TALLAND'S BLOG 14.11.25

It's been a fun, busy and action packed week in Talland! We've had auditions, scripts have been handed out and we've had art of plenty! 

Here's a break down of our week:

Maths: 
Year 5 have moved onto decimals, where they are continuing to add and subtract. They're now investigating how that works whilst decimals are involved. They have also been calculating angles from a straight line.
Year 4 have also moved onto decimals. They have begun to recognise how decimals are linked to fractions. They have also explored different lines of symmetry.

English:
Talland have been looking at a range of poetry features and they've used these features to plan a poem for Ade Adepitan (a famous Para Olympian basketball player and TV personality). They wrote their poems independently today and they are sounding brilliant!

Art:
Talland have been using a range of crafting tools to calve their chosen animal/minibeast into soap - this was a tricky and long process. It took a tremendous amount of concentration and determination - we had some achy hands by the end. We also created animals out of wire - this was really fiddly. And, finally, today we began looking at how to created bubble writing and then cut them out... the final product will be shared on next weeks blog!

History:
We have begun looking at the end of the Roman Empire, the rise of the Anglo Saxons and the crossing of those vicious Vikings. It's really interesting - I don't know about you - but I love History!

PE:
With Mrs. Hillman, the children have been practicing passing skills within netball. With me, we have jumped into dodgeball. Children were learning how to pass and aim with accuracy... DODGE, DUCK, DIP, DIVE and DODGE!

CONGRATULATIONS to Zach this week for being noticed for his outstanding persistence with his handwriting!

That's all from us in Talland. We hope you have a brilliant weekend!

Signing off from Mr. Langley and Mr. Bishop.

Friday 14th November

Some of this week's wonderful exploration has included:

We have been practicing shoulder, arm, hand and finger strength by doing lots of gross and fine motor skills activities. Having strength is really important to be an amazing writer. So in English this week the children have been showing Mrs Phillips how amazing they are at holding their pencils with the correct tripod grip, we will continue to practice this lots. The children have drawn a picture of The Little Red Hen, in their books and then used oral blending and letter recognition to write a key word like /hen/ or /red/.

On Tuesday we had Remembrance Day, and all our activities were based on the day. We learnt and explored what this day meant, and we all stood to take part in the two-minute silence, which all the children did amazingly well, and it was very moving!

The children have been exploring Anti-Bullying week, we started with odd socks day on Monday and then we explored what bullying means and what we can do to ensure we are kind to others, how we can be good friends and also what to do if we feel we are being bullied.

Today we had a wonderful Children in Need Day and we all looked great in our PJ's. Thank you for all the donations. We explored why we take part in this day, and the children were so kind and thoughtful with their words during our children in need lesson.

We have started to practice our Christmas nativity concert this week, so apologies for the amount of Christmas singing you will be hearing at home over the next few weeks he he! More details about the performances will come out soon.

Have  a lovely weekend

The Foundation Team 

Thank you for your continued support this week and your generosity for providing some loose change for Children in Need today. In addition, thank you to all the parents who joined us for our Remembrance Service on Tuesday; it was brilliant to all come together for this very special date in our country's calendar. Just a gentle reminder that we will be meeting at Saltash Guildhall at 5:15pm tonight for the Christmas Light switch on. We hope as many of our families as possible will be able to join us. In the meantime, please find this week's edition of The Brunel Bulletin.

This week has been another busy one across the school. On Wednesday, Class 4 competed in a netball tournament at Callington College against Calstock, Callington and Stoke Climsland schools. Rather than take a team of experienced players like the other schools, we gave all our children the opportunity to take part in a competitive team sport by fielding three teams. We may not have won the most games but the children were brilliant in their efforts and sporting conduct, which is reflected in the action photos below.


Callington College Transition Visit
To support transition to secondary school, two Callington College staff members visited Class 4 this week to talk about the college and answer children's questions. There will be a further visit in the spring term before Year 6 pupils visits to the college in the summer term.

Children In Need
The non-uniform day today raised £97.62 for the Children In Need appeal. Thank you for your support.

SPACE Parenting Programme
The NHS Mental Health Support Team are running a SPACE programme for parents and carers. Please see the poster below advertising the next session, starting in January 2026.

This programme is designed for parents/carers to better understand and support their children's emotions. The programme will help with understanding and managing emotions, it will offer practical approaches to support children and cover some coping strategies.

Design Technology
I just want to share a few more photos from Class 4 who are designing and making their own soft toys. This week they were learning to use running and cross stitches to add decoration. The children really impressed me with their ability to do this almost entirely independently without adult intervention. This demonstrates a high level of skill which I am sure the children could put to good use darning socks and doing other clothes repairs at home!


Next week we take on blanket stitching and stuffing.

Date Correction
In a change from my last blog post, please note the Christmas performance dates are 9th, 10th and 12th December, not the 11th as stated.

Half-Term Skate Club at TR7: Rolling into Year Two

This half term has brought with it the return of one of our most exciting extracurricular adventures: the Blisland Skate Club at TR7 Skate Park. Now in its second year, the club has quickly become a highlight for pupils who are eager to swap the classroom for ramps, rails, and the thrill of learning new tricks. Over the course of six weekly lessons, our young skaters are not only developing their confidence but also building upon the skills they honed last year. For those who joined us previously, it's been inspiring to see how much progress they've made. Moves that once felt daunting are now being attempted with ease, and the determination to push boundaries is clear in every session.

The expert tuition provided by TR7's coaches has been central to this growth. Their patient guidance and technical know-how ensure that every child, whether a complete beginner or a returning skater, feels supported and challenged. The coaches break down techniques into manageable steps, encouraging pupils to focus on balance, coordination, and flow. It's not just about mastering tricks-it's about learning resilience, celebrating small wins, and embracing the joy of movement.

Of course, Blisland wouldn't be Blisland without a touch of individuality. This year, we've brought our own unique style to the park, most memorably through one of our students who has chosen to skate in Wellington boots. It's a quirky twist that has captured the spirit of the club: creativity, fun, and the freedom to express yourself in your own way. Whether in skate shoes or wellies, the important thing is the enthusiasm and energy each child brings to the ramps. Beyond the technical skills, the club fosters a strong sense of community. Pupils cheer each other on, share tips, and celebrate every achievement-big or small.

Remembrance

What a wonderful week we've had in Tregantle Class! Our learning has been full of creativity, kindness, and music.

This week, we explored a poppy theme for Remembrance Day. The children showed such thoughtfulness and respect during our special service on Tuesday. It was lovely to see everyone creating poppies in so many different and imaginative ways - our classroom looked beautiful and meaningful.

In music, we had a super fun lesson using the xylophones! The children explored how sounds can move from low to high and high to low, and they did a brilliant job following the conductor to create loud and quiet sounds.

During maths, we've been investigating shapes with four sides. Using lots of different equipment, the children made squares and rectangles - it was fantastic to see their problem-solving skills in action.

Our writing skills are also going from strength to strength! The children have been using amazing firework words such as pop, bang, and whizz to make their writing sparkle.

To celebrate National Kindness Day on Wednesday, the children made heartfelt thank-you cards for all the wonderful people who help us in school - from our cooks to our caretaker. It was a lovely way to show appreciation and spread kindness.

Well done, Tregantle Class - what a brilliant week of learning, creativity, and kindness!

This month we have been consolidating our understanding of place value and also learning to add and subtract in Maths.
We have learnt to add and subtract two digit numbers and learnt the number bonds to 10 off by heart.
We will be continuing this learning throughout November.

In R.E. we have been thinking about who is a Muslim and how do they live?
We have discussed what people think about God and what Muslims think about God.
We have thought about the 99 different names for God in Islam and considered what other names we might be called, linked to our personality and things that we like to do. We learnt about the 5 pillars of Islam and also learnt some stories from Islam and thought about what lessons we can learn from them.

We ended our Great Fire of London topic with a fantastic visit from the Fire Service who brought a fire engine for us to explore. We enjoyed learning about how they fight fires today and discussed how it compared to how fires were tackled in Tudor times.
We even got to have a turn at squirting the hose!

P.S.H.E. has been all  about 'Being Me in My World' this month. We have considered what rights and responsibilities we have in school and we decided on some points for our class charter to ensure a safe and happy learning space which we all signed.
 

Cornwall - a local study

We welcomed back Year 6 after their half term break and many of the children had been busy at home making their own Anglo-Saxon settlement, following on from our History topic last half term about the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain.

This half term, our focus shifts to Geography, where we are carrying out a local study of Cornwall. We began, last week, by investigating some of the features of our beautiful county and making sure that we understand the difference between physical and human geography. This week, we have moved on to investigate the different ways in which the land is used in Cornwall. We discussed farming (dairy, crop, cattle and alternative energy farms such as wind, wave and solar), tourism, mining (historically tin, copper & lead; currently, lithium to power electric cars), fishing and industry.

In English, we have just finished our persuasive adverts for the spy gadgets that we invented. We decided that we wanted to turn these into actual radio or tv adverts and one child even turned up for the day with 'persuasive hair'!

In Maths, we have just finished our first fractions topic. Many of the children were not feeling very confident about fractions, so it has been wonderful to see their confidence grow throughout this unit.

In Science, we have finished our unit on Light and we have begun our topic on 'Animals including Humans'. We now all have a better understanding of our circulatory system and how the heart works and this week, we will be learning more about the important jobs our blood vessels and blood cells do for us.

This week has been a particularly busy one. We have commemorated the end of World War I and taken time to reflect on all those who fought and died in any conflicts around the world with a 2 minute silence at 11am on 11th November. This week has also been anti-bullying week, so we have been discussing what is actually meant by bullying, why bullying should not happen and exploring how we would feel if someone were to be unkind to us, based on our own insecurities. This involved some big thinking for Year 6 but it was an important subject to cover, as kindness and empathy are a real focus for us this year. Finally, Friday will be Children in Need. The children will be dressing up in pyjamas, or something spotty and bringing in a donation, to support this wonderful charity.

We have been very fortunate to receive a special grant from Nature Park to support and improve biodiversity in our school. We are already incredibly lucky to have such amazing grounds but this year we have create an eco-council who will drive this in school.

We were invited by Plymouth University to attend a climate action event to look at ways schools are making a difference. The children were very excited as we were able to take the train to Plymouth which some had never been on before.

To start the day, we looked at our school and were mapping areas which were rich in biodiversity and areas that can be improved. We then used cards to give us inspiration on ways that we can add to our improved areas. A popular suggestion by the children is planting wildflowers and we will aim to put this around the edge of the school fencing on the school field. We then had to use this inspiration to create their perfect eco-school to support the environment and wellbeing and we had some very creative ideas: mini biome for growing vegetation, flower wall, learning hut, outdoor gym and solar panels. We finished the day listening to some guest speakers and talking to other groups of children about what they are doing in their schools to help give each other ideas.

Stay tuned for our climate action journey as we have a very passionate group of children who want to be change agents and make our school even better!

It has been a busy week as we have continued to explore colour by mixing paints and making predictions about what colours could be created. The chilren achieved this through hand painting, mixing in zip lock bags and creating a large painting college to go on the book arch.
The children have also named and arranged shapes and created shape wreaths to hang up.

On Tuesday we marked Remembrance by decorating biscuits to look like poppies and we celebrated Children in Need today by dressing in pyjamas, spotty or bright coloured clothes. The children all looked great and we thank you for your kind donations.

This week at story time, we have enjoyed books such as "Simon's Sock" and "H is for Happysaurus".
In phonics, we have been listening to and recognising sounds in the story of "The Gingerbread Man", copying body percussion and actions in songs and copying patterns of sounds in a game of "Piggy Percussion".

In maths we have continued to explore number by counting and naming different numbers in addition to ordering them.

Have a great weekend

Julie and Sarah

This morning, Treyarnon class took part in a coding workshop funded by the RAF. 

They learned about the Caesar Cipher and how it could be applied to the internet. For example, the importance of a strong password and how people might use coding to hack them. 

