Scratching our heads... 

It was great to be back this week and I was so touch and overwhelmed by both you the parents and the children's get well wishes. Be back at our lovely school certainly helps.

Coding through scratch:
This week it was brilliant to notice how both classes have been learning to code. The children have been using scratch (free online) and scratch junior (free app) to develop their computational skills and thinking.  In KS1 the children this week have been using commands and debugging skills. Making animated characters move, speak and make sounds; and when the character wasn't doing what he was told (had a bug) the children were exceptional at explaining how they were debugging. 
In KS2 children have been coding to create a a recycling game. It is great to see the children problem solve and use complex coding blocks such as conditional codes and variables. They games they have made are great!

Christmas Jumper Day:
On Friday 10th December we will be raising money for 'Save the Children' and wearing our Christmas Jumpers. 
Our school Council have asked that you bring in £1 donations if you can. We are looking forward to seeing all the amazing Christmas jumper designs. 

Awards:
Head teacher Awards: Nyle P, Megan I, John D and Amy I
Stars of the week: Billy R

Conscientious Children!

This week we took part in supporting the Charity 'Children in need' and raising awareness of bullying issues in society through joining in the 'Odd Socks' campaign for anti bullying week.

Anti-Bullying week:
The children have such good understanding of what it means to be a good friend and the importance of showing kindness and engaged brilliantly in activities and discussions around bullying. They also loved showing their amazing combinations of odd socks all week. 

Children in need:
A huge thank you to all of the children for making such a good effort with dressing up in sports, donating money and ecorating cakes. A super big thankyou to our school council for organising this event for us. We have raised a super £60 for children in need. 

It has been another great week of learning. The children continue to impress in the reading, writing and maths. It also great to hear them talk about their learning in science and Geography. It was also great to hear from you parents during parents evening how the children are talking about their wider learning in subjects like Geography at home.

Philosophical Thinkers and super singers.
This week the children in KS2 have shown wonderful philosophy skills and maturity when debating the creation story versus scientific theory. They considered all sides of the debate and show deep philosophical understand and respect to all view points.
They have also concluded their work on Climate change and the arctic and debated well the key points that the COP 26 delegates must consider. 

Also this week the children have been developing their singing and vocal skills with Mrs Bridle from Cornwall Music Hub. The children have already made great progress in their understanding of posture for good singing, pitch and tone. They have begun to sing about cold weather and winter time and we look forward to sharing their singing with you closer to Christmas. 

In KS1 the children have been wowing us with their science skills. Sorting materials and classifying through their properties with such goood scientific  discussions and vocabulary. 

Basketball Club:
Basketball club has started well with a good uptake. It runs every Tuesday and has 4-weeks remaining. It is open to KS2, at no cost, and their are still spaces. 

Remembrance Day:
The children took part in remembrance day this week and showed wonderful interest, respect and pride in commemorating people lost in conflict. Children raised a lot of money for the Poppy Appeal charity and created some lovely pieces of art for the church. 

Children in Need:
Children in Need is on Friday 19th November (Next week). The school council has decided that they would like everybody to come dressed in as many spots as they can; there will be a prize for the most spots for all classes. The school council asks that a donation of £1 be brought in for the charity. They will also be making biscuits to be sold for 50p each. All money will go to Children in Need.

Anti-Bullying Week:
The week beginning 15th November is Anti-bullying week. We are committed to ensuring children understand the issue, form healthy-relationships and that they can make sure our school is a place where bullying is not tolerated. On Monday 15th November, children can wear non-school uniform and odd socks as we dedicate the day to Anti-bullying. For the remainder of the week, we would like all children to wear odd socks in recognition of everybody being different and unique. Odd socks is the theme of the week.

Awards:
Head teacher Awards: Amy I,  Zenna P, Lilly H, Emily S
Stars of the week:  Emily S (2nd week in a row!)

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Amazing Science this week

The children have been working brilliantly as always, and in particularly in Science. In KS1 the children have been sorting materials. It was great to see the children talk about the properties of different objects and materials; then use the iPads (with the app 'Padlet') to send their sorting discussions to their teacher.

Key Stage 2 have been conducting scientific enquiries too linked to the water cycle and have now begun to look at the oxidization process to see what conditions effect metals rusting most. It is only a few days in but already the results are starting to take shape. 

