Head's Blog

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World Book Day

Great seeing the children arriving this morning in a variety of fantastic costumes ready to celebrate World Book Day. We started the day with an assembly, sharing favorite books, characters and finding out what a reader is - it turns out we are all readers! 
Canute class joined Kael Tudor and Nicola Slater talking about their book One Goose Two Moose and learning how to draw the characters. In Tregeagle class, we joined the BBC live lesson to help make book suggestions for a pop-up library. We also managed to read 3 chapters of our class read: Bill's New frock by Anne Fine

Reading for pleasure is high on our list of priorities at school and with events like World Book Day, we have the perfect excuse to celebrate books and reading. I think our Borrow Box library subscription will be busy tonight with children finding their new best read inspired by today's events.

 


 

Mother's Day Service

We had a lovely afternoon in St Saviour's celebrating people who are special to us. Lots of preparation; practicing songs and poems and Open the Book team arriving in school this morning with flowers and greenery for the children to make posies meant we were set and ready to celebrate in style. The children sang their anthems supported skillfully by Mrs Butlin, read their poems aloud with clear voices and dictation and finally shared their posies with their special person. Just one of those moments that are so special to share with the children in primary school.

 


 

It has been a whirlwind of a short half term characterised by snow, rain and wind outside and lots of learning inside the building. Spring term is usually one of our most productive terms, with the children well settled in their classes, and this first half term has been no exception.

On Tuesday, we joined the rest of the country in celebrating Safer Internet Day with a shared assembly and different activities in class to support the children safely navigating the ever-changing landscape of the our online world. If you have any concerns or questions about internet safety, please contact school as we acess to a wealth of guidance to support different aspects of online safety.

Canute class went to visit one of the the local shops to find out more about which skills and knowledge is needed to run a shop. The enjoyed finding out how their maths skills are useful outside the classroom and on their return to class, set about creating jam sandwiches with their bought ingredients.

For Tregeagle class, swimming starts again on Wednesday 21st February. Mrs Hughes has sent out reminders about kit, timings and logistics today. Please make sure you let us know if you need support with this.

We will be holding Parent Consultations in the week commencing 26th February, boking forms will be sent home in the week after half term. We are continuing with face to face meetings so you have the chance to se your child’s work in discussion with their teacher.

After half term, it will be Canute’s turn to work with our Mental Health Practitioner o learn all about managing emotions and feelings through the Decider Skills. This will help develop a shared language to use across the school for children and staff to support strategies for managing “The Fizz”.

A huge THANK YOU to Christine for filling our planters with colourful plants which make us all smile whenever we round the corner.

We finished half term with a visit from Reverend Richard, who taught us how to make pancakes for Pancake day and the significance of Shrove Tuesday in the Christian calendar.

Achievement Assembly
Writer of the Week:
Tegan for accepting the challenge to write with Liam and producing some fantastic work to show her understanding of the power of words.
Robbie for taking time and care using all the learning in her independent writing.

Stars of the Week:
Ailla for showing responsibility in her interactions with peers
Indi for taking responsibility and showing great independence

I hope you all have a welcome break and we look forward to welcoming the children back to school on Monday 19th February at 8:45am.

 


 

Performances

The building is bursting with learning and it is a real pleasure to see how the children are embracing this with enthusiasm and positive attitudes. We are fortunate enough to have the excellent Mrs Butlin back with us for this term and the children are absolutely delighted with learning how to read musical notation to play glockenspiels. It makes for a bustling afternoon with excitement, dedication and noise, which cannot always be classed as musical, however all children are learning new skills, applying prior knowledge and they are thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to play an instrument.

Theatre Trip
On Thursday we had our trip to watch Aladdin the Musical at Theatre Royal in Plymouth courtesy of the Regatta Committee. What a performance this was! The children were transfixed. They were bowled over with the acting, singing, dancing, staging and the fantastic special effects, we are still pondering how the carpet was able to fly. For many of the children this was their first visit to the theatre, but probably not the last as they could not believe that this was real time and not a recorded film. Aside from the obvious links with music and preparing Christmas plays and performances, many of the children were inspired by how their learning in DT links with jobs in a theatre.

A HUGE THANK YOU to the Regatta Committee members who organised the trip and joined us for a very memorable experience. We looked up the stats on the show worldwide and the children are delighted to know that they are now part of the 15 million world wide audience - a lovely connection with the wider world.

Enjoy the weekend,
Jane Wills

 


 

January 2024

 It has been a busy return to school following the Christmas break with lots of exciting learning opportunities for all the children.

Theatre trip

You should all have received your letter regarding the whole school trip to the theatre courtesy of the Regatta Committee on Thursday 18th January. This promises to be a super afternoon giving the children the opportunity to enjoy music and acting first hand. Please ensure you have completed the consent form and returned these to school by Monday 15th. You will need to make arrangements to collect your child from the carpark at the top of the village as the coach cannot drive down to the school. We anticipate the return to be at 6pm. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs Hughes.

