Cooking at school

Canute class have been cooking every week and Tregeagle class have had the offer of attending after school cooking club. To support the delivery of this, we applied for funding from Cornish Pasty Association and we are delighted to have received funding. Funds raised during Cornish Pasty Week 2025 will provide schools across Cornwall and Scilly with the resources they need to offer children regular cooking activities and buy equipment and ingredients to run cooking clubs or other fun food initiatives. This funding will allow us to continue offering cooking to all the children every week for the remainder of this school year.

This week we trialled a new way to award the Star of the week with the children voting for the person they felt had shown our values and kindness to others. It was lovely to read the positive comments the children listed as reasons for their choice; recognising the kind gestures and actions of their peers. This week they chose:

Betsy-Mae for being kind, brave and already making new friends in her first week atour school.
Irina for looking out for her peers, being helpful and showing kindness.

Some very apt choices in a week, where we learnt that the one of the contributing factors to happiness is social cohesion and belonging.

We have a full week coming up with lots of activities and events:
Monday: Canute trip to Nancarrow farm
Wednesday: Mother’s Day service at St Saviour’s at 2:30pm
Thursday: Tregeagle science and geography field trip Holywell Bay
Friday: Tregeagle concert at St Neot pm

Have a lovely weekend,
Jane Wills

Science

This term, we have been exploring the fascinating world of rocks and soils. We became rock and soil detectives, examining samples to discover their properties. We tested if rocks were hard or soft, if they floated or sank, and even tried to scratch them with a fingernail! For soils, we checked how much water they held and felt their texture. We now knw that rocks and soils play a crucial role in our environment plus, fossils found in sedimentary rocks teach us about life from millions of years ago! Some of our favourite activities included testing rocks and making fossils.

On Thursday 27th, we are going on a field trip to further investigate rocks and also the properties the sand to link with our Geography unit of work on deserts.
Next week:
Wednesday is swimming in the morning and Mother’s Day service at St Saviour’s at 2:30pm
Thursday: Science and Geography field trip
Friday: Concert at St Neot pm

Spring has sprung!

What a fantastic few weeks we have had in Canute.  The children have been working so hard on their learning.

World Book Day was a fantastic day as usual, with the children fully embracing the day.  We had a whole host of costumes on show and we enjoyed a day of fun.  As a part of the day Canute opened their class library!  The children decorated some beautiful bags to use to transport their books to and from school, made covers for their own reading logs and chose a first library book to take home.  The children can exchange their library books on any day of the week, we have a lovely selection and we are awaiting some more.  We finished our day with some buddy reading with Tregeagle who also taught us a poem and made us beautiful bookmarks.  We have also been lucky enough to have a visit from the Library Service who shared the wonderful story of 'Owl Babies' with us.

In English we have been looking at the structure of a non-chronological report and the children have begun to plan their own reports on spring animals.

There has been a lot of measuring in maths over the past weeks in Reception and Year 2 and the children have been comparing and measuring length using different units of measure including cubes, cm and m.  In Year 1 the children have been exploring the place value of numbers 20-50.

In our RE work we have been learning about why Easter is special to Christian people, exploring the stories behind the events of Holy week and sharing these in different forms including role play and art activities.

In PSHE the children have been thinking about what it means to be healthy in regards to diet, sleep, exercise and medicine.

We have been so lucky to have Miss Northcott working with us over the past 7 weeks and unfortunately this week will be her last and she will be back to university.  We wish her all the luck in the rest of her teaching journey.

Some things coming up...
Thursday 20th March - The Very Hungry Caterpillar day - come to school in bright clothes for a day of caterpillar fun!
Friday 21st March - Red Nose Day
Monday 24th March - Nancarrow Farm trip
Wednesday 26th March - PCSO Cocks visiting for a road safety morning.

Please continue to look on Seesaw for photos and learning that your child is taking part in.  If you have any questions then please get in touch.

Mrs Andrew, Mrs Fernie, Mrs Hicks, Miss Talbot, Miss Northcott

Spring 

Week 2 of swimming and everyone is already making progress in terms of confidence and stroke technique. It is great to see independence growing and the pride and importance the children attach to making the most of their learning in the pool. It is particularly important for them to gain confidence around water as this supports their continued learning with watersports in summer term. Last year, we saw the children transfer their knowledge of water safety from the pool to the open water and I am certain this will be the same again this year.

On Friday, we had most of the class attending the Girls’ football tournament in Bodmin so the remainder of the class had the opportunity to start Science Week early and experiment with scientific processes. They made some fantastic colour patterns, made water travel and created an airshow with ping pong balls.

