Head's Blog

Friday 20 May

What a busy week!

Year 5s went on their Residential Visit to Bideford Ultimate Adventure Centre on Monday to Wednesday this week and had a fabulous and very busy time. Our Year 6 Girl’s football Team went to Archbishop Benson Primary School on Monday to play in the Cornwall Schools Cup Finals on Monday and WON. They were brilliant! On Tuesday, Year 4 had a ‘Moor Day’ and, apart from the rain, they had an amazing day (exact words from Year 4 pupils). Some intrepid Year 6 athletes also took part in the Cornwall County ‘Quad Kids’ games at Par too on Tuesday, and, despite the torrential rain, did very well indeed too. A very well done to them all as they battled extremely hard.

Shining Stars

Shining Stars this week were for dedication to walking, scooting and cycling to school as a part of our walk, scoot and cycle to school week. Everyone was encouraged to take part, even if it was just to walk a short way to school (which may have been helpful, given the roadworks that were in place up to Monday afternoon) and we had some very worth winners indeed. Please do feel free to carry this on moving forward as it is lovely to see so many bright faces coming into school on a morning. The Staff Shining Star this week were awarded to Mrs Cleave for being a wonderful, dedicated, versatile colleague. The other Staff Shining Star was not in school today, so I will be giving out three next week – hurrah!

Parent Helpers – THANK YOU

I cannot tell you how lucky we are with our parent helpers. We have had parents help on every trip this week and in every activity and we would be truly lost without you. You are all VERY much appreciated and we thank you very much for your support. If there are any parents or carers out there who would like to help in school but who have not yet got a DBS or are not sure how it might work, please do get in touch with the School Office as they would be delighted to talk with you.

FOWPA Plaques

We are delighted to announce that we have finally taken delivery of 15 absolutely fabulous, informative plaques for our KS2 playground. FOWPA member Amanda Cooksley says the following:

Stunning educational plaques designed by local artists are a great hit with the children

Local artists Jo Wakefield and Sophie Hanton have designed these colourful, educational plaques with fantastic images and facts for the Wadebridge Primary Academy pupils to learn about different insects. This vibrant display is a great addition to the environmental area which is being completed in the Key Stage 2 playground. Jo and Sophie, a grandparent and parent who have family at the school, are delighted that all of the schoolchildren will be able to enjoy the plaques and use them to identify and learn about the different insects they may see. Mark Hanton kindly fixed all plaques to the wall.

Jo and Sophie are currently working on some new designs for the Key Stage 1 children, which will soon be put up in the Key Stage 1 playground as part of FOWPA's continued efforts to enhance the WPA playgrounds.

Please see the pictures attached – we love them and are very grateful to FOWPA and Mrs Wakefield and Mrs Hanton for their designs.

LOST PROPERTY

We have a LOT of lost property at the moment. We will put all lost property outside of school next Thursday (26 May) and Friday (27 May) to be claimed, but if your child has lost any item of clothing, a water bottle, a lunch box or any other item that they may have brought in, please do check just inside the main reception BEFORE next Thursday so that you can claim it before we put it outside. All recognisably named lost property will have been given back to the pupil that it belongs to by then. Thank you.

Coming up

25 May – Years R – 6 Platinum Jubilee Party in school – PARTY CLOTHES (if possible Red, White and Blue) ALL DAY PLEASE

30 May – 3 June HALF TERM WEEK – SCHOOL CLOSED

6 June – school re-opens after Half Term (NO INSET day)

6 – 9 June – Phonics Screening Check week for Year 1

10 June – INSET DAY (and Royal Cornwall Show) SCHOOL CLOSED TO ALL PUPILS

I hope that you have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

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Friday 13 May

We have had another busy week and my goodness, we have worked hard. Year 6 in particular have worked incredibly hard completing their SATs tests and we are SO proud of them. They worked hard today in soaking their teachers in a water fight too and did a very fine job indeed! Year 2 are continuing with their SATs and we are so proud of them too.

Tomorrow sees the awards ceremony for the winners of the Fowey Festival of Art and Writing too. We have had many more winners to add to those who were mentioned when I last wrote! Mrs Keat has said:

Fowey Festival Awards

We have some exciting news that makes us very proud!

Last week, the Fowey Festival judges released the full list of winners for the art and writing competition. As you can see, Wadebridge Primary Academy pupils featured strongly in the Commended and Highly Commended sections for both writing and art.

