We are very lucky!

We never forget that we are very lucky to live in such a beautiful natural environment and as well as the stunning view of the valley that we get from school, and we work hard to ensure that the children appreciate it an understand how to be safe and protective of where they live.

After what started out as a day forecast to be drizzle and grey, we were blessed when the sun shone for a visit to the beach for a day.  The whole school spent the day on Seaton beach with the Arena sports coaches and the staff from Trenode.  The activities included a variety of beach sports, parachute games, art in the sand and camp fire building to learn how to treat a campfire with respect and in a safe way.

The smiles on the faces of the children said it all - to be free of the classroom for a change of environment and then to be able to learn some new skills was just lovely.  Of course, there was time juts to simply be together.

Marshmallows and ice cream completed the day and we had children and staff who slept very well on Friday night!  As for Mrs David's feet - a perfect sun tan 'V' from her flip flops - she wasn't expecting that one at the beginning of the day in the rain!

All of our school values were in action and a prayer or two to be thankful for the blessings of an amazing environment in which to live.  We certainly saw children being able to flourish in hope and aspiration.

Brave enough to try?

We have been working so hard, we decided it was time to have some fun and look at some of our school values in a different way.  Friendship was definitely needed as well as perseverance and resilience in bucket fulls.  What did we do?  We invited the circus to come to school for a Circus Day!

Both classes had a 45 minute 'masterclass'and then had the opportunity to give all of the circus activities a try.

Kilminorth started their day by learning how to use flower sticks for tricks; they rolled them up and down their arms, learned how to toss them to a partner and to do kick-ups with them.  They were very brave and courageous when they learned to spin plates and to try some tight-rope walking.  They also got the chance to try some foot bikes and as you can see they look like they got the hang of it all!

Cardinham had the hard task of giving 'poi' a try.  This bean bag balls with long pieces of stretchy material attached which the children spun around to carry our tricks called the butterfly and the helicopter.  They also tried to hula hoop.  This was great fun and at the end of the day even Mrs David said that she was off to buy her own hula hoop.  We can't wait to see how she gets on!

In their second session, the children had a more free session with a chance to try using stilts, unicycles, a tight-rope (balance beam), ribbons, flower sticks, low balls, pedal-goes and pogo sticks.

At the end of the day the two classes came together to show what they learned.  It was brilliant - so much so that we think it might become an annual event!  The best bit - the children (and staff) didn't even realise that they were learning!

If you have not had the pleasure of visiting Trenode Primary Academy before, you will not know that the school is set in beautiful countryside on the edge of the valley with stunning views.  It has therefore been lovely to welcome back some of our external providers over the last few weeks to help us to us and celebrate and use the amazing space that we have.

Yesterday, we had an Alternative Sports Day to give the children the opportunity to try out some new sports and activities that they might not get to try otherwise.  Throughout the session they played lacrosse, archery, seated volleyball and crazy catch.  Once they had exhausted themselves playing all these games, they finished the session off with a whole school game of capture the flag; a game they all love to play.

As you can see, the sun was shining and the conditions were perfect.  It was the ideal opportunity to think about our values of friendship and teamwork.  The children had a lovely time and while we will be able to have a sports day with a difference this year, it was also great to be able to do the same with activities that we might not otherwise try.

Smiles all round!

I often think that I would love to be a pupil at school again, even though I have the pleasure of being in a school every day of my working week.  Watching the reception class children blow bubbles as part of their science was exactly one of those occasions.  The children were trying to make their bubble chains as long as possible and it caused much hilarity in among the learning.  We are working hard at school to help the children to use language and words as a way of helping their writing to improve in all areas of the curriculum, so from this work with Mrs Cunliffe the children then found ways to communicate what they have learned.  As well as blowing the bubbles, the children also learned how to make them and made guesses about what they thought would happen once they had made them.  I am sure like me, you would have liked to be there to join in the fun!

Remembering Prince Philip

It was lovely to welcome the pupils and staff back to school toady after what has been a much needed break, with some great weather to help. 

Although we were all happy to see each other, we also felt that it was appropriate to spend some time together to reflect on the life of Prince Philip.  We gave thanks for all that he achieved and especially for the work that he championed for young children and adults.  We also took time to look at the Royal Family and carried out some research using our amazing new iPads to research the family tree of the Royal Family and especially Her majesty the Queen and Prince Philip.  It is very interesting research and there were lots of questions.

Times like these, while sad and revolving around grief, are also perfect for reflecting on the British Values that we hold dear and for thinking about the values that guide the work that we carry out at school.  As a Church of England School, we also gave thanks for the service of Her Majesty The Queen and Prince Philip.  All that we value can be seen in the work that they both carried out in service for so many years.  We hope that in years to come, some of the children at Trenode will be able to benefit from the legacies that Prince Philip leaves behind, not least the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and the Prince's Trust.

We finished our reflection with a prayer dedicated to Prince Philip, provided by the Diocese of Truro for the children:

A prayer for the death of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh

God of our lives,
we give thanks for the life of Prince Philip,
for his love of our country,
and for his devotion to duty.
We entrust him now to your love and mercy,
through our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Amen

A number of times each week, I receive a communication from Katie Fitzsimmons who is the Director of Education for the Diocese of Truro.  The Diocese are highly involved and instrumental in the work that we do at school and I take great comfort from the words that Katie often shares in amongst the messages that we need to hear as leaders.

Today she reminded us that 365 days ago she wrote to us to say, 'know that you are not alone and you are loved'.  Those words helped me then and they helped me even more today as we stopped with the children to pause and think about all that has happened in the last year.  Katie went on to remind us that although we are changed and challenged by all that we have faced, we are not alone and we are certainly loved.

