Head's Blog

Friday 28 April

The first two weeks of this term have flown by. On the very first Monday back from Easter, just as I was introducing the new Jigsaw PSHE theme of relationships, we had a ‘phone call from Ofsted saying that they were coming to visit us the next day. Well, the pupils did us proud. They were articulate, joyful, smiley, full of life and were the best versions of themselves for the Tuesday and Wednesday, when the inspection team were in. They embodied the British Values and our school values that we so often talk about and they were marvellous. The pride in which they presented their work, if they were chosen to meet with the inspectors, was very evident, and it was so pleasing to see their faces light up due to their excitement in talking about it. I was very proud of them.

On the morning of Wednesday 19 April, we sent a team of Year 4s to Bodmin for the North Cornwall Athletics competition. We have still not heard quite how they got on, but they loved it. In the afternoon, we also sent an intrepid team of Year 3 Tri-Golfers to the same place, where they battled brilliantly against considerable opposition and came third overall. Their (heavy) bronze medals are impressive and they are still wearing them every day, which we love!

This Wednesday, the Year 5 and 6 Girl’s football team took part in a tournament too. We have not seen Mr Langton to get the results, but the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves (and didn’t even get muddy!)

This Wednesday also saw a team of Year 6 boys take part in the local Football Festival and they did very well, playing their hearts out on our school field. We are still awaiting the results of the whole tournament, but as soon as I know how we did, I will let you know. Mr Langton has a lot of sport collating and chasing to do next week, I fear…

Shining Stars for last week were for pupils who showed the excellent behavioural traits ‘Being Safe, Being Ready and Being Respectful’. The winners were, as ever, marvellous and this week and last week cemented my thoughts that siblings really often DO receive shining stars on the same week, without any intervention from teachers – it just happens and often blows my mind. Staff Shining Stars could have gone to everyone for their wonderful work during our Ofsted visit but last week’s Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Mrs Smith and Mrs Harrison in Year Two for their stirling efforts and wonderful teamwork. This week’s Shining Stars were awarded for excellent progress in spelling and/or phonics and I can entirely see why the winners won! Staff Shining Stars this week were awarded to Mrs Orme and Miss Wotus, both of whom we would not be without. Truthfully though, I am so very grateful to ALL of the staff for their hard work. We are very lucky to have them.

Next week on Thursday, we see our Year 5 boys going to the Royal Cornwall Showground for a ‘Boy’s Active’ day. They are very excited. We also have the Bank Holiday on Monday (everyone has their fingers crossed for good weather) and we start our KS1 SATs. KS2 SATs take place the week after next, starting on the day that we get back after the King’s Coronation. I’ve just listened to the music that is used to crown the British Monarch and it did make me feel cornonationy.

Next Friday we are celebrating the King’s Coronation. To celebrate this, pupils are invited to come to school in non-uniform with a Royal theme. Please don’t feel you have to go to any lengths to organise this; it could be as simple as wearing red, white and blue, although some may like to dress up as royalty. We are not asking for any donations; this is purely a day of celebration. All pupils will spend some time during the day learning about this historic event and Mrs Keat is also inviting every child to take part in her Crown Design Competition, which was discussed in assembly. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you, as ever, for all of your support and hope that you have a restful and fantastic long (and hopefully relatively sunny) weekend.

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

Thursday 30 March

We had a wonderful and very busy week last week. We welcomed families into school on all four days!

We had class assemblies on Monday (3W), Tuesday (3B) and Wednesday (2B) and all three were genuinely amazing! For the most part, technology worked seamlessly; we saw the battle of the Celts and Romans from the Year 3 WOW day (and it was REALLY good to see the battle in action); we saw stop animation videos of the building of Stonehenge (also Year 3) and we saw example of work created and completed on all projects. They were FANTASTIC and I was so very proud of all of the classes.