Halloween Disco:
Thank you to the PTA and all parents who supported the Halloween Disco. The children had a blast and it was so nice to see yet another normality return for them. Some very spooky costumes!

Children in Need:
Children in Need is on Friday 19th November. The school council has decided that they would like everybody to come dressed in as many spots as they can: there will be a prize for the most spots for all classes. The school council ask that a donation of £1 be brought in for the charity. They will also be making biscuits to be sold for 50p each. All money will go to Children in Need.

Anti-Bullying Week:
The week beginning 15th November is Anti-bullying week. We are committed to ensuring children understand the issue, form healthy-relationships and that they can make sure our school is a place where bullying is not tolerated. On Monday 15th November, children can wear non-school uniform and odd socks as we dedicate the day to Anti-bullying. For the remainder of the week, we would like all children to wear odd socks in recognition of everybody being different and unique. Odd socks is the theme of the week. 

Awards:
A big well done to Jack S who was competing in 'Enduro-motocross' and collected a trophy for his endeavors.
Head teacher Awards: Billy R, Nyle P,  Brianna W
Stars of the week: Alex P-H and Emily S

Mellow Yellow

This week has been yet another great week full of superb learning. KS1 have been writing with some super adjectives and KS2 they have virtually braved the arctic Tundra and given survival tips using Green screen and iMovie. Also this week we took a moment with the children to reflect on mental wellbeing. The considered for themselves the importance of staying mentally healthy and through games, activities and goodies around the campfire, they were able to understand their wellbeing; that of others and what can be done to help. What a great day!

Halloween Disco:
Next Friday (22nd October) we are hosting a school Halloween party for the children. Their will be music, dancing, games and treats. The discos starts at 3.30 and finishes at 5pm. All year groups are welcome. If you need to collect earlier than 5pm, please let Mrs. Pengelly know. Prepacked party food or Halloween decorations would be gratefully received. If you can provided anything, please bring in by Friday 15th October so the school and PTA know what else to get.

READ, READ, READ!

It has been another brilliant and busy week at Blisland. I have enjoyed seeing how much the children learn in their different subjects. It has also been great to see how the children use our characters for learning to improve their work and knowledge: including our new character - 'Remember it Rhino'. This week the children have been delving deeper into their geography learning, and it has been wonderful to see the children use our new array of iPads purchased by our trust (Bridge Schools). The children have been coding using 'Scratch and Scratch Jr'. 

Reading:
We are lucky to have a good selection of books and gold membership with the Cornwall school library service. The children are keen readers and it's always so heart-warming to see our reading buddies in full swing. Reading unlocks so much learning and enjoyment and we put a big emphasis on it here. Children in Key Stage 1 will come home with a Read, Write inc coloured phonic book and have chosen a book of their own choice from our library; our Key stage 2 children have colour-banded books from our library to help continue their reading skills after they have completed the Read write inc phonics. Key Stage 2 also have books for pleasure and may occasionally bring home a book linked to their group (guided) reading tasks in school. Please continue to listen your child/children as often as possible, as little and often makes a big difference. The children will have reading they have done at home which is written in their reading record stamped (with a star) and 10 stamps earn a raffle ticket which puts them in with a chance of winning a book voucher. The more you read, the more tickets you have; the more tickets you have the more chance you have of winning. Keeeep Reading (For the Strictly fans).

Where Yellow to School for Young Minds:
On Friday 8th October (This coming Friday), we will be wearing yellow to remind us that we all struggle with how we are feeling sometimes and that we are not alone. We will be talking about the little things we can do to help us when we are feeling down and will be making a special effort to chill and have fun! Rather than asking parents and carers to sponsor us, we'd like local businesses to pledge their support by donating money to the charity Young Minds on our behalf! Children on the day will take part in some mindfulness activities and finish with a calm, campfire.
Thank you for your support

Halloween:
Somehow Halloween is sneaky up on us and is only a few weeks away. We all know how much the children like to dress up and have fun, and so we will be having an afterschool Halloween disco on Friday 22nd October. The disco will be from 3.30pm until 5pm. Children can stay at school at the end of the day to change into their costumes. The disco will take place in the main school with one classroom for dancing and spooky games and the other for food, drinks and a quiet space. If you think you would like your child to attend the disco, please email Mrs. Pengelly: secretary@blislandprimary.co.uk Please also tell us if you need to pick your child up before 5pm and state a time.
You can support us with the disco by sending in prepackage snacks or drinks by Friday 15th October.

