Head's Blog

Friday 11 March

We have had a really busy week and how lovely to end it with some bright sunshine!

Monday and Tuesday saw over twenty pupils perform in the Wadebridge Festival of Music and Speech. All pupils were performing poems that they had learned over the last few weeks and they represented the school exceptionally well. The pupils ranged from Year 1 to Year 6 and Mrs Lee-Elkins accompanied all classes to the Town Hall. We were delighted to win THREE third places: Rohan for his performance of ‘Two Owls’; Lily for her performance of ‘A Smile’ and Huw for his performance of ‘The Hairy Toe’. They were magnificent and we are very, very proud of them.

On Tuesday, Nursery and Reception came into school sporting their very best Cornish colours and had a wonderful day celebrating everything to do with St Piran and Cornwall. All of the children and all of the staff enjoyed the day immensely but a special mention must go to Mrs Divall who prepared ingredients for EVERY child to make a pasty. This would have constituted over 100 pasties – WOW! Thank you, Mrs Divall – you are a superstar!

The Shining Stars theme this week was ‘Taking Ownership of your learning’. There are so many pupils in school who make SO much effort with their work and make sure that they are proud of what they do in every lesson that it would have been really difficult to choose this week’s winners so a huge well done to all of this week’s shining stars. Staff Shining Stars this week went to Mrs Divall for, not only her extremely superior pasty making skills, but also her all-round diamond qualities and genuinely amazing contribution to the school – she really is one of a very wonderful kind - and Mr Smith, for being the most amazing teacher and, in his class’ words “always being there and always making us smile”. I know that I say this a lot, but we are truly lucky with the amazing staff that we have at WPA and they are all treasures.

Next week, on Wednesday 16 March, we will be taking part in a national initiative that has been put together by ‘First News’, which is a newspaper that is written specifically for pupils in Primary Schools. The initiative is called a ‘Day for Ukraine’ and we are asking pupils to come to school in Blue and Yellow (The colours of the Ukranian flag) and, if they can, to bring £1 to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). As soon as we have organised any further ideas, we will let you know.

Next Friday – Friday 18 March – is also Comic Relief – HURRAH! Please look out for more details at the beginning of next week but to get you in the mood, here is a joke:

What did the number zero say to the number eight?

Nice belt.

I’m here all week…. Sorry….

Due to a recent vacancy, we are also looking for a Parent Governor to join our Local Governing Board. If you are interested, please could you contact the office so that we can put you in touch with our Chair of Governors (who is also a parent) for a chat. It is not onerous and the Board is a fantastic group of

people.

Uniform: A reminder please that school shoes should be flat and all black and that jumpers for PE should be either plain black, a school jumper or a PE Jumper with the WPA Logo. No hoodies please and nothing that is not school jumper colour or black.

We are really happy to receive donations of clean, good quality school uniform and PE kit if you have any that you no longer need. We will always find good homes for any donations.

Hair below the collar should also be tied back and earrings should be plain studs only. Watches are encouraged but no other jewellery is permitted please.

Last but not least, please could any parents and carers who drive to school please stick to the 10 miles per hour speed limit when on the school roads, and use the drop off lanes to drop off and NOT to park. Please do not park on any double yellow lines and please avoid parking on the top corner of the road near to the comp playgrounds as it causes mayhem and madness and a build-up of traffic. I know that parking is a pain and I wish that I could make it better and easy, but thank you so much for your support with this – it is hugely appreciated.

I hope that you have a lovely, if wet and windy, weekend and I look forward to seeing you all next week.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 4 March

We are already very busy, but it has been a really great week.

Yesterday, we had a fantastic Book Day and it was fabulous seeing all of the costumes. I thought that I made a very convincing Miss Trunchbull (though I have to say that being not very nice is pretty exhausting and I don’t recommend it). We held a whole school assembly and in the afternoon we met as year groups to do some shared reading. Year 6 went down to read with Reception, Year 5 went to Year 1, Year 4 went to see Year 2 and Year 3 visited and read with the Nursery. It was really good fun and we plan to do much more of it as it went down so well. We also had Hot Chocolate (and other alternatives) and biscuits for every pupil and they definitely enjoyed that part very much!

