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

Apologies for the delay since my last news update but, as always, it has been another very busy period at school. Firstly, I would like to congratulate Year 6 pupils on completing their SATs before half term. Not only did they have to endure four days of intense assessment under exam conditions, but many of them had been arriving earlier that usual since March to attend booster sessions. This shows a real commitment and determination to do their best. Thank you also to their parents/carers for dropping them off early. Our Year 5 pupils have also played their part, joining me for three weeks to have their daily maths lesson in the library. This allowed Year 6 to focus on year group specific areas that needed revising prior to the tests. It was a real pleasure to work with Year 5 and to see how determined they are to succeed as mathematicians too.
I have recently reported on work to develop our forest school area. Mark Cocking, our caretaker, completed resurrecting the polytunnel and building the forest school storage shed. Class 3 enjoyed using the forest school for their class treat recently, which they earnt through their collective efforts in the classroom. A big thanks to Mark for his efforts and to Tesco for funding the resources.

The first week of whole class flute lessons in Class 3 and 4 were quite painful on the ear! However, in only a short space of time Sally Butlin, the teacher from Cornwall Music Service, has managed to progress the children towards making some more harmonious sounds. We hope, by the end of term, to invite the children's parents/carers in to listen to them perform a simple tune.

Last week, Class 4 children completed a design technology unit they had been working on for 6 weeks. They designed and made automaton, mechanical devices using cams to create moving parts. The brief was to design and make an automaton to display in a shop window, advertising the products in the shop. The learning steps also included using glue guns and accurately measuring and sawing materials. The children were delighted when their designs worked at the end, which is testament to their perseverance and accurate construction skills. The finished automaton look amazing.



Last Friday, during our training day, teachers were learning to use a cloud based learning tool called Showbie. There is lots of exciting potential for children to use Showbie on our new iPads to support learning but also to share children's work with this parents and carers. Once we are fully up and running with Showbie in September, we hope to set it up so parents and carers can see their children's stored learning.

Bridge MAT like to gather the views of parents/carers through an annual online survey. This helps inform future decisions about school improvement priorities. The survey closes on Monday 7th July. Please take a moment to complete this survey by following the link: Summer 2025 Bridge Schools Trust Parent and Carer Questionnaire

Finally, some dates for your diary:

24.6.25 - Sports evening from 5pm
26.6.25 - Reserve sports evening in the event of bad weather
30.6.25 - Year 6 group to attend county championship cricket match in Taunton
7.7.25 - Year 6 transition day at Callington College

May is the month that always starts with a celebration through the annual Harrowbarrow & Metherell May Day festivities. Once again, our dancers contributed their efforts to this event through the long standing tradition of dancing around the Maypole. This year, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, they started with a Lindy Hop style dance. Well done to all those who took part and thank you to Melissa Pinfield for coaching them. We also held a short commemoration of VE Day on the school field yesterday and held a minute silence.
Whilst December may feel like a long way off, preparations for the Cotehele flower garland have to start now. Each year we are invited to make the garland that hangs in the restaurant over Christmas. This also involves growing and drying some of the flowers. As our self-appointed head gardener, Sam Beagley in Year 6 has taken responsibility for tending, picking and drying the flowers. So far, he is doing an amazing job.




This week, as part of the history, Class 3 were making model wattle and daub walls to understand how Tudor houses were constructed. The children were relieved to know they were using clay instead of the traditional animal manure!




Making the most of the glorious sunshine today, our infant classes had a badminton taster session with a visiting sports coach. The children always enjoy trying something new and, who knows, maybe one of them will be a future badminton champion.




Health & Safety
Following a parental concern, please ensure dogs are on a lead and kept a safe distance from young children during drop-off and collection times.  Dogs are also excluded from the school site. Thank you for your cooperation.

I look forward to sharing more of the children's wonderful learning outcomes and the opportunities they have had next week.

What a glorious week of sunshine we have experienced. I have had the privilege of joining the children several times over the past few days at breaktimes and thoroughly enjoyed seeing them having fun on the school field. It is obvious that some children have had sunscreen applied before coming to school and are wearing sunhats but this is good opportunity to remind you all to think about sun safety. Applying sunscreen, bringing a refillable water bottle and sunhat would be sensible. Hopefully, the weather will continue for the May Day celebrations on Monday - good luck to all our Maypole dancers.
We are fortunate to have such fantastic outdoor facilities at Harrowbarrow, including our forest school. Last Saturday, Abi Flashman and a team of PSA and parent volunteers spent the day clearing the brambles and giving this space a makeover. They also developed a new sand play area for Class 1. A huge thank you to Tom Brittan, Sarah Marley, Leanne & Will Francis, Kym Lovejoy, Lily Urbanska, Leanne Chapman and Abi Flashman for giving up their time for the benefit of all children - we are very grateful. The end results are stunning.



