Crafty and Curious!

This week, Talland have been included in some lovely extra-curricular activities including table cricket and making lanterns for the Saltash Lantern Parade. Thank you to those parents who were able to join us in constructing the lanterns; it is always very exciting (and messy!).

Also, we have moved on in our 'Forces' science unit to learn about levers, pulleys and gears. The children were tasked with investigating pulley systems: they had to explain what they could be used for, and how they help. Some were very successful in being able to easily winch up some of the items on their desks! The children will be putting this knowledge to use in DT, in which we have started a railway project and are building a small electrical locomotive.

Talland get Technical!

Thanks to Hyett Education and Miss Henning, Talland got to experience what it is like to work as an engineer in the robotics sector today.

We first had to follow instructions to construct a small robot, then had to solve a series of design problems to allow a Lego figure to be attached, for the wires to stay clear of the wheels and to include a working headlight! The children then had to  produce some code to ensure that the robot did as they wanted it to do and moved where they intended.

It was a truly inspiring, and seriously fun, morning for all.

More gruel please...

Today we dressed like Victorians and learnt what life was like in a Victorian school.

We started by singing the National Anthem in the hall and then we learned how rules were different in Victorian times. For example, children stand every time an adult enters the classroom and they must not count on their fingers during maths lessons.

Throughout the day, they took part in workshops where they found out about Victorian life. They learned about Victorian Christmas and made a decoration, they created a sampler by experimenting with embroidery, they played some Victorian playground games and even chanted their times tables!

I think the highlight was trying the gruel that Jane made - it had mixed reviews.

What a fantastic and educational day!

Antibullying Week, Maths Week England, Local Visits and Violin Concerts!

My goodness, what an action-packed week Talland have had!

In English, we have been learning to recite and analyse 'From a Railway Carriage'; a Victorian poem penned by Robert Louis Stevenson.

To inspire our writing, as well as further our learning about the Industrial Revolution we visited the 'Bridging the Tamar' exhibit and workshop on Thursday. We found out the history of both the Royal Albert Bridge and Tamar Bridge, and details of how they were created, as well as what the area looked like before either were built. In addition, we learned about the cause and effects of the Industrial Revolution, and how our school's namesake was at the heart of this.

Rounding off the week, we held a violin concert to demonstrate what we had been learning with Sally Bartholomew from Asone music hub. I'm sure those parents, who were able to attend, would agree that the progress that they have made in playing the violin, as well as musical concepts like rhythm, reading music and notation, was astounding. If your child would like to continue learning to play the violin, we are very lucky to have Mr Jane who provides lessons. For those children who are in receipt of free school meals, there is often a subsidy available to help with the cost.

Finally, in addition to all of this, we carried out many activities based around Anti-bullying Week and Maths Week England, including a maths treasure hunt where each answer led them to the next clue.

Swimming, STEM and more...

This week has seen a super busy week for Talland! The class demonstrated excellent resilience, determination and enthusiasm during their swimming sessions at Saltash Leisure Centre. Huge progress was made by all children - whether this was honing their technique, learning a new stroke or even overcoming their fears to get in the water and simply float. Thank you to all the staff at Saltash Leisure Centre in providing this excellent tuition for our children.

We also were really lucky to have Jorden and Sean from SDS Sustainability and Engineering Consultants visit us on Thursday for a workshop. We learned about the role of an engineer and how their company designs buildings and building solutions which are more energy efficient and 'green'. The children then had a go at trying to solve an engineering problem: creating a ductwork system in a house, using the least possible pieces of pipes. It was an inspiring session, with lots of children showing an interest in an engineering career by the end.

Maths Roundup

Next week (Mon 11^th  - Fri 15^th Nov), sees the return of Maths Week England! As such, children will be taking part in lots of fun maths puzzles and games in lessons, as well as finding out about maths in real life careers during a Newsday Tuesday special.

To celebrate, we also have some school-wide events taking place:

• Thursday 14^th November - Family Games Night: Maths Escape Room Edition! 

There'll be lots of online and paper-based maths escape rooms to try as families. All are welcome. For every escape room completed, you will gain an entry to a prize draw! As usual, this half term's KIRFs and resources will be available to take away too.

• Crazy KIRFs photo competition!

Open to all ages. Take a photo of your child learning their KIRFs in an unusual way or place and submit them to Mrs Swabey by Fri 15^th Nov. There are some fabulous prizes to be won! Please print and hand in to your child's teacher or email them to lswabey@brunelprimary.co.uk

Please find this half term's KIRFs attached to this blog post.

