We are nearly half way through the summer term. The children have been been super busy and it's only going to get busy, and we can't wait.

Year 6 SATs:
Well done to our year 6 children who completed their end of Key Stage 2 assessments. They showed super perseverance and used their 'Remember it Rhino' learning characteristic throughout during a very thorough exam week. They rightly enjoyed their Dominoes pizza lunch reward on Friday last week. 

KS1:
In KS1, the children have been busy and enjoyed a lovely visit to the Eden project linked to their science learning about plants. It was wonderful for them to visit alongside another one of our trust schools. I know our children enjoyed meeting the children from Polruan. Also well done to Year 2 who have been doing their SATs this week and have too been using their learning characters: Persevering Penguin and Remember it Rhino. 

KS2:
In KS2 the children have finished writing some amazing poems linked to the Battle of Watling Street (AD61 - Boudicca vs the Romans). In Science Y3/4 have looked into the different food groups and how to make a healthy meal and Y5/6 were investigating how the human heart works and its parts. We also enjoyed ending the week with some pond dipping - finding many newts and frogs. 

A Massive Thank you
A big thank you to Blisland Village shop who hosted a breakfast morning to raise money for our school. We are amazed and thrilled to hear that they were able to raise over £500. This will be so useful to go towards events, projects and visits for the children. 

Have a lovely weekend, fingers crossed the sun keeps on shining. 

I can hardly believe that we are into May already. We have had a busy few weeks, full of learning and enriching events. Hopefully the summer sun will arrive soon.

Key Stage 1:
Key Stage 1 have been working hard this week when learning about Jack and the bean stalk. The children have written their own alternative endings to the story and have even started to grow their own bean stalks in Science. I wonder if any will reach a castle in the sky?

Key Stage 2:
In Key Stage 2, the children have been writing poems in the style of speeches from the point of view of the Iceni tribe and Roman Legions; they sound great when read one after the offer. In computing the children have used physical devices to create commands and debug in Y3/4, and in Y5/6, they have used swift coding language to create functions. 

Moor Day:
Last Friday, our KS1 and KS2 pupils enjoyed a great day on Bodmin moor led by Arena. The children had a wonderful time filled with outdoor learning, crafts and trekking across minions. It was a super day and we are looking forward to our beach day after 1/2 term.

Beach safety:
The school recently had lifeguards from the RNLI hold a workshop to help the children understand how to be safe in and near water. The children learnt a lot and also already knew a great deal too. They have made some excellent beach safety leaflets and posters which are on display in the cabin.

Year 6 SATs:
Next week our Year 6 children will be completing their 'End of KS2 Assessments' (SATs). They have all worked so incredibly hard; given a lot of their own time to revise and we are incredibly proud of their effort and learning. I am sure you'll join me in wishing them the best of luck and hope they make the most of their final term with us. 

Reading Buddies:
We have new reading buddies at school, each child reception and KS1 pupil has an older buddy to read with every Friday. It was lovely to see them enjoy a book with each other today, the laughs, wide-eyes and shocked faces as the books were shared were a delight to see. 

Coronation cups and  picnic:
Unfortunately the on and off weather wasn't the best, but the children had a great day. Thank you all for your food donations and for the PTA for helping to organise the afternoon. The indoor pinic was a success - especially for those who couldn't believe their luck at having a second lunch. 
The children will be coming home with some very nice commemorative mugs for King Charles III's coronation. Thank you to the Parish council for organising these for the children. They were super excited to receive them. 

I hope you all enjoy the bank holiday weekend - see you on Tuesday

What a super way to end the term and super way to begin the Easter holidays. The children have worked so hard and enthusiastically and have come away with excellent knowledge: KS1 continue to impress with their reading and phonics skills; their speed of mathematical recall and knowledge of habitats. KS2 have deepened their knowledge of writing techniques for different genres and their understanding of grammatical and spelling rules; they have all made super progress in maths and I am very impressed with all the children's work on fractions. The children enjoyed learning about our solar system and investigating the space race between the USA and Russia. 

