Creative: Art and Soul

By Isla and Elodie, Wadebridge Primary School

  Responsible: Polperro, Pilchards and Paint

By Jazz, Sophie and Bowyn, Polperro Primary School

  Curious: Dreaming of Dreams - Dahl Delights!

By Jasmine, Ruby and Will, Pelynt Primary School

At Pelynt Primary Academy, the children have taken part in a ‘rattwizzler’ week of arts, where they used lots of materials to create their own masterpieces and celebrate the ‘lickswishy’ worlds of the Roald Dahl books. Roald Dahl is known for his playful use of nonsensical words and the week has given the children a chance to explore many forms of ‘art’ – from sculpture to painting, drama, music and photography.

Class 4 created collages of the Roly Poly Bird from The Twits. You may not be aware that the Roly Poly Bird appears in several of Roald Dahl’s books, sometimes it’s with Muggle-Wump the monkey. The Roly-Poly Bird is large, with amazing coloured tailfeathers (you will see this in the photographs of the artwork the children have made). He has a blue body, a long neck and a crest on his head. It’s not a peacock!

Class 3 spent time, effort and creative skills making Fantastic foxes and studied Andy Warhol.

Meanwhile, Class 2 made sculptures of the bird and Class 1 did some amazing artwork based on James and the Giant Peach.

The new Headteacher, Ms Rich told us “We chose to do this in September because it’s Roald Dahl’s birthday and we wanted the children to experience the wonderful world of his stories”.

As Roald Dahl himself said in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams”. At Pelynt Primary Academy, we believe that creativity and curiosity are really important values because art, like music, grows our imaginations and changes our perspective on the world. Some of the classes have been linking the work to other art forms, including music and learning a song from Matilda.

As one of our Storyseekers (Ruby) also found, Roald Dahl was a firm believer in the power we must change things for the better. “Somewhere inside all of us there is the power to change the world!”

And don’t forget to stop reading because Dahl also said ‘If you’re going to get anywhere in life, you’re got to read a lot of books!”

  Determined: A Walk Back in Time

By Alice and Ellis, Darite Primary School

What makes Darite special? Well, the children at the school feel that part of its appeal is being so close to the beauty that surrounds the school: Bodmin Moor and the stories we can share with one another- both old and new, real and imagined. During a recent activity week, the children explored the local area, South Caradon mine and the ancient standing stones of The Hurlers. Here are some tales that captured our curiosity and our imaginations….

Moor day and school stay over (Friday 1st July 2022)

Heading out onto the moors, which are on the doorstep of Darite, the children sat on the damp grass, or mossy stones listening to a story about a 10-year-old boy who used to work in the mines. They were determined to follow in his footsteps and learn more about the past.

After bringing history to life in their imaginations, they ambled further down the steep stone hill to the slippery stones, crossing over the river Seaton and found a place to form a circle. They joined hands and walked around the circle, stepping through hoops: both large and compact ones, working together as a team. A little while after that, they were led up the precipitous and truncated incline and made it to South Caradon Copper Mine. Did you know that, in its heyday (the second half of the 19th century), it was the biggest copper mine in the UK? After more team-building games, the children headed to the New Phoenix Mine.

On their way back, they walked past Tony and Scrunch's house. You might ask, who are Tony and Scrunch? They are famous on the moors around Darite. Tony Trewin lived at the edge of Minions on Bodmin moor with Scunch his bull (who was allowed inside the house). They were famous online and made a short Facebook film. They lived together for over a decade. Ellis Hamilton said “Although Tony's health had deteriorated in recent years, he still got up every morning to feed Scrunch. It's this type of love and compassion that warms the heart. And what makes this story even more endearing is that the two seem to be completely content with the bare minimum.”

The film went on to win awards in 2019 for its telling of the bizarre tale of affection between species. A preview to the video shows Tony speaking soothingly to Scrunch, who appeared nervous around the cameras. Sadly, Tony has since passed away. According to Kivells estate agents; “Scrunch was looked after and allowed to stay and enjoy his home until he died of old age. He was also cremated, with his ashes being scattered next to Tony.”

The children enjoyed the walk back to school, collecting local quartz and flint.

The teachers had organised some wonderful activities for the evening and after pizza and games, a few people headed home. Those who remained moved into the wild tribe area and enjoyed time around the fire with stories, hot chocolates and popcorn.

