Head's Blog

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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Documents

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

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