Summer Term 1 - Week 1 - Signs of Summer! 

English

In English this week we began a new learning journey on emotive writing. The children are exploring the video from literacy shed ‘The Piano’. Throughout the learning journey, the children will have the opportunity to write in different genres as well as investigating and using a variety of grammatical skills.

To begin the week, the children used their VIPERS skills to explore video and look at symbolism. They were presented with a range of ideas and discussed what this could symbolise and how it enhances the image in our heads. Next, the children learnt how to extend sentences using relative clauses, adjectival phrases etc. and wrote character descriptions for the old man in the clip.

Towards the end of the week, the children learnt about amplifications and how to use a range of literary devices to create them. So far, we have seen some lovely, descriptive language. We will continue to develop our writing over the next few weeks where we will end the journey by writing a recount in the form of a letter.

Maths

Maths varied this week, we had to complete our statistics learning journey before we moved onto angles. On the Monday and Tuesday, the children looked at two-way tables and reading time tables. They then finalised the journey by completing their end of unit assessments.

Mid-week, the children then began their angles and shapes learning journey. To begin their explored degrees, lots of this learning was recalling prior knowledge from Year 4. The children were confident in their recall and made notes of the declarative knowledge for the journey in their books.

To end the week, the children were involved in their weekly carousel, for these activities the children have the opportunity to look back at their arithmetic and reasoning papers and work on areas they find tricky. Teachers and TA’s are on hand to support, show methods etc.

Well done to those children who are continuing to access TTRS at home, keep up the fab work!

Wider Curriculum

We were scientists this week…

On Monday, the children learnt all about life cycles of humans. They learnt about the different stages and recorded key facts and information. During the lesson, the children were also introduced to different animals and their cycles, where we then made comparisons, noting the similarities and differences.

On Thursday, we then moved on to ‘Living things and their habitats’, where we explored the life cycles of common plants. Here the children looked at parts of a plant, how seeds disperse, what asexual reproduction in plants is, before embarking on an experiment. For the experiment, the children would be taking cuttings of a plant and replanting them to see if their grow. In their books they made predictions on what would happen to the plant based on the knowledge they had learnt from the lesson.

Please see this week’s home learning for further information!!

What a great start to a new term,

Have a wonderful weekend as always,

Best Wishes,

Summer 1 - Week 1 - A Warm Welcome Back 

Welcome back to you all. It has been so wonderful to have our fabulous Reception children back at school this week, just as some glorious, warm sunshine arrived for us too!

This week in our maths learning, we have been exploring numbers from 10-20. We have learnt their names and have dug deep to explore the tens and ones in each number. This helps the children to embed that two-digit numbers are made up of tens and ones. We experimented with this in many ways. We started by using numicon pieces to make a number from 10-20. The children had to use the 10 piece numicon and then find the ones numicon piece to build the shown number.

We then moved on to making numbers 10-20 with two tens frames and counters. Again, we broke down how many tens it had and then how many ones the number had. The children worked in teams to make the given number on their tens frame. They first made the whole ten and then how many ones the number had. They had to count their counters altogether to double check it had made the correct number.

We finished our week by learning how to build number 10-20 using cubes.

In other news, we were more than just a ‘tad’ excited about the new members of Reception! On Thursday, we met our class tadpoles. The children are very eager to learn all about them and to watch them grow and develop. There has already been much hype about when they’ll start to develop legs and change over time. Today we have spoken about frogs being amphibians and how they change during their lifecycle. We are sure that you’ll hear much more about them over the next few weeks.

This week we have started to attend whole class assemblies on a Friday afternoon. The children were praised for how beautifully they came into assembly and sat and listened. We even got to leave assembly first as we had sat so well. Well done Reception!

Next week, we will start learning all about Africa through our class text - Handa's Suprise.

Reminders - P.E is going to move to a Thursday morning. We obviously have the children’s P.E kits in each day anyway for extra sessions we add in. Our weekly library session will now move to a Monday. We kindly ask for you to ensure your child’s library book is brought in, in their book bag, on a Monday.

We hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Best wishes,

The Reception Team

It has been a joy to welcome your children back to school this week. I’ve been so pleased to see their enthusiasm as soon as they get into school completing their early morning maths. Making every moment of school life count is vitally important, and so it’s pleasing to see this week’s attendance at 96%. Our overall attendance target for the year is 97%, so we aren’t far off. Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you to everyone for making me feel so welcome. I’m looking forward to continuing to get to know the school better, and build those all-important relationships with children, staff, parents and the wider community.

I’ve spent a lot of this week starting to get to know the children and staff. Going around the classes, it has been wonderful to see the wide range of learning taking place, such as the children in Big Nursery waiting patiently for butterflies to emerge from their chrysalises. It was impressive to hear them explain the lifecycle of a butterfly using all the rich scientific language.

This week’s Shining Stars theme was ‘Being Respectful’ – one of our golden rules. It was a pleasure seeing children receiving their certificates in assembly today and all the different ways they have demonstrated respect. I know the staff had a difficult time choosing who to give them to, especially in Year 6 (pictured). A special mention to our Shining Stars from Reception, who came into their first proper whole school assembly for the first time. Both classes were role models to all children – well done!

Next week, we will be sharing some of the confirmed dates for various events this term. This will also include some informal opportunities to meet with me, for instance at a coffee morning/afternoon. I’m really keen to hear from parents as to what you value about this wonderful school as well as your thoughts on what we can do to make it even better.

Wishing you all a restful (and hopefully sunny) weekend.

Mr Chris Wathern

The children had lots of fun on the bikes this week. They are confidently riding the bikes around the bike track, knowing how to move around other children into a space and stopping using their feet. 

At last, the sun has appeared! The children went out for their outdoor learning and used the Trim Trail. The children are growing in confidence and are independently using the equipment.

Despite the very dark and gloomy weather outside today, our school was filled with bright colours and Easter fun. 

The children had a great time at the Easter Obstacle Eggstravaganza. They all hopped into activities such as egg rolling, bunny hopping, egg throwing and of course the classic egg and spoon!

Thank you to everyone that donated towards Mrs Bryant's Sky Dive challenge. We raised a fantastic amount of money for Childrens Hospice South West which is a charity very close to our hearts. 

Thank you also to our Year 6 Sports Leaders and Leadership Team, they were fabulous!

Have a great Easter. We look forward to seeing you all on Monday 15th April.

Best wishes, 

Mrs Lee- Elkins 

Spring 2 - Week 6 - Have a crackin' break! 

English

It was all about poetry, this week in English. The children looked into themes of prejudice, culture and traditions and wrote a retaliation poem in response to the poem ‘The Jelabi Tree’. We were incredibly proud of the confidence they had to tackle such mature themes and they were very excited to read aloud the poems that they had produced.

Next term, we will be exploring ‘The Piano’ as a video inspiration for emotive writing.

Maths

In Maths, this week, we began our learning journey of statistics. The children have explored line graphs, drawn line graphs, interpreted data and looked at tables. The children have enjoyed finding and recording data in different ways.

We have continued to revisit and retrieve key knowledge in our morning work. After Easter we will continue to complete regular arithmetic papers and begin to introduce new concepts ready for Year 6! EEEK.

Please over the Easter holidays continue to encourage your children in accessing TTRS.

Wider Curriculum

In Wider Curriculum we came to the end of our SPACE learning journey. The children did their final loop in forces looking at friction, identifying how much friction is caused when two objects move against each other. The children used a range of surfaces testing a shoes movement; using a newton meter to measure the force.  The children then recorded their findings in a bar chart, they then wrote conclusions using the key vocabulary from the lesson.

We have thoroughly enjoyed learning all about SPACE and look forward to our new learning journey of ‘Changes’ after Easter. WATCH THIS SPACE…

Easter Extravaganza

On Thursday the children were involved in an Easter fundraising event for Little Harbours children’s hospice. They had a go at a range of different activities in an obstacle course. The children donated, came in own clothes and had so much fun, all for a wonderful cause.

IMPORTANT:
PE for next term has changed to a Friday and we will be looking at Athletics - Track and Field events. 

Have an EGGcellent Easter,

Best wishes,

Spring 2 - Week 5- Recounts, Resistance and Rhythms!

English

This week in English, we are coming to the end of our learning journey. At the start of the week, the children began to plan their recounts. The recounts were written from Xok the shark’s perspective. In the recount, they had to capture what it would have been like for him captivity and give a detailed recall of the key events. In the plan, the children noted phrases and vocabulary that they could later use in their writing. The children got out thesauruses to upskill their phrases and enhance the emotions they had selected.

