This week has been a very busy and exciting one for the children. In English, we have been learning all about writing clear instructions. We focused on using imperative verbs-our bossy words-and time connectives to help our writing flow in the correct order. The children especially enjoyed applying their new skills to something they know very well: how to make a jam sandwich! They loved talking through each step and making sure they didn't miss any important instructions.

In Maths, we have been exploring place value, concentrating on tens and ones up to 100. The children have been using place value charts, equipment, and drawings to show numbers in different ways, and they are becoming much more confident in recognising how numbers are built.

PE was a real highlight this week. The children became Chinese dragons, working together to move, weave, and perform just like the traditional dragons seen in celebrations. They particularly enjoyed creating their own dragon-inspired movements and performing them as a team.

In PSHE, our discussions focused on bullying. We talked about what bullying looks like, how it makes people feel, and what we can do if we ever see it happening. The children shared thoughtful ideas and showed great empathy during the conversation.

During Learning Adventure, we continued our work on historical events and acted out the story of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. The children loved stepping into character and bringing the story to life through role play.

Reception have also had a wonderful week. They have been practising their special friends in phonics, working on number formation, and even wrote their very own letters to Father Christmas-a magical moment for everyone!

Year 5 have started preparing their lanterns for the Liskeard Lantern Parade on Saturday 29th November. We hope that some of you will be there to support them and enjoy the spectacle. We were joined by a local artist Biddy Daniel who has started the process off with our children. Our creative staff will continue the preparations with all of year 5 to create their lanterns ready for the big event. It is always a magical event to be part of and another chance for the local community to come together.  

This week in Year 1 has been full of exciting learning across all areas of the curriculum!

In English, the children have been focusing on instructional writing. They have been working hard to write clear, effective opening sentences for instructions, thinking carefully about using bossy (imperative) verbs and ensuring their writing is easy for the reader to follow. The class has enjoyed exploring real-life examples of instructions and discussing what makes them successful.

In Maths, we have been developing our understanding of place value, particularly tens and ones. The children have been using practical resources such as dienes and place value charts to build, partition, and compare numbers. This hands-on approach has helped them deepen their confidence with recognising how numbers are structured.

During PSHE, Year 1 have been looking at differences between people and discussing what makes us all unique. The children have shown great maturity while exploring how differences should be celebrated and how kindness and respect help everyone feel valued in our school community.

In PE, the children have been having lots of fun creating their own firework-themed dance sequences. They have experimented with different movements to represent fireworks-such as spirals, bursts, and fizzing actions-while working both independently and in small groups. Their creativity has really shone through!

The class has also been busy practising their Nativity songs, and their enthusiasm has been wonderful to see. The children are learning the words beautifully and are excited to perform for families very soon.

As part of our History learning, Year 1 have been exploring the timeline of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. They have been learning about the key events, why Bonfire Night is celebrated, and how life in the past was different from today.

We also enjoyed singing with Mrs Butlin, where the children joined in with songs and actions, developing their listening and performance skills.

In Art, the children explored texture by creating rubbings using leaves, classroom objects, and textured materials. They experimented with colour and pattern, and produced some fantastic detailed rubbings to share with the class.

It has been a busy and productive week in Year 1, and we are incredibly proud of everything the children have achieved!

Reception have been busy showing us their fantastic phonics knowledge, completing assessments and also learning about Remembrance Day!

Next week is National Anti-Bullying week - we will be working with the class leaders, team captains and student leaders to share their ideas with their classes on the theme Power for Good. Monday 10th November is our chance to nod to odd socks day so please do support this if you can.

Message from PTA: Our PTA Annual General Meeting is on 19th November at 2:15pm (meet at school reception). Everyone's welcome - come along to meet the committee, share ideas, or just see what we're all about.

Thank you to everyone here today for being part in the music, the words, the space, the time to reflect on how lucky we are to be able to come together as a community. Thank you for your generous Liskeard food bank donations which will be collected from school along with just over £150 fundraised by Glee in the summer term. 

Place Value Yahtzee

Our first Maths topic of the year is always Place Value (the value of each digit in a number).  The children have spent several weeks learning and becoming more confident with the place value in numbers up to 10,000,000.

We have also learned about how to round numbers, how to split numbers up in different ways to make our calculations easier and also how to easily multiply (and divide) numbers by 10, 100, 1000.

As a fin way to review our understanding of Place Value - we played games of Place Value Yahtzee.  We really enjoyed the challenge of trying to complete each category.

Restart a heart

We recently joined forces with 'Restart a heart' for their live event.  During the event the children learned about resuscitation and also how to use a defibrillator:

D - DANGER (check for danger - don't put yourself in danger)
R - RESPONSE (Check if the casualty is responding)

A - AIRWAY (Check the casualty's airway)
B - BREATHING (Is the casualty breathing
C - CIRCULATION (Start CPR)

The children watched videos about when it is appropriate to use CPR and what to do if they are the first at the scene of a medical emergency.  They also learned how to perform CPR and practiced their technique on teddies and cushions.  Finally, we learned about how to use a defibrillator machine - and we were surprised that we have a machine in the school.

We hope that we never have to use these skills but it is always good to be prepared.

Another Busy Week in R/1!

What a wonderful and action-packed week of learning it's been in Reception and Year 1!

In Maths, Year 1 have been working hard to add doubles and explored adding three one digit numbers. Over in Literacy, the children have enjoyed innovating parts of our class story and are now busy rewriting their own versions.

Reception have been doing brilliantly with their phonics, learning new sounds and exploring rhyming words after reading Room on the Broom.

In Forest School, Reception had great fun designing and making their own bird houses. Meanwhile, Year 1 have been practicing their basketball skills, learning how to bounce the ball using their fingers.

Our Reception children have also been learning about the organs in the body, as well as finding the pulse and beat in music. They've been singing their hearts out too, practicing Harvest songs with Mrs Butlin.

In PSHE, we discussed the consequences of our behaviour, thinking carefully about the choices we make and how they affect ourselves and others.

Well done, R/1 - another fantastic week of learning and exploring together!