A warm welcome back and Happy New Year to you all.

The children have settled into their learning quickly this week and have started their enquiries as follows: Are Humans Animals too? Penhallow Class; 

Merry Christmas Everyone

It has been lovely to see so many families in school this week and last during the Christmas school plays and the various fundraising events which have taken place. We raised over £420 for the School at the Christmas Fair and a very generous £240 for the School Council’s chosen charities (RNLI, Cancer Research, MND Association, RSPCA Cornwall, Cornwall Air Ambulance).

The children have all enjoyed a busy week rounding off their enquiries and enjoying Christmas Art Day on Tuesday, Christmas Lunch and a guitar concert on Wednesday and parties today. Our choir sang beautifully at Atlantis Care Home this afternoon.

The new term starts on Tuesday 3rd January. Half term will be from Monday 13th – Friday 17th February with an INSET Day on Friday 31st March. The last day of the Spring term is Thursday 30th March and the Summer Term starts on Monday 17th April.

A huge thank you to everyone for all your support so far this academic year – the children have worked incredibly hard.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from Mrs Hillman and all of the staff at Polperro.

It’s been a wonderful festive week. Landaviddy’s Christmas performance in the Chapel was fantastic. They sang and danced and obviously enjoyed themselves. Very well done also to Penhallow who have delivered two wonderful performances of their Baarmy Bethlehem play, remembering their lines and the songs brilliantly. We are all looking forward to seeing Talland and Chaipel classes perform on Monday at 2pm and 6pm.

Save the Children Thank you for sending your children in in Christmas Jumpers yesterday. We raised £65 for Save the Children.

Fundraising for School Thanks to our elves for wrapping the gifts in our Christmas Gift Shop on Tuesday. The children had fun choosing your gifts and we raised over £130 for school. Reminder that it is our Christmas Fair next Thursday 15th December at 2pm. We look forward to seeing you all at this child-led event. There is still time to send in raffle prizes and good condition toys and books to sell if you have not already done so.

Concert Wednesday 14th December, 2:40pm This is for parents/carers of pupils who learn guitar in school with Matt Arundell. We look forward to seeing you here from 2:30

National Sleep Helpline Attached to this blog is some information about this wonderful free resource that can help parents and children to learn more about their sleep and develop better bedtime routines. Sleep is essential to brain function and by helping children to sleep better we can help them to succeed in school.

End of Term The last day of this term is next Friday and school ends at 3:15. Each class will have a party to celebrate Christmas. Please send your child in in Christmas MUFTI or party clothes (warm enough to play outside at breaktimes) with some party food to share. If your child has any allergies that we do not already know about, please email us on secretary@polperroprimary.co.uk by Wednesday 14th December.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hillman

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

As the end of term races towards us, the children have been busy rehearsing their Christmas performances. On Monday and Tuesday Chaipel Class and Penhallow Class worked wonderfully together this week to make plenty of lanterns for the Christmas Lantern Parade tomorrow in Polperro. Then the other classes all helped decorate the lanterns which look amazing. Children should be at Coffee Cake Create for 4pm tomorrow (Saturday) to collect a lantern to carry on the parade to Big Green. We look forward to seeing you there!

Thank you for sending your children in in Christmas MUFTI today. We now have a lovely assortment of gifts for the elves to wrap for your children to buy at the Christmas shop on Tuesday (£1 per gift).

Christmas Jumper Day We are having our Christmas Jumper day on Thursday 8th December this year. As a school, we would like to take part in this charity event which raises money for Save the Children and we are therefore asking the children to bring in a donation (any amount you can spare) if they would like to wear a Christmas jumper to school. We will also provide opportunities for children to add some sparkle to a plain jumper if they do not already have a Christmas top to wear.

Time2Move Holiday Programme – Christmas 2022 The programme offers fun physical activities, games and wider activities plus a funded meal for every child. Activities this Christmas will be taking place across Cornwall throughout the first week of the Christmas Holidays, please see attached.

Cornwall Cricket are again running Christmas Cricket Camps! Please see attached flyer for information to book.

Caterlink Christmas menu Please see attached this year’s Christmas Lunch menu for Wednesday 14th December. This can be booked for your child via ParentPay by Friday 9th December.