For the rest of the week, the children wrote their recounts. They used all of their skills and knowledge from across the journey to write their final piece. The children were able to write descriptively and used stylistic devices to enhance their descriptions. Towards the end of the week, the children then had the opportunity to edit, redraft and improve their work. They then filled out their toolkits, assessing themselves against their success criteria.

Maths

In Maths, we also came to the end of our area and perimeter learning journey. The children showed off their learning in their end of unit assessments. However, some of the children found these quite tricky and this is where Mrs Callister and I decided we would need some consolidation.

With Mrs C and her fantastic art skills, a double page spread of area and perimeter questions was created. The children at their own pace worked through the questions. Here they were able to ask of support in addressing misconceptions. We will also continue to embed this content in their morning work.

At the end of the week, the children then completed their PUMA maths assessment. This is an opportunity for the children to demonstrate what they have learnt across the term. The children enjoy looking at their progress from autumn term and from this information set themselves targets.

Wider Curriculum

In Wider Curriculum we got wet and wild investigating water resistance. In the lesson, the children carried out an experiment, exploring how different shapes/surface areas can have didn’t levels of water resistance. The children were given balls of clay, where they formed a variety of shapes. They then checked their controlled variables before dropping the clay into water. With an iPad they timed which shape sank to the bottom the quickest, therefore having the least amount of water resistance. The children wrote out their methods, made predictions, recorded their results and wrote conclusions on their findings.

Music Performance

On Wednesday 20^th March 2024, the children performed their Brass Performance to all of the parents. We were so proud of our children, who got up there and until the lessons, had never played a brass instrument before. We would also like to say a huge thank you to Tony, our music teacher, who guided the children through their lessons and their wonderful performance!

Important Dates:

·      Parents evening - Tuesday 26^th/Wednesday 27^th March 2024

·      Easter Extravaganza – Own clothes! - Thursday 28^th March 2024 

Have a wonderful weekend, 
Best Wishes, 
The Year Five Team 

Week 6 - What an Egg-cellent week! 

We've had a really busy week to end our busy term with! 

Science

We finally finished our bean diaries this week - unfortunately because of the lack of sunshine, not all our beans had germinated but we have sent them home with the children so we're hoping if they keep them in the window, maybe they will by the end of the holidays! Some beans had germinated and others had grown roots, a stem and even some leaves. The children really enjoyed looking at the different stages. 

Geography

We used our knowledge we have learnt about maps to good use on Monday by drawing our own maps of the KS1 playground. Children drew them from a birds-eye view, making a key to go with it so others could read their maps. We used vocabulary, such as near, next to, left, right, behind. 

English

The children had fun writing their own poems about What's at the bottom of the garden using alliteration and we had some fantastic efforts. They really impressed us with their use of vocabulary and we had some great descriptions - wiggly worms, buzzy bees, slobbery slugs, to name a few! 

PE

We finished our ball skills unit with DT Coaching with some fun games this week and managed to carry on despite the heavy downpours by moving to the hall for an epic game of Duck, Duck, Goose, which the children all loved! They have been learning to catch and to throw using 3 different types of pass - a chest pass, a shoulder pass and a bounce pass. They have been able to put these skills to use in small games of handball, following the rules of 3 steps once they are holding the ball and only holding the ball for 3 seconds.

Next half-term, we will have Pro 20 coaching on a Monday so please send your child into school in their PE kit on Mondays. 

We hope you all have a fabulous Easter break and fingers crossed we get some much needed sunshine! 

We look forward to seeing you back on Monday 15th April (in PE kits!). 

The Year One Team

Hello!

My name is Miss Tiplady, I am 22, and I am currently undergoing training with the University of Exeter on a PGCE program to become a teacher. My educational journey began at Wadebridge Primary and later Wadebridge Secondary School, followed by Callywith College in Bodmin. I graduated last summer with a degree in BSc Psychology with Sports Science at Exeter and represented the university in netball and horse riding which are my two main hobbies. Teaching has always been my passion since a young age, and I find immense joy in witnessing the progress students make through my lessons. Building connections with each student and supporting them to reach their full potential brings me great fulfillment!

