Head's Blog

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

Friday 26 November

What a week – which added to what an end to last week! When I last wrote my blog, we had not yet seen the Girls who had gone to play in the County Championship Finals come back because they had made the finals. What an incredible achievement! They drew in the final (it was a very tense game I hear) but sadly, at the last post, were beaten on penalties. An amazing day was had by all though – and we definitely deserved our Silver medals for being the runners up. A very well done to Abi, Courtney, Sophia, Hettie, Zahra, Constance, Millie and Emily – you are all stars.

I wrote last week to tell you about our entries into the Cornish Winter Fair and I am delighted to let you know that our Big Nursery entry of a Father Christmas Collage won FIRST PRIZE! Hurrah! Please see the picture attached – you can definitely see why it won as it is spectacular.

All Year Groups are now practising for our Christmas Festivities and we are really looking forward to welcoming parents into school for our first show (Reception and Years 1 and 2) on Tuesday 7th December. We are very excited and we know that you are going to absolutely LOVE it. There are naughty sheep in it and everything…

Next week sees the arrival of December (how did this happen?), and we are delighted to start welcoming Christmas Cards from pupils to other pupils and staff into school on Wednesday 1 December. All cards need to be in by Friday 10 December please, so that we can let them rest before sorting them and hand-delivering them to their intended classrooms (not sure how else we were going to deliver them, but it sounds good). Wednesday 1 December also sees our Reception, Year One and Two Cinema Trip to see Croods 2. Please make sure that you have paid your £2.50 into your child’s ParentPay account in order for your child to attend. Thank you!

Shining Stars this week were for excellent topic work. We had some absolutely superstars up to collect their certificates today and as ever, it is so lovely to see just how much enjoyment so many get out of their learning. Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Mrs Young in Year 3 for her constant and invaluable support to everyone, for being, here, there and everywhere with a smile on her face and for her determination that every child in Year 3 will succeed. She really is second to none and we are so grateful that she is part of our WPA Team. Mrs Clayson was nominated by lots of pupils and staff this week for her constant cheerfulness, her manner and helpfulness to everyone and for always being excellent. She really is a vital part of the whole school team and is much loved.

We also had a very exciting event this week – Wadebridge Primary Academy turned 30 this year and we celebrated by having a tea party for the present and past staff. We have three, yes, three members of staff who started with the school still working with us and it was SO lovely to be able to celebrate both their time here and the school’s 30-year milestone. A huge well done to Mrs Berridge, Miss Divall and Mrs Buckingham for looking SO good after 30 years of service. What a great team that we have; we are VERY lucky.

A couple of reminders and notices to finish with:

FOWPA CHRISTMAS RAFFLE

The FOWPA Christmas Raffle tickets are now in circulation. If you have not seen the raffle prize list, please do look on Facebook (it will be on the website soon too), but do know that it is actually terrific and is still growing! If you would like any extra tickets, please contact the school office and please return the ticket stubs (with your name and telephone number on them) and money in an envelope to the school office no later than Monday 7th December in order for your tickets to be entered into the raffle. This enables all of the raffle tickets to be sorted and put into the tombola for the draw on Friday 10th December.

WRITE TO FATHER CHRISTMAS

We were sent this reminder by a parent who works in the Post Office and we just thought it was worth sharing:

Write To Santa | Christmas Letter | Post Office

Send your letter or card to Santa by Friday 10 December

Things are heating up at the North Pole! It’s Santa’s busy time, of course, and if you want to get your presents onto the sleigh in time then you’ll need to post your letter to Father Christmas by 10 December 2021.

With the elves busy making toys, the reindeer limbering up for the big night and Father Christmas buying a new belt in preparation for all those mince pies, now’s the perfect time to have a good think about what you want and get your letter to his candy cane post box in plenty of time.

When you’ve written your letter, just post it to:

Santa Claus/Father Christmas

Santa’s Grotto

Reindeerland

XM4 5HQ

Remember to:

• Write the address on the envelope clearly and pop a stamp on it

• Put your full name and address in your letter so Santa knows where to send his reply

• Pop it in your nearest post box before Friday 10 December

LEISURE CENTRE CLOSURE PROTEST

The second public protest against the closure of Wadebridge Leisure Centre takes place on Tuesday 30 November. Please see my email of yesterday of what to do if you would like to take your child to the protest and make sure that you let us know so that we can mark your absence accordingly. If you do attend, please remember to be back in school by lunchtime at the latest for afternoon school.

It looks to be a busy and blustery weekend so please take good care and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kindest regards

Ms Whitlock

Image Gallery

30th clebrations.jpg

Winter fair entry.jpg

30th Celebration.jpg

Documents

Friday 19 November

Dear Parents and Carers,

Another busy week, but an enjoyable one. This week was Anti-Bullying Week and we started our thinking towards ‘One Kind Word’ on Monday by wearing our odd socks. We had a thought-provoking assembly thinking about how our words can make people feel on Monday and I have heard some super conversations around how we can be the best that we can be. Everyone also looked wonderful today in their spots and stripes in support of Children in Need.

We have Road Safety Week next week – please make sure that if you have designed a poster, it is in on Monday if it is not in already.

The Shining Stars focus this week was being kind and, as ever, it was lovely to see so many super Shining Stars. All of the teachers found it tricky to choose but we had some fabulous winners. This week has also seen our first Reading Karate winners. We have quite a few white reading bands on show – good work to those keen readers and everybody keep up the good work! Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Mrs Callister, who is such a stalwart and super key teacher in the school (she is amazing!) and Mrs Jeffery, who has been nominated many times by pupils (and staff) for her support and kindness in Year Four and her sterling work in the Library. Every single teacher could have been awarded a Shining Star for their hard work and dedication this week, though, and I cannot reiterate just how much we appreciate every one of them.

