We've had a week of Christmas performances, and everything has gone smoothly! The children have put great effort into learning their lines and preparing for their roles, and it has been good to see their hard work come together on stage. We would also like to thank parents for their support at home in helping the children practise and feel confident. Their involvement has made a noticeable difference. We appreciate everyone's contribution during this busy time.

It has been a very exciting week of nativity performances and singing all round. Christmas is really in the air!

Thank you Class 2 family for all your support in helping your children learn their lines, getting their costumes together and being there to support us during all 3 performances.

This week, in Maths, we have continued our enquiry into shapes by investigating the properties of 3D shapes by counting their faces, edges and vertices. In Literacy, we have completed our instructions on how to catch Santa. No, no! It is not to trap him on his rounds on Christmas eve, and spoil Christmas for the rest of the world. No! We are planning to set an alarm so that we wake up when he comes down our chimneys because we have tons of questions and presents for him... while some of us just want to hitch a ride with him on his sleigh.

Between all the chaos of last minute nativity rehearsals and performances, we also managed to squeeze in a really fun Computing lesson where we learned about the use of loops to make our algorithms cleaner and clearer.

Christmas Performance



This year's Christmas performance was magical. Our children lit up the stage with their talent, confidence, and passion, delivering a show that left everyone beaming with pride. From the heartfelt singing to the excellent acting and stunning costumes, everything reflected the hard work, joy and creativity that make our school community what it is. What a wonderful way to end the term and celebrate the festive season.

Attendance
You may have seen media coverage of flu and sickness bugs sweeping through schools, causing some to close. Although we're not at that level, we have seen very high absence rates this last week or so. Sickness cannot be helped and is a justifiable reason for children not to attend school. If your child is ill, please remember to report each day of absence first thing in the morning so we can record the reason for their absence. Fingers crossed we have a healthier time next week so the children can enjoy the end of term festivities.

Final week festivities
Monday 15th December - PSA film night from 3.30pm
Wednesday 17th December - Christmas dinner
Friday 19th December - Christmas party day. Children may wear party clothes/Christmas jumpers and bring a game to play (no electrical devices please). They will also need a party picnic - thank you.

A reminder that we finish at 1.30pm on Friday 19th, the last day of term.

Here is some of our writing based on the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  Here we imagined going through a portal into another world.  It has really fired up the children's imaginations. This week we have also had the play in the village hall.  It was lovely to watch Year 6 go back to 1963 and see "the Beatles" in action during the song.  The class have worked really hard on their parts and it was great to see them performing to everyone.  The singing sounded fantastic.  We also sang to luncheon club and I think they enjoyed experiencing a blast from the past.  

Next week we have Christmas dinner to look forward to and party day on Friday.  On Friday pupils can come to school in party clothes and will need to bring a party packed lunch.  

Its has been an exciting week of rehearsals, dress ups and trips!

Despite our topsy-turvy time tables, we have managed to get oodles of learning into our days this week. In Literacy, we have started a new unit of work - we are learning how to write instructions. We had a go at writing our own instructions for our learning partners and then looked at how we could have made them better. Then we looked at some different instructions and compared them to find out what we could include in our own. In Maths, we continued our inquiry into shapes by looking at the vertical line of symmetry. We have even had a go at completing different 2D shapes by using our knowledge of the vertical line of symmetry. Who knew using a ruler was this tricky!

We have also been working super hard at learning our cues and timings for our Nativity next week. Thank you Class 2 families for helping your children learn all their lines and for making time to get their costumes ready. We can't wait to see you all next week for our 3 super-duper performances. If you haven't got them yet, please make sure you contact the office for your tickets before its too late. However, the best part of the week was our class trip to the Sterts Theater for a fabulous puppet show. It was so awesome to see all the children so engaged and its was joy to watch their tiny eyes light up with wonder!

Finally, a very well done to:
> Sofia for getting the Ready Award for her diligence and hard work, especially during Literacy lessons.
> Ivy for getting the Respectful Award for always being polite and kind.
> Jimmy for getting the Safe Award for listening to and following instructions, and keeping safe during our trip.

The festive season is in full swing, and our team has been busy bringing the magic of Christmas to life! This year's play takes us on a nostalgic trip back to 1963-a time of classic charm, timeless traditions, and unforgettable music.  Alongside the creative buzz, we've also been diving into the world of circuits. Our experiments have focused on how changing variables-like resistance, voltage, and current-affects overall performance. It's been fascinating to see how small adjustments can lead to big differences in functionality. We've also been sharpening our troubleshooting skills, identifying potential issues.  Here we set the challenge to draw a "broken circuit" and then our partner had to "fix" it.  You have to look closely for the broken wire and the double wire in the pictures. 

Here's what has been going on at Harrowbarrow this week:



Speak Out. Stay Safe.
Following their assembly and workshop on the theme of speaking out to stay safe, Class 4 children created eye catching posters which will be put up around the school to signpost children to Childline should they ever need to talk to someone. I ran the workshop with Class 4 and was really impressed with the maturity they displayed during discussions about the types of abuse young people can suffer and how to keep themselves safe.



Infant Theatre Trip
This week, I had the pleasure of accompanying the infants to Sterts to see a performance of The Ugly Duckling, which was brilliant and, judging by the looks on the children's faces, thoroughly enjoyed by all of them. For children to see stories brought to life through drama is such a powerful thing.

Design Technology
Thank you to those parents who were able to attend the exhibition of soft toys made by Class 4. Weren't they good? Next up, Class 3 are continuing work on their model pavilions. If we have time, we will be inviting parents and carers to come and see the finished work in another after school exhibition.

Father Christmas
In a change to our usual routine, Father Christmas won't be visiting Harrowbarrow before the end of term but don't worry, he is still planning to visit everyone on Christmas Eve! Instead of supporting Santa's visit with a gift for the children, the Parent Staff Association will be sponsoring a special event at the school in the spring term - watch this space!

Contacting the School Office
Please note, Amy Souch works in the school office from 8.30-1.30pm Monday to Friday. At all other times, the office will be unattended. However, we have staff listening for the doorbell and answer phones messages will be picked up by Lesley Connell, who gets an alert on her iPad when one is left.

Where possible, we try to promote local events and activities that are beneficial to our school community. Here are a few things you may be interested in:

Holly Jolly Christmas Fair - always popular with our families



Kelliwik Mini-Kickers - a football opportunity for reception and Year 1 boys and girls



Barnardos Young Carers



Plymouth Argyle - their first team might be having a terrible season, but the club are still running a number of community opportunities!



Flu Immunisation - Cornwall NHS are seeing a spike in flue cases this year. Immunisation rates have been low so, if your child missed out, you can access this through a community clinic:



For more information: 01872 221105 or email kernowhealthcic.schoolimmunisation@nhs.net 

As we approach the last few weeks of the autumn term, our focus moves to Christmas. However, there is still lots of non-Christmas related activity taking place across the school to share with you.

Multi-sports at Callington College
Yesterday, Class 3 took part in a multi-sports event at Callington College. Originally planned as a tag rugby event, the organisers had to change this due to the weather. Throughout the afternoon the children engaged in a series of activities led by sport leaders from the college. These students introduced games the children could play where they competed against each other. The afternoon concluded with a dodgeball competition. The children were brilliant throughout, participating with enthusiasm and appearing to have lots of fun.



Cross Country
Well done to all our runners who took part in the race last Friday. It is great to have so many children wanting to race. I must give a special mention to Jacob Bloye, who finished second. This is highest position a Harrowbarrow runner has achieved in over a decade, so well done to Jacob. Will we see a first by the end of the league season?

Rocksteady
Joe Spurrell from Rocksteady has been doing some brilliant work with our young musicians. Fortunately, they are keeping the volume low so the rest of the school are able to carry on working without feeling the need to spontaneously get out of their seats and start dancing!



Class 4 Parent Carer Invite
Class 4 have completed their sewing in DT lessons. On Tuesday 2nd we invite Class 4 parents and carers to an exhibition of their children's work immediately after school. The children will be very proud to show you their finished soft toy and the journey they have been on to learn about the different stages of designing and making in textiles.



Knitted Nativity
Today, Judith McQuillin from the local community presented a knitted nativity set to the school in our weekly assembly. Last year, at the church Christmas tree festival, Judith's work was on display and I commented on how lovely it was. Picking up on this comment, Judith has kindly knitted an entire nativity scene and given it to the school. This is very generous and we shall treasure it for years to come. It will now have pride of place near our  Christmas Tree in the corridor outside classes two and four.



Staffing Update
Just a reminder that our new school administrator Amy Souch starts in the school office on Monday. Amy comes from working in a secondary school office so joins us with lots of valuable experience.

Dog Fouling
Thank you to those parents who drew my attention to the recent spate of dog fouling on the pavement in front of the school. I have put a sign up to encourage dog owners to be responsible but, if this issue persists, please let me know and I will think about further action we can take.

Early finish
A reminder that, in line with other Bridge schools, we finish at 1.30pm on Friday 19th December. The spring term starts again on Tuesday 6th January.

We've had an exciting week full of learning and creativity! In Science, we've been exploring circuits-discovering how electricity flows and what makes a circuit complete. Students have been experimenting with switches, bulbs, and batteries to see how everything connects. In English, our imaginations have taken flight as we write fantasy adventure stories inspired by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Everyone is creating their own magical worlds, filled with unique characters and thrilling quests. In Geography, we've been learning about migration-why people and animals move from one place to another, and how these journeys shape cultures and ecosystems. It's been a wonderful mix of science, storytelling, and global understanding. We can't wait to share more of our work soon!