Awards:
Star of the week awards: Amy, Lola, 
Head Teacher Awards: Jack G, Zenna, Ottilie, Byron, Brianna, Erin, Billy, Roxanne, Alex, Lerryn, Mani

Finally, Covid-19 does seem to rearing it's head more and more in schools. We continue to apply good cleaning measure and (touch wood) have not been affected. Do look out for the classic 3 symptoms and also things such as: headaches, sore throats and feeling very lethargic as noted by Cornwall's public health team (letter below). 

The children are being amazing as usual, and as usual, thank you for all the support you give the school and children. 

Exciting and enriching learning

It's so wonderful to be back and see the children learning; see how much the children are enjoying school and watching their enthusiasm for new knowledge. This week the children have been thoroughly engaged in all their lessons: from phonics to reciprocal reading; science to French, Geography to PSHE; English to Maths; and RE to Computing. The children are already making progress in all of these areas and consider well what it means to be a learner and what helps them learn. Below are a few highlights of the week:

KS1 Music:
Key Stage one class are lucky enough to have Mrs. Bridle working with them to develop Music skills. The children have started looking at: Singing; Finding and maintaining a steady pulse; Making and notating rhythms; and Exploration and Composition using different sounds.
It is going to be an excellent project for the younger class and I am looking forward to seeing the future of the 'Brit Awards'

Surf Club:
This term, KS2 are very lucky indeed to be able to access surf lessons. The children were amazing: they showed such confidence, transferred many of the learning character skills from school and were standing and surfing by the end of their first lesson. But most importantly, it was wonderful to see the children smile and have freedom. We look forward to next week's session; hopefully it is as warm and sunny as last week. 

Supporting Learning:
Reading: Reading can unlock so much learning for children and it is also just wonderful to enjoy a story, so understandably it's an important focus for us a school. Children will come home with reading books to support their reading, and hearing them little and often would make all the difference. Children in KS1 will come home with their 'Read Write inc' phonics book and a book they have chosen from our library for pleasure; in KS2 the children may on occasions come home with 3 books: a book for pleasure, a colour banded book (or Read write inc book) for developing decoding and comprehensions skills and possibly a guided reading book from in school group reading. Please note down in the children's reading records any time you hear them read as every 10-reads earns them a raffle ticket to win a book token; not to mention how much it will help their reading. Thank you for supporting the children at home with reading, our children are very strong and confident readers. 

Arbor:
Thank you, if you have, for logging into arbor to give consents for the various requests, such as photo permission. If you are able to log in to the app, it could be useful as we are able to send messages via the app and schedule parent consultations too.

Awards:
Star of the week awards: Erin M and Nyle P
Head Teacher Awards: Brianna W, Amy I, Lola W, Nyle P, Jack S and Jack G

Thank you as always for the support you give the school and the children. It has been two full-weeks back learning and it only feels like a few days. The children have been amazing and I know they will impress every week. 

Have a good weekend. 

Two weeks to go.

After a busy few weeks, we have some how found ourselves only two weeks (10 school days) away from the Summer holidays. The children are keeping up their focus for learning well, readying themselves for sports day next Friday (16th July) and are very excited for our Beach trip on Tuesday (13th July).

Swimming:
Last Friday the children concluded their swimming sessions. They made such good progress over the two weeks and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The swimming instructors were all well impressed with the children's progress and attitude to learning. We are arranging certificates to acknowledge their progress and success, and hope to have these with the children as soon as possible. 

Wild Tribe First aid:
KS2 this week took part in a day of first aid training. The children learnt how to look after those in need and the various situations they could come across and have a solid knowledge of ACE (Airway, Breathing and Circulation). This day has been extremely value and if you have followed any European cup football, you will have noticed how a football player's life was most likely saved by some simple first aid. Well done KS2.

Beach day and Aquarium visit:
Tuesday 13th July is going to be a busy day with KS1 and KS2 visiting the beach for a day beach sports and activities. The weather is looking good but please be prepared for all weather with plenty to drink, sun cream, hats and (hopefully not needed) a coat. The day will be very sporty and active so please wear footwear and clothes suitable for lots of moving around. 

