Copper Valley Junior
Academy
Head's Blog
Latest Head's Blog
Weeks ending 16th January
It has been good to have a 'normal' week at school not interrupted by icy weather and high winds!
Football
Our mixed Y5/Y6 boys and girls football team were brilliant ambassadors for both schools when they played on the astro turf at Callington last week. They lost the first game by a small margin and the second by a bit more. However, everyone who took part had a great time and they played really well as a team. Thank you to Mrs Hannaford for organising everything and to parents for transporting the children.
Pulse Bus
Our Y5 and Y6 Pupils have been given an exciting opportunity to access the Pulse Bus for six weeks after school on a Wednesday. Run by the Oriel Ministries, the children have the opportunity to take part in some gaming, playing games, doing crafts, sliding, drumming and even climbing. In addition to this, all children attending get a delicious, free hot chocolate! The first session took place on Wednesday and everyone had a ball. I would like to publicly thank 'The Mustard Seed' in Callington who funded this experience for us at a cost of £3, 500.
Cooker at the Infant School
Thanks to your generous support of various fundraising initiatives and a kind donation from Mr and Mrs Myres (Great grandparents of pupils in our school), we have been able to buy a new electric cooker. This will enable pupils to fully engage in food technology. The old cooker has been broken for some time so we are delighted to have it replaced.
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Termly Round Up
Girls' Football Team
The girls football team represented the school really brilliantly this half term. Although they only played 3 out of their four matches (as one team did not turn up!!) they showed amazing fighting spirit, resilience and great teamwork. Thank you to Mrs Hannaford for training the team.
Eco Council News
Our eco council have been very busy this half term. Not only have they completed an audit to identify areas for improvement, but they have started an energy-saving mission in school. They encouraged families to take part in 'Cut your carbon month' in November and started a 'soft plastics' recycling scheme in school. At the end of November they carried out a 'litter pick' on Foster's field in Gunnislake. I look forward to what they will implement in the Spring term and beyond.
Staff Departures (and arrivals)
We are sad to say goodbye to Mrs Sam Gates, from the nursery and Miss Ellie Cunningham, from breakfast club and Year 6. Both are valued and well-respected members of our Copper Valley family and both will be sadly missed. Sam and Ellie are leaving to take up positions in our neighbouring school of Copper Fields. I am sure that you join me in wishing them the very best for the future. We hope that they will visit us often.
I am pleased to welcome Mrs Emma Deacon to Copper Valley. She will be joining us in the Nursery as Mrs Gate's replacement. I know that you will welcome her warmly to the school. She is no stranger as she is also a parent. Mrs Birkenshaw will be the year 6 teaching assistant, certainly for the immediate future.
Christmas Activities
It has, once again, been an incredibly busy build up to the Christmas holidays. Out Year 1 and Year 2 classes delighted audiences with two brilliant performances of 'Shine star, shine'. The Year 1 class also enjoyed a festive outing to the theatre to see Father Christmas.
A huge audience of families and locals were entertained at the Rifle Volunteer by some amazing singing from the pupils. They treated the audience to a selection of carols and Christmas songs. Thank you to Miss Owen for rehearsing them and to Mrs Trapp for conducting them on the day.
Many families enjoyed 'Breakfast with Santa' on Sunday 14th December. A big thank you to all staff who helped to make this such a happy and successful event, particularly Mrs Wright who coordinated the whole thing. Of course, thanks to Santa himself for giving up his Sunday morning at his busiest time of the year.
The fun continued during the last week of term with an excellent rendition of 'Wiggly Nativity' by the Reception children. Families attending really enjoyed it and the 'wriggling' raised many laughs.
Christmas jumper and dinner day was a great success. Thank you to Bex, our cook, who was ably assisted by Jaye to create a delicious lunch- some children went back for thirds! Thank you also to Mrs Wood and Mrs Penhorwood who gave up a few hours of their retirement time to help out.
Finally, we rounded off the term with a beautiful Christingle. Thank you to all of you who attended, what a magical way to finish!