On Tuesday, we introduced our new PHSE theme for the Term, which is ‘Healthy Me’. We are spending time this term about what is good for us, and what we should do more of, but also remember to make sure that we do what we enjoy too, even if we need to make sure that we don’t do TOO much of it! Every single person in school will think of something that they want to do more of, and mine is definitely be outside, so I am very glad of the now lighter mornings and evenings.

The Shining Stars theme this week was ‘Reading’ and we had a wonderful assembly this morning celebrating everything reading. We even had our first PURPLE Reading Karate Bands! It is super to see SO much reading going on and we appreciate very much all of your support with this. Staff Shining Stars this week went to Mrs O’Dwyer, who is an absolute Superstar in the Nursery and who makes every day brighter; Mrs Botten and Miss Hawe for making approximately 500 pancakes from scratch this Tuesday for Year 5 Fractions Maths lessons and Mrs Hill for bring an all-round amazing person, colleague and teacher. She is also very much a hero without a cape: she came across a very tiny puppy that was running across the road on her way home in the pitch black and driving rain one night at the end of last term and braved the elements, rescued the puppy, wrapped him up, took him to the vets all the way back in Wadebridge and waited until the owner was found before she went home. She rang the vet the next day too, to check that the puppy was ok and was home safe and well (he was). It is this sort of kindness that really makes the world go around.

Next week is also going to be a really busy week. On Monday and Tuesday, we have representatives from Years 1 to 6 entered into the ‘Wadebridge Festival of Music and Speech’ and we cannot wait to see them perform. The School Council and the Pupil Leadership Team will also be spending some time thinking about how we can support the situation in Ukraine. As soon as we know what we are going to do, we will be in touch.

A very well done to FOWPA for organising and a MASSIVE thank you to all who donated books this week for the second-hand book sale. We still have a few left so the sale will continue towards the end of next week too. Please do stop by.

We had a lovely time in assembly today singing ‘The Song of the Western Men’ as we can’t be together for St Piran’s Day this year, but however you celebrate it, we wish you a very happy weekend. We look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 11 February

We have had another really busy week of learning in school with my favourite day definitely being today – our Pyjama Day to celebrate Children’s Mental Health Week. It has been so lovely to see so many smiling faces and such comfortable looking pyjamas, dressing gowns and, never been seen before on a Pyjama day, oodies. We have had a really good week thinking about how to keep ourselves mentally healthy and I was really lucky to be in a Year 5 classroom today when they were talking about who was in their support balloons (everyone put who they felt helped them to be happy in their balloons) and what they might put in their ‘want to get better at’ star wishes. Lots of pupils put things such as being thankful even when things are a bit hard, or being cheerful even though I am tired, but we also had things like being helpful. We then thought of small steps that we could take to achieve our star wishes. We thought of things like: clearing up our toys, making our beds, smiling at people and not being cheeky to our families!

A reminder that next week has lots going on too!

• The 14 – 18 Feb is the Scholastic Book Fair. A reminder of the letter sent home last week will go home again today

• Wednesday 16 Feb is the Year 2 Assembly for parents (please see previous letter home)

• Wednesday 16 Feb is the Year 1 WOW afternoon (please see previous letter home)

• Wednesday 16 Feb is the KS2 Cross Country event at the Comp Fields. Participation letters need to come to the office by Monday please.

Other things coming up:

• Half Term is 21 February – 25 February 2022

• WPA has an INSET day on Monday 28 February 2022 (school closed to pupils)

• School starts back on Tuesday 1 March 2022

• World Book Day is Thursday 3 March 2022 – please come to school dressed as your favourite book character (I LOVE WBD)

This week’s Shining Stars were for ‘Be Safe’ and once again we had some brilliant winners. Staff Shining Stars this week were won by Mr Holt our fabulous caretaker, for keeping us as safe as can be and for being just astounding; Mrs Brier, TA in Year 4 and Year R, for being the most calm and loveliest member of staff you could wish for and ALL of the Year 6 Team for their fabulous work this week. All of Year 6, staff and pupils, have worked their socks off (literally in some cases) this week in all subjects and Mrs Callister, Miss Bishop, Ms Harris and Mrs Wilton all definitely deserved their Shining Stars. Phew.

I cannot wait to see some parents in school next week, both for the book fair and for the events, but please note that, at the moment, we are asking adults to continue to wear masks and to sanitise as you come through school entrance into the hall.