PE is swimming on Wednesday and OAA on Thursday.
We also have Tag Rugby at Looe on Wednesday afternoon.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mr Twaite and Mrs Wills

February 

History
We have been exploring how the Census can shed light on life in local areas throughout the past. Census records offer a fascinating glimpse into how people lived, worked, and grew their communities over time. It has been immensely enjoyable to watch the children turn into historians, interrogate the historical sources and drawing conclusions from their inference. From our work, the children have identified how localities can be defined according to the jobs available, how women’s rights (or lack of) influenced the census and how information sharing has changed over time. One of the children shared their enjoyment of the learning, “I love working wit the Census, I have made one of my own at home”.

We have had another amazing week in Canute class this week.

All of the class have been making fantastic progress in their phonics lessons, showing determination and enthusiasm for their learning.

In English the Year 1's and 2's have been completely engrossed in their story writing for 'George and the dragon'.  We have had some gruesome sentences, super similes, perfect punctuation and lots of excited chatter.  

In maths our reception children have been exploring mass and capacity.  They have been measuring, balancing and problem solving using a range of resources.  Year 1 have been continuing to focus on numbers to 20 and this week they have been comparing quantities, using number lines and reading numbers.  Year 2 have been completing their unit of work on money, finding change and solving problems with more than 1 step.

We are so lucky to have Mrs Butlin working with us and this week we were all having a go with the ukuleles, playing a rhythm and we also sang some great songs.

In history we have been finding out about castles.  We created a timeline to show how castles have changed over time, designed our own castles with as many defenses as possible and we have started to create some 3D models.

In our outdoor learning this week we were very busy getting our playground garden spring ready.  The children were weeding, planting and clearing.  We planted a pear and an apple tree and  discovered an old friend 'Tuna' in our pond. Our reception children have worked hard to make bird boxes to add to our rejuvenated garden.

We were all very happy to welcome Miss Northcott back to our class this week to complete her teaching placement.  She will be with us for the next 7 weeks.

Next week is Children's Mental Health Week and we look forward to seeing lots of you in school next Friday at 2pm.

We hope you all have a lovely weekend and the sun continues to shine.

Mrs Andrew, Mrs Fernie, Mrs Hicks, Miss Talbot, Miss Northcott

How are we already at the end of our second week back!  The children have been getting stuck into their learning this week.

In Drawing Club our reception children have been sharing the story of 'The pea and the Princess'.  They have come up with some amazing ideas to try to convince the Princess that the bed is comfortable!  Year 1's and 2's have been starting to create their plot points based on the story of 'George and the Dragon'.  Their imaginations have been running wild and they have been using some fantastic adjectives, alliteration, onomatopoeia and similes in their sentences. 

In maths reception have been continuing to focus on numbers 0-5 and have been introduced to the concepts of 1 more and 1 less.  Year 1 have been continuing their place value work, focusing on the teen numbers.  Year 2 have begun their unit of work all about money.  They have been recognising the denominations of the different coins and notes, adding and comparing quantities.  There has been a lot of problem solving and questioning going on this week.  We also had our first week of 99 club for the spring term and we could see great leaps of improvements in scores, the children are always so determined to beat their last score.

In art this week the children made some amazing dragon sculptures with Mirs Fernie, made from clay, thinking about the different joining techniques and modelling skills needed to make a successful sculpture.

We are very lucky to have Mrs Butlin back in working with us for music and we spent some time creating rhythms with the drums and new songs.

In our history work we watched the coronation of Queen Victoria and King Charles lll and discussed the differences and similarities.  We learnt about the four main parts of a coronation and then held our own. Our reception children looked at photos from when they were babies and discussed how they are different now and how we can use photos from the past to help us remember what things were like in the past.

We had a visit from 'Smarter smiles' this week, explaining the importance of good oral hygiene and the children all got sent home with a good bag.  This builds on the work we are doing in school with our supervised teeth brushing and opportunity for fluoride treatment.  Our next visit will be in the summer term.

Another busy week ahead next week and we can't wait to fill you in on all that we have done.

Mrs Andrew, Mrs Fernie, Mrs Hicks, Miss Talbot

Happy New Year and welcome back to a brand new term!

The spring term is always so busy and full of exciting things.  The children have all come back to school eager and ready to learn.

This week in our English Year 1 and 2 have been introduced to the story of George and the Dragon and have worked extremely hard to create a story map to enable them to re-tell the story.  

Math this week has seen our reception children start their unit of work 'Alive in 5', where they are embedding their knowledge of numbers 0-5.  The year 1's have started a new unit on place value, focusing on the numbers up to and including 20.  This builds upon the place value unit which they covered at the beginning of the year.  They are looking at the numerals, words and how the numbers can be represented in different ways.  Year 2's have been consolidating and completing their unit of work on shape, looking at the properties of both 2D and 3D shapes.

