​Sarah from Devon Wildlife Trust took the Wildlife Champions litter picking around the village. They collected a range of different types of rubbish and recorded this on a tally chart. Look out for their posters about rubbish which will be coming soon. 

Thank you to our friends at Open the Book for sharing another Christian story from the Bible - this story was about the birth of Baby Jesus and the preparations which Christians make in the lead up to Christmas. Each child has been gifted a book from the Chapel which tells them more about the Christmas Story. 

It was great to be joined by so many families on the walking bus - not only was it a refreshing way to start the day but also helped ease congestion in the village. 

The Red Team worked collaboratively to create a life sized, red Pudsey Bear. The older children were great role models to the younger children and everyone supported one another allowing the group to flourish. 

It was a fantastic afternoon at Simmons Park Cross Country with our friends from the Moorland Hub. A brilliant effort from all the children that represented us. We won both the year 3 and 4 and the 5 and 6 cups! Well done to all that took part and thank you to all the parents for your support! 

Our friends from Open the Book told us a Christian story from the bible - the moral of the story was to be grateful for our family and friends. We were very proud of William who volunteered to take the role of Jesus in the story.

To mark the start of the new academic year, every child in the school read the book 'The Dot' and painted their own dot. The Dot, written by Peter Reynolds, is a wonderful picture book that encourages children to try new or challenging things, to explore their creativity and to have confidence in their abilities. A great book to spark discussions about our ambitions as individuals and a school for the coming year. We look forward to seeing all of the children flourish this year just like the character in the book. 

We talked about our school ethos ‘With Respect and Ambition we Flourish together’. The children came up with ideas of what they thought the 3 different words mean. We also created class rules and the children made links to our ethos with their ideas.

With so many children and staff leaving Bridestowe School on the last day of term, Barn Owls made sure it was a lovely day of celebration and fun.
It began with an impossible staff quiz, where KS2 pupils had to guess which staff members had done certain things, e.g.:
1) never lived anywhere other than Devon
2) had recently become a grandparent (Mrs Reid had to strenuously point out that, despite appearances, she was too young for this to be her!)
3) had ridden an elephant
4) had appeared as a 'supporting artist' in "Poldark"
5) own hundreds of records and a broken record player
6) had flown in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, etc.
(Answers below)
Then Barn Owls went to the park for a play before Year Sixes enjoyed their final lunch at Bridestowe School.
After lunch was the Leavers' Service at the Chapel, including some absolutely beautiful singing by the children, orchestrated by Mr Arnold, and some farewells.
Rosa treated the class to her excellent violin-playing while the parents had tea and cakes in the playground (teas kindly supplied and provided by Mrs Floyd-Walker).
The parents and families joined us in the classroom for the Leavers' Video (which had refused to play with sound in the Chapel), and then it was time for Mrs Reid to wish everyone well, and say goodbyes.

Which staff member quiz answers:
1) Mrs Harris
2) Mrs Joliffe
3) Mrs Down
4) Mrs Reid
5) Mrs Houghton
6) Mrs Sharland

On the final Monday of term, parents and carers had the chance to view the brilliant work Miss Spooncer has been carrying out with her troop of cheerleaders at their after school club over the past months.
It was an impressive performance, and the level of challenge and attention to detail was evident. Many thanks to Miss Spooncer for all of her dedication to the pupils and their work.

With Mrs Lowden in the driving seat, Year 6 headed to Bude last Thursday, in thankfully good weather, for a trip to the beach. 
After arrival, we met with Tamsyn, the RNLI Lifeguard, for a refresher on sea and swimming safety, and some useful information about Summerleaze Beach at Bude. 
Izzy, Charlie's sister, had brought her volleyball, and her skills, so we played in the pool and on the beach. The lifeguards at the Sea Pool also lent us bodyboards to play with. 
When everyone started to get cold, we returned to the beach to have lunch. After a good feed, we played in the sand, Arabella bearing the brunt. As well as more volleyball, we played a slightly overly-competitive game of rounders, which saw Mrs Lowden push the boundaries of sportsmanship.
Mrs Reid treated everyone to an ice cream on the way back to the minibus. Thanks to Miss Spooncer, we had a good singalong in both directions, depending on your definition of 'good' (see Y6 Leavers' Vid for more elaboration).
Thankyou to Mrs Lowden for skilful driving, photographing and organising, Miss Spooncer for all her fantastic support, effort and enthusiasm, and to Izzy for being brilliantly helpful.

Year Sixes enjoyed smores and relaxed and reflective conversation for their last Forest School session with Rob on Monday.

On the 26th June, Y4 & Y5 from across several MAT primaries met at Simmons Park to set off for their Menadue Residential (this also happened to be Miss Spooncer's, Mr Pearson's and Mrs Reid's daughter's birthdays).
After settling in to their tents and facilities, the children took part in a range of activities and events on the site, including songs around the bonfire. 
The second day took us to Polzeath for a beach day and surfing lesson, which was hugely enjoyable. The dam-building to block the river was an impressive joint engineering undertaking.
Despite the variable weather, the trip was a chance to learn a lot and have some great fun, and the setting, overlooking Trebarwith and Tintagel, was spectacular.

The children confidently presented their home learning to their peers. 

The whole school were treated to a circus workshop led by Circus in Schools. The children had the opportunity to experience a range of activities including juggling, plate spinning and stilt walking. Not only was the day a fun way to end the academic year but also an opportunity for children to develop co-ordination, confidence and self-esteem. The children showcased their skills to families at the end of the day. 

We managed to find a break in the weather this week for Year 6s, who worked so hard towards their SATs tests, to have the treat of cakes that they had been promised. The dedication they've shown to their learning over the past two years has been hugely impressive, and the chance to celebrate it in some sunshine was a lovely way to mark the achievement. We were honoured to have Miss Shingleton with us as a guest.

Mrs Findlay came to work with Barn Owls this week on some extremely practical and useful strategies for dealing with challenging and stressful situations. In an engaging and informative session, Barn Owls had the chance to use musical instruments and even foam balls and straws to experience how each of us could feel when under stress, and then how we could alter our breathing to help us manage those times.
Mrs Findlay talked about the brain and the sorts of responses we could experience when we feel worried or uncomfortable. The children could identify and describe the responses they may have felt on different occasions. 
It was a fun and varied session that gives all of us a wealth of ideas for future use when we may feel unsettled or overwhelmed. Many thanks to Mrs Findlay for giving her time for the class, and for the toys and activities provided.

Barn Owls were honoured with a visit to the class by Eden Houlberg from Tavistock College. For her EPQ project, Eden is working to reduce the stigma and to remove any shame associated with menstruation. She talked to Barn Owls about periods and menstruation in an extremely engaging and informative way, for which we are very grateful.

Barn Owls enjoyed their final PE lesson (and the last one ever for Years 6s) with Mr Pugh by playing an electric and very closely fought rounders match. Attentive fielding and accurate throwing made for a very competitive game.

Children came dressed in rainbow colours to celebrate inclusivity. During our assembly we explored the fact that we are all different and it is important to be kind to everyone. 

Our Y6s spent 2 days this week learning about cycle and road safety, most earning their Level 2 award. Marghitta and Shaun made safety the first priority, but also worked with the children to build their confidence and awareness of travelling on the roads. Marghitta was adept at making the occasional adjustment to bikes to make them more rideable.

Barn Owls were successfully coached in the rules and techniques for triple jump by Mr Pugh this week. Again, the focus was on bettering each person's or each group's best distance, rather than competing against each other.
Naturally, shade was found when needed.

Athletics season is now here, with lines painted on the field, and dry, fine weather upon us.

This week in PE, Barn Owls worked on techniques for improving sprinting. Mr Pugh coached us in starting strategies, what body positions to aim for at different points in a race, and how to finish. Arthur and Edith are demonstrating the Olympic 'lean forward' in photos below, and suitable arm positions and stride lengths are being used by pupils.

We also had the chance to time runs, so that each could try to better their times. Lots of pupils reported aching thighs after the lesson (but they still ran laps for the Oke 13).

Mrs Joliffe has been with us for Music since Easter, and we have learned some WW1 and WW2 songs and compared them. We've also been looking at and learning about pitching and notation. Mrs Joliffe has remarked on the impressive singing by the class.
On Friday, we also had the chance to begin learning notes on the ukelele.