Wednesday also saw the Year 2 Rainforest Café. Mr O’Dwyer has said the following: Year 2 have fully immersed themselves into their Wider Curriculum Topic of the Rainforests and they were so proud to share this with parents on Wednesday at our Rainforest Café. Thank you to everyone that came along and looked at all the hard work the Year 2 pupils have been doing this term. There were animal fact files; 3 print style paintings; very creative dioramas and Rainforest Riddles! We raised £143 – those Fairtrade Banana biscuits were obviously very well made by our pupils! Your donations were very much appreciated and we are now looking into adopting an Orangutan (please note that the Orangutan will be living in South America and not coming to school!)

Wednesday also saw some intrepid and hardy Year 3 and 4 girls playing football in a festival against other schools on our field. My goodness it was brutal out there with stair-rod rain throughout and there was not a dry anything to be found by the end. However, the girls were all still smiling at the end, which was pretty impressive!

On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, the Year 4 pupils acted their socks off in their play ‘Olivia!’. As I said to parents at the time, we love it when we see a fantastic play and this was VERY much a fantastic play. Brilliantly cast, energetically and masterfully performed and a joy to watch. A huge well done to every single member of year 4, be they staff or pupils – all were magnificent.

Year 4 journeyed to Morwellham Quay on Tuesday too – crikey it was a long day, but a very enjoyable one. They were not blessed with good weather and their outside activities meant that they were a trifle damp, but they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, nonetheless. Lots and lots of pupils were keen to tell me how strict the Victorian School mistress was and how they are glad NOT to be in a Victorian school, which did make me smile.

We were also visited by the Reverend Steven Payne, who came into to talk to our Year 3 and 4s about the Story of Easter, and we saw a very bright gaggle of Nursery Children egg rolling on Wednesday afternoon.

Shining Stars were for progress over the term. The winners were, as ever, very deserving. Staff Shining stars were numerous; we had to give shining stars to Mrs Markee, who has covered Mrs Keat very effectively for almost all of this half term and Mrs Brier, who we were very sad to say goodbye to. She has taken a full-time post in a café within walking distance of her home and we are very much looking forward to visiting. We also awarded Shining Stars to the very brilliant Miss Rash and Miss Taylor in Reception and to Miss Beckett, who is such an asset to the school. We would not be without any of them and we love them all!

We look forward to hearing how the Cross Country Finalists got on last Thursday at the very beginning of next term.

Thank you, as ever, for all of your support and hope that you have a restful and fantastic Easter break. We are very much looking forward to seeing you on Monday 17 April at the normal time. Gates open at 0825 and close again at 0840 for registration.

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

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Friday 24 March

It has been a really busy week getting ready for next week’s three class assemblies and the Year 4 play, with Year 3s also having their WOW day on Monday and a trip to the Royal Cornwall Showground for the Farm to Fork Show on Wednesday. They had an amazing two days with all sorts of fun being had on Monday, exploring their Roman and Celt Wider Curriculum Topic for this term with the day culminating in a battle between the two sides. I am yet to hear who won, to be honest, but I hear that it was brutal*. The Farm to Fork Trip was also a huge success with every pupil coming back with a wide smile on their face and enhanced knowledge and keenness for agriculture.

Shining Stars this week were Teacher’s Choice. We LOVE teacher’s choice as we can choose our Shining Star winners for any reason at all; it could for be showing values; it could be for always demonstrating excellent behaviour; it could be for always trying their hardest or it could be for being a good friend. Literally almost anything. This week’s winners were, as ever, very deserving. Staff Shining stars this week were given to Mrs Johnston and Mrs Young for doing fabulous jobs in Year 6 and Year 3.

Our assembly themes for this week were The Great British Spring Clean and Earth Day and Hour (Earth Hour is tomorrow). Mrs Lee Elkins talked about the wonder that is our World and what we can do to make sure that it survives. We thought about what amazes us about the world and we had some super answers, from how important tiny little bees are to how amazing volcanoes are and how we can never ever count all of the stars in the sky because there are so many (at least 100 billion according to the internet). Earth Hour happens every year and this year is on the 25 March, from 8.30pm to 9.30pm. Earth Hour is when we turn ‘off’ for an hour to try and do something positive for the planet.

