Community Links

Saltash Lantern Parade

Some of our Brunel's Y6 children, ably assisted by their parents, made some wonderful lanterns for this year's lantern parade. 

As you can see, they looked amazing and we were all really proud of them!

Carols at St Anne's

Years 3/4/5 visited St Anne's for a little Carol Concert last week and it was so lovely to be together.

Christmas Tree Festival

One of our favourite events each year is the annual Christmas Tree Festival at St Nicholas & St Faith Church. This year it was the turn of UKS2 to decorate it and they chose a Victorian theme, using the decorations made on Victorian Day.

The trees are really looking wonderful so it's well worth a visit and each class will get the opportunity. However, if you'd like to go with your family, it'll be open until Sunday 11th.

Mayor and Mayoress visit Brunel!


This week we were delighted to show Councillor Richard Bickford and Mrs Sarah Bickford, the Mayor and Mayoress of Saltash, around Brunel. We visited classrooms from Issy's Nursery to Year 6,  admiring our extensive grounds and playgrounds as we walked.

The Mayor and Mayoress were impressed with the good learning behaviours they saw in every classroom and commented on how calm and friendly they found the children. Pupils enjoyed talking about their work and other activities, for example our longstanding connection with St Anne's Residential home.

The tour concluded with a visit to the Year 6 children, parents and carers taking part in the lantern making workshop. We are looking forward to seeing the decorated Brunel lanterns in the parade on Saturday 3rd December and thank Jill Hudson, the artist, and Helen Holloway-Neville, from Saltash Scrapstore, for their help.

Thank you also to the parents,carers and grandparents who joined in and the Mayor and Mayoress for taking time out of their busy schedule to pay us a visit

Royal Institution Science Roadshow
visits Brunel (again...)!

If you've ever watched the Christmas lectures on TV
you'll be familiar with the RI, who dedicate themselves to connecting people with the world of science.

The morning sessions focused on the development of electricity and the subsequent impact on climate change by the use of fossil fuels. We even saw how the first battery was made using zinc, copper and wait for it...frog juice!

In the afternoon, we welcomed keen scientists from across the Trust for the Community Show entitled 'It Is Rocket Science'. With explosions, bangs and rockets galore it had everything to entertain our budding scientists.

So, all in all, a pretty inspiring day and all that remains now is to look to the future for the next generation of scientists and engineers. Wouldn't it be wonderful if some of those came from our very own Brunel Primary & Nursery Academy?

If you go down to Coombe Woods...

Y3/4 have been planting a big surprise for Spring. Amazingly, they planted 1200 daffodils for us all to enjoy!

Huge thanks to our BFA and the Co-op Community Fund for supplying the daffodils.

Muddy fun!

Thank you, parents, for sending the play clothes in...

Also, to Jon Foster for all his hard work!

Pen Pals!

In order to keep our link with the residents at St Anne's, students from Talland class wrote letters this week detailing some of the exciting activities that they got up to during the Summer holidays, as well as how they are settling back in to school. The residents were obviously delighted as one student has received a lovely letter in response already!

Author visits Saltash Library 

The Y3/4 classes were thrilled to meet the author/illustrator Tom McLaughlin at the library this week, where we discovered lots of interesting things about how he produces his books. It was great fun!

Saltash Regatta 2022

Victorious again at the Regatta and despite the inclement weather, Brunel pupils, families and staff once again did us proud! Many thanks to all those who braved the showers.

Scarecrow Mascot for Saltash United...

We were proud to present a new scarecrow mascot, resplendent in United kit to Julie the Chair Person of the club.  

It was created by year 6 children along with their work experience students from Saltash Community School and has been named Isambard, for obvious reasons!

Many thanks to all concerned.

Pompom Bugs from the Nursery

As part of a project by the Friends of Tincombe, our Nursery have been making pompom bugs, quite a tricky task of some of the children are only 2!

Also, it was lovely to welcome back Mrs Angela Rodgers a good friend of Brunel for many many years, who came to collect them.

Well done everyone in the Nursery!

Bowled Over...

We are bowled over by the generosity shown by one of our wonderful grandparents, who has donated these beautiful bowling woods to the school, and the Brunel Bowlers, who were Cornwall Schools bowls finalists earlier this year.
Thank you from us all at Brunel.

Bowled Over Again...

Great excitement on the sports front again at Brunel when we heard we'd be chosen for a cricket award, following our fantastic cricket course for Y4/5 in the Spring. This was incredibly popular and successful, not least due to Chris Anderson who led the 6 week sessions. Thank you, Chris, we shall be watching our keen cricketers' progress in the future and hoping to produce some stars!

Waitrose Support Brunel

A huge thank you to Waitrose for their generous donation, which was gratefully received by the  staff and children. The funding will be used to support children at Brunel in a variety of ways.   

Saltash Community School Science Show Wows Us!

Super scientists from Years 1 through to 6 were invited to watch a spectacular science show at Saltash Community School on Thursday. The theme of the show was 'energy'. We were thrilled to witness exciting demonstrations involving heat, light and plenty of bangs! 

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Bowled over by Brunel Bowlers!

The Brunel bowler reached the finals of the Cornwall school games last week having won their heats in Launceston in May. The team were fantastic and finished 4th overall. We are officially the 4th best school bowls team in Cornwall, what a great achievement. 

Brunel at the Saltash Big Lunch...

On Sunday 5th June, parents, children and staff got together to enjoy a jubilee lunch on Fore St to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Anniversary.

It was a truly joyful occasion and despite earlier weather reports, the sun shone and our wonderful parents provided an amazing abundance of delicious party food to share.



The mosaics that Brunel helped create!

Big Green Dragon Arrives at the Saltash Library!

The children of Y3 and Y4, with the very talented Mrs Hoek, have worked hard to produce a stunning dragon for the Saltash library to publicise the Big Green Environment Show, which is taking place throughout June.

Measuring more than 5m in length, this was no small undertaking and we hope that you'll take a look as you pass by.


There are all sorts of activities taking place there, including a workshop based on Animals and their Habitats (Monday 13th from 2pm - 5pm),  so do try to pop in after school!

We have several classes who are planning to visit and Y3/4 are meeting up once again with Dr James Buckley (University of Plymouth). We first met him at a Climate Change workshop and he is now visiting Brunel to work with the children to survey the animals that live in our lovely grounds.



Saltash May Fair 2022

Once again the children, parents and staff of Brunel Primary and Nursery Academy did us proud. On a bright sunny morning, a whole group gathered in Victoria Park for a Parade of Youth through Fore Street.

It was such a pleasure to see so many there dressed in Brunel blue and we certainly made our presence felt, particularly with our rather large banner.

Many thanks to all who attended!

Songfest 2022

Brunel's Choir took Plymouth Pavilions by storm!

This year, Brunel once again took part in the Cornish Music Hub's 'Songfest 2022'. A range of school choirs across South East Cornwall are tasked with learning a set of songs based on a theme, then come together to perform in one musical extravaganza held at the Plymouth Pavilions.

Very few people can claim to have performed or sang on such a prominent stage - yet the ten members of the choir, representing the whole of the KS2 choir, did so with energy and professionalism.

They behaved impeccably during the long day: after leaving school early in the afternoon, they had a dress and technical rehearsal with the live band; enjoyed a packed tea whilst watching the Cornwall County choirs rehearse; finally, performing to paying members of the public in the evening.




Carols at St Anne's

It was so wonderful finally to meet up with our friends at St Anne's after such a long time. Year 3/4 were able to sing carols in the garden around their tree and hopefully spread a little festive cheer, as the residents joined in from their windows. We've really missed our weekly visits as part of the Archie Project (promoting dementia awareness), so it was an extra special visit for us all. As December featured 'Elf Day', we decided to host our own and many thanks to those who supported this by sending in a donation, which has duly been sent to the Alzheimer's Society.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Meet the Mayor

After having produced a beautiful Christmas display in the window of Tamar Cards, LKS2 were invited to show their creation to the mayor on Sunday evening. Firstly, the children were able to join in the celebration and the awarding of a trophy to Nikki’s Glow Beads for being chosen as the ‘Children’s Champion’ Christmas Window (partly judged by our year 6 children). They then processed up to the shop, complete with a lantern, to show off their work. Everyone present was delighted as the children proudly pointed out their Christmas gnomes and talked about the fun they’d had making them.

A huge thank you to the LKS2 children, and their parents, who gave up time on a very cold Sunday evening to represent the school. They were a real credit to us

Save our Leisure Centre...
A letter to Boris!

As you have heard Y3/4 have been lobbying Cornwall council to keep the Saltash Leisure Centre open.

Our latest letter to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has now been posted by this Y3/4 pupil, so we now eagerly await his response!

Save our Leisure Centre!

Brunel are standing strong with Saltash Leisure Centre: last week LKS2 school councillors posted an array of fantastic persuasive letters to the consultation, in a bid to save the centre from closure.

We've heard from many eminent people recently that if we all 'do our bit' it can really make a difference, so let's hope that our efforts bring success.

Well done to all the children in Y3/4 for all their hard work and many thanks to one of our parents, Sharon Coombe for her consultative work!

Bulbs from Brunel Friends...

Following our visit to Coombe Woods for a spot of bulb planting, the Brunel Friends Association very kindly donated two BIG sacks of daffodil bulbs to school to brighten up the environment. These have been distributed to classes from Nursery to Year 6, so watch this space...Spring promises to be blooming lovely. Many thanks for the thoughtful donation.

.Brunel Pupil wins Treasure Hunt at Coombe Woods

In July we sent out a treasure hunt set in Coombe Woods and we were thrilled this week to hear that we had a Brunel winner.

This Y4 pupil took part during the holiday with his family. Incredibly he managed to spot 68 out of the 72 bird boxes and so won a cash prize and a large tub of sweets, which he kindly shared not only with his class but also with the class next door. Well done J!

Thanks also to Jon Foster for organising this fun activity and presenting the prize. Our Brunel Primary and Nursery community really appreciates his fantastic work in improving the  Saltash environment for us all! 

Planting Bulbs at Coombe Woods

A group of keen gardeners from LKS2 went to Coombe Woods this week to plant bulbs at the invitation of Jon Foster. It was great fun but rather hard work because the ground was so hard after all the dry weather. Amazingly, the children managed to plant over 900 daffodil, tulip and other Spring bulbs!

Now, we can’t wait to return in Spring to see the glorious results. Many thanks to all those who sent in bulb donations.

Saltash Regatta

How wonderful it is to be able to report a community event after such a long period of restrictions!

During the last weekend of the Summer holidays, Saltash Regatta took place on the weekend of the 4th/5th September. Saturday morning started with a parade, complete with the Town Band and many whistles through Fore Street. 

A huge thank you to all the Brunel parents and children who joined a merry band of teachers - who were more than delighted to see them, I might add! This ended at the stage on Jubilee Green, with a special mention for Brunel Primary and Nursery Academy and a prize for J in Y4 for his fabulous jellyfish costume. 

We were all proud that Brunel had once again risen to the occasion!





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Year 3/4 Pay a (socially distanced)Visit to St Anne's

It seems such a long time that our LKS2 children were able to pay their weekly visits to see our friends in St Anne's Residential Home and we'd heard from their manager that the residents had really been missing the children. So it was decided to do a 'walk past' to coincide with Children in Need and dressed in lovely bright colours, all four classes (suitably spaced in their bubbles) took part, along with the staff and Mrs Cooper.

Nothing had prepared us for the reception we were to receive, there were residents and staff outside, all wrapped up warmly and others waving from windows. It really was heartwarming and they were delighted to receive postcards, including some epic jokes from Year 3 and banners from Constantine class, as well as being treated to a moving art gallery of paintings from Whitsand class.

We are now excitedly planning our next joint venture.