This weekend, the 1st and 2nd prize winners have been invited to St Fimbarras Church in Fowey to receive their prize and accept their art work which has been mounted and framed. The artists will also find out who has won the overall title of ‘Young Artist of the Year, 2022’.

We hope they enjoy their special celebratory day in Fowey.

Here is a list of the awards:

Art

1st place: Joseph Y2 (Sloth)

Joint 2nd place: Sydney Y1 (Bee)

Joint 2nd place: Merryn Y2 (Sloth)

Highly Commended: Mia Y2 (Leopard), Imogen Y2 (Sloth), Dot Y2 (Sloth), Olive Y5 (Under the Sea), Saoirse Y4 (Planet Earth), James Y6 (Weeping Willow).

Commended: Marley Y1 (Bee), Alice Y1 (Eruption), Alice Y1 (Flower Head), Stanley Y1 (Bee), Estelle Y4 (Tropical Sunset), Brooke Y5 (Leaf collage), Pippa Y4 (Chick collage), Molly Y6 (The beach), Jack Y3 (Land and Sea)

Story writing

Commended: Elodie Y5 (Pride the Lion)

Factual Writing

1st Place: Ryan Y6 (Dear Mr Johnson)

Highly Commended: Emily Y6 (Dear Mr Johnson)

A huge well done to all who put entries into the competition – you are all superstars.

Shining Stars

Shining Stars this week were for embodying the WPA Learning Characters and the winners were clearly very difficult to choose! In fact, it was so tricky in Year 6 (they were all very much channeling their inner Keep Going Koalas), that Miss Bishop and Mrs Callister chose them all! And they were all very deserved. Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Miss Miskowicz in Reception for ALL that she does for the school and to Mrs Clayson for being wonderful in every way. We are definitely very lucky to have them.

Clubs

Clubs started this week – thank you to all who are taking part. A reminder that KS1 clubs finish at 3.40pm and KS2 finish at 3.50pm. Choir finishes at 3.50pm, even though both Key Stages are involved.

Coming up

NEXT WEEK 16 – 20 May – Walk/Scoot/Bike to school week (there will be a prize for the most active class)

NEXT WEEK 16 – 18 May – Year 5 residential trip to Bideford Ultimate Adventure Centre

19 May SIBLING PHOTOGRAPH DAY – PLEASE WEAR SCHOOL UNIFORM IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE CHILD AT WPA (and bring PE Kit if you have PE on that day)

25 May – Years R – 6 Platinum Jubilee Party in school

30 May – 3 June HALF TERM WEEK – SCHOOL CLOSED

6 June – school re-opens after Half Term (NO INSET day)

6 – 9 June – Phonics Screening Check week for Year 1

10 June – INSET DAY (and Royal Cornwall Show)

I hope that you have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday. Year 5 pupils and staff going on the residential – don’t forget to have a good night’s sleep on Sunday!

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 6 May

We have had a busy week, I won’t lie.

Year 5 thoroughly enjoyed their WOW Topic Day exploring all things Harry Potter. The staff costumes were spectacular with Mr Smith as Harry; Mrs Botten as Dobby; Mrs Bryant as Bellatrix Lestrange; Mrs Smerdon as Professor Trelawney; Mrs Bodinnar as Hedwig and Miss Hawe as Fawkes the Phoenix – they were spectacular!

Year 3 performed their class assembly about how we need to save the world in front of parents on Wednesday and it was lovely. They had researched and written all of the eco facts themselves and their passion was clear to see. They were fabulous and we all really enjoyed the May 4^th Focus.

The Years 5 and 6 Girls’ Football Team played against Charlestown on Tuesday after school and, true to form, they emerged victorious, winning 9:2. A huge well done to them as they battled hard.

Shining Stars

Shining Stars this week were for Progress in Maths. We had some lovely Shining Stars and I was delighted to hear just how much progress is being made – especially in Times Tables. Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Mrs Jeffery in Year 4 for her kindness and dedication to the job; Miss Walby in Year 1 for her hugely hard work and willingness to go away above and beyond what is expected all of the time and Mr O’Dwyer for ALL that he does. All three staff are SO appreciated and we are lucky to have them all!

Clubs

Clubs start next week (the week of 9 May). You will have been notified if your child has a place in a club, but do please contact the office if you have any questions.