In keeping with our theme, it is also the Sustrans walk, scoot or cycle to school week next week. Each class’ School Councillor will keep a tally of how many people walk, cycle or scoot even part of their journey to try and save energy. Last year, Year 2 did brilliantly, but the question is; can they top the league again now that they are in Year 3?

Thank you for all of your support with Parents’ Evenings; they went very smoothly and I saw many happy faces after appointments. Phew.

Next week is a busy one. Please see below for what is happening:

CLUBS ARE ON THIS WEEK MON to WEDS (27 – 29 March 2023)

Monday 27 March 0900 3W Assembly to parents

Monday 27 March 1315 Year 4 Play Dress Rehearsal to the school

Tuesday 28 March 0900 3B Assembly to parents

Tuesday 28 March 0900 Year 4 Trip to Morwellham Quay (3pm return)

Wednesday 29 March 0900 2B Assembly to parents

Wednesday 29 March 0900 2W WOW Session in 2W Classroom

Wednesday 29 March 0930 2B WOW Session in 2B Classroom

Wednesday 29 March 1315 Year 4 Play to parents

Thursday 30 March 0915 Year 4 play to parents

Thursday 30 March 1130 Cross Country Runners leave school to go to Newquay (parents taking)

END OF TERM (early finish for all)

Thursday 30 March 1300 EYFS and KS1

Thursday 30 March 1315 KS2

NB: Bridge Kids open to those who normally go on a Thurs and emergencies

Friday 31 March SCHOOL CLOSED to ALL – INSET DAY

Thank you, as ever, for all of your support and hope that you have a lovely weekend. I cannot believe how quickly this week has gone and how close the end of term is – only four more school days. Crikey.

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

*no pupils were harmed in the battle of the Year 3 Celts and Romans; words used were purely for literary effect.

Friday 17 March

It has been quite a week. Tuesday saw the second round of the multi-school Cross Country races and we entered over 90 pupils this time – an amazing feat! We had some fantastic results with Max again winning the year 4 race by a good margin – a super well done to you, Max as well as a HUGE well done to all who took part. On Friday we took part in this year’s Red Nose Day by either wearing something funny (we saw some fantastic outfits here) or dressing to impress (including some of the best suit wearing I have ever seen). We were also hugely entertained in assembly with some brilliant jokes – they were so good that I cannot even tell you my favourite. We should know the total amount that we have raised by early next week but a big thank you to all who took part – you were all superb.

Shining Stars this week were for pupils who shine in Science. They were given out in class, but given that I know that we have some very talented scientists in school, I can imagine that those winners were very well deserved.

Our assembly theme this week was Science as it is Science Week. Our fantastic Science Lead, Mrs Callister, gave us quite possibly the quickest and most informative set of impressive science experiments that we have ever seen: we saw (amongst others!) milkshake being turned into ice cream; cream being turned into butter; bicarb, vinegar and food colouring turned into volcanoes and oil, food colouring and bicarb turned into our own version of a lava lamp – they were IMPRESSIVE and we were hugely grateful to Mrs C for her efforts and her brilliance.

On Wednesday, we also saw a fabulous group of ten pupils performing in this year’s Song Fest at St Petroc’s Church in Bodmin. My goodness they were brilliant and they represented the school magnificently. We were hugely proud of them and are looking forward to sharing some of the songs to the rest of the school and parents before the end of term.

Year 5 won the TTRS battle this week – whoop!

This coming week we have Parents’ Evenings on Monday (6W, RB and RW), Tuesday (Years N, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) and Wednesday (all apart from 6B). Mrs Keat is hoping to join us via Teams – please come prepared to talk to her via a computer if you are a parent or carer in 4B.

We also have our Year 3 WOW Day (please do note the amount of effort that Mr Langton has put into his costume) on Monday and a Year 3 Trip on Wednesday to the Royal Cornwall Showground for the Farm to Fork programme. Crikey.

From the end of this coming week, we also have our walk, scoot or ride to School Week for Sustrans – please do look out for further information this coming week.