I look forward to the rest of my time here at Wadebridge Primary Academy until the end of June!




Happy Easter to all of you!

The Year 2 Team 

I am very much looking forward to starting as Headteacher at Wadebridge Primary Academy after Easter. I have thoroughly enjoyed my recent visits as part of the transition process. I’ve really noticed the warmth and positive relationships between staff and children, as well as the quality of education shining through. I would like to say a particular thank you to the leadership team and all the staff and children, as well as the wider Trust for their support.

I am passionate about creating an inclusive and supportive learning environment where children and staff can thrive and make a positive difference. I share the school’s commitment in meeting the unique needs of all children and ensuring they have a sense of belonging and wellbeing.

My family and I recently returned to Cornwall after 6 years abroad, where I was a Headteacher of British international schools in The Netherlands and Asia. Prior to this, I was Headteacher at Fowey Primary for 8 years.

In my free time, I enjoy playing the piano, singing, cooking and enjoying the great outdoors. I’m already looking forward to the weekly singing assemblies!

After Easter, I’ll be in touch again about some informal opportunities to come in and meet with me. I will be interested in getting feedback from parents about what we do well and what we could possibly develop. On a day-to-day basis, I hope to see many of you at drop off and collection as well as various events next term.

I look forward to continuing the school’s journey, building on the many successes, and helping to shape its future. I’m committed to working with the whole school community to meet our aspiration that children will learn, thrive and excel.

Best wishes,

Chris Wathern

On Wednesday 20th March Year 3 had their Roman and Celt WOW day! This day celebrated all things Celt and Roman with activities throughout the day including baking Rock buns, creating Mosaic tiles, a Roman Numeral challenge and designing our own Roman or Celt outfit. The day finished with an epic battle between the Celts and the Romans! Everyone fought bravely and safely but we all died in the end! The battle highlights can been seen at our upcoming class assembly- a must watch!



Also this week we visited the Church to talk to Reverend Steve about how Christians celebrate Holy Week and Easter. Year 3 asked some really good questions and enjoyed looking around the Church. 


We look forward to starting our new topic- How does the World Survive and Thrive next term. 


The Year 3 Team 
 

Year Two Rainforest Café

Thank you to everyone  who joined us for our Rainforest café this week. It was wonderful to see the children excited to show you their learning that they have done over this term. There were lots of proud faces from the grown ups too! Thank you for all your kind donations we have raised over £100 that we will be use to hopefully adopt a rainforest animal. The children have been deciding which animal that will be. Not only this, the children did an amazing job in their class assembly to showcase all of their learning which included a powerful song ‘Anthem of the rainforest’. 

Year Three WOW Day

On Wednesday Year 3 had their Roman and Celt dress up WOW day. The children's costumes looked incredible, and the day was full of fun activities including baking Roman Rock buns, creating our own Mosaic masterpieces, and designing a Roman outfit. The day finished with an epic battle between the Romans and the Celts- the highlights of which will be shown at the upcoming Year 3 class assembly.

Bridge Schools Alternative Sports Day

On Thursday, six pupils from Year 5 and 6 went to Looe Primary School to join other schools from our Trust in an 'Alternative Sports' day. The children got to experience Ultimate Frisbee, Fencing, Street Surfing and mini Segways! Safe to say they really enjoyed themselves! The aim of the day was to promote teamwork and active participation, which our pupils certainly did! They were a credit to WPA.

Week 5 - Marvellous Maps!

English

This week, the children have shown off their skills in their reading assessments and we were really proud of how well they listened to instructions and for their brilliant reading and comprehension. We then started our poetry unit and learnt about alliteration where words with the same sound are used for impact in writing. We had fun trying to learn some tongue twisters, like "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers"! 
The children came up with their own alliterative words, such as "dancing dog" and "Freddie fox". Children then took a poem about creatures under the sea and changed the adjective to one of their own. We had some great examples, including "squirty squids", "crusty crabs" and "shiny starfish". Next week, we will be writing our own poems about what is at the bottom of the garden. 

Maths

Children have continued learning about place value to 50 and have been looking at one more and one less than a given number to 50. For this, they have been learning to use number squares to 50 and have been able to find a number and work out one more and one less. We have been really impressed with their knowledge and how hard they have worked. 

