In February we continued learning...

--> How to use texture in art.
--> How magnets could be different strengths.
--> How to use a compass.
--> How Muslims celebrated Ramadan.
--> The features of a river, and where those are in the River Tamar.
--> How to divide a 2-digit number with remainders.
--> To design a garden for someone with a need.
--> To use TurtleLogo to create a sign, and Tinkercad to create a 3D model of a garden.

A wonderful day on the Moor

As a celebration of all the work we have done about Mining in our local area - we all took a trip to Minions!  We met Iain Rowe - an expert guide for mining around the area and he took us all around the Phoenix United mine.  He was so knowledgeable about the sites, jobs and local history and he even enabled us to see the house of the mine owner and explain the process of bidding for pitches in the mines.

After touring the mine site - we stopped for a pasty on Minions village green before heading down the old mining railway track and heading home.  We just had enough time for a photo opportunity at Trethevy Quoit before heading back to school.  We walked a long way - but it was a great day out!  Big thank you to Will from Ginsters who helped us make out pasties, and Iain from Cornwall Heritage Trust for all their help  in making this trip possible!

Flyku

As part of a national event to celebrate short-form poetry, our class took part in a Flyku competition.

The challenge was simple - to create an original and inspiring Haiku poem and then present it in the form of a paper aeroplane.

The winning entries will get the chance to take their winning Flyku onto a plane and to fly their paper planes at altitude!  What a great prize!!

We really enjoyed the creativity of writing the Haiku poems - and we followed the instructions carefully to create our paper aeroplanes.  Most of all - we loved testing them when we were finished!

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Welcome back to the second half of the Spring Term. We have six weeks of fun learning to look forward to with Science Week in the middle when we will be having a visit from Space Lab to help us learn more about our solar system. We also have the Cornwall Plastic Pollution Coalition coming to visit and teach us about marine litter and how we can help reduce the impact on our environment. 
Below is our learning web for this half term which provides more details about each subject area. 
Also attached is our English Learning Journey for the next 3 weeks.

Hello Everyone!

We have enjoyed a great final week of learning based around our enquiry question; ‘Why aren’t Space Ships made of jelly?’

In science, we have enjoyed investigating and sorting magnetic and non-magnetic materials. 

We have been developing our speaking and listening skills in our space rocket role play area, after listening to conversations held by astronauts and technicians at NASA. Using our weekly ‘I see, I think, I wonder’ activity, we have also discussed the surface of the moon.

In maths this week, reception have been comparing weight and mass, while Year 1 have been busy refining their place value skills,  by representing numbers in different ways. 

Our art topic finished with some amazing outside sculptures using different natural materials. We used the knowledge, ideas and techniques of Andy Goldsworthy that we have built up throughout this half term. The results were both amazing and unique. The children thoroughly enjoyed their time in the school garden, collaborating with each other to collect, sort and present the natural materials that they found. Well done everybody. It was lovely to see such brilliant collaboration and creativity. 

We hope you have a lovely half term.

From The Penhallow Team.

January was an exciting month with our trip to Ferry Farm.
We got to meet the animals and find out how they are looked after and how farming can co-exist in harmony with wildlife.
We also had fun in the woods collecting treasures and hunting for animal habitats.
When we got back to school we were able to look very closely at our treasures under our new microscopes that Mrs Cox bought us.
We also explored eggs that we collected from the farm. We boiled some and compared them to raw eggs which was a very smelly but fun and interesting session. This linked to our work on lifecycles. We looked at lifecycles of humans, frogs and butterflies and we can all explain what the word 'metamorphosis' means!

In history we have been learning about Amelia Earhart. We wrote down questions we wanted to find out the answers to and then we learnt about her life and her achievements. We looked at early attempts to fly and compared the Wright brothers glider to a modern aeroplane.
We also managed to sequence flying machines throughout the ages.

In DT we have designed our own aeroplanes to make using recycled materials. We are looking forward to finishing them but it will take a while with all the different stages we need to work through.

 

Mapwork skills

This week included comparing the Alpine region with the local area: Saltash. The children had lots of fun generating ideas concerning the leisure facilities within the area, these included the swimming pool in the Leisure Centre; the ambience of the Waterfront; and the children's parks. With the use of a local map, the children were able to annotate the map with Ordinance Survey Symbols to represent parks, swimming pools and parking areas, for instance.

The children's tailoring skills are now amazing. They use the blanket stitch effectively and are able to sew additions on to their soft toys, buttons, for example.

Due to the dedication the children have shown in their presentation, their written methods for division are clear and precise. The use of the four operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division - has finally started to make sense to them. Many can now use this knowledge and apply it to challenging problem solving questions.

Talland Class have used this week to research facts about the Alps to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the area. Through this research, they have been able to write a non-chronological report about the Alps to provide a well thought through and informative piece of text.

All the children have worked extremely hard this half term and deserve a well earned rest next week. Have a safe, restful and enjoyable half term break, Talland Class. We look forward to seeing the children again for the second half of the Spring Term.