Thank you, as ever, for all of your support and hope that you had a lovely weekend. See you bright and early in the morning!

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

World Book Day 2023

World Book Day 2023 at Wadebridge Primary.

Friday 10 March

We have had a lovely week and I have seen some amazing learning. My goodness you are in for a treat Year 4 parents! Thank you so much too for all of your WPA BALL HAUL donations and for all of the books – they are amazing! Some of the books that we have had donated have blown our minds. They have all been extremely well received though- thank you. Please do keep donating – the more that we have donated, the more books our pupils can read and the more sporty things we can do. We also sang our hearts out at our Trelawny Shout and it was brilliant seeing so much black, gold, white and Cornish Tartan. Special mention must be made to Freya in Year 5 who actually came to school as the Cornish Flag in 3D.

Shining Stars this week were for pupils who shine in our Wider Curriculum subjects. There were some super winners this week and hearing about why some of these pupils won was really lovely. Mind you, I think that most pupils really enjoy those wider curriculum subjects – especially cooking! Lots of us were lucky enough to taste some of the Nursery Pasties on Monday and it turns out that Ms Brown, who is normally in Year 2 but who was in Nursery on Monday, is an expert crimper. It was like we had Malcom Barnecutts in school – they were FAB (though, if you are reading this, Mrs Divall, a bit more pepper next time could win you awards…).

Year 4 and Year 6 won the TTRS battle this week and they were delighted. Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Mrs Giles and Mr Robey for being brilliant members of our team.

Our assembly theme this week was Fairtrade and we talked about why Fairtrade is important and what we can do to help make sure that products that we buy are as Fairtrade as possible. Mr O’Dwyer showed us this wonderful website, where you can see who stocks what Fairtrade products. Here is the link:

https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/buying-fairtrade/

A reminder that our next round of Parents’ Evenings are being held on Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March unless you are in RB, RW and 6W in which case your parents’ evenings are Monday 20 and Wednesday 22 March.

Thank you for all of your support and have a lovely weekend,

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

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Friday 3 March

What a fantastic World Book Day we have had. The costumes that we have seen have been fantastic and there were SO many that were SO good that I could not pick a winner or a favourite at all. I loved the Year 6 trios of Minions and Boys in Dresses (with rather excellent full make up I might add on all counts) and we had a fabulous Professor Trelawney in Year 5, but ALL were fabulous and it was lovely to see so many happy and joyful expressions when we got together for our World Book Day Assembly.

Two other rather exciting things happened today too – we opened our fantastic new book shed, which we have named ‘The Bookey’. The concept is: you go and browse the books in the shed and if you see a book that you would like to read, you take it with you. We would very much welcome donations of books and magazines in good condition please; if you have any, please do bring them to the school office and our newly awarded Bookey Monitors will put them into ‘The Bookey’ for others to enjoy. Next week, we will be launching our Bookey Art Competition – look out for it! We also had a fantastic, brief visit from Veronica Lamond, who wrote the Landy books. She opened our fantastic ‘Bookey’ and came to our assembly to answer questions about being an author. We are so grateful to her for coming in and seeing us and opening our Community Book Shed.

Shining Stars this week were for pupils who have shown huge improvements in their Reading. There were some amazing winners this week and hearing just how much progress some have made was fantastic. Year 2 won the TTRS battle this week and they were delighted (as you can imagine!) Staff Shining Stars were awarded to Mrs Callister, Mrs Jeffery and Mrs Hodkinson for being super amazing, which they very much all are.

A reminder that 6B’s Parents’ Evenings are being held on Tuesday 7 March and Wednesday 8 March as Mrs Smerdon commences her Maternity Leave on Friday 10 March, with the rest of the school’s Parents’ Evenings being held on Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March.

WPA BALL HAUL

Do you have any unwanted balls or play equipment at home? Fancy a bit of a spring clean? Please donate any unwanted balls or play equipment to our school!

Play times are vital to help with pupils’ concentration and attainment in lessons. To further enrich playtimes and to help pupils stay active, we would love for people to donate any unwanted equipment.