Staffing update
It is with great sadness that I share the news Rachel Lane will be leaving Harrowbarrow at the end of term. Rachel has been an integral member of our staffing team for almost two decades but has decided to call time on her work at Harrowbarrow. Countless children have benefitted from Rachel's passion for music, which has become a feature of our unique identity as a school. It is fair to say Rachel is irreplaceable and will be greatly missed. Alongside all the wonderful music opportunities Rachel has provided, she has held many other roles over the years and we know she will miss all her work with the pupils, even throwing herself off the 'Leap of Faith' at Porthpean to the raucous cheers of the children! We wish Rachel the very best for the next phase of her career and thank her for all she has done for so many years. We will, of course, mark Rachel's leaving nearer the end of term with something appropriate.
It is also with sadness that we will also be saying farewell to teaching assistant Jane Carne at the end of this half term. Jane, who has a forest school qualification and is a passionate enthusiast of outdoor learning, is leaving to pursue opportunities elsewhere. We will miss Jane's contributions both in the classroom and outside it in the forest school and wish her all the very best for the future. We will also mark Jane's departure in an appropriate way before half term.

Other activities taking place across the school this week include all junior children starting whole class flute lessons. I had the privilege of joining Class 4 for their lesson but, disappointingly, couldn't get a sound out of my flute mouthpiece! The children were far more successful than me and, over the course of the term, will gradually start to play the flutes. During our art and design technology lessons we have had several classes making things. Infant art lessons have been about creative making, where the children make designs using a stimulus such as 'must fit in the palm of your hand' or 'must be contained in something'. The open ended nature of this has inspired some great creativity. In Class 4 design technology lessons the children are making automaton. This week they were measuring and cutting the parts in preparation for construction.

                                                                                                  

                                                                                               

Dates for your diary


12.5.25 - 15.5.25: Year 6 SATs week
21.5.25: Year 6 cricket tournament at Lanhydrock (details to follow for team members)
22.5.25: Year 1/2 multisports event at Callington College (details to follow)
22.5.25: Last pupil day before half term
23.5.25: Staff training day - school closed to pupils
2.6.25: First day for pupils after half term

On the first day, the children were out on the water enjoying stand-up paddle boarding and other water activities. In the evening they had a silent disco and participated in a performance with a piratical theme. Sam Watts reported that the children loved the silent disco and danced for ages. The evening performance was really good too, very active and engaging. The children had to follow the journey of a pirate by getting moustaches, walking the plank, sailing past merpeople and making it through stormy seas. There is a photo of a very unhappy Sam Watts dressed as a merperson but he may not thank us for sharing it!
On day two, the children enjoyed archery, high ropes and, for the first time, axe throwing. Year 5 children were learning about the Vikings earlier this year so I am sure they really got into the spirit of this.
We can't wait to find out what the children have been up to today and look forward to their return.

The summer term is always action packed with lots of sporting opportunities, trips, residentials and transition preparations. As well as the usual end of term junior performance, we have a new musical experience for all Class 3 and Class 4 children this year. A music teacher from Cornwall Music Service will be visiting once a week to teach whole class flute lessons. I am sure the sound of 34 flutes being played at the same time in Class 4 will be an enchanting and relaxing experience for all involved!
Year 1 and 2 children started their swimming programme this week and Class 3 had their first gymnastics lessons at Copper Valley Junior School. For health and safety reasons, this is a good opportunity to remind you that children must only wear stud style earrings and other jewellery is not permitted - we don't want children sustaining injuries through catching jewellery items on equipment during playtimes and PE lessons.
I look forward to sharing more with you in the weeks ahead.

Congratulations to our First Lego League Competitors

On Wednesday 12th March, Sam Watts took the Lego team to RNAS Culdrose to compete, with their Lego robot, against 60 other schools. They also had to complete a presentation on innovative ways to explore the oceans. The team of Rioch, Lexi, Caleb, Talan, Connor, Holly, Emmy, Poppy and Olivia did amazingly well, winning the judges award for their enthusiasm, motivation and all round positivity. Congratulations to the team and thanks to Sam for all his hard work preparing the children so well. Thank you also to Karen Brinson for helping out on the day.