Best wishes, Mrs Swabey, Mr Parry, Mrs Walters, Mrs Payne and Miss Rowlands.

Happy Half Term! Landaviddy class have had a lot of fun this week. In Geography, we have been exploring why bees are important and designed our own school bee garden! On Tuesday, as part of Safer Internet Day, Year 3 joined Talland and Chaipel to participate in a live event hosted by the BBC, which they enjoyed. As a class, we also considered the personal information we share online and how we can protect ourselves. 

In English, we have been writing up our final copies of our explanation texts about how bees make honey. We even had a go at typing up our texts and creating PowerPoints in Computing. In Maths, Year 3 have completed their unit on Multiplication and Division B and will start their new unit after half term on Length and Perimeter. Year 2 have finished Money and started looking at equal groups when multiplying. 

Congratulations to Sonny and George for being chosen as Landaviddy's People of the Week! 

Remember to continue reading, practising your KIRFS/ times tables and spellings over half term. If you find you have some spare time, you could complete some of the activities from the homework grid for Spring 1 (this can be found further down on the blog). One of the suggested activities was to create a light jar - shout out to Oliver who created a beautiful light jar for his homework! Well done! 

We hope you enjoy a lovely half term break and come back refreshed, ready for an exciting second half to the spring term! We look forward to seeing you all back on Monday 24th February! 

Mrs Wilkie, Mrs Phillips, Miss Bowden and Miss Colton

Talland Class Blog 14.2.25

Happy half term everyone! 

Photo dump of fun at the zoo incoming...

We hope you enjoy them. Have  a lovely break and we can't wait to see you all for Spring 2!

Acting out our special story.

The role play kitchen was turned into the 3 bears cottage so that the children could act out the story.

We also tasted porridge for snack; most of the children enjoyed their porridge! Some chose to have it plain whilst others opted to have honey on it.

I wonder how the 3 bears had theirs?

It was a great way to end our half term looking at the traditional tale of 'Goldilocks and the 3 bears'.

This half term has flown by. We have crammed a lot into six weeks including work around children’s internet safety this week.

Talland Class had an amazing trip to Paignton Zoo yesterday where they saw all the different animals in all of their different ecosystems and habitats. They enjoyed a workshop in front of the lions where they got to hear them roar and learned lots of fun facts. See the class blog for photos and more information.

Alice Bywater, National Trust Ranger, came to speak to Talland and Chaipel Classes this afternoon about the National Trust’s conservation work in our local area. The children listened really well and asked some excellent questions. They will be using what they have learned as part of the science, art and writing project we are running with the Orwell Society, which we will be sharing with Orwell Society members later this year at their annual conference which will be held in Polperro.

Cross Country There were more personal best results at the Fursdon Farm race on Friday. As usual the team ran brilliantly in spite of the freezing conditions.

Fantastic Footballers Congratulations to our football team who played incredibly well again on Tuesday and won 9-2 against Antony School.

Parent/carer consultations – diary date Consultations will be held the week of 3rd March either in person or on TEAMS. Appointments will be available as follows:
Penhallow Class: Monday 3rd March 1-4:00 pm; Wednesday 5th March 3:30 – 5:30pm
Landaviddy Class: Monday 3rd March 1-4:00 pm; Tuesday 4th March 3:30-4:30pm; Wednesday 5th March 3:30 – 5:30pm
Talland Class: Wednesday 5th March 3:30 – 5:30pm; Thursday 6th March 1pm-4:30pm
Chaipel Class: Tuesday 4th March 1pm-4:30pm; Wednesday 5th March 3:30 – 5:30pm
We will email you immediately after half term with information regarding how to book an appointment.

World Book Day Competition This year World Book Day is on Thursday 6th March. Information about this year’s Extreme Reading competition and school World Book Day activities can be found in a separate letter (sent yesterday and attached).

Friends of Polperro School (FOPS) Quiz Please see attached flyer for details of the FOPS  Quiz which we are holding on Friday 28th February to raise funds for the school. We hope to see you there. Tickets are on sale at the main gate or the office.

Half Term Activities (details of all activities are on flyers attached)
• Football Pro-20 are running some Football Courses in the area during the February half term period.
• Hugs Foundation Activity Day Bodmin The Hugs Foundation supports families when a parent/ carer has a terminal illness and they are running some fully funded equine and forest school activities available as an activity day at the hugs foundation during half term week. They ask a £5 booking fee for this as numbers are limited, but can waive this for families who need us too.
• Looe Mini Miler The Looe Mini Miler fun run takes place at 10am on Sunday 2nd March. The race, which is organised by the Looe Pioneers, is suitable for children aged 4 and above. No entries on the day.
• National Trust Tree Planting in Fowey The National Trust is creating a new woodland at Coombe Farm in Fowey on Wednesday 19th February and is inviting families to come and plant trees there with the aim of extending and joining up existing areas of woodland.

Friday is an INSET day and then it is the half term break. We look forward very much to seeing everyone back in school on Monday 24th February.

Have a wonderful half term break.

Mrs Hillman