Equipment could include:

Footballs Tennis Balls Rugby balls Basketballs Tennis Rackets Hoops Skipping Ropes Beach Ping Pong Sets

If you have anything you would like to donate, big or small, the pupils would really appreciate it!

Please drop any donations to the donation station just outside the school office.

ST PIRAN’S DAY MONDAY 6 MARCH 2023

And last but not least: As it is St Piran’s Day on Sunday, we are celebrating in school on Monday by wearing Black, Gold and White (if you feel able to and have clothes or shoes in black, gold and/or white) and by singing the Song of the Western Men and Harry’s Song for Cornwall in Assembly. We will also be thinking about why we are so very lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world and celebrating our heritage. Cornish Tartan is also VERY welcome. Geddon!

Thank you for all of your support and have a lovely weekend,

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

Friday 10 February

What a busy end of this half term we have had! Thank you so much for all of your support on Tuesday at the Cross Country – we had some fabulous results with our Year 6 girls actually taking 4 out of the top 5 places in their year group. We also had our girls’ football tournament on Wednesday after school, where our two teams did magnificently, as you can see from Mr Langton’s words below:

Our girls' football teams performed brilliantly this week at the Year 5 and 6 festival. The Year 6 girls won all of the matches they played in the Year 6 festival, scoring many goals and not conceding any! The Year 5 team also won all of the matches they played in the Year 5 festival and also stepped up to take on some of the Year 6 teams as one school had pulled out. We are super proud of the girls as they are always supporting one another and being gracious and respectful towards all the other teams. Fantastic skills, great endeavour and super enthusiasm were shown by all. Special thanks to Mr Clarke, Mr Leech and Mrs Harbour for helping.

Today we wore red for Cornwall Air Ambulance and assembly was genuinely a sea of different shades of red Thank you so much for your generosity too; it is very much appreciated.

Year 1 had their Healthy Hearts and Minds day on Monday, which went really well and the choir loved their rehearsal with Angela Renshaw. We have now been asked to make a video of us singing one of the Songfest songs with our actions for all of the other schools taking part in Cornwall so that they can learn our actions. I feel that ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ success is now almost within our grasp….

Shining Stars this week were for perseverance and my goodness our winners certainly do keep on trying and every single one was very deserved. Staff Shining stars this week were awarded to Mrs Yates and Mr Smith, both of whom are integral and vital members of our wonderful team.

We also said goodbye (although only temporarily for one) to two members of staff today: Miss Bishop, who is due to have her baby literally any minute now (to be honest, I was down to praying daily for her to hang on until today…), and Miss Hawe, who is moving on to pastures new as a teacher. We wish them both the very best in the next chapter in their lives and cannot wait to meet Baby Bishop.

The TTRS battle was won this week by Year 5 and Year 6 – but my goodness it was close.

When we get back from the half term break, we have lots to look forward to. We have our scholastic book fair coming up in the second week, from the 27th Feb (letter to follow straight after Half Term); we have World Book Day on Friday 3 March (letter to follow straight after Half Term) and we have our own St Piran’s Day celebrations on Monday 6 March where we will all be wearing Black, White and Gold (no letter, just reminders on the blog). And that is just the first few weeks!

We have our parents’ evenings planned for Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March and Year 4 are performing a play! Exact dates for the play to follow in a letter straight after Half Term.

Phew. As ever, thank you so very much for all of your support. Have a lovely Half Term break, please feel free to support some of our wonderful current and ex-pupils in their performance of Matilda JR. at the secondary school on the 15th to the 18th of February and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 20 February at 08:25.

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

Friday 3 February

We think that Spring is on its way! People are more smiley, brighter and keen to be outside, both for PE and playtimes and for outdoor learning. The Nursery do outdoor learning EVERY Wednesday and this Wednesday they were loving the fact that they were not even freezing! They are making excellent use of the field, including the bike track and it is wonderful to see them zooming around on their bikes. We cannot wait to use the field a bit more now and we are starting with a Key Stage 2 Cross Country event that is being held on the comp Field next Tuesday. Lots and lots of pupils have entered so we look forward to seeing many of you there.