PE Days

Please see below for the Summer Term’s PE days. Please come into school in PE Kit on your PE Days (unless your child is in Reception). Please do remember that school jumpers or plain black or dark jumpers (not hoodies) are accepted PE kit, not anything else.

Year N	Tuesday
Year R	Monday
Year 1	Monday – Pro 20
Year 2	Monday
Year 3	Tuesday and Wednesday
Year 4	Thursday
Year 5	Wednesday and Friday (Outdoor Learning)
Year 6	Tuesday

Mrs Berridge

After 31 hugely enjoyable and not at all stressful years, Mrs Berridge has made the decision to retire at the end of the Summer Term. Whilst I battled hard to keep her for ‘just one more year’, she is adamant that now is the time! I will be writing to you all to tell you of our plans, but I just wanted to let you know as I know that Mrs Berridge has taught many generations of Wadebridge families and lots of you will have known her a teacher of you as well as a teacher of your children. We will make sure that we send her off with a bang (not literally), but do look out for an email.

School Platinum Jubilee Party

We are delighted to let you know that we are planning to celebrate the Queen’s 70years of service (if only you had held on for a few more years, Mrs Berridge, we could have done the same for you…) with a Years R to 6 Jubilee Party. We will be writing to you to let you know the finer details closer to the time, but please know that we will be in party clothes that day. Whoop whoop! Nursery are having their party on Friday morning.

Coming up

This list is quite long, so please do take the time to read it – I promise you it is worth it!

Throughout May – KS1 Year 2 SATs (just for info)

9 – 12 May – KS2 SATS

16 – 20 May – Walk/Scoot/Bike to school week (there will be a prize for the most active class)

16 – 18 May – Year 5 residential trip to Bideford Ultimate Adventure Centre

19 May SIBLING PHOTOGRAPH DAY – PLEASE WEAR SCHOOL UNIFORM IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE CHILD AT WPA (and bring PE Kit if you have PE on that day)

25 May – Years R – 6 Platinum Jubilee Party in school

30 May – 3 June HALF TERM WEEK – SCHOOL CLOSED

6 June – school re-opens after Half Term (NO INSET day)

6 – 9 June – Phonics Screening Check week for Year 1

10 June – INSET DAY (and Royal Cornwall Show)

Phew! I hope that you have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday. I especially look forward to seeing Year 6s for their SATs breakfast at 0815 on Monday morning – what a treat!

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 29 April

Welcome back to the Summer Term! We have had a lovely sunny week and already have been extremely busy. We welcomed Mrs Martyn to WPA and are delighted that it seems like she has been here forever. Some of the Year 3 and 4 boys took part in a local football festival on Wednesday and we won quite a few matches with the highlight for our Year 3 team being the match against our Year 4 team, which they won! Well done to all who took part and we look forward to the rematch…

On Wednesday we were delighted to welcome the Grace Project into school. They are a local non-profit organisation who have two main purposes – to help families who would benefit from some clothing for their children and to help rehome pre-loved clothing. If you are interested in contacting them, please do either let us know via the secretary@wadebridgeprimary.co.uk email address or by contacting The Grace Project directly: grace@wadebridgeparish.org.uk.

Today we had lots on! Year 5 had an Arena ‘Alternative Sports Day, where they tried their hands at Archery, Capture the Flag, Boccia, Tri-Golf and Lacrosse. I sadly was not able to join in (despite my best efforts…) but they had a wonderful day and were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day – I hope that they all sleep well tonight. The Year 5 staff most definitely will….. Years 3, 4 and 6 enjoyed RNLI Water Safety talks today too. We learned all about how to keep safe near and in the water and I was really pleased with how much information pupils retained when I quizzed them at the end of the day and I hope that they found the sessions useful and fun.

Class photos went really well too and I cannot wait to see the final pictures – they always look so fantastic and are really lovely to keep. As soon as we get the copies in, we will let you know, but thank you for your support with uniform and PE kits on the day.

Clubs

Summer Term Clubs start the week after next – on 9 May. You should have heard from the office if your child has a place in a club, but please do contact us if you are not sure. All clubs (apart from Jason Thomas Dance on a Friday and Pro 20 on a Monday) are new this term.