Despite the cold weather, we have enjoyed some sunny days which has enabled us to take our curriculum outside more often. As part of their geography, learning about the seasons, Year 1 and 2 children went in search of signs of spring and captured this on their spring sticks.

Thank you to all those parents/carers who helped dress their children up for our World Book Day celebrations. We had some amazing outfits representing book characters and, looking around the school today,  I think the hair dye and face pant has finally worn off!

Music Instrument Lessons
If your child is interested in learning a musical instrument, we currently offer piano, guitar and brass lessons through our peripatetic music teachers. For more information, please contact the school office, who will put you in touch with the appropriate teacher.

Dates for your diary
18.3.25: Year 5/6 football team matches at Callington College
19.3.25: Class 3 visit to Farm & Country Day at county showground
21.3.25: Comic Relief fundraiser
21.3.25: Landrake cross country run
25.3.25: Final round of Year 5/6 football matches
28.3.25: PSA film night after school
31.3.25: End of term singing assembly in playground for parents/carers, followed by PSA bake sale (2pm start but further details to follow)
4.4.25: Last day of term - pupils finish at 1.30pm

A largely sunny and dry week following the half term break has been just the tonic for the children and staff as we returned to work this week. Due to other commitments, I haven't been able to do the morning meet and greet as often as I would like, but whenever I have seen the children around the school they have been so enthusiastic, cheerful and polite; it has been a real pleasure to spend time with them.

This week, Class 1 started their gymnastics programme at Copper Valley Junior School. The excitement was barely containable when Abi Flashman opened up all the climbing frames and got the gym equipment out. I will try and post some photographs in the future to share this opportunity which just isn't possible at Harrowbarrow.

Our Year 5 and 6 football team competed in the first matches of their tournament on Tuesday. Despite losing 2-1 and 2-0 against Sir Robert Geffery and Bishop Cornish schools respectively, the children were great. Like the Year 3 and 4 team before them, many of the children were playing their first ever match. Well done to Poppy, Belle, Caleb, Leo, Noah, Archie, Talan, Rioch, Eli, Jayden and Josh.

In September, we made some changes to our English curriculum. There has been a renewed focus on using high quality texts as the starting point for children's writing and improving their spelling and handwriting. At this halfway point of the year, we are already seeing significant improvements. This has been recognised by some of our professional partners who visit the school regularly to see lessons, talk to the children and look at their books. Here are a few examples of the impressive work we are seeing across the school:

Class 2 children have published their work in this brilliant book, with extracts shown from Penny and Jasper's stories. A copy of this book has been put in the library for other children to read.



Class 4 have been writing some mystery thrillers and I was particularly impressed by this piece from Leo.


Like a phoenix from the flames, our polytunnel is being resurrected after Storm Unis flattened it a couple of years ago. Thanks to the Tesco Community Grant Abi Flashman secured, damaged parts have been replaced and caretaker Mark Cocking has been rebuilding it. We expect a new plastic cover to go on in the next couple of weeks, ready for children to start growing plants as part of their science curriculum. At the same time, we have a new forest school shed we will be erecting to provide some storage and protection from adverse weather during forest school sessions.



Dates for you diary

4.3.25: St Pirans performance for Year 3 and 4 parents/carers at Cotehele
7.3.25: Final cross-country league race
10.3.25: Harrowbarrow World Book Day celebrations
12.3.25: Harrowbarrow team competing in First Lego League county championship at RNAS Culdrose
19.3.25: Class 3 trip to Cornwall Farm & Country day at Wadebridge showground
21.3.25: Harrowbarrow Comic Relief fundraising day (details to follow)

Advance Notice Reminder
Please note, all Bridge MAT schools finish at 1.30pm on the last pupil day of each full term. This is to give school staff time to organise and prepare for the term ahead. Harrowbarrow hasn't previously adopted this policy, although many schools now do it. To align Harrowbarrow with our partner schools within the Trust, we will be adopting this practice at the end of this term, on the last pupil day before the Easter holiday (Friday 4th April). We will send a reminder nearer the time.

It has been another busy period across the school, with children engaging in a range of exciting learning opportunities.

Class 3 Trip
Class 3 visited the Immersive Dome in Plymouth to learn about the rainforest. Sam Watts was really impressed by the children's enthusiasm for the subject, even when enormous and scary spiders were projected on to the dome. 