Geography

We have been learning about maps this week and talked about where we find them - paper maps, on grown up's phones, in the car, in towns and cities, on the camel trail - they had some great ideas about where they were. We used Digimaps to find Cornwall and zoomed in to find Wadebridge and our school. We looked at the difference between a satellite image and a map and learnt what a key is. We then used our knowledge to go into the playground to look what features there are and to plot them onto a map. Next week, we will use this information to make a map of the playground. Children had to find different features and draw them in the correct place on their map, for example, the shed had to be to the left of the Year 2 classrooms and the climbing frame was next to a picnic bench. Children found it difficult at first not to draw the object from their viewpoint but to think of it as a "birds eye view". We studied some more maps in the classroom and talked about the difference. We are looking forward to drawing our maps next week. 

Reminders

We have a shorter week next week with it being Easter and break up on Thursday at 1pm. 

We will still have PE on Wednesday so please send your child into school in their PE kit. 

Library day is Thursday - please do bring your books back in to change for the holidays. 

Please make sure your child has their book bag every day so they are able to read with adults in school, thank you.

Have a lovely weekend!

The Year 1 Team

Thank you to all the parents and family members who joined us for our Rainforest café this week. It was wonderful to see the children excited to show you their learning that they have done over this term. There were lots of proud faces from the grown ups too! Thank you for all your kind donations we have raised over £100 that we will be use to hopefully adopt a rainforest animal. The children have been deciding which animal that will be. Not only this, the children did an amazing job in their class assembly to showcase all of their learning which included a powerful song ‘Anthem of the rainforest’.

Don’t forget we have an early finish next week (Thursday) before we break up for the Easter holiday.

Many thanks Year 2

Planting Sunflower Seeds

Welcome back everyone!

To start our wonderful topic of 'Things that grow' this summer term we have had lots of fun planting our very own Sunflower seeds. We are encouraging the children's exploration and curiosity of living things by carefully planting, watering and looking after plants they have grown from seeds.
The children had lots of fun planting their seeds this week we cannot wait to see them grow.

Design Technology

This week, Year 4 have had lots of fun learning how to make sling shot cars.  We looked at real cars to see how they were designed and noticed how racing cars were shaped differently to saloon cars.
We started off by making the chassis of our car and used lolly sticks to make the frame with dowels and straws to create the axles.  Next, we made paper templates for the upper body of the car and then cut them out in stiff card; remembering to include some tabs to allow for joining.

At times, we had to be very resilient Keep-going Koalas, especially when our car designs didn’t go to plan.  We had to solve problems which arose when some of the parts broke because the joints weren’t strong enough to hold the car’s shape.  It was not easy to line up the paperclip hook with the elastic band flinger so that the car moved forward in a straight line.
Once they were finished, there was great excitement for race day!  We tested the cars to see whose car would travel the farthest.  After several heats hotly contested heats, we found our winner.  Louis took first prize with an impressive performance as his car travelled the whole length of the classroom. 
Miss Bragg reminded everyone how to show good sportsmanship and explained that she would award a prize, not only for the winner but for someone who showed encouragement and support to others.  Miss Bragg was pleased to award Daisy with the prize for being very sporting and positive towards others.

We not only learnt a lot about how to make an effective design, we also learnt how to be resilient and how to win and lose with good grace.

Spring 2 - Week 4 - Year 5 are keeping S.M.A.R.T! 

English

This week in English, the children performed an oral discussion. They gathered research based on the theme ‘Should exotic animals be kept as pets’, in pairs they looked closely at the positive and negative impacts. Next, they picked a side and navigated an oral debate. They were given sentence stems to support with how they could lead into their arguments. Finally, in pairs, they performed to the class. The purpose of this lesson was to allow the children the opportunity to gather information for their persuasive writing.

In the follow-on lesson; the children wrote persuasive texts arguing their side of the argument. They broke it down into 3 main arguments and used evidence and statistic to support. We then came back together at the class, where we modelled a conclusion for the children discussing the success criteria and its contents. Towards the end of the week, we moved onto setting descriptions, the children used the map from the story ‘Shark Caller’ as inspiration to write about their settings. Their aim was use to a range of stylistic devices to enhance their descriptions. As a result, they were then able to write a detailed recount of their own arrival on the Papua New Guinea island, detailing all they could see, hear, taste, touch and smell.

