Weekly blog - 13th Feb 25

Just like that, we've reached the end of this half term and are halfway through this academic year! We've ended on a high this week with the hugely popular "Art Exhibition" on Tuesday. Thank-you to everyone who was able to attend and look through the amazing art that was on display. The children are rightly proud of their achievements, and it was great to let them share their enthusiasm for learning. We are looking at doing these events whenever possible to be able to share even more with you. Safer Internet Day was this Tuesday. The children learned about scams, how to recognise the signs and what to do if they think they have seen one. Online safety is key in our digital world, and we make sure we teach children how to be safe with technology. Obviously, they spend more time with you than in school and we have lots of resources on our website to help signpost parents and carers to expert help and advice if needed. World Book Day is fast approaching on the 6th of March and the librarians have decided that, along with dressing up as a favourite book character, they would like to hold a book swap. Children are welcome to bring up to 5 books that they would like others to enjoy and swap them with their classmates. More information on this will be forthcoming, but I wanted to give everyone a heads-up about the event. We are really lucky to be part of the Darite community - we have had several lovely comments about how amazing the willow structure looks after the trim last weekend. Thank you so much to Meika and the volunteers for taming the structure. We can't wait for the summer to be able to take learning outside event more. Everyone at Darite wishes you all a very relaxing half term-break and we are looking forward to to seeing the children back in school on Monday 24th February.

It’s been another great week at Darite! As you know, last Tuesday we welcomed an Ofsted inspection to Darite. It was a great opportunity to show the two inspectors what Darite is all about and how much of a special place it is to learn and work. I am delighted to be able to share their findings today as we have received their final report. I know many of you were keen to find out how school performed. As you may be aware, OFSTED no longer give overall effectiveness grades on schools who were graded “Good” before September 2024. We were graded “Good” in November 2019 and so OFSTED give these schools a judgement based on the actions that they have taken to maintain these standards. I am delighted to say that Darite has “Taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection”. We are so proud of the children, staff and parents who all contribute to making school so special and the children were amazing on the day – they were able to talk confidently with the inspectors and explain why Darite is so good. The final report is on our school website here and will be published on the OFSTED website by the end of next week. I wanted to draw your attention to some of the comments that the inspectors made in the report: “Darite Primary is a community-centred, warm and friendly school. Pupils form positive relationships with staff. This helps them to feel happy and safe. Children in the early years are confident and enjoy their time in school. Pupils conduct themselves well in lessons and around the school. The school has high expectations for pupils’ achievements. Pupils meet these and are successful in their learning.” “The school encourages pupils to share their views about school life… Pupils are passionate about the community and helping others. … many took part in a ‘reindeer run’ to raise money for charity. After being inspired by a visit focusing on recycling, pupils successfully requested the donation of litter picking devices to the school. Pupils also support the local food bank.” “In lessons, pupils focus well on their learning. They are keen to do well. Pupils respond quickly when staff remind them of the school’s high expectations of behaviour. Children in the early years thoughtfully plan which areas of the classroom to explore, for example the investigation station, creative area or small world. They concentrate for extended periods of time on these activities.” “As a small community, pupils of all ages play harmoniously together.” As you can see, there are some wonderful comments and the inspectors understood what it is like to attend a small school like Darite. Of course, we are always looking for ways to continue to improve and the inspectors gave us two ways that they feel we can improve on. One of these is to ensure that all children start their learning at the right place to make sure that progress is as good as it could be. We are already working on this with tweaks to the curriculum. The second one is to improve attendance for all pupils. You will know the impact absence has on progress and outcomes and we are working hard to reduce the absence in school. Of course, illness happens but we are keen to work with you all to reduce absence through other factors. I urge you to read the report and thank-you again for your continued support of the school and pupils. On Tuesday we also welcomed back Sarah from St Luke’s Hospice how came to share the giant cheque with us all to celebrate the amazing amount of money we raised as a school during the reindeer run. She told us that our money has helped to support a family in need at the hospice and this brought home the impact of the run that the children took part in. She is also arranging for their giant Elmer statue to visit school to let the children read to Elmer!

Weekly Blog - 17Jan 25

It really is never dull at Darite! Following the snow and ice last week, this week brought a visit from Ofsted on Tuesday! We were told of their visit on Monday and everyone in the school pulled together to really show what Darite is all about. We were so proud of all the children on Tuesday who showed our guests exactly what they do at Darite. We were all so proud of them all. We cannot share the outcome of the inspection at this time but as soon as we are able to, I will let you know how we got on. I would also like to express my thanks to everyone who was able to complete the survey sent out and give their thoughts on the school to the inspectors on the playground. Thanks also to those in the wider trust who were able to support the school this week. Darite is more than just a school, it is a true community. Also this week, Class 2 had their second session with the Eden Project and their healthy lunch competition. The children were buzzing when they saw the entry that the school won with shown to the other schools and work is well underway on this year’s competition. Class 1 meanwhile have been looking at Haiku poetry in preparation for entering a “Flyku” competition – more on this soon! Good luck to our cross country runners at Cotehele today. I can’t wait to hear about the event on Monday. 
Gardening Club were very privileged to be visited by Philip from St Cleer Gardening Club. He brought seeds and a lot of expertise! He showed us how to use cardboard tubes instead of plant pots and then we put them into half of a plastic bottle so that they can be kept hydrated. He will be back next month to help us plant runner beans, pumpkins and geraniums.