We look forward to seeing you on Monday morning and hope that you have wonderful weekends.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 4 February

We have had another busy week of learning in school. My favourite learning moment this week was from 1B; they wrote to me to tell me some fascinating facts about Amelia Earhart, some of which I did not know. I did not know that her plane was called ‘The Canary’ and I did not know that she wore bloomers. They do say that every day is a learning day….

A recap of the exciting things that are coming up in school (and some important reminder dates at the end):

• Next week is Children’s Mental Health Week – we will be making the most of helping ourselves to keep mentally healthy both in and out of school and focusing on some good old-fashioned playground games

• Next Friday 11 Feb 2022, we are holding a Pyjama Day – both for our comfort and to raise money for Children’s Hospice South West

• The week of 14 – 18 Feb is the Scholastic Book Fair. Letters detailing the Scholastic Book Fair went home today, but please do put the 14 – 18 Feb in your diaries

• Half Term is 21 February – 25 February 2022

• WPA has an INSET day on Monday 28 February 2022

• School starts back on Tuesday 1 March 2022

This week’s Shining Stars were for ‘Be Ready’ and once again we had some extremely deserving winners. The Reading Karate bands continue to be won and we had our first BLUE band today, which was quite exciting. Don’t forget about the short story competition – any pupil is welcome to enter by writing a story of 500 words or less on any genre. The closing date for short story entries is next Friday 11 February.

Staff Shining Stars this week were won by Mrs Yates in Reception and Miss Wotus in Year 1. Both are absolute superstars and we are very lucky to have them.

Years 3 – 6 pupils will have the opportunity to take part in the annual (though it has missed a couple of years…) Cross Country Race that starts and finishes on the Comp Field on Wednesday 16 February. I have never seen it happen and am really looking forward to it – an email will be coming home soon, so please do keep a look out for it if you are interested.

It looks as though we have another bright weekend ahead and I hope that you enjoy it thoroughly. We are now definitely in February with the daffodils nearly out and the nights and mornings definitely becoming lighter – phew!

We look forward to seeing you on Monday morning.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 28 January

It has been a very busy week. We have seen some simply wonderful work, and I have been popping in almost daily to every year group (still with my mask on and not touching anything) to see their progress. The planet leaflets and space pictures in Year 5 and the stories in Year 6 modelled on Grandpa’s Great Escape have been fantastic. Year 1 are working hard to create as much work as possible for their parent afternoon on Wednesday 16 February and their exploring and writing (and hedgehog making) is out of this world. I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed when you come in! Reception are barely drawing breath with their creativity and thirst for learning and I am learning new facts from them every day. It is super to see so much going on so please do ask them what they have been up to go onto the website to their class pages.

Several quite exciting things are coming up in school:

• Letters detailing how to make the most of the Scholastic Book Fair will be going home next week but please do put the 14 – 18 Feb in your diaries.

• Children’s Mental Health Week is coming up during the week of 7 Feb and we are intending to make the most of helping ourselves to keep mentally healthy both in and out of school.

• On the Friday of Children’s Mental Health Week (Friday 11 Feb 2022), we are holding a Pyjama Day – both for our comfort and to raise money for Children’s Hospice South West. More details to follow.

• Auditions are to be held for the speech performance classes of the Wadebridge Festival of Music and Speech – please see email from earlier today (Friday 28 Jan) for details.

• Safer Internet week is next week – we will be reminding ourselves how to stay safe online in school next week and there are lots of activities for all year groups to do.

This week’s Shining Stars were for ‘Taking Pride In Work’ and once again we had some extremely deserving winners. The Reading Karate bands continue to fly out and we are so impressed by the amount of reading that is going on. Keep up the good work. Mrs Smerdon reminded us this week about the short story competition too – any pupil is welcome to enter by writing a story of 500 words or less on any genre. Stories have already been handed in and I have seen some corkers. Keep them coming.

I reverted back to two Staff Shining Stars this week, despite there being many candidates. Mrs Best and Miss Miskowicz won their Shining Stars for being quite frankly amazing – we are very lucky to have them and I count my lucky stars every day that we do.

You will have received FOWPA 100 Club letters this week – do please enter if you can as the rewards are (possibly) many and your chances of a win are high!