Storytelling and listening to stories are an important part of our school life and days like this one go to show as Ms Godby-Blake told us that, “The storytelling throughout the day made the children genuinely come together as a class community, school community and appreciate their special place in the wider community”.

  Enthusiastic: Zorbs on the Moor

By Alice and Ellis, Darite Primary School

Darite is an amazing place to learn new things! We may be a small school on the moor but we have big adventures together!

The children finished last term with an activity week where they got to try many different activities and adventures. Here are just a few highlights…..

Zorb football

Did you know that Zorb football is an internationally popular game known to make adults feel like kids again! It’s played in giant inflatable balls that you enter through the top, then put your arms through the straps and hold onto the handles. Off you go! It can be enjoyed by any gender and age (‘Big Kids’ always welcome!)

After arriving, the class had some practice runs with the Zorb balls, just knocking each other down but being careful and responsible, so that no one would get hurt. They played one-one-one games and team challenges too. Following that, they enjoyed a game against the teachers!

One child reported that; “It was just like normal football, but without a goalie (and we could knock each other over to score goals!) A few people took things A LOT more seriously trying to score goals….It was great fun and really memorable.”

Mr Whipps (the Head of School) said; "Its good fun, but it’s a lot harder than you think!"

Adrenalin Quarry

Later in the week, Class 3 had to check in at Adrenalin Quarry for, what felt like, the best day of the year! They started the long journey of walking up the dreaded hill - everyone was moaning and groaning about how heavy their bags were and how hot it was! The view looked amazing, but we had no time to marvel it because they had to get to the go-karts! They all lined up sensibly for the safety briefing (rules and how to stay safe) listening carefully. Everyone was given a balaclava (for sterile reasons) and then they were taken down to the shelter to get our heads measured for our helmets. They were given a kart each, and then they all lined up at the start line, and off they went!! They sped around the track like Formula 1 drivers!

The action didn’t stop there. Next, they got kitted up in harnesses so that they wouldn’t fall off, and were strapped firmly to a zipline before being sent down. It took roughly around a minute to get over the whole quarry, but, it was very soothing, having the wind blow onto your face and hair. The views were spectacular.

On the last day of activities week, the children experienced an aqua-park. This involved 45 minutes of fun and inflatables in the lake, leaping into the water, chasing teachers and laughing a lot!

One child told us; “We feel so lucky at Darite – we have so many outdoors adventures for a small school on the moor! That’s why we are proud to be enthusiastic learners.. …we are always ready for a challenge!

  Excellent: Powerful Lessons Taught by Pilots

By Amy, Lola and Zenna, Blisland Primary School

On Monday, 10th October, the Key Stage 2 pupils from Blisland Primary Academy experienced a sense of real awe and astonishment at Bodmin Airfield. The children were split into three groups, led by teachers with highly trained pilots.

It was an extraordinary experience – the children were able to get up close to the planes and see them, both in the hangers and in the sky. Furthermore, they also got to sit in the planes and learn about the structure of how a plane is made, what the dials inside the cockpit do and how pilots control the planes. A Year 3 child told us, “I loved being able to sit in the new plane and I got to press some buttons, pull some levers and feel like a pilot!”

The pilots made sure that the experience for the children was both safe and a joy to take part in. There were also some wonderfully challenging booklets to complete. Pete White, who helps run the airfield and is a pilot, shared many facts and had a phenomenal knowledge about planes in World War 2. This was important because it helped the children with their work on World War 2 back in school. He also dressed up in an original World War 1 and World War 2 pilot’s uniform. One of the planes the children were able to take a seat in was over 70 years old.

Blisland children also got a sneak preview of a replica being built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Super Marine S5. You may not know that this plane was a 1920’s British single engine single seat racing sea plane. The Supermarine S.5 was designed by Reginald Mitchell. One of the Bodmin Airfield team explained that his father flew one of these into Mounts Bay and he has been inspired to help build the replica.

One Year 4 pupil told us that, “This was my favourite part of the day – seeing how a plane is built and how the wings are made with such delicacy.”

Did you know that members of the public are welcome anytime at the airfield? Pete White explained that children can go for a lunch there any time with their families at the weekend. Why not have tea and cake and watch the planes taking off? You might be inspired to learn to fly!

As it says on our main website, Bridge Schools ‘create learning environments where pupils can fly high!’

If you’d like to know more about the airfield, you can visit: Bodmin Airfield