Following the positive case of COVID-19 in the Reception Bubble in school yesterday, Public Health England, the Bridge Mat Trust and the school have made the decision to close the Reception Bubble for 2 weeks until Wednesday 2 December.

All learning has moved to the class website page and Tapestry. If you are having problems logging in, please contact the school who will be more than happy to help.


Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this time.

Ms Whitlock and the Reception Team

Dear Parents and Carers,
We made it to Half Term! It seems as though this has been an incredibly long half term, but it also seems to have flown by, which is testament to the immense effort that you have all put in. Seeing so many smiling faces has been a real tonic for us all, and we are so very grateful for all of your support.  However, we wish you a restful half term and cannot wait to welcome you back on Tuesday 3 November.

I am writing a letter, which will follow shortly, so will not write for too long, but if you have three minutes, do please go to the website and watch our ‘Half a term round-up’ video which gives you a small glimpse of what we have been learning in school recently. One of the loveliest responses to this video has been the reaction of the pupils through the school when they have been shown the video in class. It is rare, actually, that the whole school gets to see what the other classes have done without going into the other classes (and they don’t even often do that in ‘normal times’) but as we are not using the corridors, this is actually the perfect way to share and gel as a community. Which we very much are.

We talked about communities in our whole school assembly this week. We talked about how important it is to get on with people, but how, sometimes, even the closest of friends can get cross with one another and have arguments. This led to a practical demonstration of how things can get out of hand and lead to things that no one really wants or expects. I was lucky enough to cajole several members of staff into helping me with this (we socially distanced of course). We talked about how, in the olden days, when people were very angry with each other, they might have challenged the person that they were angry with to a duel.  In our duel, Mrs Lucock challenged Mrs Botten to a duel because Mrs Botten had taken Mrs Lucock’s pen and would not give it back. Mrs Botten claimed that it was hers. Mrs Hill was the referee and swords were the chosen weapon (we had one old sword (possibly made of balsa wood) and one foam sword which was about 6 inches long). The duel was very well acted given that the duellers were 2m apart and fervently contested, but the final ruling was that it ended in a draw.  Which I am not sure Mrs Botten was *entirely* pleased about. Anyway, the point was well made and all of the school realised that most things are definitely not worth falling out for, and that being good and trusted members of our community whilst being kind and being tolerant were the MOST important things to be in life.

Please do have a look at the letter when it arrives; remember not to come to school on Monday 2 November and remember that the first Friday back, Friday 6 November, is our Firework Party Day.
I hope that you all stay safe and well over the next week and one day and we hugely look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 3 November (NOVEMBER?!?!? Already!??!). 

Kindest regards
Ms Whitlock 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Time is racing past and we now only have one week before we break up for Half Term. Please remember that the first day back after Half Term (Monday 2 November) is an INSET day, and no children will be in school on this day.

Kindness
On a really lovely note, I have seen some exceptional acts of kindness this week and it makes me very proud to be a part of such a special and wonderful school.  Examples are pupils who have gone out of their way to help those who are less confident or who need support and those who have stayed in to help their friends before they go out to break. It’s a good job that I am not an emotional sort of person otherwise I might have welled up several times this week…. 

Shining Stars
Our Shining Stars Theme this week was ‘Exceptional Progress’ and every single Shining Star this week was clearly so very well deserved; from those who have progressed in confidence to speak up in class to those who have improved their writing skills to those who are learning how to be more resilient in all areas of the curriculum. We hold our Shining Stars assembly via TEAMS each week, so that the whole school (not EYFS yet) can come together, and it is a joy to be able to celebrate these each week.

Pick ups
Thank you so very much for your continued help with Pick Ups; it is hugely appreciated and seems to be working really well. Everything is crossed as I write that it continues to be thus!

Switching off your engine
If you are waiting in a drop-off or a pick-up lane at any time, please could you ensure that you switch your engine off. 

Harvest Festival
Thank you so very much for all of your wonderful donations. I will let you know how much we have collected when it is weighed by the Food Bank.

Website
The class pages are still going strong on the website. Do please have a look. They give you lots of information about the learning that is happening in class and what we have been up to both in and out of class.

Christmas Cards
There were hundreds of orders for Christmas Cards to be processed in the end – THANK YOU for your support with this. FOWPA are delighted. 