I am also delighted to be able to tell you about the local Avalon Youth Theatre Group’s upcoming performance of ‘The Addams Family’. We have several current pupils and lots and lots of former pupils in the cast and it looks brilliant. They are understandably keen for as many locals as possible to watch it and, for the first time ever, when buying a ticket, you get to reserve your seat. The link to book tickets is below but do go along if you can – it will be worth it. Cats, their last show, won the Best Youth Performance, Best Musical Production, Best Director and a special award for outstanding choreography. Phew!

http://www.crbo.co.uk/eventDetail.php?evGrp=526&evId=19911

It looks as though we have another bright weekend ahead and I hope that you enjoy it thoroughly. Only 3 more days left of January and the nights are drawing out – hurrah for the lighter evenings!

We look forward to seeing you on Monday morning.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 21 January

Thank you so very much for your donations for the FOWPA Bags2School collection this week – we had a wonderfully big pile of bags and they were very well received – THANK YOU! We will update you with the amount raised as soon as we know.

FOWPA are also organising dates and times to finish the wonderful sensory garden that they have planned for us. It is in the exciting stage now, where they are making the furniture and finishing off things like the magnificent bug hotel. We cannot wait to see it all ready to use and we are so very grateful for FOWPA’s vision and effort – it will make a huge difference to the area.

This week’s Shining Stars were for Excellent English and once again we had some extremely deserving winners. The Reading Karate bands are also flying out and we are genuinely delighted by the impact that this scheme is having. In our assembly on Wednesday this week, Mrs Smerdon, our English Lead, talked about the impact of reading on our vocabulary. Did you know that if you read for 20 minutes per day, then in a year, you read on average over 1800 000 words, some of which will be new to you. This is an amazing fact and really does make you think about the rewards you reap if you read. Mrs Smerdon also talked about a fabulous competition which we have just launched in order to celebrate the Scholastic Book Fair, which is visiting soon. The Fair will be with us during the week of 14 – 18 February and more information will be sent home soon. Keep an eye out for that information as each year group will have a slot for browsing, as well as a slot for picking up pre-orders. I can’t WAIT as I love a book fair.

I was a bit liberal with the Staff Shining Stars this week, I have to say, as there were simply too many staff who have gone above and beyond this week for me to choose just two of those nominated. Mrs (Janet) Keat, Mrs Giles, Mrs Bryant, Miss Taylor and Mrs Botten all received their shining stars for being vital, much loved and much appreciated members of the WPA Team. This week has been particularly challenging due to illness and Covid cases in school and all of the staff above have stepped in, as they always do, to support the school. There were many more who could have been nominated too – phew! That said, the whole WPA community has been wonderful this week; thank you for your support and for your smiles as they are so appreciated.

We had a wonderful Prickles and Paws Teams assembly on Monday of this week. We got to see inside the hog hospital and the outdoor areas too. We were amazed just how much mess they make when they are inside their incubators and cages and we were introduced to some really cute hedgehogs who are recovering from being rescued. We also got to ask questions and we learned some really interesting facts – did you know that Hedgehogs can live for up to 5 years and you can tell if they are older as their noses and paws start to turn pink and their teeth start to wear down? We also learned that they have about 5000 prickles; they mostly live alone; their babies leave their mothers at about 8 weeks and that their favourite food is caterpillars.

This week also saw our first Lockdown Practice. It is run just like a Fire Alarm Practice where a bell rings and we make ourselves safe. In a Fire Alarm Practice we safely move outside and line up in the bottom playground or near woody corner (Nursery) until it is safe to go back inside the school. In a Lockdown Practice, we make ourselves safe inside the school, usually in our classroom, but if we are outside or in the library, in the classroom nearest to where we are when the alarm rings. We have two different alarm sounds, so that they cannot be confused (the fire alarm bell rings continuously and the lockdown alarm ring is intermittent and higher). We will practice our lockdown procedure annually from now and, I have to say, the pupils were fantastic. They did exactly what they had practised with their teachers when the alarm rang, and I was really impressed with their behaviour.

The Year 5 residential meeting went really well on Thursday too – thank you to all who attended and thank you to those who joined us online. It is safe to say that the children and the teachers are very excited about it! If you missed the meeting and you would like a recording link sent to you – please do get in touch.

It looks as though we have a bright weekend, weather wise, ahead and I hope that you enjoy it thoroughly. We look forward to seeing you on Monday morning.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 14 January

We have had a lovely week and who doesn’t love a crisp, frosty morning when it is deepest January (obviously with no slippery roads…)? To see what we have been up to, please do go to the class blogs and have a look – we are exploring all sorts of things in EYFS and Year 1; looking at the rainforests; finding out what makes the world angry; discovering the Vikings (my favourite topic when I was in class); looking at Space and learning about WW2 in our topics this term and they are all looking pretty exciting.

Next week sees our next FOWPA Bags2School, so please see the message below from FOWPA:

Having a January clear out?

We've organised another Bags2School collection date for next Wednesday 19th January. We have already raised just over £400 from previous collections.

Bags2School are a charity who collect unwanted clothes, shoes and linen. They help promote the rescue of clothes and shoes to benefit those who rely on 2nd hand clothes as their sole option. They aim to build a sustainable future.

They accept the following ‘good quality’ items for RE-USE*:

Men’s, Ladies’ and Children’s clothing

Paired shoes (tied together or elastic band around)

Handbags

Hats

Bags

Scarves and ties

Jewellery

Lingerie

Socks

Belts

Soft toys

Household linen

Household curtains

Household towels

Household bedding (bed sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers)

Please drop your bags by the school office after school on Tuesday 18th, or before 9am on Wednesday 19th where a member of the FOWPA team will be able to help you. Items can be donated in black bin bags- FOWPA will be able to sort them into the donation bags on arrival at school.

We cannot wait to see what is dropped and we thank you so much for your support with this.

Shining Stars

Shining Stars this week were for Marvellous Maths and we had some wonderful winners. Well done to them all. Especially those who have at least comparable times tables knowledge to their teachers! We had some more pupils achieving their GREEN Reading Karate Bands - hugely well done to those pupils – 70 reads in 3 months is fab! Keep up the good work everyone as you will get there and every read counts (though not more than one a day…). Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Mrs Wilton for her erstwhile amazing work with Year 6 and the rest of the school (she is such a superstar) and to Mrs Smerdon for being an all-round lovely person, amazing teacher and English Leader.

A quick message to all Year 5 parents – there is a Residential Trip meeting with the Trip Provider next Thursday after school, Thursday 20 January 2022. You are welcome to join us in the Hall or via TEAMS – please see your emails for more details and we hope to see you there if you have a child in Year 5 and you are interested in the Trip.

Another lovely thing to end on this week: Thanks to your generous donations and enthusiasm, we raised the fantastic sum of £1038.75 for the Santa Run for Children’s Hospice South West. Wow! THANK YOU to all who donated and to all who ran. Phew!

We wish you a happy and hopefully sunny weekend and very much look forward to seeing you next week. Stay well and see you on Monday.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 7 January

Welcome back and a very Happy New Year! It has been so lovely to see so many smiling and excited faces this week and feel that we are right back into the swing of things already. I have already seen some amazing work this week and I urge you to take a look at the class blogs when you can. Year 4 have done some awesome science experiments this week, for example, and were akin to Einstein at times…

Parking

We realise that parking has been interesting this week. Whilst we will always do our very best to alleviate any issues, it is really important please that you drop off and pick up from school as quickly as you can and that you do not park on any yellow lines, or stop anywhere that might prevent other cars then from leaving the school grounds or moving freely in and out of school. Friday seemed to flow much better though (despite the 3pm standstill at the Comp); fingers crossed that this continues.

Drop Off

A reminder about drop off please: All gates are opened at 0825 and closed at 0840 so that the classes can get themselves ready for registration, which is at 0845. If you arrive at school later than 0840, you will need to go through the office doors please.

Shoes

School Shoes should be flat, black and polishable. Trainers are, of course, fine for PE days.

Please remember that PE Kit consists of:

White T Shirt or Polo Shirt/WPA Logo Sports T Shirt

Black Shorts

Black Jogging bottoms or leggings (optional)

White Sports Socks

Trainers or plimsolls (non-marking please)

School Jumper/School cardigan/WPA logo Training Top

NO Hoodies or other jumpers and no other T Shirt colours or leggings/joggers please.