Class 4 Viking Day
In support of their history theme, learning about the Vikings, Melissa Pinfield invited Adrian Chapman from Blast from the Past to run a Viking workshop. Children explored all manner of historical facts through artefacts and resources including the significance of figureheads on Viking longboats and the board games they played:

   


Year 3/4 Football Tournament
Congratulations to the football team, who are going from strength to strength. This week they battled to a brilliant 2-1 win over Sir Robert Geffery's School, followed by a scintillating 6-3 win over Stoke Climsland. 


Bridge MAT Dodgeball Tournament
We participated in our first tournament exclusively for Bridge MAT schools this week. A Year 3 and 4 team of Abigail, Lowenna, Edith, Jack, Seth V and Jacob competed in 6 dodgeball matches. Although they were unable to get through to the finals, it was great to see them having a fun time and learning to deal with the highs and lows of winning and losing. Thank you to volunteer Rebecca Vincent for helping make this happen.



Finally,  a reminder of future dates for your diary:


10.2.25: Year 6 Brecon Beacon parent/carer briefing at 3.25pm in Class 4
13.2.25: Last pupil day before half term
14.2.25: Bridge MAT training day - school closed to pupils
24.2.25: First pupil day after half term
27.2.25: First gymnastics lesson for Class 1 at Copper Valley Junior School
28.2.25: PINS Parent engagement session from 2pm in school staffroom

Advance Notice Reminder
Please note, all Bridge MAT schools finish at 1.30pm on the last pupil day of each full term. This is to give school staff time to organise and prepare for the term ahead. Harrowbarrow hasn't previously adopted this policy, although many schools now do it. To align Harrowbarrow with our partner schools within the Trust, we will be adopting this practice at the end of this term, on the last pupil day before the Easter holiday (Friday 4th April). We will send a reminder nearer the time.

As we speed towards half term here are some of the exciting things that have been happening at Harrowbarrow:

Year 3/4 Multi-skills Tournament
Last Thursday, children in Class 3 joined classes from Calstock, Callington and Copper Valley at Callington Community College to participate in a range of sporting challenges. These activities were designed and run by the GCSE sport leaders. Children had to work with pupils from the other schools to undertake challenges using a range of different equipment. It was great to see children having so much fun and, after some initial hesitation, start to engage with young people from the other schools.

Year 3/4 Football Tournament
Well done to our footballers, who secured their first victory last week. Following an 8-3 thumping at the hands of Menheniot Primary School, you might forgive the team for feeling a bit despondent going into the second match. However, their attitude was tremendously positive and as a result they bounced back to beat Copper Valley 5-1. Well done to all the players.

Bikeability
Class 4 children have been participating in Bikeability sessions, a road safety programme for cyclists. The sessions involve learning how to maintain a safe bike, how to keep yourself safe on a bike and how to ride safely on the roads.

Our curriculum continues to evolve and a new programme for art is producing some very exciting outcomes. The children are enjoying learning about different techniques and how they have been applied by a variety of artists. Below are some examples from across the school. 

Our gallery of creative art

The infant art explores simple print making using their hands and everyday objects. This week they have been pressing objects into plasticine and using the plasticine to print with.

Class 3 are exploring a unit called 'Painting with Scissors'. This is all about collage and is inspired by the art of Henri Matisse and Claire Willberg.

Class 4 will be making monotype prints, after exploring the work of Syrian artist Kevork Mourad and how to make a range of different marks. At the end of the unit they will create a visual poetry zine.

We look forward to sharing more of the children's amazing outcomes with you later in the term.

If you would like to know more about the exciting units of work your children will be exploring, here is an overview of our two year rolling programme created by art subject leader Tom Ottewell-Taylor:

 

Finally, here are some dates for your diary:

4.2.25: Next round of matches at Callington College for the Year 3/4 football team
4.2.25: Vision screening for reception children
6.2.25: Viking workshop in Class 4
6.2.25: Bridge MAT dodgeball tournament for a Year 3/4 team (details to follow)
7.2.25: Next cross-country race after school (details to follow)
10.2.25: Year 6 Brecon Beacon parent/carer briefing at 3.25pm in Class 4
13.2.25: Last pupil day before half term
14.2.25: Bridge MAT training day - school closed to pupils

Advance Notice
Please note, all Bridge MAT schools finish at 1.30pm on the last pupil day of each full term. This is to give school staff time to organise and prepare for the term ahead. Harrowbarrow hasn't previously adopted this policy, although many schools now do it. To align Harrowbarrow with our partner schools within the Trust, we will be adopting this practice at the end of this term, on the last pupil day before the Easter holiday (Friday 4th April). We will send a reminder nearer the time.