Posted 22/01/2025
by Julie Pearce
Today at Storytellers, the children had so much fun rescuing
winter animals frozen in ice. They used pipettes and pots to pour warm water
over the ice, submerged it in a bowl of warm water, and watched the steam while learning about hot and cold and improving their fine motor skills.
It is a fantastic way to explore science through play.
Posted 18/12/2024
by Julie Pearce
The children enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch today cooked by our wonderful chef Sam, everyone happily tucked in while wearing their handmade party hats! Great fun was had after lunch as they raced the reindeer, they had received in the crackers.
Posted 18/12/2024
by Julie Pearce
Wow,
we could not be prouder of our little school! The children absolutely smashed
both their performances and brought some twinkle to our toes !!! Singing,
acting, bell ringing, recorders, and a solo …what an incredibly talented bunch
of little people we have!
Thanks to everyone for making this possible, as it’s a massive team effort.
Posted 12/12/2024
by Julie Pearce
Christmas has arrived at Storytellers; the children
created their letters to Father Christmas and were lucky to have our wonderful postman collect them! They have been assembling beautiful
decorations and enjoying Santa's post office while often dressed in various festive outfits, which always bring a smile to everyone’s faces.
Posted 12/12/2024
by Julie Pearce
Posted 12/12/2024
by Julie Pearce
Storytellers had a magical day visiting Father Christmas in
his beautiful grotto; the children embraced everything on offer: riding
reindeer, making snow angels, decorating gingerbread, and talking to Father
Christmas and the elves. We enjoyed a delicious lunch together and even had
chocolate cake to take home!
Posted 03/12/2024
by Julie Pearce
Yesterday morning, a few of our tiniest people were helped by some of our biggest people to decorate the Storytellers Christmas tree as part of the St Petroc Churches Christmas tree festival. Nursery and KS2 have been busy making decorations, which are now adorning the tree! It looks spectacular, and everyone can view their tree along with over 70 other beautiful trees in St. Petroc Church. It really is worth a visit as it looks amazing, or as one of our little ones said, ‘Wow…sparkly!’
Posted 27/11/2024
by Julie Pearce
This tiny fundraising team has smashed it by raising £80 to
support Children in Need. They have baked, made posters, decorated cakes and
eaten spare sweets to save us from tidying them up! Watching them sell
their little cakes was a pleasure as they were so proud, and rightly so! Well
done, Storytellers team!
Posted 25/11/2024
by Andrew Smith
Posted 25/11/2024
by Kelly Pengelly
Autumn 2
Snow Day
Last week beautiful Blisland was blasted with a blizzard. The children made the most of the snow with snowmen, sledges and snow-ball fights. It is a rare day but such a special one I'm sure children will remember for a long time.
Cross Country
We are up and running with cross country. The club is a very healthy size with 12 members. We have been running through the woods and been doing some hill training. Hopefully the mild weather will continue and we can get some longer runs in.
Christmas Play
Both Kensa and Nessa class have been busy learning their lines and learning the songs for our up coming Christmas play. Dates for the performances have been emailed out so make sure you check your diaries.
Parents Evenings
Kensa class have completed their parents evenings and Nessa are continuing this week. Thank you for taking the time to come in an discuss your child's progress. It is always a pleasure to share what we have been doing at school and to receive positive feedback from home.
Posted 11/11/2024
by Julie Pearce
While making Poppy paintings
for Remembrance Day, the Children can begin to explore British Values. As and Early years settings we are required to promote British Values actively to
ensure our young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. British Values are embedded into everyday practice. Remembrance Day will
help children make links between their lives, their freedoms, and the values in
England. Democracy, Mutual Respect, Tolerance, Rule of Law, and Individual
Liberty are the values that settings are expected to incorporate into their
practice. They are learning about these values when:
* They make choices and decisions and know that their
decisions and choices can make a difference.
* They begin to understand that
everyone is entitled to have different opinions or feelings that may be
different from someone else, but learning that this is ok.
* They begin to learn about the
importance of being kind and respectful of similar and different people.
* When they learn about cause and
effect and that actions have consequences
* When thinking about the freedoms
that they have in the things that they enjoy doing every day.
Posted 05/11/2024
by Julie Pearce
Storytellers have been learning about Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, and many rituals and traditions during the event include light. Diya lamps are lit around the doorways and windows of people's homes. This symbolises the triumph of light over dark and welcomes Lord Rama home from the story of Rama and Sita. The children listen to a story about family traditions celebrating Diwali. They enjoyed creating their Diya lamps and decorating our entrance with Rangoli, a popular Diwali tradition –beautiful patterns made using colourful powders and flowers. People draw Rangoli on the floor by the entrance of their homes to welcome the gods and bring good luck!
Posted 05/11/2024
by Julie Pearce
This week, we continue our season's theme by investigating Halloween. This festival signifies the move from autumn to winter and is always a great favourite for young children.
We
have enjoyed reading a classic this week, “Room on a Broom” by Julia Donaldson.
The story of a witch, a group of animals who help her, good manners, friendship
and cooperation was fun to read aloud because of its rhythm and rhyme and
opportunities for the children to join in.
The
children thoroughly enjoyed the potion Station today. They measured out bicarbonate and various coloured vinegars along with a variety of Halloween-inspired pasta shapes and then watched the results. They were totally immersed in the process, which created some wonderful learning opportunities as we talked about the reactions that happened and the words we could use to describe them.
The
children carried on this passion for potions within their role-play area, currently themed as ‘Meg and Mogs’ house. There have been many magic spells and rhymes as the children explored roles together. Having
a selection of pumpkins around the room has offered an abundance of learning
opportunities, from size ordering and counting to mark-making in various exciting ways.
Posted 05/11/2024
by Julie Pearce
Posted 24/10/2024
by Julie Pearce
Posted 24/10/2024
by Julie Pearce
Storytellers made pumpkin soup, which they enjoyed in the winter sunshine around the campfire, where they warmed their bread and watched the fire crackle and smoke. The children enjoyed scooping the pumpkin and pulling out the slippery seeds. Everyone explored the textures and smells as they prepared the soup and excitedly took the leftover peel outside for the squirrels to enjoy! This was some of the younger children’s first experience sitting around the fire and learning about our rules to keep everyone safe. They were fantastic at listening, and everyone enjoyed tucking into their soup before spending time playing with the mud kitchen
Posted 27/09/2024
by Andrew Smith
Blackbeard story
In Nessa class we have begun to learn a new story. It is an exciting Pirate tale featuring Blackbeard and Davey Swift. The two brothers are locked in a battle. The story climaxes with Blackbeard setting alight his ship to intimidate his enemy. Pupils have been learning and applying the rules of speech - inventing their own conversations between the pirates. Year 5 and 6 pupils will need to use pirate slang to enliven their speech. This week we have also been focusing on character descriptions. We will use a range of sentence structures to describe the character's appearance and mannerisms.
Next week, pupils will be acting out sections of the story before writing an innovation of our class text. It will be fantastic to see which direction their Pirate Tales take.
Posted 24/09/2024
by Andrew Smith
Forest School
This week year three and four went for a wander along the bridle way to collect some foliage as we wanted to make some natural clay tiles.
They looked for leaves with prominent veins which would help to make a clearer imprint on clay. Luckily, they found a wonderful variety along with some interesting seed heads. Once back on the field the children spread out their collected treasures and began by breaking off a small handful of the air-dry clay to knead in their hands until it is soft and pliable. Adding a few drops of water to the clay with there fingertips if it began to crack. They pinched out the clay and then gently rolled it out until about 5 mm thick. The children placed some foliage onto the clay and firmly rolled it in to imprint the pattern onto the clay, making sure that they didn’t press too hard and distort the shape. Watching the children’s delight as they peeled away the foliage to reveal a pattern was a pleasure. The children enjoyed some free time to create little birds and animals.
Working with clay is an invaluable experience for sensory development, motor skills, self esteem, and self expression, problem solving skills, discipline, and pride. Clay also has a uniquely therapeutic quality that often settles and calm children; it keeps their attention for a considerable time. Clay is a unique art medium because it is highly responsive to touch and very forgiving. As soon as children are given clay, they immediately begin to mould and shape it. They become aware that they are in charge and have influence over the medium as it is quick to respond to their fingers. The feeling that they are in command of the clay gives children the confidence to try any project which opens the door to greater self expression and imagination. Clay also allows a child to learn to repair mistakes and therefore not be afraid to make them. Making mistakes is essential for self improvement but can be difficult and even an obstacle for some children. The forgiving quality of clay, and therefore the ability to readily fix mistakes, gives a child a sense of control over their project’s success which improves self esteem and self expression as they realise that mistakes are not going to stop their progress
Posted 18/09/2024
by Julie Pearce
After
a successful blackberry hunt, the children eagerly put on their aprons and
joined Mrs Pearce. They were not just spectators, but active participants in
the cooking process. They weighed out the ingredients, cut up the apple,
counted out the blackberries, and rubbed the ingredients together with their
fingers; this proved to be somewhat sticky, but they were all fabulous at
taking turns and waiting patiently for it to bake. Their sense of achievement and
independence was evident in their beaming smiles and the delicious aroma that
filled the kitchen.
Cooking is one of the children’s favourite activities in Storytellers. It
is an authentic experience where children can gain various skills, specifically
in Maths. In addition, it can aid language and communication. When children can
complete activities independently, their confidence soars. Following a recipe
also helps children to learn to read for a purpose and follow instructions. In
addition, they can talk about their likes and dislikes and healthy eating. When
children are involved in preparing food, they are more likely to try out new
tastes and flavours. The children's enjoyment of the cooking activity was
evident in their eagerness to learn and their enthusiastic participation.
The
crumble was a scrumptious afternoon snack to enjoy in the autumnal sunshine.
Posted 18/09/2024
by Julie Pearce
Children love to show what they can do, and cooking provides opportunities to gain a sense of accomplishment.
It
helps the children understand traditions and really aids language and communication.
Today we introduced new vocabulary such as harvesting wheat, grinding wheat,
dough, kneading and rising. When children can complete activities independently
their confidence soars. Following a recipe also helps children to learn to read
for a purpose and follow instructions. When children are involved in preparing
food, they are more likely to try out new tastes and flavours. Today the
children enjoyed learning how to make bread like The little Red Hen, how to
knead the dough and then watch it double in size like magic! The best bit was
tasting though….well done little chefs
Creative
We are bold and innovative in our approach to find new solutions to the challenges we face.
Curious
We are inspired by the awe and wonder of the world.
Responsible
We take responsibility for our actions in an environment of mutual respect.
Enthusiastic
We are passionate about learning.
Excellent
We are the best we can be.
Determined
We overcome all barriers to reach our potential, developing a capacity to improve further.
© 2025 Bridge Schools trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Registration number 7736425. It is an exempt charity.