PE and Outdoor Education Days

I thought that it would be useful to just set out the PE and Outdoor Education Days for this term so that if you have any doubt, you can refer back to this blog. Please remember that on PE and Outdoor Education days, pupils come into school in their PE (unless they are in Reception, where they change in school) or Outdoor Education clothing. Phew!

Nursery: PE Tuesday/Outdoor Ed Wednesday

Year R: PE Monday and Friday/Outdoor Ed Wednesday

Year 1: PE Thursday/Outdoor Ed Friday

Year 2: Monday

Year 3: Tuesday

Year 4: Tuesday

Year 5: Monday

Year 6: Wednesday and Friday

Shining Stars

Shining Stars this week were Teachers Choice and again I was really impressed by the calibre of the pupils chosen and why. Producing excellent work is always something to celebrate and we are very lucky that we have some real superstars in our midst. We also had some pupils already achieving their GREEN Reading Karate Bands. This means that since last half term, they have achieved 70 reads – an amazing feat (and means pretty much that they have read every day since we started Reading Karate last half term). Hugely well done to those pupils. Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Miss Hawe (formerly Mrs Forder) in Year 5, who has worked wonders in Year 5 this week and is an all-round amazing member of staff and Miss Momber, who is a lioness in the face of challenge and a huge asset to the school.

A lovely thing to end on this week: Thanks to your generous donations and enthusiasm, we raised the fantastic sum of £477.51 for the Poppy Appeal. As a district, Wadebridge raised over £15,000, which is just amazing. Thank you.

We wish you a happy and hopefully not too blowy weekend and very much look forward to seeing you next week. Stay well and see you on Monday.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 17 December

We made it. By the skin of our teeth; we made it!

That said, despite everything that is going on around us, we have had a really lovely week and have made some fantastic memories. Last Friday saw the FOWPA raffle draw and I am delighted to say that FOWPA have raised a whopping £1575 this year – a fantastic achievement.

The Rainbow Run last Friday has also surpassed our expectations – we have so far (and it is still rising) raised over £800, meaning that we have raised over £1500 for Children’s Hospice South West this year, which is incredible given the year that we have all had. It is thanks to you as our parents, carers and community that we have achieved this and we are so very grateful to you for your support. Thank you.

Today also saw the return of the Staff Panto! I will not lie, it was not a well-rehearsed as the Carol Concerts or the Nativities, but it was fun, loud and full of character! Special mentions must go to Mr Langton and Mr O’Dwyer, who absolutely rocked being the Ugly Sisters and Miss Beckett as Cinderella – who, in a sparkling tribute to the Reception and Years 1 and 2 Nativity, danced to ‘Stargazing’ using exactly the same dance as those wonderful Reception children did. It was worth at least 40 in Strictly Come Dancing terms! We ended with everyone in the hall dancing the very same dance too – including all of the pupils. I suspect Miss Miskowicz did not realise just how epic the dance would become, but we loved it!

Shining Stars this week were for Excellent progress. We celebrated in our classes this week due to the Staff Panto but once again we had some extremely deserving winners – well done to all today! Due to the Christmas plans, I have quite a few staff Shining Stars to tell you about – over the last few weeks, we have celebrated: Mrs Berridge; Mrs Hodkinson; Mrs Head and Mrs Rowe in the kitchen for the very delicious Christmas Lunches; Mrs Gallie and Mr Smith. Phew!

This week also saw the two virtual KS2 Carol Concerts, both of which were very well attended and enjoyed. Whilst we were really sad not to have been able to welcome parents into Egloshayle Church, we were very glad indeed to have been able to share with our families our carols and readings. I was so proud of how well the pupils did and I hope that you enjoyed them too if you were able to join us. I don’t think that I will ever tire of Little Donkey…

Last Friday we were also treated to the Nursery Nativities and they were wonderful! The Little Nursery Sheep, whilst frisky, were delightful and I loved every minute!

Year two also celebrated their end of topic with a Victorian Day – as ever there were some wonderful costumes and a great day was had by all. Not a drop of gruel was in sight either, which I took as a win.

A huge thank you to ALL parents and carers for your support in these past, very busy, few weeks – we now wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope that you manage to see loved ones and enjoy all that a Cornish Christmastime has to offer. We cannot wait to see you on Tuesday 4 January 2022 at the normal time of 0825 (fingers crossed…).