We have lots of other things lined up for next week to: Year 1 are having their Healthy Hearts and Healthy Minds session on Monday (PE Kit please); the Years 5 and 6 Girls’ football teams are hosting a tournament next Wednesday; Angela Renshaw is coming in to work with the Choir on Wednesday afternoon and on Friday we are all hoping to wear red for the Cornwall Air Ambulance. There will be a separate email, but the premise is: you wear something or anything red to school on Friday and, if you can, bring a small donation for the Cornwall Air Ambulance. I reckon that I could clothe myself entirely in red (though I may not have red shoes…) so am looking forward to seeing if anyone else can too.

Shining Stars last week were Teacher Choice and we had some wonderful winners. This week, we awarded Shining Stars for pupils who embody British Values. We had some inspiring winners today, and, I have to say, we are very good at knowing what our British Values are these days – well done to all! Staff Shining stars last week were Mrs Reeve and Mrs Hodkinson and this week were Mrs Jeffery and Mrs Bryant. There was much cheering! We also gave a special Shining Star today to the brilliant Mrs Best. A week ago last Saturday, Mrs Best was in Bodmin and happened to be on hand when someone collapsed and stopped breathing in the street. She not only stopped to help, but she also calmly and determinedly administered CPR to the patient until paramedics arrived whilst also directing others to help. We are SO proud of her.

TTRS was won this week by Year 1 (for their hugely improved statistics on Numbots) and Year 4 – but my goodness it was close (100% versus 99% no less). Last week, year 5 won the additional 5 minutes, so it is not all plain sailing for year 4, but my goodness they are trying hard!

Parking

A quick reminder about parking: please, please do not park in the small Comp Car Park by the tennis courts. You end up using spaces that are needed by comp staff and on several occasional recently, staff have been late for work. Please use our stop and drop, our parking spaces or park outside of both schools’ grounds.

PE Kit: So much better – thank you and keep it up.

As ever, thank you so very much for all of your support – it is very much appreciated. Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock

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Friday 20 January

We have had another busy week, with much better weather and only a few wet play times. Phew!

Shining Stars this week were Teacher Choice. Again, we had some wonderful winners and those smiles said it all. Well done to all who received a certificate today – you are all superstars!

We had some magnificent Times Tables Rock Stars today too – the best thing being that the amount of time and effort going into those tables now by so many pupils. I am absolutely certain that the prize for the most awesome TT Rock Star in each class helps, but the positive impact that it is having makes a HUGE difference to the learning too.

This Friday, we had joint winners for the additional play time. Year 6 won for the most improved effort and time spent on the programme and Year 4 won again for the most amount of time on the programme. Will Year 4 win it again next week…or will another year group topple them? Only time will tell.

This week in our assemblies, we discussed British Values and why they are important. We were not all able to name all 5 of them on Monday, but by the end of Wednesday’s assembly, we were pretty excellent. I was delighted with how many pupils contributed to the assemblies too. We absolutely do know how to be tolerant and respectful and what it means and we had some really lovely examples of how we could see tolerance and respect in our classroom, our school and in our community. Next week we will look at the Rule of Law, Democracy and Individual Liberty.

Last week I mentioned PE Kit and this week I am reminding you that as of Monday, any incorrect PE Kit will be replaced with something borrowed from our supplies for the day. Any incorrect PE kit will be returned to your child at the end of the school day, but please do try and stick to the kit if you can.

WPA PE Kit should be:

Plain white t-shirt/plain white polo shirt or WPA branded burgundy t-shirt.

Black shorts/skort or black/dark tracksuit bottoms

White socks (indoor sports)

School Jumper, plain black or dark sweatshirt or WPA branded sport jumper (absolutely no hooded or casual tops)

Waterproof coat (for colder weather)

A pair of plimsoles or trainers

We wish you a very happy weekend and look forward to seeing you bright and early on Monday morning (ideally avoiding driving over any cones in the drop off lane).

Kindest regards,

Ms Whitlock