May 2023 Newsletter

Head of School Welcome

Dear parents,

Somehow we have already reached the summer half term! Firstly well done to our children in Years 2 and 6 who showed great calmness and determination to complete their SATs this month – we’re really proud of them all.

Great learning experiences have been happening in all three classes this term. Our whole school Forest Day was a great success and was enjoyed by children and staff alike. Our celebration of the King’s coronation was another memorable day, and the children made some wonderful bunting that they got to take home with them. Robin class had a brilliant trip to Gwithian Towans for a workshop with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, and made the most of the day despite the terrible weather! This term Starling class have been having violin lessons, taught by Miss Brown from the Cornwall Music Service Trust – she has loved working with the class who have really enjoyed the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. We hope to hold a Starling class parent assembly later in the term, so we can celebrate the progress they have made. Earlier this month, Kingfisher class were delighted to welcome someone from the Marine Society and Sea Cadets, who delivered a fantastic science workshop on buoyancy, mass, volume, density, Newton’s third law, Archimedes and the crown of Syracuse, displacement and build-a-boat challenge – the children loved the various activities. This week our Year 6’s have completed their BikeAbility proficiency course, the instructors were very complimentary about the children and were impressed by their road safety awareness and the way they behaved whilst cycling on the local roads.

It has been lovely to have Miss McLoughlin return for her next SCITT placement with us; she has settled back into the school really well and is a popular member of our team.

As always, I would like to extend my thanks to the Friends of Cusgarne for all their support and fund raising initiatives, the movie night was a particularly popular event and a huge success by all accounts. It should not be underestimated how much time and effort goes into organising the events they hold, and I am so grateful to the parents who give up their time and work so hard to create memorable events for the children, whilst raising much valued funds for our school. Thank you.

As always, the second half of the summer term is always a busy one, and we have plenty of things to look forward to – Sports Day, Kingfisher’s residential trip to Okehampton, a beach trip for Robin and Starling classes, and our whole school trip to Paignton Zoo to name just a few!

I hope many of you will be around on the afternoon of Saturday 24th June for the Gwennap parish community fete, it’s always a wonderful day, and it would be terrific to see as many families there as possible. To help the Parish with their tombola donations, we will be holding a non-uniform day on Friday 16th June, and the children are to bring in a child or adult prize. If you are interested in a stall, please see details under 'diary dates' on the next page.

Have a wonderful half term break, let the sun shine on!

Mr Barnard

Diary Dates

Friday 26th May 3pm
Last Day of Half Term

Monday 5th June 1.15pm
Richard Lander Transition Meeting. Parents to join from 2.30pm.

Wednesday 7th - Friday 9th June
Kingfisher Class Residential Trip to Adventure Okehampton

Thursday 8th June
Robin & Starling Classes to Gyllyngvase Beach (via train from Perranwell Station)

Monday 12th June
Class & leavers photos

Tuesday 13th - Friday 16th June
Mini police week - Kingfisher class

Friday 16th June
Non-uniform day. Children to bring in an item (can be suitable for adults or children) to contribute towards the Gwennap Parish Community Fete tombola.

Monday 19th June
Sports day

Saturday 24th June 2.30pm-8pm
Gwennap Parish Community Fete, Richard Jory Playing Field. If you are interested in having a stall please contact Mary Richards - mlrichards19@gmail.com.

Wednesday 28th June
TRLC Award Ceremony at Truro Cathedral

Thursday 29th June
Whole school trip to Paignton Zoo

Monday 17th July 1.30pm & Tuesday 18th July 6pm
Kingfisher End of Year Play Performances

Thursday 20th July
Kingfisher Surf Day at Gwithian

Tuesday 25th July
Leavers assembly at 12pm & last day of term 1pm finish

Future Diary Dates

Looking Ahead ...

Autumn Term 2023

Monday 4th & Tuesday 5th September - INSET Days
Wednesday 6th September - Term begins
Monday 16th October - Individual & sibling photos
Friday 20th October - INSET Day
23rd-27th October - Half Term
Monday 30th October - Return to school
Tuesday 19th December - Last day of term

Spring Term 2024

Thursday 4th January - Return to school
Friday 9th February - INSET Day
12th - 16th February - Half Term
Monday 19th February - Return to school
Thursday 28th March - Last day of term
Monday 15th April - Return to school
Monday 6th May - Bank Holiday
27th - 31st May - Half Term
Tuesday 23rd July - Last day of term
Wednesday 24th July - INSET Day

Robin Class

History
Robins have been looking at astronauts Neil Armstrong & Tim Peake. As part of their space topic, the children made rockets from different items which can be found around the house. Super job Robins!

Science
The children have been learning all about different types of habitat, and how an animal is suited to their habitat. This week they have been looking at what lives in our school grounds, and conducted a microhabitat investigation.

Upton Towans Nature Reserve
What a wet & windy day this was! But what resilient children we had, the rain did not stop them taking part in this exciting opportunity from Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

KS1 SATs
Well done to our Year 2 children who completed their SATs papers last week. We are super proud of you all!

Starling Class

The Butterfly Lion
This term, Starlings have been reading The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo. They have learnt all about the African veld, and also took part in an online art workshop, where they then went on to make their own lion masks.

English - Kennings Poems
The children have been looking at Kennings poems; a Kenning is a two word phrase to describe something or someone. The children created a Kennings Poem about themselves, we mixed them up, read them out & then had to guess who the poem belonged to - some were trickier than others, but the children had fun guessing!

PSHE - Keeping Safe Online
The children have been learning about Internet safety, and how to keep safe online. The children designed their own tablet home screens with the apps they use at home. Check out the video detailing what you should NOT do when playing online - such an important message to share with your children.

Kingfisher Class

Kingfisher STEM buoyancy Workshop
Kingfisher Class enjoyed their STEM learning buoyancy workshop, where they worked Scientifically and were able to learn about the different forces. The children worked practically and were able to incorporate their maths skills of shape, measurement, capacity and Volume. We were very grateful to Suzy from the Sea Cadets who came to deliver the workshop, such a fantastic opportunity for the children.

SATs
Year 6 children ‘jumping for joy’ after their completion of SATs week. We’re all very proud of them.

Design Technology
Kingfisher Class thoroughly enjoyed making their Coronation flags- all of the children got creative and produced a memorable piece to remember in years to come!

PSHE
During Mental Health week. Our main focus was how to recognise and implement strategies to support anxiety. Kingfisher Class participated in an activity where they wrote words of kindness for one another and then took them home to keep. Kingfisher Class are now creating strategies in the classroom to support anxiety and recording the activities that make us happy.

Forest School

On Thursday 18th May, all the children took part in a Forest School Day as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. Fortunately the weather was fully on our side, and the children got to spend the day outside in the sunshine! Some activities that took place were den building, quill writing, leaf printing, as well as taking the opportunity to express feelings & gratitude on Tibetan prayer flags. The Education Library Service also kindly donated packs of wild flower seed bomb kits for the King's Coronation; we took the opportunity on Thursday to make them & plant in our school memory garden. All in all this was a really wholesome, humbling day, and we are ever so grateful to our Forest School Lead Mrs. Denton who put the whole day together!

Friends of Cusgarne

Sports Day raffle
Tickets for our fabulous raffle will go on sale after half term.

Biscuit and cracker wrappers
Please keep them coming! We’re a few kilos short of the next load. Boxes can be found in school reception.

The Giving Machine
Shopping online? Going to your favourite shops through The Giving Machine page can raise money for school. Please click here to find out how you can help.

Attendance

Reporting Absences

If your child is going to be absent from school due to illness, then please inform the office before 9am in the morning, and let us know why your child is going to be absent, and when you expect them to return.

You may either phone the office on 01872 863563 and leave a message or alternatively send an email to hello@cusgarne.org

When reporting an absence, please leave a message on each day of your child's absence, telling us:

- Your child's name
- Class name/Year group
- Why they are absent (Type of illness e.g sickness, migraine)
- When you expect them to return

May 2023

Robin Class - 94.1%

Starling Class - 94.7%

Kingfisher Class - 95.7%

Whole School - 94.8%

*National average year to date is 93.7%. Correct 25th May 2023