The End of Autumn 1!

This half term has seen so many exciting activities and opportunities for learning. We've taken part in cricket sessions, violin tuition, a trip to Bodmin jail and street dance to name a few!

This week our celebrations for Black History Month culminated in a sharing assembly whereby we saw which notable person of colour, from the past or present, each class has focussed on. In Talland class, we spent time learning about Mary Seacole - a black lady who, during the Victorian times, was incredibly selfless, nursing soldiers in the Crimean war.

After finding out about her struggles and successes, the children created their very own 'relief printing' tile from card. They then did wax crayon rubbings over these to produce their portrait of Mary. They used the 4 colours associated with Black History Month and found out about the significance of these.

We can't wait to see what exciting opportunities Autumn 2 brings!

We hope that you have a lovely half term: stay safe and enjoy some family time.

Sensational Street Dance Session!

This week we were extremely excited to welcome Toby Gorniak MBE (a well-renowned street dancer, choreographer and mentor), along with his student 'AMR' to Brunel.

He firstly delivered an inspiring whole-school assembly whereby he discussed five elements to a happy, meaningful life: respect, peace, love, unity and having fun! He also explained why dancing has been so important in his life and so beneficial to him as a person.

Talland's excitement grew as we were the last workshop of the day - and boy were we not disappointed! We were taught some warm up techniques, a routine including some of the most recognisable step-types in street dancing, as well as 'breaking'. We finished our session with a group movement routine and Toby and AMR wowed us with some more of their amazing moves! It was such an inspiring, wonderful day: we've not been so happy to be so exhausted before!

Positive Vibes All Round!

This week, Talland took part in the whole school celebration of Mental Health Awareness Day 2024. They were channelling sunshine vibes in their yellow clothing and accessories.

We undertook a wide range of relaxing activities including mindfulness colouring, a reflective session focussing on our emotions, as well as watching some tutorials guiding us through calming techniques.

Later in the day we took a walk, scanning our surroundings using our senses. We heard Jane cooking in the kitchen, birds tweeting and the crunchy leaves under our feet. We smelt freshly cut grass and Jane's roast! The gravel in the garden felt great to walk on, as well as sounding good. Of course, we were spoilt for choice of nice things to look at walking around our grounds: trees, flowers, squirrels and birds were some highlights.

To top off the day, we finished with some chick therapy! Sitting round in a circle, we let the chicks out for a roam around: both the chicks and children seemed to enjoy their first proper encounter! The children agreed that stroking their soft, downy heads was a very satisfying, comforting feeling - a lovely way to end the day!
 

Giving thanks for a fantastic week...

This week, we have been watching the two new chicks growing before our very eyes! In fact, they have developed their voices so much in order to ask for food that they have moved into the room next door to us (Finnygook) to ensure we have peace for learning! We are eager to see what the next week brings as the next batch of eggs are due to hatch on or around Monday...

As well as being fortunate enough to continue with our extra-curricular Time to Shine cricket sessions with Chris, and ASONE violin sessions with Sally, we have been particularly busy in our core subjects. In English we have completed our drafts of our Brunel biographies and have begun writing them up onto information posters. We have been promoting presentation and handwriting as a school; I think you'll be impressed with the transformation in some of our handwriting already this year. Watch out next week to see some completed biographies, complete with illustrations and images...

In maths we have been persevering with our place value unit. Our focus has been on rounding numbers this week - all the way up to rounding numbers within 1 million! It is a tricky skill to master, but is exceedingly helpful out in the real world to ensure that we can judge 'roughly' how many things we will need for a project, how much 'roughly' shopping will be etc.

Our Religious Education topic for this half term is 'Christianity: What Would Jesus Do?'. This week, we analysed Christian prayers and had a go at writing a short prayer of our own: some giving thanks and some making requests for support for ourselves, or others. We were really impressed with how caring and thoughtful Talland class members can be - a great example of our school values and Issy manners in action.

Dates for your diary next week:
Monday 7th Oct - 1pm Harvest Assembly held in the hall (all parents and carers welcome to attend)
Wednesday 9th Oct - 2.30pm Parent Cafe being hosted by Mr Woolner (come along and have a chat, raise any questions you may have, share suggestions) 
Thursday 10th Oct - Mental Health Awareness Day (Children are welcome to wear something yellow to school)