What a fantastic start to the new year we have had in our classroom! The children have shown great enthusiasm, resilience and curiosity in all of their learning. Here's a look at what we've been up to in January and February.

History - The Romans This term we have been travelling back in time to learn about the Romans. We have explored what life was like in Roman Britain, how the Roman army was organised and why the Romans were so successful. To finish off our half term, we were visited by the brilliant Centurion Maximus Adricus! He brought Roman history to life through exciting games, storytelling and hands-on activities. The children loved finding out about Roman armour, battle formations and daily life in the army. It was a fantastic way to deepen our understanding of the Romans.

Maths - Multiplication and Division In Maths, we have been working hard on multiplication and division. We have practised using times tables to solve problems, explored different methods for solving calculations and learned how multiplication and division are linked. The children have shown great perseverance when tackling tricky word problems!

Science - Magnetism Our Science topic has been all about forces, with a focus on magnetism. We investigated which materials are magnetic and learned how to test objects using magnets. The children discovered that not all metal is magnetic and enjoyed predicting and testing different materials. We also learned about magnetic poles and how magnets can attract and repel.

English - Romans and Mythology In English, we have linked our writing to our History topic. We wrote detailed character descriptions of the Roman hero Hercules, focusing on his strength, bravery and his famous 12 labours. We also wrote non-chronological reports about the Roman gods, organising our work with headings and subheadings. The children worked hard to include fascinating facts and use formal language in their reports.

PSHE - Facing Challenges In PSHE, we have been thinking about how to face challenges positively. We used our Building Learning Power skills - such as resilience, resourcefulness and reflectiveness - to help us when learning feels tricky. The children have been brilliant at encouraging one another and showing a growth mindset.

Music - Songfest 2026 We have also begun practicing songs for Songfest 2026, which will be taking place in March. The children are already singing beautifully and learning the lyrics with great enthusiasm. We can't wait to perform!

Well done to everyone for a brilliant start to 2026. We are so proud of all the hard work, determination and positivity shown this term. We're looking forward to another exciting half term ahead!

Group Work in the Arc

This term we have had a real focus on working together. In the ARC we try to make our group activities so appealing that they capture our children's attention and they choose to join the group.

We have a number of group activities where out focus is shared attention. We run 2 Attention Autism Sessions which is a Gina Davies Intervention that follows 4 stages. All of our ARC children now choose to join this group and in fact they all look forward to checking out stage 1 where they get to see what is in out bucket!

We run Fun with Food everyday. We look at a different food each day, describing the food through all of our senses. We use communication boards to encourage the children to describe the food. 

We all like using the playground equipment on sunny days, especially the parachute! In the photo we are working together to try and keep the ball on the parachute. 

Sometimes our ARC children are able to join their mainstream peers. Eddie had a great day with the Roman Soldier who came to visit the class. He worked as a team with the other children to form a barrier with his shield in a mock battle. 

Sometimes group work just involves taking turns. The musical instruments are a really popular way of taking turns. Both Leo and Freddie love to ply the xylophone and it is an excellent opportunity to take model turn taking. 

Happy New Year!

What a brilliant start to 2026!
In PSHE we have been thinking about our goals and dreams and steps towards success. 
Our new 'Big Question' is 'What is the weather like in the UK?'. We have been re-capping our knowledge of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom and have been using an atlas to help us to label maps.
In art we have been looking at the painting of Alma Thomas. Alma is an abstract artist. She used lots of bright colours in her paintings. After practising the necessary techniques and skills, we created  paintings in her style.
In science we have been learning about animals. This half term we have focussed on the five groups of vertebrates. We have learnt about their characteristics and diets. 
We went on a fabulous trip to The National Marine Aquarium were the children had a taste of being marine biologists as well and learning lots of sea creatures from our very informative guide. 

December has been a magical month in Year One!
There have been many highlights including our Christmas Production. The children rehearsed and practised so well to put on a wonderful performance for families. We also had a magical time rounding off the term with a Christingle gathering.

The children were contacted by Santa's chief elf and tasked with making some robots as the elves were worried they hadn't made enough. The children designed and made some wonderful robot toys with moving limbs.

In computing, the children used Doodledraw on the ipads to design Christmas cards that they then printed and sent to loved ones. 

