Welcome to my weekly headteacher blog. This replaces the fortnightly newsletter and is an opportunity for me to celebrate and share some of the wonderful learning experiences enjoyed by children at Harrowbarrow Primary Academy. I will also share information about future events for us all to look forward to.

Please also look at the class blogs, which teachers will add to weekly to share information directly relating to their own classes.

If parents/carers need to contact me about their child or anything related to the school, this can be done through the school office on 01579 350576 or via email: head@harrowbarrowprimary.co.uk

Andrew Hunt
Headteacher

Just a short post to wish everyone a very Happy Easter and share the last news items for the term.

PSA Easter bake sale and film night
Thank you to the Parent Staff Association for organising the film night this week. We appreciate the contribution our volunteers make to school events and the funding they contribute, such as paying for the space dome last week. Thank you to all those who contributed to the Easter bake sale. The range of bakes on show was fantastic; it was clear a lot of skill and hard work had gone into making them.



Class 1 Theatre Royal Trip
On Wednesday, Class 1 visited the Theatre Royal to watch a performance of The Enormous Turnip. This wonderful opportunity to engage with performing arts will help the children as they prepare for learning about growth next term.

Rocksteady Performance
Well done to our Rocksteady bands, who performed to their parents and carers this week. These lessons are very popular and it is amazing to see how Joe, the band leader, has developed the children's skills in such a short space of time. The performance was brilliant and it was lovely to see how proud the watching adults were.

School Nursing Support
For parents and carers who may need some health advice about their children, the school nursing service can be a source of support:


Cove Macmillan Centre - Fruitfly Collective

As we approach the end of term, there is a race to complete lots of activities before starting again after Easter. Here are a few of the things that have kept us busy:

Design Technology
Class 4 children have been finishing their model playground structure designs. From measuring, cutting and joining materials to thinking about the aesthetic quality of different finishes, there has been a lot of learning over the last couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Class 3 have been designing model cars with the design brief that they must be able to assemble it from a kit.


Bridge Trust Singing Event
On Monday 16th, Year 6 pupils attended a Bridge Trust music event in Liskeard. Working with Canadian folk musician Luke Wallace, who writes songs about the environment, the children learnt and performed some songs before singing their own song, which they had been learning in the build up to the event. The Harrowbarrow song, Easy On The Earth, was written by Melissa Pinfield. She also accompanied the children on her clarinet in St Martins Church.

Songfest
Barrow Beats children joined pupils from lots of other schools to enjoy  singing together at the Sterts Theatre on Wednesday. This annual event is always popular with the choir.

Space Dome
To conclude our science learning for the term, the children enjoyed a visit to the Space Dome at the village hall today. Classes 1, 2 and 4 participated in a space workshop, whilst Class 3 learnt about light and sound. This fantastic resource brings science to life and adds an awe and wonder element that can make learning so magical. Thank you to the Parent Staff Association for kindly funding this brilliant learning experience.



Parenting Support
For a better quality version of the poster below, please see the noticeboard at the front of the school or pop into the school office for a copy.



Last day of term
A reminder that next Thursday is the last day of term and so children will need collecting at 1.30pm. We look forward to seeing everyone for the start of the summer term on Monday 20th April.

Tree Planting
To celebrate the opening of the Community Pantry, our Year 6 pupils helped plant a special apple tree next to the new shop. Hopefully, we can all look forward to scrumping a few apples in the years ahead!




Litter Warriors
A group of children from across the school have volunteered to be our first Litter Warriors. The Litter Warriors will use their litter pickers to tidy up of our school site every Friday. The school council came up with this suggestion when asked to think about ways our school could be improved. They also suggested we improve our recycling, so Class 4 children made some signs to ensure children use the correct bins for their rubbish.



Community Litter Pick
Following on from our own litter pickers, we have been asked to share details of a community litter pick:

Callington Lions Club are spearheading a series of community litter picks as part of Lions Environment Week (18-26 April), celebrating World Earth Day on 22 April.

