February was a short month due to half term but we have still managed to pack in lots of learning.

In literacy we have been writing instructions about how to make an aeroplane out of recycled materials which we had actually made in DT so this helped us know what to write.

In numeracy we have had fun measuring length in centimetres and metres.

In Geography we have been exploring maps of the local area and comparing them to satellite views. We really enjoyed this, spotting where we live and local landmarks.
We have learnt what physical features are and what human features are.
We have also been discussing symbols and keys and had a go at drawing our own maps of the school and surrounding area.
We are just waiting for some dry weather so we can go for a walk in our local area now.

Art has been all about drawing and we have explored drawing different types of lines, shading, hatching, cross-hatching and stippling.
Again, we are waiting for the weather to improve so that we can take our art outside!

In music we have been learning to play the glockenspiel. We have learnt notes, B, A and G and have also learnt to put them together to play along to a tune. 

February in the ARC

There has been lots to celebrate in the ARC this February with birthdays and Valentine's Day. 

Our topic is Dinosaurs. We have been baking Dinosaur biscuits, creating fossils like the ones that Mary Anning found, creating Dinosaur skeletons out of pasta and building large scale 3D dinosaurs. Watch this space for the Dinosaur stories that we have worked on in literacy. All the ARC children have engaged really well with the topic! 

Freddie has been enjoying his piano playing and messy play. He is getting brilliant at using some of his symbols to communicate. We are very proud of him. 

Our newest member of the ARC, Eddie is settling in nicely. He loved making his dinosaur skeleton! 

This February...

...we have been continuing our work looking at the Tamar Valley, in particular the river Tamar.  We learned about the history of the river and went on a field trip to the Tamar Bridge (a very wet field trip).  
In RE we have been thinking about Holy Week and the events leading up to Easter.
In science we have started a new unit all about plants.
We also had Mental Health Week where we thought hard about showing kindness, being confident and talking kindly about ourselves.
We've been learning about different watercolour washes in art and practicing creating different effects.

January has been a busy month and we have been trying to answer the question 'Why was Amelia Earhart important?'.

In history we have been learning all about her adventures and achievements and the class have blown me away with their knowledge of the history of flight. This linked nicely to our literacy work where the children wrote a biography of Amelia Earhart's life.

In DT we have been designing and making aeroplanes which is ongoing. Have a look at our wonderful designs and we will post some pictures of the completed products when they are finished.

This half term has been learning all about multiplication and division in maths. The children have been able to recognise equal and non-equal groups, use stem sentences to describe arrays and problem solve using the 2, 5 and 10 times table.

Science has been all about humans and other animals. We recapped on the main animal groups, learnt about lifecycles and we can also explain what metamorphosis is! The children learnt about the basic needs for survival and also enjoyed an investigation into the best types of exercise for raising your heartbeat.
Finally we really enjoyed joining Steve Backshall for a live lesson all about sharks at the Marine Aquarium in Plymouth.

Well done for all your hard work this half term children, enjoy your half term break.

It was a cold return to nursery after the Christmas break and we started learning all about Winter. We explored the world, discussing animals that live in colder climates and used these creatures in our small world play. We also used these in our play dough to make footprints. We explored colour mixing whilst using pipettes to paint snowflakes. We also learnt about the Northern Lights and made our own Northern Light pictures using printing and pastels. One of our focus stories this month was Owl Babies and we learnt lots about owls and used the story to compare sizes, making comparisons between the three babies - Sarah, Percy and Bill. We completed some great observational drawings and paintings of Owls too. At the end of the month it was the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch so we made some seed bird feeders to send home and help encourage birds into our gardens. We were very fortunate to be given some brand new puddle suits , kindly funded by the Friends of Delaware and Gunnislake which are keeping us nice and dry during our outside play.

January 

We have been busy this January working on our water theme. We have recreated Monet picutres in Art and made fish out of willow and tissue paper. In Geography we have looked at the wonderful world where we have been learning about the seven Continents and five Oceans. Our cooking sessions have also been connected with water and liquid.

In Science we are learning about Solids, liquids and gases. We decided to make a Lava lamp to see what happens to the oil and water. The oil had greater density as it stayed at the bottom while the water stayed at the top. The bubbles were created by the fizzing tablets.

We enjoyed making Ice decorations, using natural items such as leaves, sticks, fir cones, conkers and flowers. We showed that liquid can change to a solid and then back to a liquid using the freezing and melting method.

Finally we decided to see if we could turn a solid into a liquid by using the melting process. Using chocolate buttons we conducted a fair test by using two chocolate buttons in each container. We used the same amount of water but 3 different temperatures (cold, warm, boiled). I think the boys enjoyed this the most and concluded that the cold water left the chocolate as a solid, the warm water slightly melted and the boiled water completely melting the chocolate. They noticed that the chocolate still tasted the same on all three.

This month we have been exploring the question of 'What can you find where the land meets the sea'. We have learnt about the 7 continents and 5 oceans and discovered what can be found around the coastline of Plymouth. We have also learnt how human beings are changing what can be found where the land meets the sea by allowing so much plastic pollution to get into the water and wash up beaches all around the world. 