Weekly Blog 10th Jan 25

Firstly, a very Happy New Year to you all! I hope you all managed to have a good Christmas break with friends and family. I hope you all managed to stay well too with all the flu and winter viruses around. The children have loved telling us all about their Christmas fun from skiing, visiting friends, sleepovers and exciting adventures to meeting Father Christmas. It has made us all jealous! It may only have been a four-day week but what a week it has been! Class 2 had their first session for their "Eden Sustainability Lunch" challenge on Wednesday. They will be working with each other to design a healthy and sustainable packed lunch that could be taken to the Eden Project. This is the second time the school has entered, and we won a prize last time! The children are keen to keep up their winning streak. Our school council spoke very eloquently about their learning to a governor on Wednesday. I was blown away with their answers and reasons and made me proud to be a part of Darite. They spoke very positively about school and both Mrs Richardson-Calladine and I were very impressed with their understanding. Thank-you to the school council and to Mrs Richardson-Calladine for giving up her time talk to the children. Having their voice heard is so powerful. I am sure you all shared our disappointment with the necessity to cancel the pantomime trip yesterday due to concerns around safety of pupils and staff because of the snow and ice. I am sure you understand that such decisions are never made lightly and without careful consideration for alternatives. Thank-you for the kind messages of understanding with this difficult decision. Despite this, the children who were able to make it to school had a great day - Class 1 made the best snowman I have seen in many years and Class 2 brought the pantomime to Darite with their performances in the afternoon! We definitely have some future Oscar winners in school! Mrs Norris has already been looking at other opportunities for a trip soon. Last, but by no means least, I would like to welcome Mrs Nel to school. She is covering Miss Bawden’s maternity leave in Class 2 and lunchtimes. She is a familiar face in school, having volunteered last term but it is lovely to welcome her formally. Of course, we wish Miss Bawden well with her maternity and when we hear from her, we will let you know! This half term is short but full of activities so please keep checking the diary and website for details. Thank-you from all the staff at school for your continued support of Darite. Have a lovely weekend and we will see the children back on Monday. 

Hard to believe that we have reached the Christmas holiday! This term has been a long one but the learning, attitude and kindness to each other has really showed the caring nature at Darite. The children have done so well this term with all the changes to the school structure and the learning has again been superb. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support of the school. There is a lot to tell you about the last few weeks, starting with Class 2's collaboration with Trenode last Wednesday as part of their geography work. They walked to the moor to find the start of the river Seaton and were joined in this by Mr Abraham and his class from Trenode Academy. The children made friends and the children at Darite really enjoyed showing the visitors around the area. They looked at the mine workings and how humans have affected the physical geography of the area with spoil heaps, dams to create the donkey pool and the pits in the South Caradon mine. The children had a great time and were superb ambassadors for the school and themselves. It is great to have chances to work closely with other schools in the trust and we have already put plans in action to visit Trenode and Blisland later in the year. The nativity performances were, as always, stunning with the children giving their all in both shows. As I said on the night, Christmas in a primary school is a magical place and time and shows like this week's are a prime example of why we all love what we do. Thank-you to everyone who was able to come and watch the show. The whole school had a warm- up last Wednesday when we sang to the Darite Village Lunch Club. The comments from the members were amazing with some comments of "What a pleasure to see happy children singing so well." and " Thanks to Darite School (pupils and staff) for the festive singing". Darite really is a special place to be! In addition to these things, our Reindeer Run also made the Cornish Times. Click the link here to view the story about the "Prancing Pupils" charity efforts. Thank-you also to the PTFA (and Father Christmas) for making the Christmas Fayre such a memorable event. Christmas is a magical time and having Father Christmas come to visit also made it really special. Thank-you to everyone who was able to come and spend their money on the arts, crafts and games last Friday. Between the fayre and the reindeer competition, the PTFA raised an amazing £358.30! This money will really help current and future children at Darite. The annual Christmas lunch on Wednesday was delicious as always. The children were able to enjoy a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and there were some very full up children in the afternoon! Thank you to the wonderful Lisa for her hard work in making the meal so special again. To cap the term, the class parties yesterday afternoon were fun packed and full of laughter, fun and food! Thank-you to those of you who were able to donate food - we has so much that we were able to have another snack this morning! As you can see, Darite is always a special place to learn and work. On behalf of the staff at Darite, I'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a relaxing New Year. Whatever you choose to do, I hope you are able to relax with friends and family. Just a reminder that Monday the 6th is an INSET day and we are looking forward to seeing the children back on the 7th. Have a wonderful holiday, Mr Whipps. Have a wonderful holiday.

Weekly news 06 Dec 24.

It really has been a fantastic week at Darite this week. We started even before Monday with the Liskeard Lights Up festival. Lots of children (past and present) and their families proudly showed off the lanterns that they had made in the club after school. The photos looked amazing and it was wonderful to see the flag flying for our school. Thank-you to all the staff and families who made attendance at the event possible. We continued with our Reindeer Run in aid of St Luke's hospice on Wednesday. 39 children running around the playground in festive antlers made everyone smile and we managed to raise an enormous amount of £292.15 so far for the hospice. I know they will be grateful and the children should be proud of their efforts in the run. A huge thank-you to all the parents, carers, neighbours, relatives and acquaintances who sponsored the children so generously. The money will make a huge difference to the hospice. As you can see, another great week at Darite. Please stay safe and dry this weekend with the Amber warning and we’ll see everyone next week for the penultimate week of the autumn term. Just a reminder that school finishes at 1.30 on Friday 20th along with the other schools in the trust. Staff will be on site for the afternoon undergoing training but please can you let us know if you will be unable to collect your child at 1.30. Have a safe and good weekend.