Seaton have been busy this week getting to grips with our new topic What’s so special about clouds? Over the coming weeks, we will be discovering how the water cycle plays a part in cloud formation including living near the coast and rivers, the various types of clouds and how Saltash and the surrounding are compares to other areas of the UK, Europe and further afield.

We have been putting our electricity skills to the test this week. We are in the process of creating simple electronic games that test our maths skills. We are combining our DT knowledge with our science to make light-up boards that will show the correct answer to a given multiplication calculation. Watch this space for photos of our final work.

In our RE lessons, we have started to learn about the religion of Islam and how its core values unpin the lives of millions of believers around the world. We have been focussing on some of the key terminology round Islam and the importance of Mohammad. These lessons are also making us think about our own beliefs and what is important to us.

Another lesson that is challenging us to consider our opinions and views is PSHE. We have been fortunate to have had one visit already from Barnardo’s – the children’s charity – to discuss online safety, social media, peer interactions and mental health. We are looking forward to a second visit from them this coming week.

Key dates:

v  Here are a few reminders of events that are happening next week:

v  Tuesday 6th February - Safer Internet Day

v  Tuesday 6th February - Y6 to Saltash Comprehensive School to watch Oliver. All Y6 children will require a packed lunch. Please change your ParentPay selections ASAP. The kitchen will need to prepare packed lunches in advance.

v  Thursday 8th February - Chinese New Year lunch menu - please check selections on ParentPay.

v  Thursday 8th February - BFA 'Love Yourself Day' wear mufti and donate via ParentPay

v  Friday 9th February - Staff training day - School Closed to Children

v  Monday 12th February to Friday16th February - Half-term holiday

v  Monday 19th February - Back to school

We have been sparking with energy over the past two weeks as we have developed our scientific knowledge of electricity. During our lessons we have conducted several experiments including exploring if the length of a wire has an impact on the amount of electricity that passes along it. We have had great fun creating and testing circuits with various components. In the weeks to come, we are look forward to using our knowledge in a practical application as part of our DT lessons. Stay tuned to find out more.

We have come to the end of our diary entries in English. Everyone has excelled themselves in their use of vocabulary, sentence structure and higher-level punctuation. This piece of work has been copied up into a ‘best version’ and included in each child’s independent writing folder. Already, they are feeling justifiably proud of the work that is complied in these folders and the children are starting to recognise that this is something to treasure in years to come.

As we head towards our new topic – What’s so special about clouds? our art lessons have taken on a dreamy, airy quality as the children get to grips with watercolour paint and attempt to recreate clouds in their sketch books. As you can imagine, this is quite a tricky task, but they are applying themselves and working hard to carefully analyse what clouds actually look like (and not just balls of cotton wool).

Please continue to encourage your child / children to read every day and to complete their reading record for you to sign. Don’t forget, maths homework is due:

·    Pendower class every Wednesday

·    Seaton class every Thursday. 

Please find the new spelling booklet below. The first set of words will be tested at the end of next week (26.1.2024).
Children will bring home a new booklet with them this Friday. 

Trees Galore!

Seaton enjoyed a rainy but wonderful trip to the Christmas Tree Festival at St. Nicholas and St. Faith Church. The trees were so pretty and imaginatively decorated. Most of the children were able to spot all of the items on the treasure hunt and enjoyed seeing the tree that was decorated by their very own school. We are all feeling festive now. 

Welcome to December! We have arrived at final month of the year and the last few weeks of term are set to be busy with lessons, the Christingle service and lots of festive activities.

We’ve thrown ourselves into our new piece of writing based on the traditional tale of Aladdin. Our own versions entitled ‘A Lad In Saltash‘ are well underway and the children are relishing retelling this story in the 21^st Century. We’ll keep you update of our process as the last few weeks unfurl.

Our art lessons have been based on the beautifully detailed manuscripts of the past. We have been carefully illustrating our initial in a manner that would befit an ancient Anglo-Saxon text. We are justifiably proud of the work we have produced.

We have moved on from the early Anglo-Saxon era in history to the invasion of the Vikings. Our lesson this week saw us re-enacting the various struggles for power and rule in these lands over a thousand years ago. We had great fun recreating the battles, coronations, strategic marriages and deaths of the kings.

Next week we have Hunt the Issy, we are visiting the Christmas tree display in Saint Nicholas Church and practising our singing for the Christingle service. Watch your emails for all of the details about the festive events taking place.

It’s been a week of weeks – Anti-bully Week, Maths Week and a superb visit from the Royal Institute.

Monday began with an exploration of triangles to start off our Maths’ Week activities. We learned how to tesselate triangles (design a pattern using small triangles) and also how to use triangles to create a 3-dimensional shape (tetrahedron). Our ideas developed as we problem solved.

We have finished writing our WWI poems based on sonnet form using the following the rules: focus on one emotion (fear, love, hope, despair etc), write in iambic pentameter (lines 1&3 rhyme, lines 2&4 rhyme, 5&7, 6&8 etc) and have 8 lines in total. We also started our poems with a rhetorical question - often based on the futility of war. They are incredibly powerful, and the children are justifiably proud of their work.

In art, we have been creating beautiful calligraphy surrounding a capital letter. Our inspiration has come from ancient Anglo-Saxon texts that were illustrated in this way.

Below is an attachment to the weekly spelling booklet that comes home with your child. Spellings are tested every Friday. This week, we are learning the following words: direction, explanation, competition, cautious, especially, appreciate, ancient, delicious, infection, spacious.

It’s fair to say that the whole of Upper Key Stage 2 have had a super first week back starting with making wickedly, weird witches brew in literacy lessons and ending their week with the spectacle that was Viking Day.

Using MacBeth’s 3 witches as inspiration, the children have created their own poem based on the gruesome ingredients that might go into a bubbling cauldron. Ask to see your child’s version at next week’s Parent and Teacher meetings; be warned, some of them are stomach churning.

Pupils (and parents) outdid themselves with the costumes that were on display on Thursday for Viking Day. The children looked amazing if slightly intimidating!

We all had a brilliant day completing a range of activities such as: weaving, drawing detailed pictures of Viking longboats, learning how to be effective raiders and traders and understanding ancient runes.

Sprinkle in a smattering of maths, reading, science, PE and French and you’ve got yourself a jampacked week :)