Finally, I would like to thank you all for your continued support of the school. It is a pleasure to work with your wonderful children and watch them grow and develop. I also want to thank the amazing team of dedicated people who teach and care for all the pupils. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a very happy 2026.
Girls' Football Team
The girls football team represented the school really brilliantly this half term. Although they only played 3 out of their four matches (as one team did not turn up!!) they showed amazing fighting spirit, resilience and great teamwork. Thank you to Mrs Hannaford for training the team.
Eco Council News
Our eco council have been very busy this half term. Not only have they completed an audit to identify areas for improvement, but they have started an energy-saving mission in school. They encouraged families to take part in 'Cut your carbon month' in November and started a 'soft plastics' recycling scheme in school. At the end of November they carried out a 'litter pick' on Foster's field in Gunnislake. I look forward to what they will implement in the Spring term and beyond.
Staff Departures (and arrivals)
We are sad to say goodbye to Mrs Sam Gates, from the nursery and Miss Ellie Cunningham, from breakfast club and Year 6. Both are valued and well-respected members of our Copper Valley family and both will be sadly missed. Sam and Ellie are leaving to take up positions in our neighbouring school of Copper Fields. I am sure that you join me in wishing them the very best for the future. We hope that they will visit us often.
I am pleased to welcome Mrs Emma Deacon to Copper Valley. She will be joining us in the Nursery as Mrs Gate's replacement. I know that you will welcome her warmly to the school. She is no stranger as she is also a parent. Mrs Birkenshaw will be the year 6 teaching assistant, certainly for the immediate future.
Christmas Activities
It has, once again, been an incredibly busy build up to the Christmas holidays. Out Year 1 and Year 2 classes delighted audiences with two brilliant performances of 'Shine star, shine'. The Year 1 class also enjoyed a festive outing to the theatre to see Father Christmas.
A huge audience of families and locals were entertained at the Rifle Volunteer by some amazing singing from the pupils. They treated the audience to a selection of carols and Christmas songs. Thank you to Miss Owen for rehearsing them and to Mrs Trapp for conducting them on the day.
Many families enjoyed 'Breakfast with Santa' on Sunday 14th December. A big thank you to all staff who helped to make this such a happy and successful event, particularly Mrs Wright who coordinated the whole thing. Of course, thanks to Santa himself for giving up his Sunday morning at his busiest time of the year.
The fun continued during the last week of term with an excellent rendition of 'Wiggly Nativity' by the Reception children. Families attending really enjoyed it and the 'wriggling' raised many laughs.
Christmas jumper and dinner day was a great success. Thank you to Bex, our cook, who was ably assisted by Jaye to create a delicious lunch- some children went back for thirds! Thank you also to Mrs Wood and Mrs Penhorwood who gave up a few hours of their retirement time to help out.
Finally, we rounded off the term with a beautiful Christingle. Thank you to all of you who attended, what a magical way to finish!
Finally, I would like to thank you all for your continued support of the school. It is a pleasure to work with your wonderful children and watch them grow and develop. I also want to thank the amazing team of dedicated people who teach and care for all the pupils. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a very happy 2026.
Weeks ending 14th November 2025The weeks continue to fly by in the hectic run up to Christmas. Here is a round up of what we have been doing in school!
Bag2School
Thank you to all of you who donated unwanted clothing to the school. We raised £54 for school funds which is a brilliant amount. we will be repeating this collection in the New Year as many people have a 'spring clean' after the festive period!
Baby News!
Mrs Trudi Stephens, who is a Teaching Assistant in the ARC, gave birth to a little boy, Richard, on 24th October. He came very early (31 weeks) and was tiny but her is now doing really well. I know that you will join me in sending her and her husband huge congratulations.
Anti Bullying Week
This year anti bullying week ran from 10th - 14th November. All pupils learnt about strategies to combat any bullying behaviours that they may encounter and how to ensure that they themselves do not engage in these behaviours.
EYFS Open Evening
On 12th November we held an open evening for prospective parents for our Reception class from September 2026. It was lovely to meet these parents and 'show off' the school to them and explain the great opportunities which their children will experience when they attend Copper Valley.
Children In Need
On Friday 14th November the pupils dressed in pyjamas/spots/mufti for Children in Need. Thank you for supporting this great cause for disadvantaged young people. You will be pleased to know that we raised £128 for the charity.
Bag2School
Thank you to all of you who donated unwanted clothing to the school. We raised £54 for school funds which is a brilliant amount. we will be repeating this collection in the New Year as many people have a 'spring clean' after the festive period!
Baby News!
Mrs Trudi Stephens, who is a Teaching Assistant in the ARC, gave birth to a little boy, Richard, on 24th October. He came very early (31 weeks) and was tiny but her is now doing really well. I know that you will join me in sending her and her husband huge congratulations.
Anti Bullying Week
This year anti bullying week ran from 10th - 14th November. All pupils learnt about strategies to combat any bullying behaviours that they may encounter and how to ensure that they themselves do not engage in these behaviours.
EYFS Open Evening
On 12th November we held an open evening for prospective parents for our Reception class from September 2026. It was lovely to meet these parents and 'show off' the school to them and explain the great opportunities which their children will experience when they attend Copper Valley.
Children In Need
On Friday 14th November the pupils dressed in pyjamas/spots/mufti for Children in Need. Thank you for supporting this great cause for disadvantaged young people. You will be pleased to know that we raised £128 for the charity.
Latest Head's Blog
Week ending 17th October 2025
Mufti
Thank you very much for donating so many lovely items for the tombola and supporting this at the Harvest festival. We are going to put the proceeds of the tombola towards buying a gift for each child for Christmas.
Eco Council
You may have noticed this on our Facebook page, but we now have an Eco Council representing both schools. The aim of this council is to encourage everyone to reduce energy use and carbon emissions at a school level. We are also concerned with ensuring that the school environment is tidy and eco- friendly. Look out on here and Facebook for updates.
Harvest Festival
We held our annual Harvest Festival at the Infant and Nursery school on Thursday afternoon. It was a great celebration filled with lovey Harvest songs and beautiful poems, courtesy of the Year 6 pupils.There were lots of family members who were able to join us and we were delighted ablout that. We are grateful for all of the generous donations of food that you sent into the schools. These have now been delivered to the Callington Foodbank and will provide valuable provisions for families in need.
Honey Fair Art Competition
Although Storm Amy prevented the choir from singing at Callington Honey Fair, the children still submitted art for the competition. I am delighted to tell you that we won 3rd prize overall. We received at £50 cheque and we are going to be presented with a goodie hamper on Monday during celebration assembly. We done to everyone who created lovely art work.
Thank you very much for donating so many lovely items for the tombola and supporting this at the Harvest festival. We are going to put the proceeds of the tombola towards buying a gift for each child for Christmas.
Eco Council
You may have noticed this on our Facebook page, but we now have an Eco Council representing both schools. The aim of this council is to encourage everyone to reduce energy use and carbon emissions at a school level. We are also concerned with ensuring that the school environment is tidy and eco- friendly. Look out on here and Facebook for updates.
Harvest Festival
We held our annual Harvest Festival at the Infant and Nursery school on Thursday afternoon. It was a great celebration filled with lovey Harvest songs and beautiful poems, courtesy of the Year 6 pupils.There were lots of family members who were able to join us and we were delighted ablout that. We are grateful for all of the generous donations of food that you sent into the schools. These have now been delivered to the Callington Foodbank and will provide valuable provisions for families in need.
Honey Fair Art Competition
Although Storm Amy prevented the choir from singing at Callington Honey Fair, the children still submitted art for the competition. I am delighted to tell you that we won 3rd prize overall. We received at £50 cheque and we are going to be presented with a goodie hamper on Monday during celebration assembly. We done to everyone who created lovely art work.
