Welcome to the Headteacher's blog. It is used to share information and showcase the variety of learning that takes place here at Brunel.  Along with Facebook, Twitter and our newsletters, this blog will also be used for posting information on events happening in school.  I hope that you find it useful and will check back regularly.

Suzanne Cooper - Headteacher

At Brunel Primary and Nursery Academy we see the internet and other digital technologies as powerful tools which open up new opportunities and enhance learning. We work with staff, pupils, parents and carers to encourage the responsible use of ICT throughout the curriculum and follow agreed policies to minimise potential online safety risks.

We follow appropriate online safety planning for all pupils from Reception to Year 6 that promote their safety by teaching pupils:

• to use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly
• to recognise acceptable and unacceptable behaviour
• to identify a range of ways to report concerns or seek help about content

As part of this we take part in the worldwide Safer Internet Day. An annual theme is chosen that best suits the current landscape of online safety and the issues that young people may face online. This year pupils are encouraged to explore how they manage their online identity and think about how the internet shapes their view of themselves and others. Which parts of our identity should be kept safe and not shared online? How can we support each other online? Where can we go to for help?

Please visit the Online Safety page under the Keeping Safe tab for further information and advice.

Earlier this term we had a fire drill to ensure that we can safely and quickly evacuate all the children and staff in the event of a fire and today we have had a lockdown drill. 
What's the difference? Essentially fire evacuations show how to get everyone out safely; lockdown keeps everyone in.
The fire alarm indicates a threat inside the school whereas the call for  a lockdown indicates a threat in the area around the school for example a possible intruder or a plume of gas from the Dockyard.
When the fire alarm sounds the children are led out of the building, through the fire doors, to the muster points on the playgrounds. In contrast, when a lockdown is called, the children move to an identified safe place within the classroom where they remain still and quiet. All the windows and doors are closed and locked and the curtains and blinds are drawn.
I am pleased to report that the children were amazing! When myself and Drew (our site manager) patrolled the buildings we couldn't hear or see anyone nor could we gain access to the inside of the school. It should be stated that the likelihood of a lockdown in reality is very slim however it's good to know that if we should ever need one then everyone knows what to do.
 

Bagpipe Club has proven to be very popular with over one hundred and twenty children applying to take part.

Mr Parry has managed to organise it so that everyone is able to attend two taster sessions to see if they are interested in pursuing it further.
 
The children are using practice 'chanters' which even the very top pipers (like Mr Parry  himself) learned to play on when they were beginners.

We would like to say a huge thank you to the two sponsors who have contributed to the purchase of twelve new junior chanters: the Brunel Friends Association and Car and Coach Electrics Garage in Plymouth. They have contributed £200 and £100 respectively. This will allow more children to attend the Club in the Summer Term.

If the interest continues Saltash may have a Pipe band in future!

Last week we gave out  Never Late Never Away certificates to 186 children who achieved 100% attendance last term.

Anyone who achieves 100% for the whole school year automatically wins a place on the Head’s
Big Day Out

However, don’t worry if your child was not a 100% attender, as they might win a
Golden Ticket……..

 
GOLDEN TICKETS are awarded for every week that a child is never late or never away. Here are the lucky winners pulled out of the golden box for last term they are now booked on our annual trip!

Brunel's School Council have had an exciting end to the first week of the new term. The photos show them visiting the Houses of Parliament and walking past HMS Belfast on their way to have lunch overlooking Tower Bridge. They also managed to fit in a quick  to trip the Science Museum!

Anti Bullying week 11th – 15th November –Change starts with us!

During this week, pupils and staff have been discussing exactly what constitutes bullying, the effects bullying has on everyone and what we can all do to help ensure that it doesn’t happen.

At Brunel we use the acronym S.T.O.P. to describe what bullying is and what we can do to stop it.

Several    Times     On         Purpose

Start        Telling    Other     People

If someone deliberately pushes you over one day on the playground or thumps you one day on the arm that's not bullying because it happened only once. It's unkind and unacceptable behaviour and will be dealt with but it's not bullying. Bullying is where someone is deliberately unkind or hurts you on purpose on several occasions. This is a really useful distinction for children to understand. The second part of the acronym tells you what to do if you or someone you know is being bullied. Speak to someone - start telling other people. The problem cannot be dealt with if nobody knows about it. We tell the children to speak to a teacher, TA, lunchtime supervisor, parent, relative, other child - anyone at all can help and if they can't they'll know who to pass it on to.

This Remembrance Day a group of very proud children had the important task of representing Brunel out in the community. They took part in the two minutes silence held near the war memorial with members of Saltash town council, the Royal British Legion and Saltash citizens.

Year 3 have been using their knowledge of ancient Egypt to write a story with a historical setting. They began by using a WAGOLL to create a toolkit, a list of everything they would need to include for their writing to be successful.

WAGOLL stands for ‘What a Good One Looks Like’ and they are ‘good’ examples of work that teachers give students to look at to provide inspiration for their own work. They help set a certain standard that children should be aiming to achieve in order to meet the lesson objectives. By examining the WAGOLL together pupils can create a list, or Toolkit, of everything they need to include to make their own writing successful.

These children were really proud to read their finished stories to me and each had identified their favourite sentence........

The intelligent guide stopped at each mesmerising display to inform the excited children about the unique artifacts.

Evelyn wasn't looking where she was going so she crashed into a beautiful, tall pyramid with bricks as rough as a rock and a lovely sandy colour that spread across the thick extraordinary pyramid. 

Well done.

Last week our year 6 pupils enjoyed five jam packed days of outdoor activities at Okehampton. Qualified instructors ensured that all the children, whatever their ability, were able to experience a variety of pursuits such as  kayaking, surfing, cycling and team building. 
Everyone, adults included, enjoyed finding out about each other's hidden talents!