All relevant insurance, risk assessments, and volunteers are in place, and members of the local community are warmly invited to join them on Sunday 19th April at 11am to litter pick at Harrowbarrow Village Hall and the surrounding green areas. They would love to see as many people as possible helping to keep our local environment clean and cared for. 

This week we congratulate our First Lego League competitors from Year 6. On  Wednesday, the team of Talan, Jayden, Josh V, Cadan, Josh M, Belle, Arabella, Jack, Eli and Rioch joined hundreds of children from schools across Cornwall for a day of Lego robotics competition at RNAS Culdrose. There were many ways in which teams could excel and be recognised for their achievements. Although the team were unable to secure the most points and progress to the national finals, they received the judges award for engineering excellence for their robot design (below). We are very proud of the team for their efforts and the work they have done over the last two terms in preparation for this event. As well as building the robot to complete different missions, the group had to come up with a presentation which they delivered to judges on the day. They also built a model drone in support of their presentation. Thank you to volunteer Karen Brinson for her work supporting Sam Watts and the team over the last few months.




Year 3/4 football match

Only one competitive match this week, which saw the team lose narrowly to South Petherwin. They will have one more opportunity to secure a win on Tuesday as the competition draws to a close. Whatever the outcome, we are proud of their efforts and know they will have learnt lots of lessons from being involved in competitive sport. 

Cross-country round-up
The league season came to a close with the final race at Lanhydrock. Abi Flashman thinks that almost every runner finished with a personal best in this race, which is brilliant. A special mention goes to Jacob Bloye, which secured enough points to be invited to the county finals. Thank you to all the parents who supported their children with races, whatever the weather!

End of term
As we enter the last few weeks of term, a reminder that our last day is Thursday 2nd April and pupils will need collecting at 1.30pm on this day.

This week, I would like to share some of the wonderful design technology learning from the junior classes, alongside some of the other activities children have been involved in.

Design Technology

Class 4 are designing a playground structure, which they will transform into a model by the end of term. They started with design sketches, which were  then uploaded to NewArc AI to see what their designs might look like.



Rudy's design sketch is on the left and then AI's interpretation is on the right.

Rosie added some children to her sketches, which the AI tool was able to add to the interpretation of her design.

We were all in awe of the power of this technology, which has helped the children visualise what their finished model may look like. The next step was to plan their design more carefully using Tinkercad, a Computer Aided Design platform. There is more work for the children to do but these are Alfie, Arabella and Josh's CAD playground structures so far.


Class 3 continue to explore different mechanisms through making model prototype cars. This week, they constructed rubber band racers which were tested at the end of the lesson. Well done to Lowenna and Sophia, whose car travelled the furthest.


Football
Unfortunately, our Year 3 and 4 footballers were unable to win either of their two matches this week, but I am really proud of the determination and teamwork on display and feel a first win is just around the corner. Well done to Jacob, Eva, Abigail, Spencer, Max, Edith and William for their efforts.

World Book Day
It was lovely to see the children dressed as book characters yesterday to celebrate World Book Day. I also enjoyed seeing the range of favourite books they brought in. From fantasy novels to traditional tales and favourite information books to riddles, we had the full range of books being shared. As J.K. Rowling once said, 'if you don't like reading, you haven't found the right book'. Well yesterday showed that there is a book for everyone.

Staffing Update
We welcomed back Sam Watts this week after his parental leave. I know the children were very excited to see Sam. On Thursday 12th March, Tom Ottewell-Taylor will be undergoing a routine operation. His recovery period takes him up to Easter, so Abi Flashman will once again help us out by teaching Class 1 full time until the end of term.

I look forward to sharing more from the classes next week. 

Welcome back to everyone after the half term break. As ever, it has been a busy week, with lots of fantastic learning taking place across the school.

Design Technology
Class 3 are learning about mechanisms through model vehicles This week, they learnt to make a prototype model car to roll down an inclined plane. Children had to work in pairs to achieve their learning outcomes in the lesson and then test their car.


Art Exhibition
We hope all those who were able to join us for the art exhibition on Wednesday enjoyed viewing the children's work. It was great to see the variety of approaches on display.



