Head's Blog

Children in Need and Anti-Bullying week

This week, we have been taking part in Anti-bullying week to help raise awareness of what it means to be bullied and how it might affect people. We have adopted this year’s theme from the Anti-bullying campaign "REACH OUT". A theme to empower us to do something positive to counter the harm and hurt that bullying causes. We discussed how to reach out to someone you trust if you need to talk. Reach out if you know someone is being bullied. Reach out and consider a new approach. We agreed that we all have a responsibility to help each other reach out. Together we can be the change we want to see. One of the children suggested creating an Anti-Bullying Island, where bullying is forbidden, so we thought about using this idea to create our very own. The school council (Tregeagle class) will develop this idea further and present it to the rest of the school in the new year.

This morning, all the children turned up wearing something yellow or spotty or both for Children in Need. We spent time talking about all the worthy causes the charity supports in our assembly and the children spent time during the day completing activities with a Pudsey theme.

Thank you for all your kind donations.

Mrs Wills

Autumn 2

As always, the second part of half term is full of extracurricular activities and events and this year is no exception. Our older children are currently busy learning songs for the Bridge Schools Song Festival at Carnglaze Caverns on Thursday 24th November. We are sending out details of the event, including attendance for parents/carers and practical information. If your child is attending this event, you will receive this via email on Friday.

Further dates for your diary:

Tuesday 13th December: Christmas lunch and Nativity/Christmas plays by both classes in the afternoon. Venue to be confirmed.

Wednesday 14th December: Christmas concert on the Wharf. Time to be confirmed

Friday 16th December: Last day of term

We were treated to a very special assembly on Thursday where Liam shared a PowerPoint presentation, he had made during half term break. Using his microscope Liam had taken close up images of everyday items and we all had great fun trying to guess them. Some of the more surprising and fairly unrecognisable items were a Lego brick and Liam’s hand. Liam was a fantastic presenter and managed to enthuse and engage the whole school - Thank you very much!

Thursday afternoon, our local author Cate Merrin is joining us to read her latest book, set in a small village by the sea with a tiny school perched at the top – sounds familiar! Cate will be here in the afternoon, and she is available to sign books at the end of the school day so please come to the top gate.

On Friday, we welcome Reverend Allen for Remembrance Assembly at 2:30pm, a fitting end to another busy week.

Harvest

We have successfully reached the end of our very busy first half term. The children have settled well in their new classes and made positive strides in learning. Many fantastic learning journeys have already been completed across the school with Canute class blasting into space with Neil Armstrong and crossing the Atlantic with Sir Francis Drake. This week, the children used empathy to imagine themselves as Neil Armstrong on the moon to write a message home to a loved one.

In Tregeagle class, the children have explored the origins of Vikings and tried to find out if they were heroes or villains. So far, it seems a fifty - fifty contest but the dial may still change. The children have been writing poems this week. They have used their senses to explore Viking concepts and presenting these as similes and metaphors. I have shared some of their impressive metaphors and similes here:
Their shields hum strong and vibrant – a colourful, creative artwork;
Long houses are like a friend’s warm embrace; secure, sheltered;
Loki must be like a wave of mischief.

It was lovely to see so many of you for our Harvest Festival celebrations in St. Savoir’s on Wednesday afternoon. We are incredibly proud of the children’s performances and hope you enjoyed seeing your child/children perform. Thank you to all of your contributions to the food bank collection.

I hope you manage to have a restful break.
Mrs Wills

The building is bursting with learning and it is a real pleasure to see how the children are embracing this with enthusiasm and positive attitudes. As you can see from some of the photos attached, the learning is varied, broad and all encompassing.

We are fortunate enough to have the excellent Mrs Butlin back with us for this term and the children are absolutely delighted with learning how to read musical notation to play the keyboards. It does take a major re-arrangement to fit all keyboards and children in, and the noise cannot always be classed as musical, however all children are learning new skills, applying prior knowledge and they are thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to play an instrument.

We have a few arrangements coming up in the next couple of weeks, so please keep checking the school calendar on our website or by clicking the link Polruan Primary Academy - Events-Diary

Unseasonably early, sorry! - Your child/ren will be bringing home their designs for Christmas cards today. If you decide to place an order, please send your orders back to school by Wednesday 12th October latest. School will make money from any orders placed. Money raised will be used to buy Christmas resources to benefit all children across the school – Thank you!

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Wills

Here we go...

We have been super busy settling in to learning in our new and familiar classes, but we have found time to take part in community events too.
On Friday, we joined Tom's Boatyard on the Coal Wharf to celebrate their 100 Year Jubilee. It was a lovely afternoon with activities, interactions and cakes.

We also found time to spend an afternoon with Des Britton, from Lankelly Fowey Rugby Club. Des brought lots of equipment and we joined him in the sunshine on the field to try out rugby. Some activities were definitely more popular than others and the clear favorite was tackling the foam rectangle to the ground. I'm glad no stand-in volunteers were needed for this!

In school, our clubs have started up again. On Thursday afternoon Mr Twaite runs Sports Club and on Wednesday lunch time, Ms Foster runs Board Game Club. If you have any intact and good condition board games you no longer use at home, we would be very grateful for donations.

End of our first week back

A whirlwind of activity, enthusiasm, smiles and positivity is probably the best way to describe our start to the new school year. We have enjoyed welcoming the children back and have welcomed some new addition to our lovely school community too. We have been particularly proud of our youngest pupils and nursery children, who have been so excited to start school/nursery, and they have already made their mark on school life.
Today we held our Attendance Assembly, and we are pleased to announce that Andriy is the winner. It could have been any number of children as many had managed to achieve very high attendance in summer term.
Please look out for messages from your child's teacher about any special events coming up over the coming week. All children will have PE on Tuesday, so please make sure your child has a kit in school. After school Sports Club is starting on Thursday 15th with Mr Twaite from 3:15-4pm. Look out for the email with sign up details from Mrs Sandy on Monday.
Mrs W

New Governor needed!

Wanted: Parent Governors for Pelynt and Polruan Primary Academies

We want a Parent Governor to join the Local Governing Body. Any parent who has a child at the school is eligible to apply. We have a joint Local Governing Body across both schools which has been in place since they were federated (before they became Academies in 2016).

Who are you looking for?

We are looking for parents who want to contribute to achieving the best possible outcomes for all our pupils. Being a governor is an exciting and fulfilling role and a wonderful way to contribute to the future of all the children in our care at the school.

You will join a team of local governors with a collective responsibility to support the school. You do not need any particular experience but very useful skills include being able to ask questions and when necessary challenge the school to make the most of opportunities and address any issues.

What is involved in being a governor?

It is important that you are able and willing to commit time to attend meetings (usually 3 a year), make regular visits to the school and complete induction and other training to help you become a more effective governor.

At meetings you will hear reports and updates on progress and plans for the future – and reading these in advance will help you prepare questions to ask. Visiting the school allows you to monitor how plans are progressing and hear directly from staff and pupils. Engaging with all our stakeholders – other parents and carers, staff and the wider community – is a key responsibility of governance.

How do I put myself forward to be a parent governor?

If you are interested in being a parent governor please contact our Head of School.

Summer Reading Challenge

The Reading Agency has today announced that the theme for this year's annual Summer Reading Challenge is 'Gadgeteers'. The Reading Agency is partnering with Science Museum Group to inspire children across the country to feed their imagination over the summer holiday, with a reading challenge focused on science and innovation.

Children will be able to join six fictional characters, the ‘Gadgeteers’. The characters use their curiosity and wonder to understand the science behind a whole range of interests from fashion and technology to cooking and music
How the Summer Reading Challenge works:
Children can complete the Challenge by reading whatever they like in their chosen format: • fiction • fact books • poetry • joke books • picture books • graphic novels • audio books • eBooks

Children sign up at their local library or online and read 6 library books of their choice to complete the challenge.

There are rewards to collect along the way and there's a certificate for everyone who completes the Challenge.

Click the link to find out more: Summer Reading Challenge

It would be lovely to have as many children as possible from Polruan joining this year's challenge.
Mrs Wills

National Marine Aquarium

We have reached the end of another busy week. We had a fantastic trip to the Aquarium on Wednesday, providing lots of super encounters with marine animals and enough to talk about for the remainder of the term. Please check your child’s class page for photos uploaded by teachers.

Next week, we have our transition day on Monday 4th July, where the children spend the day in class with their new classmates and for some, their new teacher. We are aware transition can be a worrying time and we know spending the day together on Monday will mitigate some of those worries. Please let your child’s teacher know, if you would like more information about next year.

The Year 6 children are trying out their new schools with visits to Fowey River Academy and Looe Community Academy on Monday and Tuesday respectively. We have also a trip to Camel creek Adventure Park planned for Thursday for the Year 6 children.

Teachers have finished writing their annual reports and these will be emailed out to parents/carers early next week, so please make sure you check your emails.

Finally, the parent survey is still live until 8th July, takes only a few minutes to fill in and can be accessed via this link: Bridge Schools Trust Summer 2022 Parent and Carer Survey

Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Wills

Sports Day
We have made to the end of this busy week, only to be looking ahead to another! It was great to see so many of you at our Sports Day on Wednesday. Despite the warm sunshine, the children were up for the challenge of competing and we are very proud of the way they performed. Thank you for the lovely feedback about the day, it sounds like we will be having a shared picnic lunch again next year!

Bridge Schools Games
On Tuesday afternoon, the children competed in the inaugural Bridge Games and as always, their enthusiasm for anything sporty, was evident throughout. We will find out the results next week, but in the meantime, I have attached some photos of their efforts.

Barnados came in to work with our Year 2 and Year 6 children on Friday. The children were a real credit to our school; they contributed to the discussions and engaged with the learning and Morwenna, the Barnados trainer, commented on their positive energy and open-mindedness which made the workshops successful.

Parent Questionnaire
The annual parent questionnaire is now open and will close in a fortnight at 4pm on Friday 8th July and we would love to have your views as we value your input. Please click on this link to complete it: Bridge Schools Trust Summer 2022 Parent and Carer Survey

Next Week
Monday, Reverend Allen is joining us for assembly.
Wednesday, whole school trip to Plymouth Marine Aquarium. Please make sure you have completed and returned the consent form to your child’s teacher. All children to have a packed lunch, drink and a snack.

Mrs Wills