Citizens Advice Newsletter Please see the attached the winter edition of Citizens, the newsletter from Citizens Advice Cornwall. This month's edition includes lots of practical information on saving energy and where to turn to for help at this difficult time.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Hillman

What a fantastic week!

Our amazing choir came a creditable third place in the Trust Arts Event on Thursday at Carnglaze Caverns. They sang a medley from the Greatest Showman brilliantly and it was a pleasure to be there and watch them perform so well. We could only take 18 pupils to the event but now, because the choir has been so popular, we will be opening it to all pupils very soon. Thank you to Mrs Butlin for all of your help.

We had great success in Cross Country too. Well done to our intrepid  team who did the school proud, running a difficult course at Lanhydrock last Friday. All of the children did their absolute best with some of the children joining the cross country season at the hardest course, but all came back smiling and keen to run again next time! Jazz ran an amazing race, she was the first girl back in the 5-6 race, beating the next girl by a couple of minutes and giving the adult pace maker a hard run, especially coming up the hill towards the end. Well done to them all! Thank you to Mrs Dewe for the photos and this race report.

Christmas Gift Room fundraiser – Christmas MUFTI next Friday, 2nd December We are holding a Christmas-themed Mufti day on Friday 2nd December. In exchange for wearing Christmas MUFTI, we are asking that your child brings in any new or unused items such as chocolates, toiletries, socks, notebooks or items you’d be happy to receive as a gift. (No alcohol or DVD’s please). The following Tuesday (December 6th) during school time, Santa’s workshop will be open for children to choose a special gift or two. Each gift will cost £1 (max 2 gifts per child). The elves will then help to wrap the gifts, which will be brought home at the end of the day to go under your tree.

Lantern Parade – 4pm Saturday 3rd December The Lantern Parade in Polperro to which all of our pupils are invited is on Saturday 3rd December . Children should be at Coffee Cake Create for 4pm to collect a lantern to carry on the parade to Big Green. There is also a Christmas fancy dress competition where the theme is to wear anything Christmassy. The winner will receive a golden ticket inviting them to switch on the tree in the village this year. Please note that although staff from school will present at the procession, children will remain the responsibility of their parents at all times and parents should walk with their children. We look forward to seeing you there.

Road Safety at Drop off and Pick Up Times As you will be aware the road to school and outside school is very busy at drop off and pick up times. Please ensure that you drive very slowly at this time as children may be crossing the road or walking to and from school.

Clubs Next week clubs will run as usual. For the final 2 weeks of term there will be no clubs except for football on the 5th of December. Afterschool wraparound club and Breakfast Club will continue as usual. Clubs will restart in January and we will send a letter out about which ones will be running.

Christmas service for the Church of England Rev Richard Allen is recording a Christmas service for the Church of England which will be aired on their website on New Year’s Day. It reaches a wide audience across the world and the school has been asked to sing a couple of songs for the service. We will be recording the songs on the afternoon of Monday, 5th December. If you do not consent to your child being recorded, please inform us by email secretary@polperroprimary.co.uk by Friday 2nd December.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Hillman

Thank you for sending your children in for a cosy day on Friday in PJs or spots. We raised £133 for Children in Need and held a lovely Children in Need and Celebration assembly together to round off anti-bullying week.

Book Fair Well done to our Book Fair book cover design competition winners Ivy, Jack, Henry and Lucy and thank you for supporting our book fair. We are looking forward to having extra money to spend on books as a result.

Poppy Appeal Thank you so much for your generous donations. We raised £123.20 for the British Legion this year.

Christmas Cards Last week your child should have come home with a card that features their very own Christmas design with details on it of how to order. This year we are using a different company who not only turn the picture into Christmas cards, but also offer different items including mugs, printed tea towels and Eco Bags as well as Christmas cards. Please note that your last chance to order something will be Tuesday 22nd November AT MIDNIGHT.

Fundraising for Charities and School We recognise that with the cost of living crisis it is currently a challenging time for many families and we are aware that we are asking for several different donations this half term. Please only donate where you are able. For any of our fundraising events, whether for school or for charity, donations are not expected as a matter of course.

Christmas events We are entering a very busy time of year and here are the dates of upcoming events for your diary. Further details will follow. Dates are also on our online events diary on this website.