Maths

In Maths, the children continue with their perimeter and area learning journey. This week, we started to look at the perimeter of polygons and rectilinear shapes before moving onto the area. The children now know that the perimeter is the outside of the shape and the area is the inside.

The children were also able to articulate that for working out the area they needed to know their times tables! EEEEK. Please do continue to encourage your children to access TTRS at home, it is such a great tool in building your child’s fluency in recalling multiplication facts. Another great resources which myself and Mrs. Callister advocate is flash cards. They removed the pressures of speed and allow the children to really pinpoint to the facts that they do not know.   

Towards the end of the week, the children completed this term PUMA assessments which has a mixture of arithmetic and reasoning questions. This is where the children have the opportunity to show off all they have learnt across Spring Term.

Wider Curriculum

In Wider Curriculum this week we have been Scientists exploring FORCES. The children completed an investigation, answering the question ‘Does the mass of an object affect the force of gravity?’ – The children were given a range of balls all of a different mass, they dropped the balls from the same height, recording the speed in which they fell. “The heavier and bigger the object the bigger it’s gravitational pull” – Lochy 5B. During the lesson, the children also learnt lots of interesting information about gravity and its founder Sir Isaac Newton.

Next, the children explored Air resistance, completing another investigation with a parachute drop. The focus within these lessons was the children’s ability to observe, record and explain their findings in a conclusion.

Online Safety Visit

On Wednesday the children were lucky enough to have a visit from the local police who came to talk to them all about online safety! During the session, the children discussed the different kinds of apps and games that can accessed online, along with their age limits. It was interesting to see how many children access games that are above their age bracket. However, one of the key messages from the police was understanding that these games and apps will be used but it’s how to use them safely that’s important. The children were presented with the acronym  -

S – Stay safe

M – Don’t MEET up with strangers you have talked to online.

A – Think before ACCEPTING anyone online.

R – Not everyone is RELIABLE. They may not be who they seem to be.

T – TELL a responsible adult if you feel uncomfortable or worried.

This acronym is now displayed in the classroom for all to see!

It was also wonderful having these important messages presented by people from our local services with stories that link to our community. The children were then allowed to ask questions about online safety and their jobs as the police. The session was extremely informative and opened our eyes as teachers to the importance of keeping our children safe online.

As a whole, it was an exciting morning, especially when the children saw Mrs. Callister and Miss Beckett locked up in handcuffs! EEK!

Important Dates:

·      Parent’s evening – Tuesday 26^th March / Wednesday 27^th March 2024, please book your appointment on arbor.

·      Wednesday 20^th March 2024 – Year 5 children will be performing their music piece to parents lead by our music man Tony at 2:40pm

Spring 2 - Week 4 - In the Navy!

On Wednesday, Year 6 were visited by two members of the Royal Navy. We learned about the purpose of the Navy which includes protecting our waters and shipping lanes around the world. They also provide aid and assistance to people who have experienced natural disasters. We completed two activities with them. The first, challenged the children to make a flare and the second to make a tower that had to be: taller that 6 foot, free standing and able to bear the weight of a ‘satellite’. The children demonstrated great team-work, resilience and perseverance when completing these challenges.

English
This week, the children have been applying the skills they have learned over the past unit of writing to write an ending to our class story ‘Darwin’s Dragons’. This includes using a variety of sentence types to keep their writing interesting and using parenthesis to add extra detail. Next week, they will be drawing upon the book to write their own fantasy fiction stories.

Maths
We have spent the past couple of weeks learning about statistics. The children have learned to interpret and draw: line graphs, dual bar charts and pie charts. We finished the unit by learning how to find the mean and how to find the total when given the mean. We’re now moving onto our next unit of learning which is Shape.

Geography
In our wider curriculum learning, we have been Geographers! We have compared and contrasted the physical features of Great Britain and the Galapagos Islands. We have also considered the impact that human activity is having on physical geography. We looked at the impact globally and then more specifically on the Galapagos Islands. We carried out an experiment with ice cubes that demonstrated that ice melting will cause sea temperatures to rise. We have also considered our carbon footprint and what we can do to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Reminders
For homework this week, children need to complete: Punctuating Speech (pages 56 & 57) in their SPaG books and Statistics (pages 82-87 ) in their maths books.

Best wishes,
The Year 6 Team