Autumn Term Newsletter 2

Head of School Welcome

Dear parents and carers,

It has been another jam-packed half term here at TLA, with all of our classes getting out and about in our local area and making use of the many amenities we have right on our door step. One such experience was the fantastic Proms for schools at the Hall for Cornwall. Years Two to Six all attended, with the sure highlight being the stomping rendition of Wellerman that brought the house down! Thank you to Miss Murray for organising this for us.

As a Hall for Cornwall school, we are lucky enough to access and take part in great theatre throughout the year. We are looking forward to our visit to the panto this year, with thanks going to FOTLA for match funding the tickets for parents. We will also be putting on our own Christmas performances, which we hope you are looking forward to seeing next week!

It feels like winter is suddenly upon us - we were even lucky enough to see a sprinkling of snow in Malabar last week! May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I look forward to welcoming your children back in January.

Mrs Humberstone

Diary Dates

Autumn Term Dates 2023

Tuesday 12th December - Years 1-6 Peter Pan at the Hall for Cornwall, and EYFS treat in school
Wednesday 13th December - Christmas lunch
Wednesday 13th December - KS1 Nativity Performance (10am and 2pm)
Thursday 14th December - Rocksteady concert in the hall (9am)
Thursday 14th December - KS2 Christmas performance (6pm)
Friday 15th December - KS2 Christmas performance (2pm)
Monday 18th December - Christmas parties
Tuesday 19th December Children break up for Christmas holidays (1pm)

Diary Dates

Spring Term Dates 2024
Thursday 4th January - First day of Spring term
Wednesday 17th January - Year 1 hearing check
Thursday 25th January - FOTLA meeting at TLA (2pm)
Thursday 8th February - FOTLA Valentines disco
Friday 9th February - School closed INSET day
Monday 12th - Friday 16th February - Half term
Thursday 7th March - FOTLA meeting at TLA (2pm)
Thursday 28th March - Children break up for Easter holidays
Summer Term Dates 2024
Monday 15th April - First day of Summer term
Monday 6th May - School closed Bank holiday
Monday 27th May - Friday 31st May - Half term
Monday 22nd July - Children break up for Summer holidays

Nursery

In nursery this half term we have been learning all about the seasons and the weather. To tie in with this learning we were lucky enough to take part in our very own forest school session. We have been very creative and enjoyed lots of Christmas crafts and activities for our parents and carers. Whilst in phonics we had a bit of a shock as phonics Fred was found to be making snow angels on the nursery table!

Reception

Wow! What a busy half term in Reception! We have been learning about the weather and seasons this term, and have enjoyed spending lots of time outside, including a local walk to spot signs of Autumn, building hedgehog houses, and making a large-scale rangoli for Diwali. We have been working hard in phonics and writing, and are working towards reading and writing simple sentences, while in maths we have been focused on number and shape. On top of all of this busy learning, we have performed in both our World Nursery Rhyme Week performance and our Nativity performances. We have also raised £482.50 for new resources for our EYFS unit by taking part in a sponsored welly walk (keep an eye out for us in the West Briton!), and we have been on a trip to Truro Library, where we learnt all about how libraries work and borrowed books to bring home. Phew! Well done Reception - have a lovely and well-deserved winter break!

Year 1

As part of our enchanted woodland topic Year 1 have been learning about the artist Andy Goldsworthy. We went outside to create some transient art using leaves, pine cones, sticks and stones. We created some fantastic art!
We have been learning about different types of trees in Science. We went outside and searched for different types of trees. We found lots of Birch trees. We also learned about deciduous and evergreen trees.
In Geography we have been learning about the United Kingdom. We learned about the countries that make up the UK and their capital cities. We also learned about some human and physical features in these cities and sorted photos of physical and human features.

Year 2

In Year 2, we have stepped back in time through our topic, ‘Magnificent Monarchs’.
As writers, we have explored the story ‘The Paper Bag Princess’ then innovated and invented our own versions. We then learnt all about rhyme through the poem ‘From a Railway Carriage’ which is a Victorian poem about someone travelling on a steam train. We are now writing our own rhyming poems based on the view out a vehicle of our choice.
As mathematicians, we continue to learn how to calculate efficiently. Knowing our number bonds has really helped us to ‘make ten’ when partitioning numbers to complete addition and subtraction equations.
As historians, we have been comparing Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. We have learnt about coronations, changes in transport/inventions during their reigns and key events in their lives. We enjoyed handling Victorian artefacts and guessing their function.
As biologists, we have learnt that without the smallest of plants even the largest of carnivores could not survive. We made food chains to show how the energy from the sun is transferred from producers (plants) to consumers (animals) through predators and prey.
As theologians, we have questioned why Christmas is important to Christians. We have compared secular and scared celebrations and traditions, reflected on specials gifts we have received and are all now very familiar with the nativity story.
As gymnasts, we have worked together to create different shapes and balances, which we are beginning to sequence.