Our enquiry question this half term is 'Who can be royal?' and you with seen the medium term plan of activities on seesaw.  We started our history unit of work this week exploring the question 'What is a monarch?'.  We discussed who our monarch is today and the roles and responsibilities they have.

We can't wait to continue exploring these questions over the next few weeks.

As always, if you have any concerns or questions please don't hesitate to contact one of us.

Mrs Andrew, Mrs Fernie, Mrs Hicks, Miss Talbot
 

Merry Christmas

We are at the end of a long Autumn term and have spent some wel deserved time feeling festive with Christmas Challenge Cup and our final Christmas community engagements

On Tuesday, we found the time for a Geography field trip to compare land use in local woodland wit that of the Amazon rainforest. The children made use of their iPads to collect evidence and back in the classroom, we analysed their findings to draw conclusions for their comparisons.

We hope you have a lovely Christmas break.
Mr Twaite and Mrs W

What a fantastic couple of weeks we've had here at Polruan School! The end of term has been filled with excitement, creativity, and festive cheer.
We kicked things off with our amazing Nativity performance. The children worked so hard, and it truly showed as they brought the story of Christmas to life with enthusiasm and joy. We couldn’t be more proud of their dedication and energy—it was a performance to remember!
In addition to our Nativity, we had a fun trip to the Cinema to see Paddington 3. The children thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and it was a great way to relax and bond before the holidays. There were lots of smiles, laughs, and conversations about Paddington’s latest adventures!
One of the highlights of the season has been our lovely singing around the Christmas tree. The children’s voices filled the air with festive spirit, and we also enjoyed a heartwarming service today, marking a special end to the term. It’s always wonderful to come together as a school community, reflecting on the year gone by and celebrating the joy of the season.

Our poetry unit came to a beautiful close as the children finished writing their lovely festive poems. Their creativity and skill have really shone through in their writing, and we’ve been so impressed with their work. What great poets we have at Polruan!

In Art, we wrapped up our work thinking carefully about the word "composition" as we created our final pieces. The children have been so thoughtful in their approach to art, focusing on how to balance colors, shapes, and textures to create something special.

Our Geography unit also came to an end with a fascinating comparison between life in Shanghai and our own town of Polruan. The children have learned so much about different cultures and environments, and it was a great way to wrap up our studies for the term.

As we head into the holiday season, we want to take a moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday, January 7th for another exciting term ahead!
With best wishes
Mrs. Fernie, Mrs. Andrew, Mrs. Hicks, and Miss Talbot

Well we are finishing the last week of November already!  What a great week we've had.

In English the Year 1 and 2's have been planning and writing some amazing stories all about Christmas.  Reception have been exploring birthday parties and using their imaginations to draw and describe some delicious birthday cakes, party guests and book characters.

In maths, Reception have been continuing to develop their number knowledge, looking at numbers 1-5.  Year 1's have been beginning to explore 2-D and 3-D shape, recapping on shape names and properties.  Year 2 have been completing their last steps in their unit of work on addition and subtraction, explaining and solving a mixture of problems.

In our RE work this week we looked at the importance of Advent at this time of year, to Christian people.  The children discovered the meaning behind an Advent wreath and had a go at making their own.

Our singing for our nativity is sounding beautiful.  The children are working so hard and we are sure you are going to be very impressed.

Next week seems to be looking pretty normal at the moment but I think it may be the last one before the Christmas craziness starts!!

If you have any questions or queries then please ask.

Mrs Andrew, Mrs Fernie, Mrs Hicks, Miss Talbot

ART

In this week’s step in our textile unit, the children mixed acrylic paint to match their mood boards and added this to their glue covered patterned material. They used their learning of the colour wheel to mix primary colours to make secondary colours and the results were great. Aside from a few blobs of paint on the carpet, the unit of work is on course to be completed next week, when we wash out the glue to reveal the patterns created. 

Christmas Play

I have sent home slips with request for costumes and props for our Christmas play. Please do not buy anything new, we are asking for the children to bring in any suitable items they already have at home. If you are struggling to find any, please let us know by Wednesday 5th and we will find/make something in school.

Singing
Mrs Butlin was very impressed with the children again this week. Their enthusiasm and desire to learn our Christmas play songs is evident for all to hear and makes it a real joy to work with them. We are encouraging the children to take their song sheets home so they can continue to practice the songs at home too.

Dancing
Mrs Phillips has been teaching the class a dance as part of the play. As always, any kind of expressive art is met with gusto and positivity from everyone. That the dance requires “attitude” is only a bonus as you can see from the photos.

Enjoy the weekend,
Mr Twaite and Mrs W