Shining Stars

Shining Stars this week were for excellent relationships. Again, it was really tricky for all teachers to choose just three pupils from their class and we had some amazing winners, but my favourite was the pupil who was awarded a Shining Star for their much improved and now excellent relationship with English. Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Mrs Young, who is a much valued and vital member of the WPA staff. She is the most reliable, resourceful, creative and wonderful TA and we love her. Mrs Lucock, who most parents know as Caroline, was our other winner, and my goodness she deserved it. She can co-ordinate the most tricky of days and is worth her weight in gold. At least… Well done to all winners today; we are very proud of you.

PE Days

A reminder one last time for see below for the Summer Term’s PE days. Please come into school in PE Kit on your PE Days (unless your child is in Reception, where changing into PE kit is part of the curriculum).

Year N	Tuesday
Year R	Monday
Year 1	Monday – Pro 20
Year 2	Monday
Year 3	Wednesday
Year 4	Thursday
Year 5	Wednesday and Friday (Outdoor Learning)
Year 6	Tuesday

Coming up

Year 6 have their SATs during the week starting 9 May. Year 6 parents please see the letter that went home today but please do get in touch if you have any questions.

Year 5 Residential

The Year 5 Residential Trip to Bideford Ultimate Adventure Centre is from Monday 16 to Wednesday 18 May. A reminder letter will be coming home next Tuesday but we are very excited that there are only 2 weeks of school before we go - whoop!

Finally, I hope that you have a lovely weekend and a fantastic Bank Holiday. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

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Friday 8 April

We made it! Thank you so much for all of your support this term; it is so appreciated.

This week we have seen plenty of Easter activities and work: I have seen much re-telling of the Easter Story; we have heard about Easter Traditions around the world and we have done all things Easter including chocolates and bunnies. I do love Easter in school – there are some banging songs to sing; I always learn something new and it signifies (to me) the lighter evenings and the prospect of the exciting Summer Term.

First this week – we have some very exciting news. Lots of pupils entered the Fowey Festival for young Artists and Writers and we have some winners! Mrs Keat, our Art lead, has said the below:

Fowey Festival

Every year, Wadebridge Primary Academy are proud to take part in the Fowey Festival Awards for Young Writers and Artists and this year was no different.

We entered a wide range of art work and writing from across the school and today, we have had some wonderful news. The festival judges have looked carefully at all the amazing entries from around the county and have come to their decision. Here is what they said:

We are really pleased to announce that three children from Wadebridge Primary Academy have been shortlisted for the special award of ‘Artist of the Year’ and their framed work will be on display in Fowey River Gallery, 38 Fore Street, Fowey during the Easter school holidays.

Our talented art winners are Joseph and Merryn in Year 2 and Sydney in Year 1.

We also were told about a gifted letter writer: Ryan in Year 6.

This is the really exciting bit: As part of the competition, the judges wish to find the Artist of the Year, which will be done through a public vote. If you would like to view the three WPA pupils' art work and cast a vote for your favourite piece of work and enable one of our WPA pupils to become 'Artist of the Year', then please visit the Fowey River Gallery during the Easter holidays.

In May, these three pupils will be invited to a grand presentation event where they will be presented with their prizes and their framed art work. As part of the presentation event, the children and their parents will also be invited to a talk by the renowned author of the very popular ‘Charlie and Lola’ and ‘Clarice Bean’ books, Lauren Child.

We want to congratulate our talented winners and let you know that we are proud of all of the brilliant work that was submitted into the competition by all of our pupils.

Massively well done to all of the entrants but especially well done to these four pupils. A complete list of winners will be announced on 26 April so more then– Phew!

Shining Stars

Shining Stars this week were for progress this term. Excellent winners as always and so very deserved. Shining Stars also went to our fabulous Pupil Leadership Team for their super showing around of our Governors yesterday. They were confident, smiley and excellent ambassadors for the school and I am very proud of them all. Well done to Abi, Huw, Molly, James and Claudia. Staff Shining stars this week were plentiful! As you may know, we have had a lot of staff absence this term due to Covid and every staff member has stepped up and done their bit, but I wanted to celebrate a few who have really shone this week. Penny Thomas, Trina Head and Heidi Kendall in the Kitchen have been wonderful this week and last week and they thoroughly deserved their shining stars. Also, you will be delighted to hear that I can work almost every gadget and do every lunchtime duty in the kitchen now, but I was happily able to avoid the actual cooking. Better for everyone. Shining Stars also went to Mrs Divall, Miss Taylor and Miss Rash for their outstanding work in the Early Years. The last Shining Star this week went to Mrs Orme. Mrs Orme is not with us next term as she is going to Pelynt Primary to lead the team over there, but she will be back with us in September. Which we are VERY happy about. However, we wanted to thank her for her amazing work at WPA as she is simply the best.

Coming up

CLASS PHOTOGRAPHS will be taken on Wednesday 27 April (the first Wednesday back after the Holiday). If you have PE on this day (Wednesday) then please make sure that your child comes into school in their school uniform and brings their PE kit in to change into after their photograph is taken.

Some Year Groups are changing their PE Days; these year groups are now having PE on a Wednesday:

Year 3

Year 5

Clubs

There are no clubs in the first week back (BridgeKids will be running) apart from an invite only sports club offered by Saints South West. Hopefully, you will know if you have been invited. Phew.

PE Days

Please see below for the Summer Term’s PE days. Please come into school in PE Kit on your PE Days. A reminder of PE kit will be sent out on the first Monday back of Term.

Year N	Tuesday
Year R	Monday
Year 1	Monday – Pro 20
Year 2	Monday
Year 3	Wednesday
Year 4	Thursday
Year 5	Wednesday and Friday (Outdoor Learning)
Year 6	Tuesday

FOWPA Quiz Night The FOWPA quiz night went VERY well and they raised a fantastic £483. Thank you to all who took part and THANK YOU to FOWPA for a brilliant night.

Finally, I hope that you have a lovely weekend and a fantastic Easter Break. We look forward to seeing you on Monday 25 April at the normal time. The gates will open at 0825.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Friday 1 April

Last week I was all about the sun – today it has been freezing! We went outside anyway (as it was not raining) and we are still loving the fact that it just seems lighter and brighter.

Sporting Fixtures

This week, our sporting teams have done us proud – the Girl’s U11 Football Team took part in the County Championships and they WON! We are now the proud County Champions. The Team won their heats on Tuesday (won every game) and were put through to the finals, which were held in Newquay yesterday. They won almost every game (apart from one which was a draw) yesterday and were crowned the overall winners. We are SO proud of them and are delighted with their success. Hurrah!

We also took a netball team to the County Championships heats and although we did not win (there were some seriously strong teams there), we battled determinedly and were very pleased with ourselves. Well done to ALL who took part and a big thank you to Mr Langton for all of the organising (and to Mrs Keat for all of the supporting and the driving).

Viking Play

I have to say – there was some seriously good acting and singing in school this week. On Tuesday, the Year 4s performed their Viking Play in front of the school and were magnificent. On Wednesday they performed in front of their families and they were even better! There are not enough superlatives to be honest, but they were FABULOUS and we are very proud of them. Thank you too for the audience participation – we loved it!

CLUBS:

Clubs are ONLY on Monday next week (clubs on Tuesday – Friday are NOT on next week).

Shining Stars

Shining Stars this week were Teacher’s Choice. Again we had some absolute corkers and it was so lovely to both hear the reasons for their nominations and to see their beaming smiles! Staff Shining stars this week went to Mrs Bodinnar (awarded on Monday due to Mrs B not working on a Friday) and to Mr Langton. Both are absolute superstars and we are so very glad that they are with us. Mr Langton does not usually come into school on a Friday either, but he was in to award the football trophy to the girls so I took my chance to give him his Shining Star!

Parking

PLEASE do not park on the Yellow lines on the road out of the school. It is a hazard and is illegal. It is also illegal to park on speed bumps, so please do not park on those either. Thank you.

Please could you also make sure that you are making your way out of school as soon as you have picked up your children. As you will know, parking is at a bit of a premium in the school (insert laughing emoji face here) and it is really helpful if we are able to keep the traffic moving.

Thank you so much for all of your support with this – it is much appreciated.

Coming up

Tonight! The FOWPA quiz takes place. Good luck and I hope that you win.

End of Term – please note that we will be finishing school early on Friday 8 April, in order to break up for the Easter Holidays. Nursery, Reception and KS1 will finish at 1pm and Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will finish at 1.15pm. Bridge Kids will be open as usual. Nearly there!

Please remember that CLASS PHOTOGRAPHS will be taken on Wednesday 27 April (the first Wednesday back after the Easter Holiday). If you have PE on this day (Wednesday) then please make sure that your child comes into school in their school uniform and brings their PE kit in to change into after their photograph is taken.