A busy first week back in pre-school after the half term break.  The children were excited to be back and shared some lovely stories of fun things they had enjoyed with their families.

We delved straight into our Autumn Term 2 question 'What makes Julia Donaldson stories so fun and exciting?' Room on the Broom was our first text to enjoy this week, with our own potion making tuff tray and some sparkly wand making to wish for our own truly magnificent broom!

Another special date this week was Bonfire Night, the children looked at pictures of fireworks, and we made our own explosive colourful artwork.  We also enjoyed making chocolate breadstick sparklers!

Our other activities included the start of a new Phonics topic.  This half term our phonics sessions are 'Traditional Tales' themed.  With Goldilocks and the Three Bears starting us off.  We listened to the story and enjoyed different daily sessions - Lumpy Bumpy Porridge being a favourite where we explored rhyming words and mixed them in to the pot!

Our music assemblies and lessons with Mrs Butlin have been exciting with the introduction of the music for the whole school performance of Lights, Camel, Action 2!

Lastly, we have enjoyed some afternoon art lessons 'Drawing Marvelous Marks' alongside our Reception friends - exploring mark making using different drawing materials.

This Friday is 'Children in Need', we will have some Pudsey activities for the children.  The school has a non-uniform day for £1 donation, if Pre-school children would like to dress up or wear something Pudsey themed for a donation they are most welcome.

The Pre-School Team. 

 

 

 

The children have been so busy this week; starting their enquiries and beginning their rehearsals for the Christmas performances. Next week will be even busier!

Poppies and Remembrance We will be having a Remembrance assembly on Tuesday 11th November next week with Rev Richard. Year 6 volunteers have been doing a great job selling poppies at playtimes. If your child would like to buy a poppy to raise funds for the British Legion, please send your child in with cash. A minimum donation of 50p per paper poppy would be welcome. Plastic poppies and bracelets are also available for £1.

Clubs After school Football Club for girls will now start after Christmas.

Parent Consultations NEXT WEEK Thank you for signing up for parent consultations next week. There will be no clubs next week, however wraparound care will continue as usual.

Book Fair (Scholastic) This will be held at 3:15pm in school next week in Chaipel Class on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and in the hall on Wednesday. Please come and have a look at what is on offer next week. For every book bought, you help to earn free books for our school. The children had a look at the wonderful selection today and the most improved reader in each class was awarded a voucher to spend at the Book Fair. Well done to Nuala, Charlie-Ray, Amelia and Hudson.

Anti-Bullying Week 2025 will take place next week, with the theme: Power for Good. The week will kick off with Odd Socks Day on Monday 10th November, where adults and children wear odd socks to celebrate what makes us all unique. Odd Socks are all about fun and laughter, but more importantly they deliver a message of individuality, acceptance and tolerance. We will be joining in with Odd Socks Day. All the children need to do is wear odd socks on Monday please.

Children in Need, MUFTI Day Friday 14th November For our Children in Need MUFTI fundraiser day on Friday 14th November, please send your child in wearing spotty clothes, pyjamas or anything colourful on the day. A donation of £2 or more to Children in Need will be collected in class. We also have a supply of "Pudsey Ears" for the School Council to sell. These cost £2.50 with all profits going to Children in Need.

FOPS Fundraising Quiz Night Join us for a fun-filled Quiz Night at school on Friday 14th November. The event is open to parents, carers, and friends of the school. Doors open at 6:30pm for a 7:00pm start. Form a team of 4-6 people and test your knowledge while supporting our fundraising efforts. Tickets are £5 per person and are available from the school office. See the attached poster for more details. We hope to see you there!

A huge thank you to FOPS for organising the school discos before half term. They raised £248.55 which will go towards resources for school including trikes for Penhallow Class.

Open Morning We are holding an Open Morning on Wednesday, 12th November 2025, from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. This event is for families who are looking for a Primary School place for their child starting in September 2026. Please see the attached flyer for more details and feel free to share this information with anyone who may be interested. 

Have a great weekend.

A Hillman