In art we have been learning about the 3 primary colours and have been mixing paint to make secondary colours. 

In maths we have been learning about the place value of numbers to 20. we have been ordering and comparing them.

In music we have been learning about rhythem. The children have learnt rhymes and used drums to tap out the rhythm of the syllables in words. 

Happy New Year!

The Topic this term will be all about Water. It is a short term so we have lots to fit in!

In Art we are looking at the paintings of Monet and then creating our own water scenes with chalks and textiles. We will also be making 3D fish. We will also be working on some Computer Art this term.  Geography will focus on our Wonderful World where we will investigate the 7 continents and 5 oceans. In Science we will be learning about solids, liquids and gasses. Our cooking sessions will all involve using water. 

In the ARC we provide sensory activities for our pupils. This term, alongside individual sensory diets, we will be focusing deep pressure activities. 

We are all learning  Makaton together so that we can use to communicate using signing. This has been lots of fun! 

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. 

Welcome back to school and Happy New Year! 

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas break. Please see the attached newsletter for an outline of our learning for this half term.

It has been a very busy December in the ARC. We have enjoyed Christmas dinner, role play activities where we dressed as characters from the Nativity. We have made Christmas cakes and cards and enjoyed learning about the Christmas story in RE. We wish you all A Very Merry Christmas!

Welcome back! I hope that you all had a lovely time with your families over the festive period. It was lovely to see all of the children once again this week but I think that I speak for everyone when I say that we were all glad that it was a short week as everyone was a little tired after the holidays.
I want to say a big 'thank you' to pupils from Year 5 who created a lovely animation demonstrating one of the Trust's values of excellence. The animations were then shared this afternoon via a Teams meeting with all of the other Trust schools- what a lovely event.
Today marks the last day before Miss Hambly officially starts her maternity leave. I know that you will join me in wishing her the very best. I thought that you might like to see a picture of her and her leaving gifts (which we shared with her on the last day of term.) Have great weekend - see you all next week. The half termly newsletter will be sent to you next week.

December has been a very busy month, with lots of time taken up working on our 'Twinkly Nativity'.
Despite some last minute nerves, (mostly mine!), the children performed brilliantly. They spoke with very loud, clear voices and their singing was amazing, they made us very proud.

We have also been working on the story 'The Elves and the Shoemaker' in literacy and wrote some wonderful stories.
In maths we have been learning all about money and how to recognise and add coins. We also learnt to make the same amount in different ways.

Finally we really enjoyed our Christmas theatre trip to watch Raymond Briggs 'Father Christmas'. We even got a signed copy of the book!

Merry Christmas and have a wonderful break with your families!

It's been a very Christmas filled week at both bases. On Wednesday the children enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch- thank you to all who cooked and helped serve and clear up! Friday evening saw a fantastic Design Technology exhibition. It showcased fabulous work from all year groups. Over 60 parents with their children attended the event and enjoyed viewing the exhibition, buying some of the lovely Christmas crafts that the children had made and enjoying games, pizza and other refreshments. Thank you to all of the staff who gave up their time to run the event and to the Friends of Delaware and Gunnislake for running refreshments, games and the raffle.

What a fantastic couple of weeks we have had at both bases. On Tuesday 28th November the Year 3/Year 4 girls' football team played their final match of the league and came from 0-0 at half time to beat Bishop Cornish, who are a much more experienced team, 2-0! Well done girls and Mrs Hannaford. We are all really proud of you and look forward to the next tournament. 
It has been lovely to see all of you at the book fair during this week- thank you for supporting the school by purchasing some of the beautiful books on display.
Our Year 1 and Year 2 classes gave two fantastic performances of 'A Twinkly Nativity' to families on Thursday 7th December. The singing was superb and those with speaking parts were loud and clear. The evening performance was so well attended that it was 'standing room only'. Thank you to all of the staff who worked so hard to make it a success and to the Friends for providing refreshments.
The Y2 children enjoyed a fabulous day at the theatre watching a production of Raymond Brigg's "Father Christmas". Miss Evans reported back that the children thought it was 'magical'!
As we enter our final full week of term, here is a reminder of some of the upcoming events.
Wednesday 13th December- Christmas lunch - wear Christmas jumpers!
Friday 15th December- Design Technology Exhibition- 6pm at the Delaware base.
Tuesday 19th December - Carol Service and Christingle 1.30pm at the Delaware base.
Tuesday 19th December- End of term.
Have a great weekend!

We’ve had a busy and fun-filled November with lots of celebrations and events to enjoy. We started the month with our Diwali celebrations and used multi-sensory activities to help our understanding. We used small parts and 2D shapes to make rangoli patterns and used pipecleaners for threading. At snack time we tried some new foods and played with our ‘Spice Station’  smelling fragrant spices.

We remembered our fallen heroes for Remembrance Day and decorated poppies with rose petals and leaves.

Next up was Anti-bullying  week and we discussed what makes a good friend and how we can be kind. This was quickly followed by Children in Need where we made our own Pudsey ears, Pudsey Bears with playdough and used tweezers to post pompoms through Pudsey’s bandana.