Next week sees lots of Easter and more Spring things. If you get a minute, please do look up the song ‘I’m a Spring Chicken’. It is worth it just for the catchiness and the repetition.

I hope that you have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

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Girls Football.JPG

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Friday 25 March

It has been a busy week, but we have loved the sunshine!

Shakespeare Workshop

It turns out that we are almost as good at acting as we are at singing! Yesterday, actors from the Minack Theatre came to WPA for an acting workshop. 30 pupils from Years 4 to 6 met in the Hall for a fantastic opportunity to learn from the professionals. Mrs Smerdon, who organised the event, has said the following:

This week we were lucky enough to have some actors from the Minack Theatre come into school to do a workshop with some of our budding actors to celebrate Shakespeare Week. The pupils from Year 4 ,5 and 6 took part in drama games before having the opportunity to create a small performance based around the story of The Tempest. Mrs Smerdon was very impressed with all those pupils who attended the workshop, and we definitely have some talent at WPA!

For more information about upcoming performances and free workshops at the Minack Theatre, please visit: https://www.minack.com/take-part

Red Nose Day Winners!

I knew that I forgot to mention something in assembly today…. I have now been able to count up all of the points from the Red Nose and Spoon raves and I can tell you that the winning year group was EITHER Year R or Year 5. They were AMAZING in their races and there was practically nothing between them. I will announce the actual winner on Monday in Assembly but well done again to ALL who took part.

Clubs

Clubs are back on next week for our last week (unless you have a Monday Club, which will also run on 4 April due to the INSET day earlier this term). We are also opening the booking for next term’s clubs on Monday 28 March. Get in early, as spaces are limited.

Shining Stars

Shining Stars this week were for being a good friend or for being kind. I think that this may be my favourite reason for a Shining Star and we had some wonderful winners – well done to every single one – and to all of those pupils who DO show kindness and good friendship every single day. You are very appreciated. Staff Shining Stars were given to Mrs Ashby, who is a student in Year 3. She has fitted in incredibly well and has done a sterling job. It is her last day today and we thank her wholeheartedly for all that she has done and wish her the very best in her career (she will go far). The second Staff Shining Star was awarded to a very deserving Mrs Hodkinson, who also works in Year 3 (and Year 5) for ALL that she does. I could list all of the whys here but no one has that long…. A massive well done to both though.

Parents Evenings

I hope that you were all able to meet with your children’s teachers over the past few evenings and a big thank you to all parents and carers who came. You kept very well to time overall (!) and whilst it was a shame to be indoors given the weather, we were very glad to see you all. If you were not able to make an appointment, please do contact your child’s teacher, as they will be pleased to either meet with you or give you a call so that you are up to date on your child’s endeavours in school.

Coming up

FOWPA Quiz Night The FOWPA quiz night is coming up. Please see below for details– the last Quiz Night was very well attended and the prizes were awesome. They are awesome this time too (£100 for the winning table), so please see below for details on how to book your table:

Friday, 1st April 2022 – 7pm

Why not get a team together, get those thinking caps on and join us for a Charity Quiz Night in aid of FOWPA!

Come and join us for an evening of quizzing and fun. All proceeds will be going to help raise funds for the Friends of Wadebridge Primary Academy.

£18 per table, max of six people.

£100 Cash prize for the winning team and there will also be a raffle for an Easter hamper, a magnum of Prosecco and many, many more fantastic prizes which have been donated by local businesses.

The Falcon is also offering a 10% discount on pizzas and burgers during the evening.

Get your tickets now:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/296681250607

Or click on this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/296681250607?fbclid=IwAR2i0rEhAUrokxftdyWhrN8axDgiTw3F8cbNk9XbRvPsfqdHDKFoAZbJJwE

Falcon, West Hill, Wadebridge, PL27 7HW

Next week sees lots of sporting events and the Year 4 Viking Play – we look forward to seeing many of you there!

Something to end with

There is a new app called OLIO, which can help with food waste whilst helping donate meals and food that might otherwise be wasted. It was featured on the Love Wadebridge Facebook page this week. All that you have to do is download the app on your smartphone or tablet and it tells you what to do. You do not have to be in need; you just need to want to reduce waste. I love the thought of being a Food Waste Hero and hope that we can help to reduce waste together.

I hope that you have a lovely weekend and that you are able to enjoy the sun. We look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

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