Parent Pay

We seem to have an increasing number of children whose lunches have NOT been ordered on Parent Pay. The system was set up to help the kitchen become more efficient with food ordering and make the start of the day easier in the classrooms. This is relevant for children paying and who receive Free School Meals. If you have forgotten how to order please see the document sent in today's email.

Attendance

Our whole school attendance is currently 95.2% which is slightly above National. This is a positive start to the new year and we would like this trend to continue. From the leaflet we sent home before Christmas, you will be aware of our expectations for attendance and how attendance is directly linked to academic achievements. Please continue to refer to the guides provided to support your decision making regarding any absences and always contact the school if you are in doubt whether to send your child to school or not.

Early finish
We are proposing a change to the timings on the last day of term. From spring term, the final day of term will end at 1:30pm. So this term will end on Thursday 28th March at 1:30pm. The early finish time only applies to the final day of term, not half termly. Final day of this half term is Thursday 8th Febrary as Friday 9th is a teacher training day. We return to school following the half term break on Monday 19th February.

Spring term promises to be a busy, interesting term bursting with learning experiences. Please make sure you stay updated by checking your emails and logging in to the school website for class blogs and updates.

Kindest regards,
Jane Wills

 


 

Christmas Delights

Performances
It was a real pleasure to see so many of you for our Christmas plays in the village hall. The children were amazing as always and I am sure you will agree that we have quite a few very accomplished performers in school. Standing on a stage in front of lots of people can be scary and exhilarating in equal measure, it creates a sense of occasion, and it is a very valuable experience for the children to have. What a group of confident children we have in our school!

Staffing
At the end of term, we say farewell to Mrs Chasey. She will be missed by children and staff but we do understand that she needs more time to complete her house build. We will say goodbye with a special assembly on Friday morning and happy wishes for the future. In January, we welcome Mrs Louise Westacott, our new Canute class teacher, who will share the week with Mrs Fernie and be supported by Miss Taylor and Miss Talbot.


Fundraising

A huge Thank You to our fundraising team for organising refreshments, the sale of children’s Christmas decorations, a Christmas raffle and the very popular Gift room for the children. Their effort has raised an incredible £251. We extend our thanks to our generous local community for donations and supporting our Christmas events. 

Theatre Trip
This year, we have joined forces with the Regatta Committee for their annual theatre trip for the children in the village. We will travel to Theatre Royal in Plymouth for the matinee performance at 2pm to watch the musical Aladdin on Thursday 18th January. More details to follow in the new Year.

Online Safety
Link to December Newsletter for useful parental guidance and tips for setting up new devices using privacy settings, navigating social media safely and reducing risks with online activities. 

Achievement Assembly
Writer of the Week
Tegan for positive responses to feedback and making improvements to constantly uplevel her work.
Emmy for super use of Grandma Fantastic Vocabulary in her writing

Stars of the Week
Everyone for their fantastically confident performance.

Photos from the performances below.

Jane Wills
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 Image Gallery


 Documents

 


 

Fire station with Blisland School
On Monday, Canute class visited Polruan Firestation to find out more about the fire service and how fire engines work. This was another opportunity for the children to get together with Kensa Class from Blisland and reciprocate the visit Canute made to Blisland a few weeks ago. The children enjoyed showing the visitors around school and happily shared their space and resources for the reminder of the day.

Printing with Ellie Russell Hsieh
Tuesday was a special day for Tregeagle class as they hosted a visit from local print maker, Ellie Russell Hsieh organised by Mrs Phillips. The children spent a fantastic day learning about mono and block printing and have produced some beautiful prints inspired by their PE themed dance – “The Little Matchstick Girl” - Thank you to Ellie for sharing her expertise, passion and insight.

Snow!
Unexpectedly, we found the school covered in snow on Thursday - much to the delight of the children. For those children who were able to join us for the morning, it was a cold but fun start to the day with lots of rolling around, making snow angels and sliding across the playground. Good job we have lots of spare clothes and warm radiators.

Time 2 Move - Keeping active over Christmas
The Time2Move Holiday Programme for Christmas 2023 is now live. The programme offers fun physical activities, games and wider activities plus a funded meal for every child. All children are welcome to attend, and it is completely funded for children that are eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals. As a parent or guardian of a child eligible for benefits related free school meals you will need your child’s unique code in order to access the activities for free. You can access your child’s code quickly and easily at: www.cornwall.gov.uk/time2move Once you have this code you can search and book on activities here: www.activecornwall.org/T2MHolidayProgramme

Christmas Jumper Day
On 7th December, Christmas Jumper Day, children can come in wearing a Christmas jumper instead of their school jumper with their school uniform.

Photos
Reminder to order individual photos, last day for free delivery is 4.12.23.

