It's great that we’ve come out of lockdown and find ourselves in the lowest Tier of restrictions in the country, however, things are still far from normal.

Many of the usual Christmas activities are unable to take place both at school and in the community, so you may be looking for new things to keep your children amused.

Together for Families and other partners have created an activity booklet, filled with everything you need to get crafting, cooking and colouring over December. It’s jam-packed with projects, recipes, tips and games such as Christmas movie bingo and cupcake tree decorations.

Download your FREE copy at

https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/education-and-learning/coronavirus-advice-for-children-and-families/doing-december-differently/

Suzanne Cooper

Headteacher                                                        

I had some very important visitors from Polzeath class this morning who were extremely proud of their independent writing. 

They had each drawn a detailed picture and had then composed a sentence in their mind before writing  it down.

Everyone remembered capital letters, full stops and finger spaces and they were also able to read it back to me.

Well done.

I am pleased to announce that this year, in the absence of the lantern parade, Brunel Academy  will be supporting the Saltash Chamber of Commerce's "Window Wanderland", which is due to take place from the 5th to the 7th of December.

Organisers are hoping that this new initiative will build on the community spirit shown in Saltash during lockdown and bring the community together in a Covid-safe event.

Brunel will be decorating the two reception windows near the main entrance and families at home are invited to register and take part too. As long as it is family friendly, the theme of your window display is entirely up to you.

When you register you will have access to a map which will display the location of all the addresses taking part. Joining in as either a ‘Window maker’ or a ‘Wanderer’ is absolutely free. We would enjoy seeing photos of your windows at home if you do decide to give it a go.

Further information can be found at windowwanderland.com

Suzanne Cooper
Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for your support of Children in Need on Friday. The children looked very cheerful, dressed in their multi-coloured mufti. Many classes joined in with the final stage of Joe Wick’s 24-hour challenge workout which reminded us of the earlier lockdown!

Years 3 and 4 took part in a multi-coloured walk past St Anne’s Care Home. We’ve not been able to visit our friends there this year and the residents read our posters and returned our waves enthusiastically.

Issy’s Nursery held their very own duck race and raised an amazing £40; James Pond was declared the winner with Lucky Ducky coming a close second!

A grand total of £190.21 has been donated to Children in Need.

Well done everyone!

Suzanne Cooper                                                                                                                                                                                                        Headteacher

.

Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn term. It looks as if it could be a difficult month or two but I’m really pleased that, during this lockdown, the school is remaining open to all children.

Today your child will be coming home with a questionnaire concerning home learning. Please complete and return it as soon as you can as it is important for us to understand your particular circumstances.We know that it is not always easy to manage home learning, especially if you’re a family with more than one child and possibly trying to work from home yourselves.

Today we held our very first, socially distanced, school council meeting in the KS2 hall. The school council voted to support Children in Need (Friday 13th November) by holding a Multi-Coloured Mufti Day with a suggested donation of £1. I look forward to seeing how colourful we all look!

Next week I will be visiting classrooms in order to persuade your children to put themselves forward to be a school councillor.

School councillors have the very important job of representing the views of their peers when staff and governors are making decisions that affect us all.

In the past, Brunel councillor duties have included such actions as taking part in staff interviews, deciding which playground equipment to buy and altering lunchtime procedures as well as leading fundraising events on behalf of the school or charities such as Children in Need.

The first part of the process is the elections. Anyone who wants to be a councillor must follow in the footsteps of all politicians and create a manifesto. This means setting out why you think you would make a good councillor and what you would do if elected. Candidates can make notes or draw pictures to help them give a speech to their classmates and councillors are then chosen by means of a secret ballot.

In a first for Brunel, 2020 School Councillors will be meeting virtually through Teams. The results will be announced in a future edition of the newsletter.

Good luck everyone!

Thank you very much for complying with our request to wear face coverings when on school grounds, your feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

I am aware that some of you do not see the necessity but have still complied and want to let you know that your actions have helped to alleviate some of the anxiety felt by the more vulnerable members of our community.

We all know that this virus can adversely affect certain people more than others and by covering our faces we have shown that we care about each other.

Please also be aware that some people may not be able to wear a mask due to medical conditions which may not always be apparent. 

Start times/ entrance as follows:
Reception – 8.50  KS1 playground gate

Y1 - 8.45 KS1 playground gate – keep to the right

Y2 – 8.45 KS1 playground gate – keep to the left

Y3 – 8.45 children only to enter through the main gate – keep right and enter building Y3 patio door

Y4 – 8.50 children only to enter through the main gate – keep left and enter through KS2 main doors

Y5 (Mr Arnold) – 8.50 children enter through library gate any accompanying adult to leave immediately through Callington Road gate. (One way system in operation) Children enter school from playground steps.