• Polperro Lights Switch On – Saturday 3rd December The children will be making plenty of willow lanterns in school, kindly funded by the Polperro Christmas Lights Committee, for the Lantern Parade from the Village Hall.

• Christmas Performances
Penhallow Class Nativity Play - Thursday 8 th December at 2.00 pm and Friday 9th December at 2.00pm, at school.
Landaviddy Class Christmas Carol Concert - Thursday 8 th December at 10:30 am in the Chapel,
Talland and Chaipel Class Christmas Play (joint performance) - Monday 12th December at 2.00 pm and 6.00 pm at school.

• Christmas Jumper Day Thursday 8th December is National Christmas Jumper Day in aid of the charity ‘Save The Children’ and we ask for a £1.00 donation for a non-uniform day. We will provide opportunities for children to add some sparkle to a plain jumper if they do not already have a Christmas top to wear.

• Christmas Lunch Wednesday 14th December

• Guitar Concert Wednesday 14th December, 2:40pm

• Christmas Fair Thursday 15th December We look forward to seeing you all at this children-led event on Thursday 15th December starting at 2.00 pm. We would be grateful for raffle prizes and good condition toys and books to sell. There will also be a good condition, used school uniform stall.

• Christmas Gift Room On December 6th during school time, Santa’s workshop will be open for children to choose a special gift or two. Each gift will cost £1 (max 2 gifts per child). The elves will then help to wrap the gifts, which will be brought home at the end of the day to go under your tree. To make the magic happen, we kindly ask for donations by holding a Christmas-themed Mufti day on Friday 2nd December. In exchange for wearing Christmas MUFTI, we ask that your child brings in any new or unused items. These can include chocolates, toiletries, socks, notebooks or items you’d be happy to receive. (No alcohol or DVD’s please). 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend

Mrs Hillman

It has been another busy week. We started the week with a Remembrance Assembly by Reverend Allen, known to the children as Richard. He talked to the children about the poppies they have been wearing and their significance. This morning we held a 2 minutes silence which the children observed beautifully.

Bikeability Well done to our year 6 pupils who have successfully gained their level 2 Bikeability award.

Staffing Miss Gibbings will be on maternity leave from Monday and I’m sure you will join us all in wishing her well. We will miss her while she is away but will enjoy seeing Mrs Charlesworth more often in the meantime.

Book Fair We will be holding a Scholastic book fair next week after school from 3:15pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  The fair will held be in Chaipel Classroom and after school clubs will run as usual. A percentage of the profits will go to school funds and enable us to buy more books for school. If you would like to buy any books from the fair, you will be able to pay in cash or online if you have your phone with you. You can pay for books online while you are at the Fair by scanning a QR code on your phone to easily access the Scholastic parent pay website.

The children have been offered the opportunity to recreate the cover of their favourite book to win a £5 book fair voucher. If they are doing this at home, please ensure they bring their entry in on Monday for judging.

Anti-Bullying Week  Anti-Bullying Week 2022 will be taking place from Monday 14th-Friday 18th November and has the theme Reach Out. The week will kick off with Odd Socks Day on Monday 14th November, where adults and children wear odd socks to celebrate what makes us all unique. We will be joining in with Odd Socks Day. All the children need to do is wear odd socks on Monday please.

Children in Need  We have asked the children what they would like to wear for our Children in Need MUFTI fundraiser day next Friday 18th November and they have chosen to wear either spotty clothes their PJs all day. Please send your child in in pyjamas or onesies on the day or spotty clothes. A donation of £1 or more to Children in Need will be collected in class, however this is not expected. We also have a supply of “Pudsey Ears” for the School Council to sell, starting next week. These cost £2.50.

Finally, please ensure your child has a coat in school every day. We try to take the children outside for playtimes as much as possible and the rainy and unpredictable weather has caught a few of the children by surprise this week.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hillman

The children have been amazing this half term and have achieved much to be proud of.

Black History Month. We held a very special Black History Month assembly on Wednesday where the children shared everything they had learned about their class' chosen person. Penhallow shared what they had learned about Muhammad Ali and sang a song about him; Landaviddy talked all about Ella Fitzgerald and sang one of her favourite songs; Talland acted out and told the Rosa Parks story and Chaipel followed this with a moving presentation about Martin Luther King.  We have books in the library from the 'Little People, Big Dreams' series which the children are encouraged to borrow to find out more about their heroes.

