Group Work in the Arc

This term we have had a real focus on working together. In the ARC we try to make our group activities so appealing that they capture our children's attention and they choose to join the group.

We have a number of group activities where out focus is shared attention. We run 2 Attention Autism Sessions which is a Gina Davies Intervention that follows 4 stages. All of our ARC children now choose to join this group and in fact they all look forward to checking out stage 1 where they get to see what is in out bucket!

We run Fun with Food everyday. We look at a different food each day, describing the food through all of our senses. We use communication boards to encourage the children to describe the food. 

We all like using the playground equipment on sunny days, especially the parachute! In the photo we are working together to try and keep the ball on the parachute. 

Sometimes our ARC children are able to join their mainstream peers. Eddie had a great day with the Roman Soldier who came to visit the class. He worked as a team with the other children to form a barrier with his shield in a mock battle. 

Sometimes group work just involves taking turns. The musical instruments are a really popular way of taking turns. Both Leo and Freddie love to ply the xylophone and it is an excellent opportunity to take model turn taking. 

Happy New Year!

What a brilliant start to 2026!
In PSHE we have been thinking about our goals and dreams and steps towards success. 
Our new 'Big Question' is 'What is the weather like in the UK?'. We have been re-capping our knowledge of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom and have been using an atlas to help us to label maps.
In art we have been looking at the painting of Alma Thomas. Alma is an abstract artist. She used lots of bright colours in her paintings. After practising the necessary techniques and skills, we created  paintings in her style.
In science we have been learning about animals. This half term we have focussed on the five groups of vertebrates. We have learnt about their characteristics and diets. 
We went on a fabulous trip to The National Marine Aquarium were the children had a taste of being marine biologists as well and learning lots of sea creatures from our very informative guide. 

December has been a magical month in Year One!
There have been many highlights including our Christmas Production. The children rehearsed and practised so well to put on a wonderful performance for families. We also had a magical time rounding off the term with a Christingle gathering.

The children were contacted by Santa's chief elf and tasked with making some robots as the elves were worried they hadn't made enough. The children designed and made some wonderful robot toys with moving limbs.

In computing, the children used Doodledraw on the ipads to design Christmas cards that they then printed and sent to loved ones. 

Year One had a fantastic time in the woods making clay reindeers.

This month we have learnt about Guy Fawkes and The Gunpowder Plot. We found out about what happened and we used our printing skills to create colourful and sparkly fireworks art.

We have been thinking about how to be a good friend. We have thought about which qualities and behaviours we like to see in our friends.

This month we marked the beginning of anti-bullying week with 'Odd Socks Day'. We all wore odd socks to help us to think about how we are all special and unique. We also marked Children In Need day this month. We dressed up and even dressed up our giant class bear.

We went on a walk around the school grounds to hunt for signs that it is autumn. it was great fun playing in the leaves.

February

In art this month, we linked our work to our learning in RE, where we were thinking all about why Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah. The children produced some beautiful artwork, depicting Jesus, in pencil. Their attention to detail was spectacular and they were all very proud of the work they had produced.

Our environment ambassadors have been working hard to promote environmental awareness around the school. They have produced posters reminding us to turn off lights and turn off the taps. They have also set up collection areas for soft plastic recycling and now they are turning their focus back to lighting, carrying out regular surveys to check that we are turning lights off when we leave the room.

Soon, the environment ambassadors will be leading the rest of the school in a 'Hidden Treasure Hunt' where we will all be encouraged to hand in unwanted electrical items, as they often contain small traces of important metals, which can be recycled and would otherwise just disappear into landfill - watch this space for more information!

January

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you all had a peaceful and restful Christmas break - it was great to welcome all the children back for another new year - let's see what fun 2026 will bring us! 

Early in the month, we were visited by the staff from the 'Pulse Bus'. The children have been very lucky, as Mrs Cox has secured some funding for a 6 week fun-filled adventure! Every week, the children will be able to attend the Pulse Bus, where there is a climbing wall, games room, snack bar, craft corner and much, much more!

On the day their lovely staff visited us, the children took part in a workshop where they thought about themselves, their qualities and what they bring to the world. The focus was on making sure that we don't discriminate against anyone, ever because of our differences. Differences are to be celebrated!

In class, Year 6 learned all about Habitats and the Linnaean system of classification in Science. In Maths, they strengthened their knowledge of ratio and algebra and in English they wrote non-chronological reports all about creatures from the Galapagos islands. In Computing, the focus was online safety, we learned how to describe different habitats in French and in History we learned how to use a census to help us learn all about the past.

We have had a fantastic February full of exciting learning across all our subjects!

In Maths, we have been learning about multiplication and division.
We explored equal and non-equal groups and practised recognising the difference between them. We made equal groups by sharing objects and adding them together to find totals. We also learned how to write multiplication sentences and created arrays to help us see the groups clearly. Arrays really helped us understand how multiplication works and we enjoyed matching them to number sentences!

In Literacy, we focused on descriptive writing inspired by the beautiful 2015 John Lewis advert Man on the Moon. We wrote thoughtful descriptions about the lonely man and imagined how he might have been feeling. We worked hard to use expanded noun phrases and exciting adjectives in our writing.
We also watched the short film Baboon on the Moon and created more descriptive pieces. We described the setting on the moon and the emotions of the character. Our writing showed wonderful imagination and empathy.

In Science, we continued our learning about life cycles. This month, we explored the life cycle of a chicken and learned about how a chick grows inside an egg. We had lots of fun investigating boiled and raw eggs. We carefully observed them and even used microscopes to look closely and spot differences. It was very exciting working like real scientists!

We also took part in the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Big Bird Watch. We spent time observing and counting the birds we saw, helping scientists learn more about wildlife in the UK.

For Safer Internet Day, we learned about the acronym SMART to help us stay safe online. We talked about how to keep our personal information private and what to do if something online makes us feel worried or uncomfortable.

In RE, we explored the question: What is the good news Christians believe Jesus brings? We listened to the story of the tax collector and discussed themes of saying sorry and forgiveness. We thought carefully about how forgiveness can help mend friendships and why it is important to show kindness and understanding.

We are so proud of all the hard work Year 2 has shown this month. We have demonstrated fantastic teamwork, creativity and curiosity in our learning. We can't wait to see what March brings!

This January, our big question was "How did we learn to fly?" 

We travelled back in time to learn about the amazing inventors, the Wright brothers, who designed and flew the first successful aeroplane.
We discovered how hard they worked and how they never gave up on their dream of flying!
We also learned about Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license. We were inspired by her bravery and determination. Then we explored the adventures of Amelia Earhart, who became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

In Literacy, we wrote fantastic biographies about Amelia Earhart and the Wright brothers. We worked hard to include interesting information about their lives. Our learning even took us beyond the skies and into space as we found out about the Apollo 11 moon landing!
We loved discovering how astronauts travelled all the way to the Moon.

In DT, we became engineers! We designed and made our own aeroplanes with moving parts. We carefully thought about our designs and worked hard to make sure the moving mechanisms worked properly.

In Science, we learned about life cycles. We explored the life cycle of a human, a butterfly and a frog. We learned to match young animals to their adults, such as caterpillar to butterfly and tadpole to frog. We talked about how animals grow and change as they get older.

In Maths, we have been learning all about money. We practised counting in pence and pounds, making the same amount in different ways and calculating totals. Some of us even worked on finding change - just like in a real shop!

In PSHE, we talked about our dreams and goals for the future. We set New Year's resolutions and thought about what we would like to achieve this year. We also learned about good and bad teamwork and took part in group challenges to practise working together respectfully and kindly.

We have had a fantastic start to the year in Year 2 and are so proud of all our hard work. We can't wait to see what we will learn next!

Our last week before half term was all about Chinese New Year.

We enjoyed learning all about the celebration, from their preparations, the food, the dances and the costumes.  We learned that they use a lot of Red as it is thought to be lucky in China.  We looked at Chinese numerals and how they are different from our numerals. The children watched how they perform dragon and lion dances and we had a go at moving like them.

We also enjoyed some Chinese snacks in pre-school which were very much enjoyed by all.

This year is the year of the horse, so we created some collage horse art. 

We hope that everyone has a lovely half-term week and we return to pre-school on Monday 23^rd February.

The Pre-School Team.

As we begin a brand-new term at Storytellers, we've been reflecting on the lovely way we ended last half term by focusing on wellbeing to mark Children's Mental Health Week.

Throughout that special week, we spent time talking about kindness, who we love, and how we can care for one another. The children thoroughly enjoyed making crispy heart cakes and were so excited to share them with their loved ones. It was a wonderful way to reinforce the importance of connection, thoughtfulness and showing others we care.

We also shared stories about the Colour Monsters, helping the children explore different emotions and understand how colours can represent how we feel. These discussions helped the children recognise and talk about their own feelings in a safe, nurturing environment.

We finished the term with a relaxing Health Spa Day. The children came dressed in comfortable pyjamas and took part in calming activities centred around self-care. They enjoyed nail painting, listening to soothing music, and warm hand and foot soaks, while chatting about why it's important to look after ourselves and each other.

It was a truly special day, enjoyed by both the children and the staff team. There were plenty of smiles, laughter and a beautifully calm atmosphere - the perfect way to end the term before starting this new one feeling refreshed and ready for more adventures together.

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Thursday 12th February - half term! 

We have reached the end of yet another amazing busy half term.