Cornish Pirates rugby festival.
On Wednesday 29th March, children from KS2 took part in a rugby festival organised by the Cornish Pirates. They children showed wonderful determination, respect and skill throughout the day and embraced the rugby values. It was great to see them play in their new school sports kit and compete superbly at inter-school level. 

Easter Fair:
A massive thank you to the PTA for organising our Easter fair and for everybody who came to support us. It was a great way to end the term and the children had a wonderful time playing the games, winning prizes. Also a huge thanks to Reverend Robin who kindly came to help us judge the Easter competitions. The entries were amazing and I am always well impressed by the effort and creativity which goes into it all. 

Enjoy the Easter Holidays

We have reached the end of a very busy two weeks and we can't believe that there is only two-weeks to go until Easter. The past two weeks have seen us celebrate St Piran's day, visit the zoo, raise money for Comic relief and, of course, do some wonderful learning too. 

St Piran's Day:
Last Monday KS2 represented our school brilliantly at the Bodmin St Piran's day parade. It is a wonderful tradition and the school we pleased to be invited. At the 'Folly' the children took part in two traditional Cornish dances before singing some rousing Cornish songs. In St Petroc's church, the children enjoyed watching and listening to other schools perform before they got to perform some beautiful poems about Cornwall before performing their Cornish Mining dance. 
In KS1, children learned about the story of St Piran and considered what makes Cornwall such a special place to live. We then had fun making and waving our flags whilst singing along to Trelawny.

Film Night:
Also last week, KS1 enjoyed a late stay at school where they played games, watched the film Rio and at some pizza. What a wonderful evening they had! A special thank you to Mrs Elliott and Mr Sandle for organising this.

KS1 and Reception:
Reception have had a wonderful week immersing themselves in the story ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’. The children have learned to retell the story using musical instruments and through their ‘small world’ play. They created their own obstacle course to replicate the story and have begun learning about maps by mapping the character’s journey throughout the story. In maths they have learned about the composition of numbers and they have continued to develop their phonic knowledge.

KS2:
In KS2 this week, the children have begun their big write about a journey to the centre of the Earth. The children have been using a variety of author sentence types and they are already sounding great. In Science the children have been discovering more about the planets in the solar system and more recently about the Earth's moon. 

Comic Relief:
A fantastic turn out of pupils in red today to support 'Comic Relief'. The children enjoyed their day: especially getting to splat me and get rewarded with cake and a sticker. Thank you to everyone and the school council for helping to organise the day. We raised over £65 to date. Well done.  

Non-school Uniform on Friday 24th March 2023:
Next Friday children can dressed in non-school uniform. We ask, if you can, to bring in a prize that can be put with raffle prizes for the end of term Easter fair. 

Easter Fair Competitions:
We will be holding competitions for Easter-themed creations on Thursday 30th March (Reverend Robin has kindly offered to judge these for us). The creations that can be made are: Easter Bonnet - Get creative the more unique the better! Set of Four Cupcakes - must be decorated by the child! Hard boiled egg character - In celebration of the forthcoming coronation your scene must have a royal theme. This can be made in a small box or on a plate. Entries no later than Thursday 30th March at 9am.

Have a wonderful weekend. 

What a lovely, busy week we have had! The children have enjoyed their learning, taking part in world book day and raising money for Cornwall air ambulance. 

Learning in KS1:
The children have had another fantastic week of learning and I am extremely proud of how adaptable they have been. They have written some amazing instructions about ‘How to Wash an Orangutan’ with Mr Sandall and have continued to learn about multiplication in maths. We had fun learning to write algorithms in our computing lessons and then tested our skills using Studio Code. We have also been exploring the work of Henri Rousseau and created a class collage inspired by his work. We had a lot of fun on World Book Day and the children looked awesome in their outfits! Thank you for your continued support with reading at home.