As a school and as a community of parents facing the challenge of remote, home learning and two closures of the school that we never thought we would see in our lifetimes, we mustn't collectively forget all that we have achieved despite the loss and changes of lifestyle that we have faced in the last year.  The children have been amazing!  It hasn't all been plain sailing coming back to school, even for those who were able to attend Looe Primary, but I am so proud how the fun, laughter, learning and prayer have once gain filled the school and made it whole again.

I do not often reflect in such a deep manner in my blogs, but with the support of Katie's words and the minute of silence that we shared at midday today, I do feel that it is right to appreciate all that we have come to be and that we have achieved despite the pandemic.  We are moving towards Easter, with Passiontide and Holy Week and this is such a special time in school.  I was sent to buy hot cross buns today, children have been making chocolate bars as part of their 'big question', 'do chocolate bars grow on trees?', and we are beginning to reflect on the true meaning of this special time of the Christian calendar.

As well as the national prayer for today that I share with you in the image above, I will also share Katie's special prayer too.   

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end: They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

We so pleased with the way that the children have settled back into school and their learning.  It is a shame that we are still not back to normal, but we are so used to working in our bubbles, it feels a little like we have always been doing it and we still get to see each other every day.

We are looking forward to celebrating all that is good about Comic Relief and it gives us a perfect opportunity to have some fun on a Friday!

As well as dressing up as a superhero, or non-uniform, we might also attempt to climb either Ben Nevis or Mount Everest!  I hope that you will get to see some of them here.

My favourite part?  I get to hear lots of jokes and I might even be able to tell a few of my own.  We are all looking forward to the competition winners.

We have also been spending time this week and next learning about the National Census which takes place on Sunday 21st March.  Parents and carers will have received an email with a letter and activities attached if you would like to have some fun at home. 

I will leave you with a joke provided by Mr Arnold who was the best (or the worst) at telling jokes. When he left Looe Primary, Mr Arnold gave us with a joke book of his own.  This is my favourite:  What's the best cheese to use to hide a horse? ... Mascarpone!

We are lucky in so many ways

Although a very small number of children had been into school last week with Miss Pittas and Mrs Cunliffe, it was a very special day to be able to open the school properly again yesterday to all children.  Last week I sat in Mrs David's class for a short time reflecting on all that had happened since we were told that schools would be closed again.  I was so excited to know that the classroom would soon be back to life, but in that moment it was also sad to know that we had all missed out on so much.  Getting my positivity back, I then reflected that the children will have had many wonderful experiences at the same time, from helping with lambing at home to horse riding, to simply being given permission to spend more time at home.  When they walked through the door yesterday, it was like they had never been away.  There was cooked breakfast for Cardinham class and Kilminorth class started their new 'big question' to find out if chocolate bars grow on tress.  Of course that meant chocolate galore and a good helping of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - a childhood favourite of my own.  Thank you so much to parents for helping your children to return to school with enthusiasm and excitement; it meant a great deal that they were keen to return and to see each other in 'real life'.

While the school was closed we were very lucky to receive two fantastic gifts from generous donations.  Mr Armand Toms, who is a governor as well as a very special person in our community, used his time to make a special bench for the school.  It now proudly sits in the main playground and the children have been making good use of it already.  With it's motto of 'one friend can change your whole life' we know that it is going to help to continue the tradition of friendship and support that we value so much at school.

The other photos that you can see are 12 brand new iPads in very strong cases to share throughout the school.  We were contacted by Morval Parish Council and a former pupil of the school, James Southwell, to say that they would like to help the school to make better technology available to help the children with their learning at this difficult time.  The Parish Council provided 10 new devices and Mr Southwell and his family a further 2 more.  Mr Southwell's mother, Nicola also used to work at the school and served for a long time as a governor.  Although James now lives in Essex, he knew that he wanted to help Trenode as soon as he heard that schools were struggling for equipment during the lockdown and school closures. We didn't quite know what to say - thank you did not seem quite enough.  Now that the children are back in school they are available for the use of all.  Our current stock of tablets are really on their last legs, so these have couldn't have come at a better time and we will make very good use of them as we now work hard to  make sure that all of the children are at least where they should be with their learning by the end of the summer term. We are blessed and thankful.

World Book day is always one of the biggest and one of our most favourite days of the school calendar; who doesn't like dressing up to read?  We will celebrate it differently on the day this year, but it will be such a shame that we cannot all be together to enjoy the wonderful world of books.  It is so frustrating too that 4th March is so close to all children returning to the classroom.  We will not let that stop us though!

We have invested in new reading books at Trenode Primary while most of the children have been away and as well as the amazing reading that children have been doing at home, we are very much looking forward to a key focus on reading as the children return to school.  It is such an important skill and it opens an amazing word for readers to explore, that it cannot be ignored.   As the world and our capacity to explore it in real life has reduced over the last year, the world that we can see through books has been more important than ever, including fiction and non-fiction, fact and imaginative writing.  We know that some children will return to school as much better readers than when they left for remote learning at home, but this will not be the case for all children for so many reasons. 

Today, I had the pleasurable task of reading a story to the 5 children in Miss Pittas' classroom.  We read about 'Norbert' the penguin.  The book took us not only to Antarctica (and they knew where it was), but it also took us to New York!  Who knew a penguin could be an amazing actor but never forget his family at the other end of the world at the same time?  Without that book, we would never have discussed why we don't fall off the bottom when we are at the bottom of the Earth! This is why we will not forget World Book Day this year, despite the fact that we cannot all be together.  We are looking forward to sharing all that we do in our pyjamas for those at school either at Trenode, or at Looe Primary and we hope that you will share all that you get up to at home too.  

Look out for all of the wonderful online opportunities that will be available nationally throughout the day and don't forget to download your World Book day vouchers.  Happy reading everyone!