Good morning everyone, An auspicious day today with Remembrance. The eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. I know everyone will find time today to remember the fallen. Our Trust English Lead Dani Towe has pulled together the two projects outlined below for our schools to be represented in France to commemorate Wilfred Owen and his poetry from the First World War; as well working with The Eden Project to allow our children’s work to be seen at COP26. Big projects to extend thinking and learning for the children and us as staff. Thank you to the school staff involved - you have put Bridge Schools out there on the world stage, demonstrating our commitment to these important issues

Poetry and poppies across the seas - Wilfred Owen Poetry Project: Linking Cornwall to Ors, France:

Last week, poetry created by pupils at Polperro Primary Academy and St Cleer Primary Academy was celebrated in a very special international project led by Dani and Sally Crabtree (international poet and official ambassador for National Poetry Day). Sally took the poems to be exhibited at the Wilfred Owen Museum in Ors, (see below) which is built upon the site of the forester’s house where Wilfred Owen hid in the cellar and wrote his last letter home to his mother the night before he was shot in 1917. The poetry also formed part of a special commemorative ceremony for the lead up to Remembrance Day. French pupils read out some of the poems in an evening concert attended by the local mayor, those serving in the forces and members of the Wilfred Owen Museum. The poems focus on the experiences of the soldiers in the trenches in World War 1 and are inspired by learning about Wilfred Owen and reading the poems of the great war poets, who used poetry to record the events and emotions of that time. 

We are very proud of the children’s work; the project really has shown the importance of cultural exchanges and creativity within a global pandemic. Having helped to draw the project together with Sally, we have worked with teachers and students who have shown real talent and creativity, as well as great empathy for the feelings of those brave soldiers. It was wonderful that Sally stayed in touch from France, sending through photos and clips of the ceremony that could be seen by the pupils in each school. It is also testament to the resilience and courage we have seen in our schools over the past 2 years that we can still come together to mark these important occasions – from different schools, in different geographical areas – with students of different ages; united in their determination to express the reasons why we remember the most poignant moments in history, and are thankful. 

Whilst all 90 poems from Bridge Schools are now in France on exhibition, Sally also judged the top 3 entries from each school and the winners will receive their prizes later this week.

Our collaboration with Eden takes us to Glasgow’s COP26!

Following the success of our large-scale collaborative project with Eden in the lockdowns based on ‘The Lost Words’, Eden have since taken it to be showcased at the ‘mini Eden’ built for COP 26 in Glasgow.

Our young ‘Eden Ambassadors’ (from Wadebridge, St Cleer, Duloe and Polperro) are now ‘teaching’ children across the world how to research like scientists and write pieces or create illustrations that contain an environmental message. Bran Howell (Eden) who is attending the event with Sir Tim Smit, has been talking about and promoting our project to many this week, including the Chilean President (Photo 3 below) and Sky Youth News. The majority of the children who took part in the project during lockdown have also had their written work featured on the resource. Here is a reminder of the webpage on the Eden website featuring the Eden Ambassadors and the work of those who took part in writing or drawing a piece for the project last year: https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/school-lesson-plans/found-words

We are all very proud of the work the children have produced and how articulately they conveyed the messages about conservation. 

Take some time today to remember and then reflect on those things in your life which make you feel fortunate.

Take care everyone.
Best wishes,
Adrian Massey - Chief Executive