It's been a busy week at Darite again. The trip to the Cornwall Museum yesterday was brilliant. The children had a great time learning about childhood in Cornwall and the toys that were played with. They have come back with some amazing knowledge that will be really helpful in their learning. The sponsored triathlon is also taking part today. The children are really excited to take part and the number of bikes and scooters is testament to their fitness. Thank-you to everyone who has managed to sponsor the children. Every penny raised will be used to support the learning and providing experiences for the children at Darite. Stay tuned for the final total. Thank-you to the PTFA for their support in running the event too. It has been a wonderful start to the term and we are always looking for ways to make Darite even better. We are again looking at interest for extending wraparound care at Darite. There will be a message going home in the near future asking for your feedback including if you would use it, how often and then when you would need it for. Once we compile the responses, we can look at how we can support moving forward. Finally, can I politely remind you that children should not be using the trim train before or after school. This is a safety and insurance issue and, like you, we want to keep the children safe during the school day.

It has been a rather soggy week this week but the children have been able to brighten up the school with their smiles and positive attitudes. It has been busy with photos, clubs and learning but the children have worked hard in their learning. Next week sees the sponsored triathlon on Friday and the whole school trip to the Cornwall Museum in Truro on Thursday. Sponsor forms went out for the triathlon this week. All children will be able to take part and every bit of money raised will go towards supporting the school and children. Can you please ensure that you have given permission and paid the donation for the Truro trip on Parent Pay. If we do not receive enough payments to cover the cost of the trip, we will unfortunately need to cancel. Finally, as we get into the new year, can I please ask everyone to continue to respect the residents who live around the school. This is particularly true at drop-off and pickup times as it is sometimes hard for them to move cars with parents parking on the zig-zags outside of school. This is for safety of the everyone in our community.

Our first full week of this academic year has been wonderful with lots of learning, smiles and positive attitudes. Children have settled into their new classes fantastically and have been supporting new children wonderfully. As we start the new year, could we please remind you to keep us updated with any changes to address or contact details. It is important that we are able to contact someone about the children at any point of the day in case of emergency. You are able to do this yourself by logging into Arbor or, through the office. There are a few interesting and exciting things coming up over the next few weeks. The calendar on the website is up to date with current events so please make sure you check in regularly. Clubs start next week and they are proving popular as always. Please make sure that you let Mrs Norris know if your child would like to take part. Photos are next week on Monday. As it is PE for all children, we are asking that they come in uniform and then change for the afternoon session. I have been asked to bring your attention to Pam Adam's piano lessons. This year she has space for her in-school lessons. If your children are interested, please let the office know. We also have been sent information from the Marine Biological Association (who worked with the Lego team last year) that their Rock Pool festival is being held next weekend at Porthpean. There are leaflets in the noticeboard and outside the office if you are interested.

We are all delighted to welcome you and your children back for another brand-new year. We also welcome new families to Darite I hope that whatever you and your family got up to over the break, you were able to find time to relax and enjoy the weather. It has been amazing to hear the things that the children have been up to and the places that they have been able to go over the summer. This year at Darite promises to be another year full of exciting learning, fun activities , new challenges and memorable experiences for the children at Darite. The staff and I have been working hard on preparing engaging and fun lessons designed to help every child enjoy school and achieve their very best. It was wonderful to see the children being excited about being back yesterday and to have to opportunity to speak to you on the playground. We really appreciate and value the partnership that we have between home and school and the positive impact it has on supporting your child's growth and success in school. We are always happy to help and are looking forward to working closely with you again this year. PE will continue to be on Monday so children will need to come into school in their kits. Class 1 will continue to have Wild Tribe on Friday and Class 2 will have a Wild Tribe day each term. We will be sending out club lists next week with a view to starting on the following week. 

This is the final full week of the academic year! It seems like only yesterday, we were welcoming the children back in September! We have had a full final week to finish this term. Before we even got to school on Monday, we were celebrating our winning entries at the Liskeard show! You may have seen the art and crafts that we entered at the weekend, and we were delighted to bring home not one but two first-prize rosettes for the third year in a row! Congratulations to all the children! On Monday, the weather (mostly) played ball for our sports day. The children had a great time trying the different games and activities, finished with the tradition that is the Year 6 Round-School Run! Thank-you to everyone who was able to come and cheer the children on! Tuesday saw the whole school have a great day at Hidden Valley. The children loved the maze and the mansion and worked hard at solving the puzzles. Thank-you to the PTFA for funding the coach and keeping the cost of the trip down. Their support for activities and fund-raising is invaluable and we thank their members for their continued support of the school. We were all star-struck on Wednesday with Class 2's amazing performances of "I'm an 11-year-old - Get me out of here!" The children have worked tirelessly - learning lines, positions and the songs and it all came together for two brilliant performances. We have some understudies step in last-minute and were amazing. Thank-you to the children for their hard work and to everyone who supported with learning lines and costumes. I am still processing the video of the performance, but this will be available on request next week. Finally, this afternoon as you read this, the children will be enjoying the summer disco! An opportunity for them to celebrate their successes this year and look forward to the summer as well as, in some cases, the next steps on their journey to secondary school. A reminder that, along with the leaver's assembly for Year 6 on Monday, next week the children can be collected for the holiday on Tuesday at 1.30. Can you please let us know if you are unable to collect your children at this time. Have a fantastic weekend and we're looking forward to seeing the children on Monday for the final few days.

Welcome back after the half term break. Although the weather this week hasn’t felt like summer term, the whole school had a brilliant Wild Tribe Day on Wednesday, learning art, survival skills and teamwork! It was great to see the children working so well together. It was lovely to see babies and toddlers at Mini Miners on Tuesday. They were enjoying the soft play, arts and crafts and the other toys on offer. Remember, if you or anyone you know have children from birth to 4, pop along each Tuesday for a natter, play and some refreshments in the school. We have been invited by The Morrab Library in Penzance to give children the chance to enter a short story writing competition. There is no theme so the amazing writers at Darite can let their imaginations run wild. There is absolutely no expectation for children to take part but, if they want to, the details of the competition and prizes can be found here. Going out today is a short letter with details of the classes and staffing next year. I am pleased to say that there are no changes to the structure this year and the school continues to go from strength to strength. Thank-you for your support this year – Darite is a very special place to work and learn. Finally, it is with sadness that we wish Mrs Saberton good luck today as she leaves for her new role at Liskeard Secondary. She has been a pillar of Darite for many years and will be missed by the children and staff alike. I know you will join with us in wishing her the best and I know that the children going to Liskeard in Year 7 will already know a friendly face. Thank-you for everything you have done for the children. 

This half term has passes in what seems like a flash! This half term has flown by and has been filled with amazing experiences and learning. Thank-you for everything that you all do to support the school. I have had the pleasure in showing some new (and returning) pupils and parents round this week and all of them have said what a special and friendly place Darite is. We know it but it is fantastic to show others. Thank-you to you and the children for making Darite so special. Highlights of this term include the Lego competition, the trip to Deer Park Farm, Mini-police, Parliament sessions and much more! Looking ahead we have swimming, sports day, plays, more trip and loads more still to come. Finally, it is with some sadness that I want to share with you the news that Mrs Saberton is sadly leaving Darite next half term. She is starting a new, exciting journey, supporting children at Liskeard school. She has been an integral part of Darite for a long time now as a teaching assistant, midday supervisor, friendly face and a listening ear and she will be greatly missed by us all. We are excited for her new role and know that she will be fantastic in this as well. I know our Year 6 will like seeing a friendly face in September too. I hope you will join with us in wishing her the best. I am delighted to let you know that Mrs Nel will be taking over in Class 1. She has been doing a wonderful job in Class 2 and knows all the children really well. We are lucky to be able to have such a strong team of staff at Darite. This newsletter is coming out on Thursday as we have an INSET day tomorrow. I would like to wish you all a relaxing half term and we are looking forward to seeing the children back on the 2nd June for the final half term of the year!

It's been another busy week with glorious weather and lots of outdoor learning for the children. Thank-you for sending children in with sun-cream applied and in bags so that they can re-apply it. We also ask that hats are also worn - it is amazing to be able to get out in the sun but we all want the children to be safe. This week was a big one for Year 6. They sat their end of KS2 SATs this week with tests in reading, grammar, spelling, punctuation and maths! Regardless of their results, each and every one of them gave 100% and their attitude during the week was fantastic. They all did amazingly and should be proud of themselves. Next week is the final week of this half term - it's flown! The staff have an INSET day on Friday so the last day for the children will be Thursday. Even though it is the last week of half term, we are still launching our new toddler group "Mini-miners". This will run in the hall each Tuesday from 9.45 until 11 and is a chance for children aged 0-4 to come along with their adults and enjoy some arts and crafts, soft play and much more. It is open to all and is free of charge. If you know someone who may enjoy this group, please let them know. We're really looking forward to seeing everyone next Tuesday.

The weather really has taken a turn for the better this week with the children able to take advantage of our amazing grounds. It's been another great week with lot of things going on to tell you about. Firstly I would like to thank everyone for their support of the Lego team who travelled to Harrogate last weekend to compete in the national finals. We were so proud of them to reach the final and were over the moon with the fact that they came 8th in the whole country in the coding section of the competition. We could not have done it without the support of the school community and it really shows what a special place Darite can be. To find out more details of this superb achievement, please look at the previous blog post Thursday saw VE day with the whole school celebrating the end of the Second World War in Europe. We learned all about the day, why it was special and why it still matters today. We also learned from a pupil that Jersey (one of the only places to be occupied by the Axis powers in WW2) has a "Liberation Day" holiday on the 9th as the news of the end of the fighting didn't reach the island until a day later. We also sampled some delicious flag biscuits to celebrate. We also welcomed Tom from the UK Parliament Engagement Program to KS2 this week. He came in to talk about the way parliament works, how laws are passed and why the building is so important. Thank you to Tom for giving up his time.