Thank you for sending your children in on World Mental Health Day on Thursday wearing yellow. In assembly, we discussed the importance of looking after our mental health and that asking for help from an adult that they trust is always ok if they are feeling overwhelmed or sad. We raised £80 for Young Minds, a mental health charity for children, young people and their parents.

S.P.A.C.E (Supporting Parents and Children Emotionally) Due to the popularity of the S.P.A.C.E course run by the NHS mental health in schools team, there are now three available sessions that parents can sign up to. Please see links below to sign up: Monday 4th November at 10.00am - https://forms.office.com/e/qFxfQicqxe
Monday 4th November at 6.00pm - https://forms.office.com/e/2xA1tY62sC
Monday 4th November at 8.00pm - https://forms.office.com/e/nsdVXmD4YN

Online Safety Throughout the school year we will be working with the children to help them develop the life skills and knowledge they need to use the online world safely and with confidence. The following websites also provide helpful information about staying safe online:
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/ how to let your child make the most of the internet while remaining safe.
https://www.childnet.com/ Childnet International is a non-profit organisation working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children.
https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/ If you are worried about online abuse or the way someone has been communicating online let CEOP know. If you have any questions about how to support your child in staying safe online, please don’t hesitate to contact school.

Parent Consultations – diary date Parent consultations will take place the first week after half term, the week beginning 4th November. Further information to follow next week.

Harvest Assembly and Donations Reverend Allen came in on Tuesday for our harvest assembly where he talked about the importance of sharing what we have. Thank you for your donations for the foodbank in Liskeard so far. We are continuing to collect donations until half term. If you would like to donate, please send your donation in with your child or bring it to reception where there is a collection box. There is also a collection point in the nursery. 

Spooky Discos Reminder that we will be holding Spooky school discos on Thursday 24th October, the last day of this half term. Tickets are on sale in the office and cost £3. The disco for Reception, Year 1 and year 2 will be from 3:15-4:15pm. Pupils should bring a change of clothes and will be able to change after school. KS2 (years 3-6) children should go home at the usual time of 3:15pm and then return to school for their disco which will be from 4:30-6:00pm.

Have a good weekend.

Mrs Hillman

Another busy week at Polperro School has seen a visit from George Orwell’s son, Richard Blair, to discuss an exciting upcoming project involving writing, art and nature. The project will start next half term and will culminate in the children presenting their art and writing as part of the annual conference of Orwell Society which is taking place in Polperro in October 2025.

The World's Toughest Row We had an amazing visit today from the crew of Oars of Thunder, who spoke to the children about the World’s Toughest Row by Atlantic Campaigns which brings together teams from all walks of life to take on the unique challenge of crossing an ocean in a rowing boat. The team of four will be rowing more than 3000 Miles west from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain to Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua & Barbuda . The race begins in early December 2024, with up to 30 teams participating from around the world. Our pupils will be following the team’s progress during the race with interest. The team (Sally, Kim, Nat and Harry) brought the boat, Oars of Thunder, onto the school field and all of our pupils were lucky enough to go onboard and have a look round.

Wear yellow for World Mental Health Day Next Thursday is World Mental Health Day and our School Council is asking pupils to come to school in MUFTI and wear something yellow to raise vital funds for Young Minds, https://www.youngminds.org.uk/support-us/fundraising/helloyellow/ and show children and young people they’re not alone with their mental health. A donation of £1 or more to Young Minds will be collected in class.

Harvest Assembly and Donations We will be holding a harvest assembly for the children in school on Tuesday 8th October with Reverend Allen. We are collecting donations for the foodbank in Liskeard. If you would like to donate, please send your donation in with your child or bring it to reception where there will be a collection box. There will also be a collection point in the nursery. We will be taking donations to the foodbank at half term.

School Open Morning Do you know anyone looking for a school for their Reception age child in September 2025? If so, please pass them the attached information regarding our open morning on 13th November, 9:30 – 11am. 

Spooky Discos we will be holding Spooky school discos on Thursday 24th October, the last day of this half term. Tickets are on sale in the office and cost £3. The disco for Reception, Year 1 and year 2 will be from 3:15-4:15pm. Pupils should bring a change of clothes and will be able to change after school. KS2 (years 3-6) children should go home at the usual time of 3:15pm and then return to school for their disco which will be from 4:30-6:00pm. Please find attached a poster for this event and the FOPS Quiz which will be held on Friday 15th November.

We Are Music (WAM) Pupils from year 3 to year 6 are welcome to attend the WAM music ensemble, led by Mrs Butlin, at Looe Community Academy (Music Department) on Monday’s 4pm-4:45pm term time. The first two sessions are free then it is £3 per week. To book a place please email wam@cmst.co.uk if your child is interested.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Hillman

It was lovely to see so many of you at our Meet the Teacher sessions on Wednesday. We hope that you found it useful.

Home School Agreement/ Parental Consents Please would you take some time to log into your Arbor Parent Portal/App to check both your own and your child’s data. Once logged in you will notice that the 2024/25 Home School Agreement has been uploaded. Consents are to be completed for every child to enable them to have photos taken, watch PG films, attend local sporting events and access approved learning platforms etc.

FOPS fundraisers - save the date FOPS are busy planning some exciting fundraisers. The first two of the year are: Spooky Discos which will be after school on the last day of this half term, Thursday 24th October, and a Quiz Night on Friday 15th November. (Details of both events to follow).

Wild Wellbeing sessions Following on from the success of their summer Wild Wellbeing sessions, the Mental Health Support Team (MHST), along with Natural England, are running several Wild Wellbeing sessions over the October half term. These are nature-based, creative, practical workshops where we will be learning about the Five Ways to Wellbeing: Give, Connect, Take Notice, Be Active and Keep Learning outdoors in nature. These sessions are open to all primary school aged children (5-11), each session will be approximately 2 hours long. Sign up using the link below, and also details are included in the attached poster.
https://forms.office.com/e/ZDVNVVwfdP

The Looe Festival of Words begins next week. Please see the attached flyer for more details of free events for children on Saturday, 5th October, including poetry on the rocks at Hannafore, combined with a rockpool ramble.

Ladybirds Please see attached information on a local parent and toddler group.

Coats Please ensure your child has a coat in school every day as the weather is rather unpredictable at the moment.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hillman

School Council Our School Council is a group of dedicated and passionate pupils who are committed to making our school a better place for everyone. School Council members are elected by their peers in our School Council elections which we hold every September. Well done to everyone who put themselves forward and to those who have been elected this year: Elsie, Martha, Henry, Grace, Tabbi, Benjamin, Amelia, Ronnie and Ada and Phoebe (our member for Pupil Voice for PE and Sport). Information about our School Council can be found on this website under the ‘Our Children’ tab.

Time Capsule Each of our classes has created a booklet to go in a time capsule to be buried under Big Green in Polperro which is currently being refurbished. The booklets contain the children’s self-portraits and their wishes for the future. To go with the booklets, we have written a letter to the future (attached) which Tristan read beautifully to the school at today’s assembly.

Asda Cash for Schools Parentkind – a charity that supports school PTAs - have teamed up with Asda, who is making millions of pounds available to donate to primary schools across the UK through their ‘Cashpot for Schools’ initiative. To support our school, all you have to do is opt-in through the Asda Rewards app, shop and scan in store or shop online at Asda.com. Between 2nd September and 30th November 2024, every time you shop with Asda using the Rewards app, our school will receive a percentage of your spend.

Home School Agreement/ Parental Consents Please would you take some time to log into your Arbor Parent Portal/App to check both your own and your child’s data, amending where necessary ensuring you have details of at least two contacts on your file in case of an emergency. Once logged in you will notice that the 2024/25 Home School Agreement has been uploaded. Consents are to be completed for every child to enable them to have photos taken, watch PG films, attend local sporting events and access approved learning platforms etc. 

Pre-loved uniform We keep a stock of very good condition pre-loved uniform in school (£1 donation per item towards school funds). Please bear this in mind if you need to replace any items for your child. There is a rail of items just inside the reception. Please ask at the office for a range of sizes.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our Meet the Teacher sessions on Wednesday 25th September at 2:45.

Have a good weekend.

Mrs Hillman

The children have been amazing in the way they have already thrown themselves into their new routines and learning this week. Our class enquiries have started. Questions this half term are: ‘What Makes me me?’ Penhallow Class; ‘What makes our world go round?’ Landaviddy Class; ‘Why do we age?’ Talland Class and ‘What have the Romans done for us?’ Chaipel Class. Please look at the class blogs to see how the children’s learning is going.

House Captains At a special assembly this week we thanked last year’s house captains and vice captains for doing a wonderful job and announced our new Captains and Vice-Captains for this year who have been chosen because they consistently demonstrate our values. Congratulations to Max B, Martha H (Willow); Skye and Hector (Oak); Tabbi and Amber (Ash) and Martha F and Archie (Chestnut). House Points are given to the children when they demonstrate our school values: Curious, Creative, Excellent, Responsible, Determined and Enthusiastic and pupils can see how many points their house has by looking at our House Point Tracker in the corridor by the library. Our value for this half term is ’I am responsible’ and houses have met to consider what this means.

Meet the Teacher: 2:45pm, Wednesday 25th September It is extremely important for us to work together to ensure that every child makes as much progress as possible each year. Each year we hold a Meet the Teacher session at which you will find out about your child’s classroom, the adults working alongside your child, classroom routines and timetable, and most importantly, how you can help your child at home. It is also an opportunity to find out about all of the exciting learning and activities the teachers have planned. Of course, the teachers will also answer any questions and try to eliminate any worries or concerns you may have. We understand if you are unable to make the meeting because of work commitments and will find a mutually convenient time to chat to you about your child’s new school year if this is the case. If you have children in more than one class, please attend one session and we will find another time for you to meet your other child/children’s teacher/s. Our ‘Meet the Teacher’ session will be on Wednesday 25th September starting at 2:45pm. Please come in through the main gate from 2:40 and access your child’s classroom by the external door. We look forward to seeing you then.

Keeping Active We actively encourage the children to do at least 30 minutes physical activity each day in school. This is in the form of playground activities at break and lunchtime, movement breaks such as Supermover active videos in between lessons, and the daily mile round our playground. As part of this challenge, we have introduced a new active timetable for lunchtimes which includes a range of activities across the week including football, basketball and playground games. Every Friday in School is Funky Friday when lunchtime is reserved for dancing. Today the children managed 25 minutes of dancing and chasing bubbles from our new bubble machine.

Water Bottles As a Heathy School and a Sugar Smart school we encourage children to drink water throughout their day at school, rather than juice or squash. We would prefer that your child’s water bottle contains water only, to encourage healthy habits. This also helps us when there is a spill as water doesn’t stain! If there is a reason why your child cannot drink water, please let you child’s teacher know. Please note that this applies to their classroom drinks.

Clubs Reminder that clubs start next week. Please contact the office to sign your child up.

Space Please find attached a poster with details of the SPACE programme which is a free programme for any parent or carer who wants to better understand and support their children’s emotions, as well as their own.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Hillman

Welcome back to school from all the staff at Polperro Primary Academy and a particularly warm welcome to those joining us for the first time. The children have settled extremely well. Please see the Class blogs for a flavour of the week’s learning and for information regarding your child’s class. Class Blogs and the Head’s Blog are updated after school on Fridays.

Communication I will continue to send a weekly update out on Fridays rather than send several emails out per week, so that all the information you need is together in one place. Information from this update will also be posted on this Blog each Friday along with photos. We are going to relaunch our Facebook page shortly which we will use to update you on everything to do with school, whether it’s news about the children’s learning, upcoming events or useful reminders.

Parent Survey Thank you for the many very positive and helpful comments which we received in our Parent Survey in the summer term. As always, we strive to improve and this year we will again be organising trips to enhance our curriculum, alongside valuable local visits. We will also be organising more fundraising events to build on the success of FOPS (Friends of Polperro School) events last year. Please watch this space as we will be asking for your support with this shortly.

We will be continuing our garden project: growing fruit and vegetables in our greenhouse for the school kitchen to prepare for the children. Mr and Mrs Peters have kindly looked after the garden over the summer break and there are crops ready to pick including some amazing bunches of grapes.

Achievement Assemblies We will resume our special Wednesday assemblies the week starting 16th September. In these assemblies, we celebrate the children’s achievements in Reading, Writing or Maths. If your child is to be awarded a certificate, their class teacher will ring to invite you to attend the assembly which will be held at 2:50pm (please arrive at 2:45pm). We look forward to sharing the children’s successes with you.

Swimming The pool is still open so in the hope that there is still some warm weather to come, please ensure your child’s kit is in every day.

Clubs The school is again providing after school and lunchtime clubs and we would like to get these up and running as soon as possible. The clubs and days are listed below and if your child would like to attend, please email the office secretary@polperroprimary.co.uk by Friday 13th September. All clubs will start from Monday 16th September. Clubs will run from 3.15pm until 4.15 pm after school and from 12:30-1pm at lunchtime. Please note that year groups for our clubs may change half termly to give everyone an opportunity to try them out. We will introduce other clubs as the year progresses such as creative clubs and we will incorporate our School Council’s suggestions where possible.