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Week ending 3rd October 2025
Year 3 Half Marathon
The weeks continue to fly by. This week the Year 3 children have been running laps of the field during their break and lunchtimes. They ran enough lengths to complete a half marathon. Thank you to those of you who sponsored them in this endeavour. All sponsorship raised has raised money to pay for their upcoming trip to Wildwood.
Bag 2 School
In the next week or so we will be sending home some Bag 2 School bags for you to fill with your unwanted items of clothing, shoes, towels, handbags etc. These bags need to be returned to school by first thing on 6th November. Thank you, in advance , for your support with this.
Honey Fair
Sadly, the choir's scheduled performance at Honey Fair on Saturday was cancelled, due to the weather conditions. Thank you to Miss Owen for preparing them - what a shame they were not able to perform.
Individual Photographs
The school photographer will be visiting the Infant and Nursery School on 16th October to take individual and sibling photographs. If you would like younger siblings included in these photographs then you can bring them into school from 8.15am. These photographs will then be returned in time for Christmas as they make excellent presents!
Mufti
This Friday (10th October) is a Mufti day. Children can come to school in non-school uniform. We ask for a donation of a prize for either an adult or a children's tombola. Thank you.
Year 3 Half Marathon
The weeks continue to fly by. This week the Year 3 children have been running laps of the field during their break and lunchtimes. They ran enough lengths to complete a half marathon. Thank you to those of you who sponsored them in this endeavour. All sponsorship raised has raised money to pay for their upcoming trip to Wildwood.
Bag 2 School
In the next week or so we will be sending home some Bag 2 School bags for you to fill with your unwanted items of clothing, shoes, towels, handbags etc. These bags need to be returned to school by first thing on 6th November. Thank you, in advance , for your support with this.
Honey Fair
Sadly, the choir's scheduled performance at Honey Fair on Saturday was cancelled, due to the weather conditions. Thank you to Miss Owen for preparing them - what a shame they were not able to perform.
Individual Photographs
The school photographer will be visiting the Infant and Nursery School on 16th October to take individual and sibling photographs. If you would like younger siblings included in these photographs then you can bring them into school from 8.15am. These photographs will then be returned in time for Christmas as they make excellent presents!
Mufti
This Friday (10th October) is a Mufti day. Children can come to school in non-school uniform. We ask for a donation of a prize for either an adult or a children's tombola. Thank you.
Latest Head's Blog
Week ending 12th September 2025
We have made it through the first full week back at school.
It has been so lovely to see all of your lovely children again- haven't lots of them shot up during the summer!
They have all settled very well into their new classes and are getting to know the routines of the classrooms and their new teachers and teaching assistants.
Meet the teacher
Thank you to those of you who were able to visit your child's class on Wednesday. The beginning of the school year is always a great opportunity to find out what the children will be learning and to visit their classrooms. I hope that those who came found it useful.
Y3 Bake Sale
Year 3 raised over £120 in the bake sale on Friday to help to lower the cost of their upcoming trip. The children had great fun with Mrs Speare and Mrs Birkenshaw baking a whole range of delicious delights- they even made an apple cake with apples picked from the Reception class garden. Thank you to all parents who also donated cakes and supported the event.
Newsletter
You should have all received a copy of the latest school newsletter, via email last week. This gives you important dates coming up at school, including all term times and INSET days. There are paper copies available in the foyer of the school.
Holiday Requests/Absence
A reminder that you need to complete a holiday request form if you wish to take your child out of school during term time. Time off during term time is only authorised for exceptional circumstances and if you do take your child out of school this will be an unauthorised absence, If your child is absent for a period of 10 or more sessions/5 days within any rolling 10 school week period then a penalty notice can be issued. Unauthorised absences are also recorded for a child when a parent does not provide the school with a reason as to why the child is absent. There are leaflets in the school foyer with more details about penalty notices.
Mufti
The next mufti day is on Friday 10th October. Pupils do not need to wear school uniform on this day. We ask, in return, that they bring a tombola prize which would be suitable for either an adult or a child.
It has been so lovely to see all of your lovely children again- haven't lots of them shot up during the summer!
They have all settled very well into their new classes and are getting to know the routines of the classrooms and their new teachers and teaching assistants.
Meet the teacher
Thank you to those of you who were able to visit your child's class on Wednesday. The beginning of the school year is always a great opportunity to find out what the children will be learning and to visit their classrooms. I hope that those who came found it useful.
Y3 Bake Sale
Year 3 raised over £120 in the bake sale on Friday to help to lower the cost of their upcoming trip. The children had great fun with Mrs Speare and Mrs Birkenshaw baking a whole range of delicious delights- they even made an apple cake with apples picked from the Reception class garden. Thank you to all parents who also donated cakes and supported the event.
Newsletter
You should have all received a copy of the latest school newsletter, via email last week. This gives you important dates coming up at school, including all term times and INSET days. There are paper copies available in the foyer of the school.
Holiday Requests/Absence
A reminder that you need to complete a holiday request form if you wish to take your child out of school during term time. Time off during term time is only authorised for exceptional circumstances and if you do take your child out of school this will be an unauthorised absence, If your child is absent for a period of 10 or more sessions/5 days within any rolling 10 school week period then a penalty notice can be issued. Unauthorised absences are also recorded for a child when a parent does not provide the school with a reason as to why the child is absent. There are leaflets in the school foyer with more details about penalty notices.
Mufti
The next mufti day is on Friday 10th October. Pupils do not need to wear school uniform on this day. We ask, in return, that they bring a tombola prize which would be suitable for either an adult or a child.
Weeks ending 13th June 2025
Latest Head's Blog
We are now truly fully immersed into the second half of the summer tern. The Year 1 children have been assessed on their knowledge of phonics and the Year 4 on their knowledge of multiplication tables. If you are a parent of a child in these classes you will be told how they got on in the very near future.
On Thursday night we held our annual art exhibition in the hall in the Infant and Nursery school. It was really well attended and we had some lovely comments from families about the quality of the art work. Well done to all of the pupils and thank you to the staff for helping them to achieve such high-quality results. Thank you to Mr Day who played his keyboard some brilliantly at the event and to Mrs Hannaford who ran the craft table on the night. Last, but not least, a huge thank you to Mrs Wright, who organised the event and displayed all of the art work and to Mr Wright who ran the bar and helped to put up the display boards. We made just over £200, which will be used to buy materials for both schools to support the development of the art curriculum.
A reminder that next week is sport's week. You will have received a letter from Mrs Hannaford detailing what is happening each day. The main event is the traditional sport's day next Friday (20th June) Parents are invited top come to watch and support their children , joining us for a family picnic lunch. Year 6 will be running games and selling various items in order to raise funds for their end of term treats so please bring some extra pennies or even pounds to support them!
The school choir will be opening the St. Ann's Chapel fete tomorrow (14th June ) at 12.00 noon. It would be lovely to see as many of you as possible there. We also have an awesome adult and child's tombola thanks to your generosity on the mufti day last week- thank you. We will also be selling toys and books. I hope to see you there! Have a great weekend.
Week Ending 16th May 2025
This week has mainly been about the Year 6 class who have been sitting their end of Key Stage tests AKA SATs. It was a busy week starting with a hearty breakfast in the dining room at the Junior school of cereals, toast, pancakes , brioche and crumpets! They then sat papers testing their spelling, punctuation and grammar, reading and maths (they had to take three maths papers!)
All of the children were impeccably behaved and were calm throughout.
Big thanks to the adults who helped to make everything go so smoothly- Mrs David, Miss Cunningham, Mrs Fraser, Miss Jenkins and Mrs Pearce.
Take a look at the photograph below which shows how happy the Year 6 were when it was all over!
We were absolutely delighted to share our recent Ofsted report when the final draft was finished at the end of last week. Some of favourite quotes from the report are: "Pupils at Copper Valley Infant and Nursery Academy are vibrant, confident and happy individuals. They flourish in the nurturing and respectful culture of the school." and "There is a clear focus on strengthening pupils' vocabulary and confidence in using language."