Learning in KS2:
In KS2 this week the children have developed some super sentences for writing an adventure story, they have finished their class story 'When the Sky Falls': they thoroughly enjoyed this book so please ask them about it. they will be sending a book review to the Cornwall education Library service. In PE the children have been loving Hockey and orienteering. Their team work and understanding of how to improve personal and team performances is great to see. In Science the children have been looking into the space race.

World Book Day:
We have a fab time celebrating world Book day on Thursday - the range of costumes of book characters were amazing. The children took part in some lovely activities, read and listened to stories and very much enjoyed playing real-life 'Where's Wally'. Well done to John who was the winner and found Wally.

Cornwall Air Ambulance:
Today we all wore red to raise money for the Cornwall Air-Ambulance. The school are thrilled to let you know that we have already raised over £100. Well done everybody.

St Piran's Day:
St Piran's day is on Saturday 5th March, we will be celebrating the day on Monday 7th March. KS2, as normal, will be marching through Bodmin to the 'Folly' where they will then take part in a large group performing traditional Cornish songs and dances. Following this, we will walk to St.Petroc's Church to eat a pasty and perform our school dance and read our poems about Cornwall. 

SeeSaw:
Previously, our school has used an app called SeeSaw to saw the learning of the children with home. We will be starting the use of the platform again. Please look out for new consents on Arbor, as we cannot post work of the children on this platform until consent is given. When we have received consent, letters with instructions and QR codes for logging on will be sent home. 

Comic Relief (Friday 17th March 2023):
Our school Council have decided they would like to take part in raising money for Comic relief. They ask that childre come dress under the theme of 'Red, head to toe' (Wear as much red as possible). A prize will be given for the most red in each Key Stage. They have also asked that cakes be baked for a cake sale. Finally, (and I'm not sure why) they are very keen to splat me (Mr Avery) with pies again. We ask that a donation of £2 (More money can be donated if you can and wish) be brought in for the charity which will go towards a cake and 2 pies to splat.

Awards:
Head of School: Zenna, Lowen, Mabyn, Cadan, Emma and John
Star of the Week: Mason and Bella

Welcome Back!

Our first week has passed by super-fast as is the way when everybody is so busy and engaged in their learning. We're looking forward to another busy and exciting term full of learning and rich experiences.

This week in Key Stage 1:
What a wonderful week we have had in Kensa! The children returned to school with so much enthusiasm and their attitude to learning has been phenomenal! We began the week with a ‘growth mindset’ morning where the children embraced some tricky challenges such as building card houses and dipping their toes into trays of baked beans to test their ‘have a go’ attitude. They learned that with the ‘power of YET’ we can conquer any problem. We might not be able to do something YET but with determination, there is nothing we cannot achieve!

The class have been excited to receive their new reading packs and I have been blown away by the response we have had from you at home. Keep it up! Reading unlocks gateways to other worlds!

This week in Key Stage 2:
Children this week have finished reading 'Journey to the centre of the Earth and have begun to develop their adventure story writing skills around this book. The children have begun their main driver-topic of Earth and Space and what is so fascinating about it. The children already know the planets and the order the orbit the sun; they also invented their own creative and funny mnemonics  to remember the order.

World Book Day:
Next Thursday (2nd March 20223), is world book day. We will celebrate the day by dressing up in costumes of some of our favourite book characters or comfortably in PJ'S or onesies. During the day children will take part in world book day activities and will end the day as a whole school having a story, hot chocolate and biscuits. 

Wear Red to school:
As a school we love to raise money for charities. This 1/2 term we would like to raise money for the Cornwall Air ambulance. On Friday 3rd March 2023, we will all wear red and bring any change we have in to support this vital and much-loved local charity.

Awards:
Star of the Week: James and Mabyn
Head of School Awards: Eloise, Milly-Mae, Jenson, Nyle and Thomas

What a fabulous end to last half-term we had! The children have been engrossed in their studies of Geography and Science. KS1 have explored habitats and delved into the geographical features of the Brazilian rainforest, while KS2 have journeyed through volcanoes: upstanding how they are form and erupt whilst in science, have looked at the properties of minerals and different types of rock; this concluded with a wonderful educational experience to the Natural History Museum (London) to use our knowledge of volcanoes during a 'Volcano Evacuation' workshop. 