Year 3/4 Football Tournament
Despite losing both games from the first round of matches this week, I thought the players were terrific. Many of the children were playing their first ever game and were very unsure what to do at the beginning. However, by the end, they had improved significantly.

Swimming
Year 1 and 2 children started their swimming programme this afternoon. With half of them assessed as non-swimmers, it shows the value of these lessons.

I look forward to sharing more of the children's learning next week.

Now we have reached the end of this half term, I'm not sure where the weeks have gone. The staff and children have been working extremely hard and everyone deserves a rest. Hopefully, we will have some better weather next week and when we return on Monday 23rd February. I was told it has been the wettest January on record in Cornwall and it has certainly felt like it.

Art Exhibition
At 3.20pm on Wednesday 25th February, we are inviting parents and carers to join us in classes for our latest art exhibition. Here is a taster of what you will see. Class 3 have been learning about art activism and produced their own artwork with a message they want to share with the world. Class 3 have been learning about repeating patterns and how they are generated for the textile and design industry. They have created their own. We look forward to welcoming you on the 25th.




Football Tournament
Well done to our Year 5 and 6 football team, who completed their tournament fixtures this week. A 5-0 win against Menheniot in the first match was followed by a narrow 3-2 defeat to South Petherwin in the second. I was very proud of their attitude, effort and teamwork. A special thanks to Jacob from Year 4, who stepped in to make up the numbers and support Rioch, Rosie, Belle, Seth, Alfie and Jayden. 

Half Term Activities
I look forward to seeing everyone again on Monday 23rd February but, in the meantime, here are a couple of ideas for half term:





Finally, here is something for the summer term:

This week two classes went on trips in the local area. It is always good for our children to connect with their local community and the environment as it gives them a sense of place.

Tree planting at Cotehele
The National Trust is planting millions of trees across their estates and this week Class 4 helped plant beech, oak, hornbeam, pine, sycamore and lime trees at Cotehele. The children worked in teams of three to plant and stake over 100 trees. They did an amazing job and really understood the value of the contribution they were making to the landscape and the local habitat.



Haye Farm
Class 3 visited Haye Farm to learn how plants get their food. The visit supports their work in science this term. They will be visiting again in March to learn more and may get the opportunity to see some newborn baby animals too.

It's a girl!
Congratulations to Sam Watts and his partner, who welcomed their baby daughter into the world yesterday. Sam is understandably feeling very proud and asked us to share this angelic photo. We will send a congratulatory card and gift on behalf of our school community.

It's always busy at Harrowbarrow and this week is no exception. Here are some examples of what the children have been up to:

Science in Class 2
Class 2 have been investigating the difference between seeds and bulbs.


Art in Class 3
After looking at the work of artist Rachel Parker, the children designed a tile which is going to be transformed into a repeating pattern using a clever trick of quartering it, rearranging the sections and using technology to repeat their design multiple times. We look forward to sharing the final work at the end but here are a few of tiles ready for the next stage of the process.


Writing in Class 4
The children have been using a text about the fantasy world of Pandora as a stimulus for their own writing. Here are some lovely examples that show how hard the children are working to create some quality pieces of writing.:

In the terrain, foliage sprawls in every direction, only stopping when it meets one of the rivers that winds through the land. Beneath the misty sky, trees stand guard and under  the vines that trail from their branches a wilderness teems with life, above which slivers of moonlight shift and shimmer. Pandora is well known for its deadly environment. Lurking beneath vast trees with dangling vines is the camp where the humanoid inhabitants of Pandora hide. Wrapped around the branches, long, shiny vines with spikes dangle, ready to ensnare anything that touches them. All around, the small but glistening fauna float, spinning slowly. Pandora has amazing features and one of them is the Hallelujah Mountains. Hovering above the ground, the Hallelujah Mountains float over the surface of Pandora. Silky vines connect the Hallelujah mountains. Above the silky, glossy vines that to the Hallelujah mountains slide through the mist. Lurking beneath the mist, the Hallelujah Mountains meet together. Hiding beneath the vines, lay the Hallelujah mountains vailed in silver mist. By Leo

Finally, here are a some opportunities for your children outside of school: