reminder that these are being collected from Nursery on Monday 16th March. Please ensure Nursery have your bags before 9am.

MHST Wild Wellbeing Please see attached details of the Mental Health in Schools Team (MHST) Wild Wellbeing sessions being run this Easter holidays in collaboration with Natural England, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and National Trust. These free sessions are open to children aged 5-12 to help understand and support emotional and mental wellbeing. Each session will be approximately 2 hours long. Sign up details are included in the attached poster. Sign up will close one week before the session date, or when the session reaches capacity, whichever comes first.

Wishing you a lovely weekend

Mrs Hillman