If you are able to head over to the school’s website, do have a look at the class blogs. Year 3 made Stone Age Fish Traps last week using different materials, one of which was some freshly cut Bamboo from Mr O'Dwyer's Granny's farm! The year 3's compared Stone Age Fishing Traps to modern day fishing techniques and how fishermen use nets and catchers, just like Stone Age people used to. The teamwork between groups was amazing to see and they enjoyed this task immensely.

FOWPA Christmas Raffle message:

We may not be able to have our lovely Christmas Fayre this year, but we can still have our amazing Christmas Raffle! This year, due to the generosity of local businesses we have increased the cash prizes to £250, £150 and £75! We also have loads of fantastic prizes including 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 30 more amazing prizes.

Your child will be bringing home two books of WPA raffle tickets in an envelope on Monday 22nd November. These are for you to buy or to sell to possibly lucky family and friends. If you would like any extra tickets, please contact the school office.

Please return the ticket stubs (with your name and telephone number on them) and money in an envelope to the school office no later than Monday 7th December in order for your tickets to be entered into the raffle. This enables all of the raffle tickets to be sorted and put into the tombola for the draw on Friday 10th December.

We really appreciate your support for the Christmas Raffle; the money raised will really make a difference.

Last thing! I am about to head up to the showground to drop off our entries to the Winter Fair – we have entered illustrated poems, glittery winter wonderlands and two fantastic Nursery Father Christmas collages. I think that they are very worthy winners indeed! Watch this space…

We wish you a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing you all on Monday.

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

Friday 12 November

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had another fun filled and jam-packed week. The Pupil Leadership Team and your kind donations have raised a huge amount for the Royal British Legion and we sold almost everything that we were given for Remembrance Day – and the collection tub was so heavy that we could barely lift it! We came together to learn a bit more about Remembrance Day on Thursday morning and to listen to two of the most well-known poems written about the impact of the First World War (For The Fallen and In Flanders Fields), both beautifully read by our Pupil Leaders. We also took part in the two-minute silence at 11am and I was incredibly impressed by every single member of our school. The behaviour was impeccable and I was proud to be a part of it.

We have had a lot going on in other parts of the school this week and we are close to getting everything in place for the lead up to Christmas. We have our Parents’ Evenings next week – in person and in school (hurrah!), but please do wear a mask for your appointment. We ask that you arrive at school as close to your appointment time as possible, and do pay attention to the bell that will chime every 10 minutes!

The Shining Stars focus this week was Progress in Reading and it is very apparent that Reading Karate is proving incredibly popular! Some pupils are close to their first band already – after only two weeks! Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Miss Warren, who is flying in her first year of teaching and coping extremely well with everything that is thrown at her and Mrs May for being the beating heart and vital part of the WPA team. She is a superstar in every sense.

Next week sees two other events – Monday 15 November is Odd Socks Day, where we are asking pupils to come into school with odd socks to show their individuality and uniqueness. We are taking part in Anti-Bullying Week and the theme this year is ‘One Kind Word’. Friday 19th November is Children in Need day and we are celebrating this by dressing in spots and stripes and bringing in a £1. We can’t wait!

Good luck to all who are in the quiz tonight – may the best team win!

We wish you a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing you all on Monday in your odd socks.

As ever, thank you very much for your support,

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

Image Gallery

odd socks.png

Documents

Friday 5 November

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a lovely week, which ended in fine style as the school dressed up in their brightest and most sparkly clothing to raise funds for the fantastic FOWPA today. I could not even begin to say who wore their brightest the best as there were just so many wonderfully dressed and decorated pupils and staff. 5W were lucky enough to have Mrs Bryant painting some amazing firework patterns on the pupils and staff faces (they looked pretty swish!) and all of year 5 also went up to the firepit this afternoon to make actual fire! Year 2 also started their Year 2 Wild Tribe lessons and Year 1 spent some really high-quality time outdoors working together to make the most of our school grounds.

And that was just today….

Reception and Nursery celebrated Diwali this week too and if you go onto Tapestry you will some of the most magical memories being made. We are SO lucky to have such dedicated and talented practitioners in all of our classes.

Wadebridge Food Bank came to collect our Harvest Donations yesterday too – THANK YOU so very much to all who donated – your kindness will help many families.

Moving on to next week; the Pupil Leadership Team will be accepting donations for poppies and other remembrance items on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the Hall – so do please bring in a donation if you would like to support the British Legion and the Poppy Appeal.

The Wadebridge Leisure Centre consultation is now closed and we are waiting to hear the outcome of it, but a very big thank you to all families who wrote to their local MP; who completed the questionnaire; who went to County Hall to protest against the closure and who filled in the youth questionnaire. My fingers are firmly crossed in the hope that we made a positive difference.

The Shining Stars focus this week was Teacher’s Choice, which is a fantastic opportunity for teachers to be able to award certificates for whatever wonderful things that have happened in the week. All of our winners were extremely deserving – and we once again had a family where all three siblings received a shining star in the same week. You would not believe how often this happens – completely randomly! Teacher Shining Stars were awarded to Mrs Orme, who was nominated by her class for ‘making every day a lovely day’ and Mrs Cleave for being a Shining Star in every sense; every day. Well done to all who were awarded certificates today.

Last thing! Don’t forget that FOWPA are running a quiz next Friday night (12 November), at The Falcon. I was lucky enough to preview some of the prizes last night and I am *really* looking forward to it. There are only a few tables left so do please get a table together and buy your tickets via this link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fowpa-quiz-night-tickets-195088243187

I look forward to seeing you there.

We wish you a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing you all on Monday. Year 4 – don’t forget that your PE day has changed to Monday.

Thank you for your support,

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock