The year 2 pupils have been working incredibly hard in their addition and subtraction unit. Manipulatives have been vital for them to see and understand what is happening to the numbers. Rich language has been used throughout such as, 'exchange' and 'partition'. This has led to a fantastic session on column addition today - which I think you will agree, has been presented beautifully too. I am very proud of each of them!

We searched for living things within the environmental area and found a variety of animals. Then we used the emergency shelter to get out of the rain and ate yummy s'mores (marshmallows and biscuit sandwich).

We were all treated to a fascinating acted story by our Open the Book visitors. They told us the story of someone who had lost one of her coins, and spent time and energy finding it. We learned that Christians believe this is how God views all people - each is equally important.

The Tawny Owls have enjoyed looking into the school's past. They have been exploring old artefacts including, newspaper clippings, photographs, head teacher log books and registers. They discovered that in 1972 a lorry crashed into the school, damaging the front wall and 2 classrooms. Unfortunately the driver of the lorry lost his life and the children had to be taught at Sourton Village Hall for a few weeks until the school had been repaired. 

We are very excited to have purchased a new set of books which have been recommended for children by carers, health professionals and librarians. Reading Well for children recommends reading to help children deal with worries, feel better and boost their mood. The books aim to help children understand their feelings and cope with tough times. The books cover: healthy minds, worries, feelings, the world around us, grief, depression, autism and dyslexic and can be enjoyed by the child alone or with an adult. If you feel your child might benefit from reading one of these books please get in contact with your child’s class teacher or contact Mrs Lowden in the office. More information can be found at www.reading-well.org.uk
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We are learning a Christmas song this half term in Tawny Owls called, Ho Ho Ho by Joanna Mangona and Jane Sebba. Throughout the unit, the children will learn about pulse, the words and pitch, improvisation by adding instruments and performance through movement and dance. 

Today we welcomed the Stop, Look, Listen road safety roadshow workshop to school. 

Be safe, be seen! 

We had a very detailed show about how we can stay safe on our roads. We explored the Green Cross Code, safe places to cross a road and how to keep others around us safe. As the evenings get darker, we must all remember these important safety points - can your child tell you something they learnt from the session? 

All of the children have contributed to another fantastic display at the front of our school. We hope you enjoy looking at our artwork and have some time to reflect. 

The Tawny Owls had a fantastic afternoon with Ranger Rob. They created woodland animals and faces out of clay and the natural material they could find within the environmental area. 

As it was a cold day, the fire was lit and marshmallows were also roasted and eaten by all.  

Yesterday, we were incredibly lucky to have 2 very exciting visitors in school - Jo Pritchard and Gwen.

Gwen is training to be a police dog. She is only young and has lots to learn but it was lovely to meet her and be able to ask lots of questions. Thank you Jo for an informative session. 

Over the past few weeks, the Tawny Owls have been reading a non-fiction book called, Our Local Area - Transport. On Monday, we went for a walk around the village looking at and discussing all the different landmark buildings there are. We then planned and wrote our very own non-fiction text based on this. During our Geography lesson on Wednesday, we produced a map of the village to go with it. Today, we put all the pieces together and came up with some fantastic end of unit leaflets. All of the children should be incredibly proud of their efforts, I know I am!

World leaders are coming together in Glasgow on Friday 12th November at a big meeting called COP26, to plan how to tackle the urgent threat to climate change. The Snowy Owls have created art pieces which will be entered into the art exhibition which will mark the event. Their art aims to raise awareness of water and climate change. The children carefully considered how to express important messages through their art. 

We were treated to an Open the Book Assembly today. The story was 'The Big Picnic' and told how Christians believe God fed 5000 people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. 

Thank you to all who attended this afternoon's Harvest festival. 

The children performed brilliantly and were so happy to see a live audience. 

The food donations will be passed to Okehampton Community Kitchen. 

£55.60 was raised for Send a Cow which will be donated directly to the charity. 

In Forest School this week Tawny Owls learnt about different leaves - they had to find and collect, oak, hazel, holly, beech and ivy. They also learnt about emergency shelters and how to use them. They then finished off the afternoon by enjoying toasted marshmallows on the campfire. 

​In Geography, we have been developing our map skills. This week, we worked in pairs using a map to find letters placed around the school. We then broke a code using these.

A story in the Forest School inspired Tawny Owls to find some invertibrates!

Meet our new school council members. 

Everyone's day was brightened up with yellow accessories to mark World Mental Health Day. We talked about the range of feelings we can have at different times.  #HelloYellow 

We are very proud of everyone who had the courage and ambition to put themselves forward for the post of School Councillor. The campaign speeches were confidently presented. Children drew on key issues such as all children having their voice heard, wellbeing and our school values of respect, ambition and flourishing together. We look forward to sharing the election results with the children on Friday. 

Running club braved the rain and completed 3.5km this evening - a great effort. How lucky are we to have such fantastic scenery on our doorstep?