Making learning visible. At our last assembly of the half term , we celebrated our Visible Learners who consistently strive to produce their best and always keep trying until they are proud of their work. Attached to this blog  is a leaflet about Visible Learning which we hope you will take time to read. It contains useful information regarding how to talk to your child about their learning.

Golden Ticket Lunch. Our first Golden Ticket Lunch was held on Monday when one child per class was chosen by the School Council because of their outstanding playtime and lunchtime behaviour. Harley, Summer, Martha and Elijah were each given a golden ticket which entitled them to sit at the special table along with a member of staff. This week it was my turn and it was a delight to sit with the children and talk to them. They were all so well mannered, articulate and interesting to talk to.

Cross Country. Very well done to our cross-country team who took part in the first race of the year last Friday and did extremely well. Thank you to Mrs Dewe who helped organise the team.  She said that every child gave it a go and completed a tough course, some for the very first time. They all showed amazing resilience by completing their race and returning with a smile on their face! Jazz ran an absolutely amazing race, coming in 1st in her age category. Well done to them all!

I hope you have a great half term and look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Monday 31st October.

Mrs Hillman

World Mental Health Day
In a special assembly on Monday, World Mental Health Day, we talked about the importance of looking after our Mental Health and Wellbeing. The children were very articulate about ways in which they could do this and who they could speak to at home and in school should they have any worries. Please see below for the calming activities that we shared with the children.  

Clubs
The children told us that going to clubs was a good way to make yourself feel good.  We have taken on board suggestions from our School Council and made some changes to the clubs on offer after half term.

Monday
• Back by popular demand, Lunchtime LEGO CONSTRUCTION CLUB for Reception, Y1, Y2 and Y3 with Mrs Fernie
• After school FOOTBALL CLUB for Y4, Y5 and Y6 with Arena Coach Mr Robinson

Tuesday
• After school ALTERNATIVE SPORTS CLUB for Y5 and Y6, Mrs Taylor/Mrs Hillman

Wednesday
• Lunchtime SINGING CLUB for Reception, Y1, Y2 and Y3 with Miss Gibbings
• After school KNITTING CLUB – by invitation only. Start date tbc.

Thursday
• After school RUNNING CLUB for Y3, Y4, Y5 and Y6 with Miss Randle
• BRAND NEW after school WHEELIES CLUB for R, Y1, Y2 and Y3 with Mrs Counsell. This club is for children who would like to ride their scooter or bike on the playground. Sessions will be limited to 2 per child and you will be contacted with the date of your child’s sessions after half term.

Please email the office or return the sign up slip to confirm your child's club choices.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Hillman

Dear Parents and Carers

This half term is whizzing by and the children are well and truly settled into their learning.  It was a real treat this week to look at their writing, whether it was newspaper reports about Pompeii in Chaipel Class; character descriptions based on the Owl Who was afraid of the Dark in Landaviddy; Penhallow Class's fabulous diary entries based on Peace at Last or Talland Class's diary entries about Henry the Dog.  

Black History Month In a special assembly this week we talked about diversity and introduced Black History month. The main aims of Black History Month are to celebrate the achievements and contributions of black people not just in the UK, but throughout the world and also to educate all on black history. Each class is learning about a significant black person’s contribution and achievements and their influence on our world. The children will be sharing what they have learned with the rest of the school at another assembly at the end of this half term.

School Council Our School Council met today for the first time this year. They had some super ideas which about how to make playtimes and lunchtimes even more fun and had some amazing suggestions for clubs. They also shared their kind ideas about how to raise money for school and for charity. They are excited to organise events and competitions and as far as possible, we will incorporate their ideas into our plans for the year. 

Bags2School Nursery is organising a Bags2School collection next week. If you fancy having a clear out then bag up your unwanted clothes, shoes, bags, belts or duvet covers (not the inside bits) and please pop them down to nursery before 9am next Friday (14th).

All Aboard Train Play Mrs Kim Batchelor, a teacher who you may remember from her maternity cover in Penhallow Class, will be running train themed play sessions for preschool and primary school aged children on 15th October. Please see attached poster for details.

Cross Country The first cross country race for y3-y6 takes place next Friday at Bylanend, Horningtops. Please look out for a letter which your child may bring home if they are interested in competing.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Hillman