Monday: After School Football Club (Mr Langley) for years 3, 4, 5 and 6
Tuesday: After School Dance Club (Mrs Phillips) for years 1, 2 and 3
Thursday: After School Gardening Club (Miss Randle and Mrs Wilkie) for years 1-6. We will have to limit numbers in this very popular club on a first come first served basis in the first instance.
Friday: Lunchtime Music and Singing Club (Mrs Fitzsimmons) for years R, 1 and 2
After School Running Club (Mr Langley and Mrs Turnbull) years 3-6. This club will not run when the Cross Country League races are on. The club is open to anyone who likes running. Pupils who attend do not have to race in these events.

Arbor You will have received a communication from the Trust about completing the permissions for photos, trips, medications etc. on Arbor. It is really important that these are completed soon as they allow staff to plan in more detail. Even if nothing has changed since last year, please re-complete the forms so we have the most up to date information. If you are having trouble logging in, please contact the office for help.

Guitar lessons will start next Thursday, 12th September.

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hillman 

We are at the end of another wonderful year at Polperro School. The children have worked extremely hard all year which you will have seen in their books at the book share yesterday. They have achieved so much and we are all proud of them all as I am sure you are. Thank you so much for all of your support throughout the year.

We have said some emotional goodbyes this week, firstly to our amazing Y6s who we are sure will all go on to do great things. We have also said goodbye to Mrs Taylor in a special assembly this morning. We will all miss seeing her smiling face in school and I am sure you will join me in wishing her all the best for the future.

Summer Fete It was lovely to see so many of you at our Summer Fete on Friday. It was such an enjoyable afternoon and we raised approximately £1000! Thank you to the parents/grandparents who helped out on the day and to everyone in FOPS who help organize such an enjoyable afternoon. We will keep you posted about what we use the funds for.

House Team Winners We have enjoyed our new house points teams system this year. It was very close: Chestnut 343 points; Ash 363 points; Willow 367 points and Oak 372 points. Congratulations to Oak, the overall winner and our first ever champions.

Online Safety During the summer holidays, without the distraction of school, internet usage for many young people can increase all the way up to September. Please use this link https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/staying-safe-online-in-the-summer-holidays for more information about keeping children safe online children safe when using the internet, social media and playing online games.


I will contact you all at the end of the summer break.  Meanwhile, here is the main information you will need about the new term in September.

Dropping off and picking up In September, the gates will be open from 8:30 to allow you plenty of time to drop off in order for your child to be in school ready for registration at 8:45. Please drop by 8:40 so that they are there in plenty of time for registration at 8:45. As usual, pick up time for all classes will be 3:15 with Penhallow Class leaving from the side gate and Talland and Chaipel Classes from the main gate. Parents of pupils in Landaviddy Class (year 2/ year 3) are asked to wait for their child outside Landaviddy Classroom on the playground.

Swimming PE kit should come in on the first day of term and be in all half term. The swimming pool will still be open in September therefore please send your child in with their swimming kit on the first day.

After School and Breakfast Clubs Wraparound care will start on the first day back (4th September). Please email the office (secretary@polperroprimary.co.uk) if you would like your child to attend.

INSET Tuesday 3rd September is an INSET day. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school at 8:30 on Wednesday, 4th September.

Thank you again for all of your support throughout the year.

Wishing you all a wonderful summer break. 

Mrs Hillman

On Monday Rev Richard came in for an assembly about friendship to start what has been a different week this week with year 6 out at their transition days on Tuesday and then away at their residential at the Ultimate Adventure Centre in Devon. It has been quiet without them, however the children made up for this yesterday in their weekly music lesson with Mrs Butlin where they enjoyed using the keyboards!

Summer Reading Challenge Please find attached 2 posters. One advertises the Summer Reading Challenge and where to sign up and the other, Looe Library’s Summer Reading Challenge Festival during the Summer Holiday.

FOPS Summer Fete (Friday 19th July at 2pm) MUFTI day 15th July Reminder that Monday 15th July will be a MUFTI day where we will be asking for donations of an item matching your child’s house team colour to create hampers for raffles prizes. Children can wear their own clothes and this could include wearing their house colour. 

Clubs Next week will be the last week of clubs for this school year.

Uniform
If you are looking ahead to buying uniform, please remember that we have a good supply of nearly new uniform in school which is available for a donation (£1 minimum) to the school. Please ask at reception.

Transition Next Friday will be transition morning for all of our pupils when they will enjoy time in their new class (details to be sent out on Monday).

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Hillman

Well done year 6 for overcoming your fears on the high ropes and climbing wall.

After an enjoyable breakfast, Year six have tried their hand at archery and mountain boarding and done really well at both.