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Image Gallery

IMG 1120.JPG

IMG 1187.JPG

Documents

Friday 3 December

Welcome to the end of another exciting week. Year Five have had a fantastic week swimming and have progressed well in the pool. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are ready to welcome families to their show after some intensive but heart-warming rehearsals; they performed to KS2 this morning and were fabulous. You are in for a real treat. I have seen some lovely work in KS2 this week too – do remember to have a look at the class blogs on the website for further details. Nursery are also busy practising for their Christmas Concert next Friday; I can’t wait! I am nearly there with the words; just a few songs to go.

Shining Stars this week were for Home Learning. We celebrated in our classes this week due to the Nativity performance but once again we had some extremely deserving winners – well done to all today! Staff Shining Stars will be given out on Monday and I for one am very excited to see the staff faces this week.

We have seen lots of entries in for the Christmas raffle and Christmas Cards are flowing in nicely. Please remember that all cards need to be in the school postbox by Friday 10th so that they can be sorted by Father Christmas’ elves (or, the Pupil Leadership Team, as we call them) on Monday 13th December.

FOWPA have also been very hard at work continuing to get our Sensory Garden ready for use in the Spring. They are a very hardy bunch (I would expect nothing less from them, to be fair), as the weather when they have been in has not been kind at all!

You will have noticed that it is rather windy and rainy at the moment, which does mean that there are more vehicles coming into school. As there is a one-way system in place which relies on clear roads and one path for all foot fall to walk into school on, please do not park on any yellow lines or on any corners of the road leading out of school. Yellow lines do not just mean that parking is prohibited, they mean that parking is dangerous, so please do not do it. Thank you very much for your help with this and a big thank you to the vast majority of family members who drive so very carefully when near the school gates.

We have LOTS coming up next week. Please see our Christmas Newsletter for all of the details, but in brief, we have:

Tuesday 7 December: LAST DAY TO GET FOWPA RAFFLE TICKETS IN

Tuesday 7 December at 0930: KS1 and Reception Nativity Performance – Ticket Holders only

Wednesday 8 December at 0850: KS2 leave for their Cinema Trip to watch Croods 2

Wednesday 8 December at 0930: KS1 and Reception Nativity Performance – Ticket Holders only

Wednesday 8 December at 1700: KS1 and Reception Nativity Performance – Ticket Holders only

Thursday 9 December: KS2 (Party Clothes) Christmas Lunch (no hot lunch for EYFS and KS1)

Friday 10 December: Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Fun Run (we got this…)

Friday 10 December at 1045: Little Nursery Christmas Performance

Friday 10 December at 1315: Big Nursery Christmas Performance

Friday 10 December: last day for Christmas Cards to be in the postbox

Crikey. Hold on to your hats, it’s going to be a big week.

As per the email sent to parents in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 yesterday, we are SO pleased to be able to celebrate our Christmas Performances with families this year. In order for these to go ahead, however, we have asked for those with tickets to please wear a mask when they are watching the performances, and also show proof of a negative LFD test on arrival at school (or at the church if you are attending a Carols in the Church). This proof can be via an NHS text or email, or by showing us an actual test with a C line. We are also recommending that you wear warm clothes and bring a coat as we will need to open all possible doors and windows during the performances.

All that said, we cannot wait to see you and are very excited!

As an aside: Reception have 3 straw bales available if anyone would like them – they are free to collect. They have made an excellent stable and we have had the best fun with them!

A message from the FOWPA Team to finish:

*PLEASE RETURN ALL RAFFLE TICKETS TO THE SCHOOL*

Just one a week to go before our biggest ever Christmas raffle draw on Friday 10th December! This year we have increased the cash prizes to £250, £150 and £75. We have also have just received yet another raffle prize in today - a Dry Robe from Ann's Cottage! See attached full list of prizes which also include: one night's stay at Chelsea House in Falmouth; a £50 Voucher from the Molesworth Inn; a Bird of Prey Sanctuary Family Ticket; a Woodies Pizza Voucher for 4 Pizzas and over 35 more amazing prizes!

Please make sure that you return your sold raffle tickets to the school office so FOWPA can get folding!

Please also RETURN ALL UNUSED BOOKS as FOWPA can then sell these others to raise even more funds for the children.

THANK YOU

It looks to be another blustery weekend so please take good care, enjoy the Fireworks tonight and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock