We have had another week full of amazing fun learning and exploring new things.

In Literacy, we have been analyzing our WAGOLL to figure out how we use the past tense to tell stories. We have also learned how the use of exciting action verbs changes the picture we paint in the minds of the reader. In Maths, we have continued our enquiry into multiplication by looking at arrays. This term, we are learning all about plants in Science. This week, we decided to set up our own experiments to prove what we think plants need the most to grow big and healthy. While some of us are testing how plants grow without any sunlight, some of us are testing if they can grow without water or soil. You can see how we have set up our experiments in the photo below.

In RE we are continuing our enquiry into Islam this term. This week, we worked with Miss Walker to understand the importance of the Qur'an for Muslims and how that influences how they treat their holy book. We then created helpful posters to tell people about how to look after the Qur'an. In History, we learned all about the first flight in an engine powered airplane. We looked at the historical significance of this even of 1903 and discussed its impact on our lives today. In Music, we explored the connections between emotion and music. We listened to a wide range of music ranging from Bach to Joplin to understand how music evokes a variety of reactions and emotions in different people. Finally, in Art, we explored primary colours by playing with primary coloured paint and a variety of unusual tools for mark making. We are looking forward to using the finished paintings to create collages in our sketchbooks next week.

Finally, a very well done to:
> Isabella for getting the Ready Award for her amazing work in Literacy.
> Jane for getting the Respectful Award for always waiting for her turn to talk.
> Roma for being nominated by the Positive Potato Police to get the Safe Award for being a good friend and letting others join her games.

It's lovely to see the class back after Christmas and ready for a new term! In Maths, Year 5 have been learning about equivalent fractions, while Year 6 have been working on adding fractions. In English, we've started exploring example texts to help us write a setting story based on Pandora, focusing on using descriptive language to bring this incredible world to life.  Here we have been spotting for different features to understand what makes a good text.  It has helped us to understand how writers use devices such as noun phrases or figurative language.  We're excited to see all the amazing work you'll create this term!

Next week is bikeability on Thursday for any Year 6 pupils that have signed up.  

What an action packed first week back it has been, but not for the reasons we were hoping for! With snow and ice disruption for many on Tuesday and an early school closure yesterday due to Storm Goretti, it has been less than perfect. However, the children have been brilliant, taking it in their stride and settling very quickly and calmly into their learning. It was lovely to see them all this week and hopefully we will be back to normal routines from now on - fingers crossed!
Spring may be the the shortest term but is is no less action packed. Here is a flavour of what we have to look forward to:

- Year 5 & 6 football league at Callington College (Year 3 & 4 after half term)
- Rocksteady will continue with multiple band sessions
- Pro20 Sports will offer two after school sports clubs again
- Class 3 will be visiting Truro Museum
- Several more cross country races
- Class 4 will be planting trees at Cotehele as part of our involvement in an exciting project with the George Orwell Society
- Year 1 & 2 swimming after half term
- Barrow Beats to sing to Callington Luncheon Club
- Year 1 & 2 participation in a multiskills event at Callington College
- Participation in a Bridge music event in Liskeard with Canadian environmental folk singer Luke Wallace
- Barrow Beats to participate in Songfest
- Class 1 trip to the Theatre Royal

In between gritting the paths around the site and closing the school early due to Storm Goretti, I have had the more pleasurable task of wandering around the classes this week to see how children have re-engaged with their learning.  I was  blown away by the levels of engagement and progress in maths; there is some really fantastic work across all classes in this subject. Here are some examples from Ella Chapman's book in Year 2. Ella received a Praise Award in Celebration Assembly today for her efforts in maths. We will be inviting you all to join us again for one of our morning maths sessions in the weeks ahead so you can see how your children are progressing. Please remember, for your child to make this most of these short morning maths sessions, they need to arrive at school promptly for 8.40am.



Another activity I observed was the weekly reading partner session, where our Year 6 Learning Ambassadors read books to their Class 1 partner. This activity is beloved of both age groups and helps establish that love of books from a young age. Thank you to our Class 4 children, who do an amazing job with this.


Finally, we welcomed a new member into our school community this week. This is Bob the positive potato!

Each week, Bob will be joined by members of the Positive Potato Police (members of Class 4) who will be looking for examples of positivity from a child's perspective. He will then feedback what he has seen to teachers so they can reward identified children appropriately for their contribution to the school. Today, Seth was nominated by Eli and Josh from the Positive Potato Police for his positive contribution at playtime. Well done to Seth and thank you to Eli and Josh for a positive story to share in our Celebration Assembly. I look forward to sharing some more positive stories as identified by Bob and the Positive Potato Police in the term ahead. 

We've had a week of Christmas performances, and everything has gone smoothly! The children have put great effort into learning their lines and preparing for their roles, and it has been good to see their hard work come together on stage. We would also like to thank parents for their support at home in helping the children practise and feel confident. Their involvement has made a noticeable difference. We appreciate everyone's contribution during this busy time.

It has been a very exciting week of nativity performances and singing all round. Christmas is really in the air!

Thank you Class 2 family for all your support in helping your children learn their lines, getting their costumes together and being there to support us during all 3 performances.

This week, in Maths, we have continued our enquiry into shapes by investigating the properties of 3D shapes by counting their faces, edges and vertices. In Literacy, we have completed our instructions on how to catch Santa. No, no! It is not to trap him on his rounds on Christmas eve, and spoil Christmas for the rest of the world. No! We are planning to set an alarm so that we wake up when he comes down our chimneys because we have tons of questions and presents for him... while some of us just want to hitch a ride with him on his sleigh.

Between all the chaos of last minute nativity rehearsals and performances, we also managed to squeeze in a really fun Computing lesson where we learned about the use of loops to make our algorithms cleaner and clearer.

Christmas Performance



This year's Christmas performance was magical. Our children lit up the stage with their talent, confidence, and passion, delivering a show that left everyone beaming with pride. From the heartfelt singing to the excellent acting and stunning costumes, everything reflected the hard work, joy and creativity that make our school community what it is. What a wonderful way to end the term and celebrate the festive season.

Attendance
You may have seen media coverage of flu and sickness bugs sweeping through schools, causing some to close. Although we're not at that level, we have seen very high absence rates this last week or so. Sickness cannot be helped and is a justifiable reason for children not to attend school. If your child is ill, please remember to report each day of absence first thing in the morning so we can record the reason for their absence. Fingers crossed we have a healthier time next week so the children can enjoy the end of term festivities.

Final week festivities
Monday 15th December - PSA film night from 3.30pm
Wednesday 17th December - Christmas dinner
Friday 19th December - Christmas party day. Children may wear party clothes/Christmas jumpers and bring a game to play (no electrical devices please). They will also need a party picnic - thank you.

A reminder that we finish at 1.30pm on Friday 19th, the last day of term.

Here is some of our writing based on the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  Here we imagined going through a portal into another world.  It has really fired up the children's imaginations. This week we have also had the play in the village hall.  It was lovely to watch Year 6 go back to 1963 and see "the Beatles" in action during the song.  The class have worked really hard on their parts and it was great to see them performing to everyone.  The singing sounded fantastic.  We also sang to luncheon club and I think they enjoyed experiencing a blast from the past.  

Next week we have Christmas dinner to look forward to and party day on Friday.  On Friday pupils can come to school in party clothes and will need to bring a party packed lunch.  

Its has been an exciting week of rehearsals, dress ups and trips!

Despite our topsy-turvy time tables, we have managed to get oodles of learning into our days this week. In Literacy, we have started a new unit of work - we are learning how to write instructions. We had a go at writing our own instructions for our learning partners and then looked at how we could have made them better. Then we looked at some different instructions and compared them to find out what we could include in our own. In Maths, we continued our inquiry into shapes by looking at the vertical line of symmetry. We have even had a go at completing different 2D shapes by using our knowledge of the vertical line of symmetry. Who knew using a ruler was this tricky!

We have also been working super hard at learning our cues and timings for our Nativity next week. Thank you Class 2 families for helping your children learn all their lines and for making time to get their costumes ready. We can't wait to see you all next week for our 3 super-duper performances. If you haven't got them yet, please make sure you contact the office for your tickets before its too late. However, the best part of the week was our class trip to the Sterts Theater for a fabulous puppet show. It was so awesome to see all the children so engaged and its was joy to watch their tiny eyes light up with wonder!

Finally, a very well done to:
> Sofia for getting the Ready Award for her diligence and hard work, especially during Literacy lessons.
> Ivy for getting the Respectful Award for always being polite and kind.
> Jimmy for getting the Safe Award for listening to and following instructions, and keeping safe during our trip.

The festive season is in full swing, and our team has been busy bringing the magic of Christmas to life! This year's play takes us on a nostalgic trip back to 1963-a time of classic charm, timeless traditions, and unforgettable music.  Alongside the creative buzz, we've also been diving into the world of circuits. Our experiments have focused on how changing variables-like resistance, voltage, and current-affects overall performance. It's been fascinating to see how small adjustments can lead to big differences in functionality. We've also been sharpening our troubleshooting skills, identifying potential issues.  Here we set the challenge to draw a "broken circuit" and then our partner had to "fix" it.  You have to look closely for the broken wire and the double wire in the pictures.