Y5/6 (Mr Knight) - 8.45 children enter through library gate any accompanying adult to leave immediately through Callington Road gate. (One way system in operation) Children to enter school through

Y6 patio door. Y6 – (Miss Burton) - 8.45 children enter through library gate any accompanying adult to leave immediately through Callington Road gate. (One way system in operation) Children to enter school through Y6 patio door. If you have more than one child, please drop off your older children first.

Finish times/exits  Monday to Thursday         /         Friday

Reception – 3.10 from KS1 playground                    12.55 from KS1 playground

Y1 – 3.15 from KS1 playground (keep right)            1.00 from KS1 playground

Y2 – 3.15 from KS1 playground (keep left)               1.00 from KS2 playground

If you also need to pick up children from Y3 or Y4 - on leaving KS1 playground please go through the main gate and up the drive.

If you need to pick up a child in R, Y1 or Y2 and a Y5 or Y6 child (but not Y3 or Y4) you will need to access the KS2 playground via the library gate exiting on Callington Road.

Please pick up your younger child first, we understand that you cannot be in two places at once!

LKS2 finish times/exits Monday to Thursday     /     Friday

Y3 – 3.15 from main drive (keep right)                       1.05 from main drive (keep right)

Y4 – 3.20 from main drive (keep left)                          1.10 from main drive (keep left)

If you also need to pick up a child from R, Y1 or Y2, please pick up your younger child first, we understand that you cannot be in two places at once!

If you also need to pick up a Y5 Y6 child please continue up the drive, taking the path around the Y6 patio area, meet your child on the KS2 playground and leave via the Callington Road gate.

UKS2 finish times/exits Monday to Thursday      /     Friday


Y5 – 3.20 from KS2 playground (enter from library exit Callington Road)      1.15 on Friday

Y5/6 – 3.15 from KS2 playground (enter from library exit Callington Road)  1.15 on Friday

Y6 - 3.15 from KS2 playground (enter from library exit Callington Road)        1.10 on Friday

Please pick up your younger child first, we understand that you cannot be in two places at once! P.E. kit will not be required for the for the time being but children will need their trainers in school every day. We will let you know in advance when full kit will be required. Please can parents keep to prompt start and finish times and ensure social distancing at all times. May we also request that you avoid visiting the school office or reception and direct any enquiries via telephone or email.

Dear Parents, Carers and Staff,

As we reach the end of this extremely unusual term, I would just like to take this opportunity to express my thanks and admiration for how brilliantly everyone in our Brunel community has worked together in the face of the difficulties that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused.

I think you can be incredibly proud of all you have achieved for our Brunel children over the past one and a half terms, both at home and at school. Parents, Carers, Teachers, TAs, Admin, Kitchen and Cleaning staff have all shown considerable flexibility and creativity in altering routines and changing ‘career’, sometimes daily.

I’m aware of some of the issues that have presented as children have tried to continue with their education at home or at school, and there have been many successes too. I am constantly amazed by the variety of the learning and the resourcefulness of the adults. By persevering and continuing to work in partnership together, we have adapted to each challenge as it has arisen. There are many things that we have learned, the most important being that the health and wellbeing of us all is top priority and not to be taken for granted.

There is a constant media narrative at the moment of the ‘failed children’ and of how this generation will suffer because of the schooling they have missed. I and many others do not believe this to be true. There is not just one chance to learn. Education is life long and it’s never too late. We will be working extremely hard to ensure that any gaps in learning are filled as soon as possible. Brunel staff are some of the most committed and creative practitioners out there!

We are all desperate to get back to normality but it seems that we could be on this journey for a while. We will be working to the new guidelines in September but there still remains much uncertainty. I will be in touch over the holiday to advise you of any new developments if and as they occur. I am aware of anxieties concerning new school hours and would like to reassure working parents that we are not envisaging any problems with children being dropped off and collected before and after the usual school hours. We are hoping to reinstate Kid’s Club as a paying provision, but in order to be able to socially distance, will again ask that parents limit using it whenever possible.

I would just like to end by once again thanking everyone for your support, cooperation and generosity throughout this challenging time, we are a brilliant Brunel community. I hope you all have a safe, enjoyable and relaxing holiday in the circumstances and look forward to seeing you again in the new term.

With very best wishes,

Suzanne Cooper  Headteacher