  

Year 3 Celebrate Remembrance Day

 Despite the national events Of 2020, Brunel’s year 3 were determined to mark Remembrance Day in our Saltash community. The children made some beautiful poppy mementos and walked to Longstone Park to lay them for the public to see.


They were both honoured and delighted to be joined by Second Officer Newman, of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, who was in full dress and paraded the Royal Naval Association standard. 

A two minute silence was observed as it was lowered and the staff were proud to note that all the children were extremely respectful.

Thank you to the children and staff of year 3 for representing Brunel Primary & Nursery Academy so well.



Elmer!

THE ELMER PROJECT

Pupils at Brunel Primary and Nursery Academy named and designed their own special Elmer Elephant as part of the Elmer’s Schools Education Trail which took place at Mount Edgcumbe Country Park during the summer of 2019.


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St Luke’s Hospice worked in partnership with Wild in Art and Andersen Press to bring this art trail to life, featuring the much beloved children’s character of Elmer, by Devon born artist and author David McKee. Linked to the curriculum and Arts Award, the Elmer Schools Education Trail enabled our school to incorporate the much loved character and stories of Elmer in lessons and extra-curricular activities, dealing with topics such as loss, making memories and diversity. Brunel’s own Elmer sculpture has a very apt name - Olifans - after pupils entered a competition to name him. Two of our pupils won having chosen “Olifans” or “Oli” for short which means elephant in our native Cornish language.



Brunel and the Community


Brunel takes every opportunity to be visible and make links in the community, e.g. Y3/4 are in the third year of working with St Anne’s Residential Home as part of the Archie Project, a nationwide initiative to raise the awareness of dementia.  Local community events have also been a focus, for example: attendance at the Royal British Legion church service to commemorate the end of WW1; participation in the Kalan Gwav festival, Saltash Regatta, Mayor’s Christmas shop window judging; Christmas Tree festival at St Nicholas & St Faith Church and a Christmas carol service at St Stephen’s Church.


Our field gun crews took part in this year’s Armed Forces Day on Plymouth Hoe. The school choir have taken part in a number of events including performing at Song Fest at the Plymouth Pavilions, St Stephen’s Church Summer Fayre, Drake Circus shopping centre, Waitrose and regular visits to St Anne’s Residential Home.


We also place a lot of emphasis on the cultural heritage of the local community and of Cornwall in general. We address each other in Cornish at the start of assembly, our school motto ‘Degemer an Jydh’ is Cornish for ‘Seize the Day’. Our carol services include carols sung in Cornish and our annual Music of the Afternoon concert features Trelawney, whilst our classes are named after Cornish beaches.


Moreover, we are proud to report that 9 KS2 children won awards at the Saltash Town Youth Awards and for the second year running, the Saltash Young Citizen of the Year is a Brunel pupil, all having been nominated by the academy.


More and more local people are coming in to the school. This includes: Visitors from local churches, an ‘Open the Book’ assembly each term, Royal British Legion, Merchant Navy Captain, Field Gun crew, RNLI, NSPC, TSB bank etc.

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The Archie Project


Weekly Visits


Training with the field gun crew has been cut short but we currently have two teams of 16 children who have been training hard for many weeks, including during the wind and rain!

Working with Mr Knight and Mrs Newman, they had been looking forward to playing a part in the Mayflower 400 celebrations.
This was not to be. New teams will be in place as soon as possible.

 

Our Values...

Creativity

Creative

We are bold and innovative in our approach to find new solutions to the challenges we face.

Curiosity

Curious

We are inspired by the awe and wonder of the world.

Integrity

Responsible

We take responsibility for our actions in an environment of mutual respect.

Enthusiasm

Enthusiastic

We are passionate about learning.

Excellence

Excellent

We are the best we can be.

Determination

Determined

We overcome all barriers to reach our potential, developing a capacity to improve further.

Brunel is an Ofsted graded 'GOOD' school with 'OUTSTANDING' Personal Development and Early Years Provision - click here to see the full report


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