Key Stage 1:
In Key stage one, I have been super impressed by the stories the children have written based on their learning of the 'Great Kapok Tree'. The really used their knowledge of adjectives, verbs and adverbials to good effect. I also loved seeing the wonderful development and effort being put into their handwriting. 

Key Stage 2 and The Natural History Museum:
KS2 have enjoyed their learning in Geography when understanding 'What makes Volcanoes so fascinating?'. Their knowledge of the subject is brilliant and was evident during their visit to the Natural History Museum. The children had an amazing day in London and wowed the museum staff with their knowledge of volcanoes and exceptional behaviour. We look forward to next year's visit to London. 

Safer Internet day:
On Tuesday 7th February, it was Safer-internet day which is a global supported day. As a school we spent some teaching time to delve into the topic of being safe online with this year's theme being: 'Want to talk about it?' We hope it tackled what issues really matter to children and young people? What changes do they want to see? How can we all work together to advocate for them moving forward?
Link: https://www.saferinternetday.org/in-your-country/united-kingdom

Children's Mental Health Awareness day:
On Friday 10th February we took part in a wellbeing day. The children came dressed in clothing of their choice with the theme of 'Expressing yourself'. It is important for the children to have self-awareness of wellbeing and know who they are. There were great themes of expression on display ranging from boxers to dancers; scientists to footballers.

Awards:
Star of the Week: Imogen and James
Head of School Certificates: Lilly, Isla, Ottillie, Harry, Todd, Lerryn, George

I can't believe that it is only a week away from 1/2 term. The children have been so engaged and enthused in their learning that the time has just vanished. It was wonderful to invite parents in on Friday to talk with the children about their learning in the wider curriculum. I know the children have enjoyed their work this 1/2 term and enjoyed sharing it with you. We look forward to hosting more events this year where families can see how amazing the children are in school. 

Learning in KS1 this week:
KS1, in maths, have been investigating and sorting 3D shapes; Reception have been exploring mass and balancing mass. During geography and science, the children have started creating some wonderful Biomes to rival Eden
Project's. Literacy has seen some lovely work in using coordinating conjunctions. Great work KS1 and Reception.

Learning in KS2 this week:
In KS2 the children have begun to design their cushions which they will stitch together after 1/2 term. They have thought hard about the design-brief and sustainability. It has also been wonderful to see their enthusiasm for learning about volcanoes (especially the more famous explosive ones): they have super knowledge around the subject. KS2 also enjoyed some Cornish dance instruction ready for St Piran's Day parade on Monday 6th March (Bodmin) They showed excellent rhythm and thoroughly enjoyed dancing to the Banjo. 

Safer-Internet Day:
On Tuesday 7th February, it is Safer-internet day which is a global supported day. As a school we will spend some dedicated teaching time to delve into the topic of being safe online with this year's theme being: 'Want to talk about it?' We hope it will tackle what issues really matter to children and young people? What changes do they want to see? How can we all work together to advocate for them moving forward?
Link: https://www.saferinternetday.org/in-your-country/united-kingdom

London (Wednesday 8th February):
We are very much looking forward to our visit to the Natural History Museum next Wednesday. Our workshop on Volcano Evacuation looks set to be a hit with the children and I know they can't wait to explore the museum, learn more about rocks, minerals and earthquakes. The parent briefing will take place on Tuesday 7th February at 2:30pm.

Boom Readers:
Just a little reminder that we are recording reads done by the children on Boom Readers. please listen to your child at least 3 times a-week as it does make a difference. For these children with regular reads recorded, there are prizes at the end of each term. If you require another login sheet, please let your child's class teacher know.

Children's Mental Health Awareness day:
Next Friday we want the children to take part in a wellbeing day. We ask that on Friday 10th February children come dress in clothing of their choice with the theme of 'Expressing yourself'. It is important for the children to have self-awareness of wellbeing and know who they are.


Awards:
Star of the Week: Jack 
Head of School Certificates: Ottillie, Freya Lerryn, Blake, George

Have a lovely Weekend

A great week! The children have been thoroughly engaged in their wider curriculum topics. KS1 have found out lots about Brazil, its weather and habits of its wildlife; it has also been lovely to see their knowledge of verbs and how they have used them in their writing. KS2 have been developing their sewing skills in DT and developing their knowledge of how rock types are formed and their link to volcanic activity. 

Learning this week in KS1:
There has been lots of change happening in Kensa class this week with the addition of a new role-play, small world and reading area. We are also delighted to welcome Mr Sandall, our student teacher from Plymouth University, who will be working alongside us for the rest of term. The children have had an amazing time investigating Brazil and discovering how the climate has helped to create the Amazon Rainforest.
On Thursday, we dressed up as Amazon explorers and had a go at packing our survival bag! The reception children have also had a wonderful week celebrating the Chinese New Year with their friends in nursery! What a lot of fun we've had! Please ask your child to talk about their week - sharing their new knowledge is a great way for them to consolidate their learning. We are so proud of the way that the children have embraced their learning amidst lots of change. Thank you all for a fantastic week! 

Rugby with the Cornish Pirates:
The school have thoroughly enjoyed their coaching sessions with Neil. They have learnt how to play the game, tactics, passing skills, teamwork and have had a lot of fun along the way. We learnt how muddy the children can get. KS2 are looking forward to a rugby festival hosted by 'the Pirates'; we will send letters out as soon as we have dates for it. A huge thank you to Neil and the Cornish Pirates. 

London (8th February):
Our KS2 class visit the Natural History Museum is creeping closer. Please check ParentPay for the instalments to pay. On Tuesday afternoon (7th February), Mr Avery will be hosting a parent-briefing about the educational visit. 

Safer Internet day:
On Tuesday 7th February, it is Safer-internet day which is a global supported day. As a school we will spend some dedicated teaching time to delve into the topic of being safe online with this year's theme being: 'Want to talk about it?' 
We hope it will tackle what issues really matter to children and young people? What changes do they want to see? How can we all work together to advocate for them moving forward?
Link: https://www.saferinternetday.org/in-your-country/united-kingdom

Awards:
Head Awards: Cadan, Lerryn, Todd, Amy, Zenna, Nyle

Happy Friday everyone. Another week has gone by, and the children have been working at full-steam. In KS2 the children have better understood what it means to have a positive identity online, they know physical features of volcanoes, have lots of new knowledge on adding and subtracting fractions and finally analysing properties of rocks. KS1 have been busily researching habitats of different creatures, learning about the rainforest in Geography and writing non-fiction texts about weather. 

Cornish Pirates:
Unfortunately the Cornish Pirates Rugby sessions had to be rescheduled today. Neil will be in next Friday (20th Jan) and the Friday after (27th Jan). The children are excited that he has invited our school attend a Cornish Pirates Rugby festival. Dates and timings for this will come home next week. 

Mrs Elliot:
We are super-pleased to welcome Mrs Elliot to our school. She and the children have had a great day getting to know each other and we are excited about the future learning experiences they will be having together.

KS2 London Visit:
This week, letters went home with more information about our visit to the Natural History Museum (London) on Wednesday 8th February. We are all very excited about the visit and know that it will be a very valuable educational and social experience. Please check ParentPay for how to pay the instalments. There will be a 'trip briefing meeting' held for Parents on Tuesday 7th February at 2:30pm. 

September School Places:
For those parents with a child who will be school-age from September, Sunday 15th January is the closing date for applications.

Reading:
We all know what an important skill reading is and I am really please how well our children progress with their phonics and reading. Please try and listened to your child read at least at least 3-times-a-week and upload reads to Boom Readers. Older children can upload their reads but please talk to them about what they have read. Children who read 3 times a-week will receive a half-termly prize.  

Awards:
Head Awards: Jack C, Megan I, Bella D
Star of the Week: James, Billy, Blake 

Have a lovely weekend.