Achievement Assembly
Mathematician of the Week

Jakson for resilience and stamina when things get tough
Ronnie for persevering in his learning exploration to find 6 different ways of making 10.

Stars of the Week
Antonia for her kindness, friendly nature and always smiling.
Irina for her kindness, positive attitude and supportive nature.

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Wills

 Image Gallery


 Documents

 


 

Helicopter, sailing and dodgeball

It has been another fantastic week of learning, experiences and exploration. Despite us heading towards the darker months of the year, the children’s enthusiasm for learning is showing no signs of dampening. Both classes have this week completed an extended piece of writing using their learning from our wider curriculum subjects. It is fantastic to read how the children are able to apply the knowledge learnt in geography, history and science to their writing, it is clear to see the enjoyment of learning in their work.

Awe and wonder were on the agenda Thursday. One of our village residents was arriving back from a trip in a helicopter, challenging to find a flat piece of land in our hilltop village, thankfully we were able to provide just that. We all walked to the field to watch the helicopter land and the pilot kindly shut the engines down so the children could go up close and explore the helicopter. What an experience this was! Huge Thank You to Christine and her husband for letting us be part of this, a memory to be treasured.

Alexis, Tegan, Ailla, Jakson, Toby and Liam represented the school in the Bridge trust Dodgeball tournament on Thursday afternoon at Callywith College in Bodmin. They have had only a few opportunities to practice, however armed with their usual determination, bravery and resilience they played brilliantly and finished 3rd out of all the 14 schools in the trust – what an achievement! We are all super proud of them.

Friday morning, we had a visit from Morwagh Sailing project to deliver assembly workshops for the whole school. It was very interesting to learn about sailing boats and finding out about the weather, currents and the seabed in our locality.

As we head towards December, there are a number of events happening. Our Christmas Nativity and Play is in the Village Hall on Thursday 14th December in the afternoon, singing around the tree on the Wharf is Monday 18th December in the afternoon. For further details and timings, please contact Mrs Hughes in the office.

Achievement Assembly
Writers of the Week
Liam for approaching improvements and editing with a positive attitude which makes the quality of his writing greater.
Emmie for some fantastic sentences for history.
Stars of the Week
Lily-May and Rylie for a successful first week at our school.  
Ava for her curiosity in learning another language - Makaton.

Enjoy the photos

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Wills

 Image Gallery


 Documents

 


 

Week 9

Anti-bullying week
We have spent time this week discussing how we might call out incidents of bullying by making a noise. We finished the week with Tregeagle class presenting their ideas and experiences to the whole class in Friday’s assembly.

Children in need
The end to the week had a colourful twist with all the children arriving wearing something spotty and /or brightly coloured. At the start of the day, we talked about how fundraising can benefit communities both financially and socially. Locally, we are now benefiting from the re-launch of our Friends of Polruan Academy (FOPA) thanks to an initiative by Mrs Hughes and supported by parents. It will be great to yet again be able to raise money for those extra things to enhance the learning experiences for all the children at our school.

Achievement Assembly

Reader of the Week
Erin for her enthusiasm about reading and modelling super inference skills to explain her understanding of a text.
Indi for some super sounding out and resilience to keep trying.

Star of Week
Toby for his positive attitude to learning and being a kind, respectful member of our class.
Ronnie for insatiable curiosity and looking for learning and happily sharing with peers any new learning he has come across. 

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs W

 


 

Another busy week full of exciting learning experiences has drawn to a close. This week, Canute class went on a visit to Blisland for a Pop-Up-Play session with a Fire of London theme and they had a fantastic day - "We have been playing all day!" - they proudly announced on their return. 
Year 5/6 children went to Polperro for a poetry workshop with Sally Crabtree and they too returned full of enthusiasm and inspiration to write their own poetry for the Bridge School WW1 project. I will share more details about this in the comin weeks.
Next week is Anti-Bullying week and the children will participate in different activities and assemblies throughout the week to support their understanding. 
Friday is Children in Need and we have sent out a message asking for children to come to school wearing something brightly coloured and/or spotty for a small donation.

Achievement Assembly
Mathematician of the Week
Jakson for a great positive attitude and willingness to explore errors.
Mya for her super efforts and always being ready to learn with a smile on her face.

Stars of the Week:
Tegan for her enthusiasm for learning and sharing this positivity with her peers.
Zeniah-Ro for her insatiable thirst for learning - always listening and looking for new things to absorb.

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Wills



 


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Our Values...

Creativity

Creative

We are bold and innovative in our approach to find new solutions to the challenges we face.

Curiosity

Curious

We are inspired by the awe and wonder of the world.

Integrity

Responsible

We take responsibility for our actions in an environment of mutual respect.

Enthusiasm

Enthusiastic

We are passionate about learning.

Excellence

Excellent

We are the best we can be.

Determination

Determined

We overcome all barriers to reach our potential, developing a capacity to improve further.


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