British Values
In our whole school assembly this week, we did not learn any new songs (sadly), but we did talk about ‘British Values’. We talked about Democracy, the Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those of different Faiths and Beliefs.  We talked about how we use these laws in school, and how they help us outside of school.
This actually tied in really quite nicely with the assembly from the week before when we were discussing the right to vote as part of Black History Month.  I visited class 6B during that assembly (wearing a mask) and asked all those with names beginning with the letters A – F to stand up. Those standing were the equivalent of those who had the right to vote and those left sitting down were those who did NOT have the right to vote. One of those A – F pupils was asked to make a suggestion about the length of playtimes for the two now distinct groups of Year 6 pupils.  Between the two groups, they had 15 minutes to use up. The nominated standing up person, without prompting, suggested that those standing had 10 minutes break and those sitting had 1 minute. The rest was for handwashing….  Unsurprisingly, those who had the right to vote passed this and those sitting got a really raw deal. Which they could do NOTHING about. Nothing actually happened to their play time of course, but it was a good example of how unfair things can be if you don’t get a say.
I reminded the school of this during this week’s assembly (they all remembered!). We talked about fairness and why Democracy, for example, is so important and how we are lucky to have it.  

I hope that you all stay safe and well this weekend. 

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock 

Dear Parents and Carers, It is not even raining! I’m going to try and waffle less this week and keep it to the point.

Pick ups
Thank you so very much for your help with the amendment to the Pick Ups for the KS2 lane – I think that so far it has worked really well and has really helped the flow. Please note that on Friday, the timings are brought forward as per the pick-up timings. I will open the lane at 12:40, but not before. The same timings will happen next week – we will open the KS2 lane at 14:40 every day from Monday to Thursday. Please do not arrive before this time if you have children in KS2.

Walk to school week
Well, you were brilliant at walking to and from school. LOTS of pupils walked every single day and it was SO lovely to see how proud they were. We may have other active travel schemes in the pipeline, which I know you are very excited about, so I will pass them on as soon as I they are firmed up.

Harvest Festival
THANK YOU. Keep it coming! So far, so excellent.

Website
The class blogs have been spruced up on the website. Do please have a look. The class pages give you lots of information about the learning that is happening in class and what we have been up to.

Wearing masks
You will have noticed that all staff are wearing masks when they are near parents and pupils at pick up and drop off time. I encourage you please, if you are able, to wear a mask too. The wearing of masks, when we are in close proximity, even though we are outside, does create a barrier and helps us all to feel safe. Children do NOT have to wear masks.

P.S. if anyone knows of a mask that prevents glasses fogging, please could you let me know. Sigh.

Christmas Cards
Wow! There have been so many Christmas card orders come in and we are really grateful. I LOVE the designs and I can’t wait to see them in print. Thank you.

Hello Yellow!
We saw some wonderful visions of yellowness today. It really did brighten up our day and it was lovely seeing so much of this bright colour. Thank you for supporting World Mental Health Day and I hope that you enjoyed seeing as much yellow as we did!

It has been a very busy week, but a very enjoyable one. If you would like to be serenaded this weekend with an easy to learn tune, do ask to hear your children sing ‘Big, Red Combine Harvester’. It is, as they say in the business, a ‘banging tune’.

I hope that you all stay safe and well this weekend. Wrap up warm as Autumn is most definitely here to stay.

Kindest regards
Ms Whitlock

Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s October already! I can hardly believe it.

Thank you so very much for your patience and understanding with the weather and pick up over the past few days – it has frankly felt more like we were running a national event rather than just co-ordinating 400 odd cars and people, but we appreciate very much your smiles; please keep them coming!

On that note, however, we are going to trial a slightly amended system FOR PICK UP ONLY from Monday 5 October. Nothing will change timings wise, but we will be coning off the KS2 Pick Up lane until 2.40pm. The first pick up time for KS2 is 2.45pm.
MORNING DROP OFFS REMAIN EXACTLY AS THEY CURRENTLY ARE. They are working well. 
This trial change means that if you are wanting to come and pick up a child who is in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6, you will not be able to drive down the KS2 pick-up lane until 2.40pm. We have put this in place because parents and carers of KS1 and Early Years children were getting stuck for many minutes in the traffic as they could not get past the single lane at the top of the drop off lane. 
From Monday, 5th October, please DO NOT arrive to pick up your children who are in Years 3 – 6 before 2.40pm.
We are really hoping that this frees up the flow and helps with congestion, but if it does not work, I assure you that I will review it quickly.


However, it is also WALK TO SCHOOL WEEK next week (Hurrah! I hear you cry) so do please feel free to walk in to pick your children up, or park and stride a few minutes away from the school, as per my email earlier this week.
There is a lot going on in school next week; not only is it walk to school week but we are also collecting for our Harvest Festival. Boxes will be outside of the school for you to leave donations in if you are able to. All donations will be given to Wadebridge Food Bank.

We are also celebrating World Mental Health Day next week. We are celebrating by all wearing yellow next Friday to school. Please see our Facebook page and our emails home for more details. We will upload pictures onto our website and social media on Friday to show just how yellow and supportive of good and strong mental health we are! We are really looking forward to it.
PS apparently mustard IS counted as yellow. I looked it up and also have it on good advice.

I hope that you all stay safe and well this weekend. Wrap up warm as Autumn is most definitely here.

Kindest regards
Ms Whitlock