Reception and Nursery will be remaining at school to have an aquarium experience as Newquay aquarium visit our school before the children visit the aquarium the following week. 

Sports day:
Next week is sports day (Friday 16th July). We and the children are looking forward to this, and we hope you are too. Just a reminder that we aim to start at 1:15pm and 1 member from each family my attend to ensure we have safe numbers (social distancing and mask must be worn). As you arrive and while you are waiting, we may ask you to fill in short parent survey. If you could complete this, it would be really helpful.

Awards:
Star of the week awards: Emily S, Harry W
Head Teacher Awards: Thomas H, Ava M, Mason W

The sun looks like it may be on our side for the beach trip and sports day: we are all looking forward to it. 

Thrilled to be all back together

This week, after returning from 1/2 term, we have been able to come back together as a whole school for the 1st time properly in over a year. It was great to see how excited the children were to become one bubble. The children loved being with one another and I know this has been a big moment for them. We used Thursday as an opportunity to have our 1st whole school assembly together in our new cabin which was built for moments such as these. It was fantastic and heart-warming to see how happy and genuine the children are for the successes and achievements of one another.

Library:
Over the 1/2 term, myself and our staff staff worked in school to organize the classrooms to be better suited for us being one bubble. We also have started decorating and reorganizing our library space now it is easier for children to freely take books out. We look forward to utilizing this space. A huge thank you to Mrs Pearce, Mrs Harrison, Mrs Powdrill and Miss Lenton, who gave up their time to make our classrooms and Library feel and look special. 

After school clubs on Fridays:
From Friday 18th June, we will be able to offer 2 afterschool clubs at no cost. For KS1 and reception, Mrs Blackburn will be delivering a mini-Olympics club running from 3pm until 3.45pm. For KS2, I will be running a netball and basketball club, also running from 3pm until 3.45pm. During Swimming (Friday 25th June and Friday 2nd July) there will be no netball or basketball and KS1 may find it tricky to get back in time for the mini-Olympics club on these two sessions. If your child is interested in attending one these clubs, please email Mrs Hawker: secretary@blislandprimary.co.uk

Awards:
Star of the week awards: Brianna, Megan
Head Teacher Awards: Lowen M, Mason W, Nyle P, Sophie W, Lilly H

Where did that half-term go?

Time seems to be speeding up - I can't believe it is 1/2 term already. This week has been full of great learning and fun. Reception and nursery were able to explore the Eden Project (The children walked a super long way and thoroughly enjoyed the experience); KS1 have been recapping the story of the Gingerbread Man ready for a write-up to show their amazing writing skills and they were lucky enough to be joined by the real 'Gingy' from Shrek! And in KS2 the children have thoroughly enjoying the graphic novel 'The invention of Hugo Cabret': they have written some wonderful pieces based on the story and I look forward to reading their finished 'invention' writes after half-term.

Bubbles after half-term:
I am so thrilled to let you all know that after the half-term holiday our school will be able to operate as 1 bubble. This will allow the children to mingle at playtimes, enjoy assemblies in our new cabin together and look forward to other such events where we would like to mix (e.g. sports day). Linked to this move to 1 bubble, we will be reducing the time gap between group A and group B drop offs. Group A: 8:40am and Group B: 8.50am. This will mean Group B can be collected by 3.10pm. I am so pleased that we are getting ever closer to normality for the children. 

Reading and libraries:
We and the children love reading so please do keep it up over half term, it makes such a difference. Remember to fill in reading diaries as each 10 reads wins a raffle ticket to win a book voucher. Also, for your information, Bodmin library is open, and it has now been just over a year since our whole school visit to the library where many of us took out library cards. Attached is a flyer for those of you who have younger children for Rhymetime which is a great session for early Storytime.

Awards:
Star of the week awards: Mani, Todd, and Zenna
Head Teacher Awards: Erin M, Sophie W, Alex and Roxanne C

Please remember that the school is closed for an INSET day on Monday 7th June. Children to return on Tuesday 8th June.

I hope you all have a safe and fun week off and you enjoy the sunshine which looks set to arrive... at last!