The children continue to impress us every day; their progression is wonderful to see on a daily basis.

We end of big question of What would it be like if the world were frozen? The children have worked so hard and had so much fun thinking about this question. They have explored so much amazing learning and especially enjoyed exploring lots of ice!

Our big question next half term is: Is there anything above the clouds?

We hope you all have a wonderful half term and look forward to seeing all the children back at school on Monday 22^nd February.

The Foundation Team 

What a fantastic half term it has been!

The children have worked incredibly hard over the past weeks, showing determination, enthusiasm and such positive attitudes towards their learning. We are so proud of everything they have achieved - not only academically, but also in the way they have supported one another, challenged themselves and lived out our school values each and every day.

We truly couldn't have asked for a better way to end the half term than with our wonderful trip to Cotehele. The children represented our school brilliantly. They planted saplings with care and determination, demonstrating excellent teamwork and responsibility. It was a joy to see them embracing the experience so positively and showing off their very best Brunel values throughout the day.

They were a credit to the school.

Now it is time for a well-earned rest. We hope you all enjoy a relaxing and refreshing half term break, and we look forward to welcoming the children back, ready for another exciting term of learning.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

See you after half term! 

We began our final week this term with our Wellbeing Morning - time dedicated to positive mental health for all. We completed our yearly RSPB Bird Watch and then took part in a series of activities: a book and a blanket, Lego, pebble painting, arts and crafts and hot chocolate and camp fire story-telling. It was a lovely morning; Tristan loved telling stories to the children in Reception and Y1.

We have completed our Midnight Fox 'write the story's ending' and then Miss Randle read the final chapters of the book to see if our written predictions were correct. We were thankful to find out that both the vixen and her cub were rescued and fled to safety!

In Maths, we are winning fractions, decimals and percentages and have worked hard this week to order, compare, convert and find equivalences. 

In our Wider Curriculum, we made 'Dracula Detection Devices' in Science - using pressure pads - to complete our investigation into circuits, created powerpoints on our fundraising charity and event and completed our Basquiat-themed neo-expressionism artwork. 

REMINDER
A letter was sent home today with with information regarding SATS club timings:
Tuesday (3:15pm - 4:15pm)
Wednesday (12:30 - 1pm)
Thursday (8am - 8:30am)
This is a great opportunity for the children to work through their SATS revision books and work together to help with any misconceptions they have.

That's all from me so have a lovely half term and see you all on Monday 23rd February.

Miss Randle and Mrs Clary.

Now we have reached the end of this half term, I'm not sure where the weeks have gone. The staff and children have been working extremely hard and everyone deserves a rest. Hopefully, we will have some better weather next week and when we return on Monday 23rd February. I was told it has been the wettest January on record in Cornwall and it has certainly felt like it.

Art Exhibition
At 3.20pm on Wednesday 25th February, we are inviting parents and carers to join us in classes for our latest art exhibition. Here is a taster of what you will see. Class 3 have been learning about art activism and produced their own artwork with a message they want to share with the world. Class 3 have been learning about repeating patterns and how they are generated for the textile and design industry. They have created their own. We look forward to welcoming you on the 25th.




Football Tournament
Well done to our Year 5 and 6 football team, who completed their tournament fixtures this week. A 5-0 win against Menheniot in the first match was followed by a narrow 3-2 defeat to South Petherwin in the second. I was very proud of their attitude, effort and teamwork. A special thanks to Jacob from Year 4, who stepped in to make up the numbers and support Rioch, Rosie, Belle, Seth, Alfie and Jayden. 

Half Term Activities
I look forward to seeing everyone again on Monday 23rd February but, in the meantime, here are a couple of ideas for half term:





Finally, here is something for the summer term:

 Hello Everyone,

What a wonderful end to the week we have had at Bodmin airfield!
We learnt all about the materials used to build the planes and how they are designed and made. We saw an incredible range of planes and even had a turn at sitting in the cockpit. 

This week, we have also been busy weaving landscapes using different materials in the style of the Cornish artist Caroline Saxby. 

In English, Year 2 have been finding features of recounts, while Year 1 have been improving their punctuation in sentences. 

In music, we enjoyed listening to different genres of music, which had the theme of flight. This included 'The Lark Ascending' by Vaughn Williams, and 'The Aviary' by Camille Saens Saens. The children used a range of musical vocabulary to describe the music and explained how the music made them feel. We then enjoyed some uplifting singing.

On Monday we spent time in our house groups, enjoying some fun and relaxing activities that the children felt improved their mental health. These activities included painting, bird watching, spending time outdoors, playing collaboratively, building, reading and playing games. It's always so lovely to see the older children in the school, helping the younger children in Penhallow.

We hope you have a lovely half term.

From The Penhallow Team