Year One had a fantastic time in the woods making clay reindeers.

This month we have learnt about Guy Fawkes and The Gunpowder Plot. We found out about what happened and we used our printing skills to create colourful and sparkly fireworks art.

We have been thinking about how to be a good friend. We have thought about which qualities and behaviours we like to see in our friends.

This month we marked the beginning of anti-bullying week with 'Odd Socks Day'. We all wore odd socks to help us to think about how we are all special and unique. We also marked Children In Need day this month. We dressed up and even dressed up our giant class bear.

We went on a walk around the school grounds to hunt for signs that it is autumn. it was great fun playing in the leaves.

February

In art this month, we linked our work to our learning in RE, where we were thinking all about why Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah. The children produced some beautiful artwork, depicting Jesus, in pencil. Their attention to detail was spectacular and they were all very proud of the work they had produced.

Our environment ambassadors have been working hard to promote environmental awareness around the school. They have produced posters reminding us to turn off lights and turn off the taps. They have also set up collection areas for soft plastic recycling and now they are turning their focus back to lighting, carrying out regular surveys to check that we are turning lights off when we leave the room.

Soon, the environment ambassadors will be leading the rest of the school in a 'Hidden Treasure Hunt' where we will all be encouraged to hand in unwanted electrical items, as they often contain small traces of important metals, which can be recycled and would otherwise just disappear into landfill - watch this space for more information!

January

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you all had a peaceful and restful Christmas break - it was great to welcome all the children back for another new year - let's see what fun 2026 will bring us! 

Early in the month, we were visited by the staff from the 'Pulse Bus'. The children have been very lucky, as Mrs Cox has secured some funding for a 6 week fun-filled adventure! Every week, the children will be able to attend the Pulse Bus, where there is a climbing wall, games room, snack bar, craft corner and much, much more!

On the day their lovely staff visited us, the children took part in a workshop where they thought about themselves, their qualities and what they bring to the world. The focus was on making sure that we don't discriminate against anyone, ever because of our differences. Differences are to be celebrated!

In class, Year 6 learned all about Habitats and the Linnaean system of classification in Science. In Maths, they strengthened their knowledge of ratio and algebra and in English they wrote non-chronological reports all about creatures from the Galapagos islands. In Computing, the focus was online safety, we learned how to describe different habitats in French and in History we learned how to use a census to help us learn all about the past.

We have had a fantastic February full of exciting learning across all our subjects!

In Maths, we have been learning about multiplication and division.
We explored equal and non-equal groups and practised recognising the difference between them. We made equal groups by sharing objects and adding them together to find totals. We also learned how to write multiplication sentences and created arrays to help us see the groups clearly. Arrays really helped us understand how multiplication works and we enjoyed matching them to number sentences!

In Literacy, we focused on descriptive writing inspired by the beautiful 2015 John Lewis advert Man on the Moon. We wrote thoughtful descriptions about the lonely man and imagined how he might have been feeling. We worked hard to use expanded noun phrases and exciting adjectives in our writing.
We also watched the short film Baboon on the Moon and created more descriptive pieces. We described the setting on the moon and the emotions of the character. Our writing showed wonderful imagination and empathy.

In Science, we continued our learning about life cycles. This month, we explored the life cycle of a chicken and learned about how a chick grows inside an egg. We had lots of fun investigating boiled and raw eggs. We carefully observed them and even used microscopes to look closely and spot differences. It was very exciting working like real scientists!

We also took part in the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Big Bird Watch. We spent time observing and counting the birds we saw, helping scientists learn more about wildlife in the UK.

For Safer Internet Day, we learned about the acronym SMART to help us stay safe online. We talked about how to keep our personal information private and what to do if something online makes us feel worried or uncomfortable.

In RE, we explored the question: What is the good news Christians believe Jesus brings? We listened to the story of the tax collector and discussed themes of saying sorry and forgiveness. We thought carefully about how forgiveness can help mend friendships and why it is important to show kindness and understanding.

We are so proud of all the hard work Year 2 has shown this month. We have demonstrated fantastic teamwork, creativity and curiosity in our learning. We can't wait to see what March brings!

This January, our big question was "How did we learn to fly?" 

We travelled back in time to learn about the amazing inventors, the Wright brothers, who designed and flew the first successful aeroplane.
We discovered how hard they worked and how they never gave up on their dream of flying!
We also learned about Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license. We were inspired by her bravery and determination. Then we explored the adventures of Amelia Earhart, who became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

In Literacy, we wrote fantastic biographies about Amelia Earhart and the Wright brothers. We worked hard to include interesting information about their lives. Our learning even took us beyond the skies and into space as we found out about the Apollo 11 moon landing!
We loved discovering how astronauts travelled all the way to the Moon.

In DT, we became engineers! We designed and made our own aeroplanes with moving parts. We carefully thought about our designs and worked hard to make sure the moving mechanisms worked properly.

In Science, we learned about life cycles. We explored the life cycle of a human, a butterfly and a frog. We learned to match young animals to their adults, such as caterpillar to butterfly and tadpole to frog. We talked about how animals grow and change as they get older.

In Maths, we have been learning all about money. We practised counting in pence and pounds, making the same amount in different ways and calculating totals. Some of us even worked on finding change - just like in a real shop!

In PSHE, we talked about our dreams and goals for the future. We set New Year's resolutions and thought about what we would like to achieve this year. We also learned about good and bad teamwork and took part in group challenges to practise working together respectfully and kindly.

We have had a fantastic start to the year in Year 2 and are so proud of all our hard work. We can't wait to see what we will learn next!

Our last week before half term was all about Chinese New Year.

We enjoyed learning all about the celebration, from their preparations, the food, the dances and the costumes.  We learned that they use a lot of Red as it is thought to be lucky in China.  We looked at Chinese numerals and how they are different from our numerals. The children watched how they perform dragon and lion dances and we had a go at moving like them.

We also enjoyed some Chinese snacks in pre-school which were very much enjoyed by all.

This year is the year of the horse, so we created some collage horse art. 

We hope that everyone has a lovely half-term week and we return to pre-school on Monday 23^rd February.

The Pre-School Team.

As we begin a brand-new term at Storytellers, we've been reflecting on the lovely way we ended last half term by focusing on wellbeing to mark Children's Mental Health Week.

Throughout that special week, we spent time talking about kindness, who we love, and how we can care for one another. The children thoroughly enjoyed making crispy heart cakes and were so excited to share them with their loved ones. It was a wonderful way to reinforce the importance of connection, thoughtfulness and showing others we care.

We also shared stories about the Colour Monsters, helping the children explore different emotions and understand how colours can represent how we feel. These discussions helped the children recognise and talk about their own feelings in a safe, nurturing environment.

We finished the term with a relaxing Health Spa Day. The children came dressed in comfortable pyjamas and took part in calming activities centred around self-care. They enjoyed nail painting, listening to soothing music, and warm hand and foot soaks, while chatting about why it's important to look after ourselves and each other.

It was a truly special day, enjoyed by both the children and the staff team. There were plenty of smiles, laughter and a beautifully calm atmosphere - the perfect way to end the term before starting this new one feeling refreshed and ready for more adventures together.

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Thursday 12th February - half term! 

We have reached the end of yet another amazing busy half term.

The children continue to impress us every day; their progression is wonderful to see on a daily basis.

We end of big question of What would it be like if the world were frozen? The children have worked so hard and had so much fun thinking about this question. They have explored so much amazing learning and especially enjoyed exploring lots of ice!

Our big question next half term is: Is there anything above the clouds?

We hope you all have a wonderful half term and look forward to seeing all the children back at school on Monday 22^nd February.

The Foundation Team 

What a fantastic half term it has been!

The children have worked incredibly hard over the past weeks, showing determination, enthusiasm and such positive attitudes towards their learning. We are so proud of everything they have achieved - not only academically, but also in the way they have supported one another, challenged themselves and lived out our school values each and every day.

We truly couldn't have asked for a better way to end the half term than with our wonderful trip to Cotehele. The children represented our school brilliantly. They planted saplings with care and determination, demonstrating excellent teamwork and responsibility. It was a joy to see them embracing the experience so positively and showing off their very best Brunel values throughout the day.

They were a credit to the school.

Now it is time for a well-earned rest. We hope you all enjoy a relaxing and refreshing half term break, and we look forward to welcoming the children back, ready for another exciting term of learning.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

See you after half term!