Thank you to all members of staff from both academies who supported each other to help to achieve this super report , to the parents who completed the parent survey and to the wonderful children at the Infant and Nursery school.
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Another busy week has passed at Copper Valley. On Thursday we joined the rest of the Nation to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe day. Some of the Juniors joined a webinar to learn about VE Day along with hundreds of other schools across the country. We talked about how thankful we were that we hadn't experienced what war was like and how important and precious peace is. We all enjoyed a picnic lunch in the style of a 'street party'.
On Friday the Year 1 class enjoyed a trip to Burrator and visited the Discovery Centre there.
The sun shone brightly in Callington on Saturday as they celebrated the annual Mayfest. This year the theme for the giant was flying creatures. We had a fabulous ostrich with an incredibly tall neck We also had some colourful bugs to dance around alongside our big bird. Thank you to Mr and Mrs Symons and Oli for helping to transport the ostrich to and from the school as it was no mean feat! Thank you to Ivy, Imogen, Charlie, Oscar, Sophie, Henry, Freya, Serena, Aria, Ethan and Logan who took part in the parade and represented the schools brilliantly. Additional thanks go to Miss Thomas, Mrs Wright, Mrs Cansdale and Mrs Symons for also taking part in the procession.
Recent fundraising efforts by your good selves has resulted in a new football kit for the upper juniors (The one which Mrs Pearce got for us is sized for the lower juniors.) I thought that you might like to see it being modelled by some Y4 pupils - who will soon be upper juniors!
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Weeks Ending 2nd May 2025
It has been a busy first two weeks of the summer herm. Both Year 4 and Year 5 have had trips to Cotehele. Year 4 took inspirations from this beautiful setting to create some poetry whilst Year 5 explored the wildlife found in the orchard and the pond. They also received complimentary comments from the general public who were also visiting.
On Thursday we had some fantastic volunteers from "Tavy Task Force". They worked tirelessly in the hottest day of the year so far. The result was a pond (at the Infant and Nursery school) which is now usable by the children Year 1 didn't waste any time trying it out (see the lovely pictures below.) Thank you to Ken Tripp for organising this for us.
We've had 27 donations in the last 30 days, thanks to our supporters using #easyfundraising when they make online purchases! Please keep up the good work, your donations are very appreciated. It's never too late to sign up and help us if you haven't already. Plus, join today and we could win a £250 donation: https://join.easyfundraising.org.uk/copper-valley-infant-and-nursery-academy/4wkcsu/c2s/128FF5bb/CE949/facebook/27
Thursday 8th May is the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. Pupils can come to school dressed in red, white and blue. There will be lots of opportunities to learn about VE Day during the day.
I hope that you all enjoy the bank holiday.
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Weeks ending 4th April 2025
Latest Head's Blog
What an absolutely jam-packed last two weeks of term it has been.I am delighted to let you know that we raised £229 for Comic Relief- thank you to all of you who donated generously to this worthy cause.
It was the last matches of the Callington football league and our team had a great evening where they won a match and then lost one. I was very impressed with their sporting behaviour and superb teamwork.
The Reception class visited Ferry Farm at Calstock last week and had an amazing time meeting a whole host of interesting animals.
This week we were visited by Plymouth Argyle, featuring some of their players, including one of the trainers who is an ex pupil of Delaware. Pilgrim Pete also made in an appearance. Pupils from Y3 to Y6 wore Green mulfti and raised £40 for Project 35 which supports families living in poverty in Plymouth.
Miss Owen and Mrs Birkenshaw accompanied some of our Year 3 and Year 4 pupils to Songfest. They represented our schools so well and really enjoyed the experience.
This week we also had Ofsted at the Infant ands Nursery School to check that we are still a good school. Once the report is published we will share the findings with you. I want to publicly thank all of the staff and pupils for showing the school at its absolute best.
Finally, some of our Y4 pupils took part in the Bridge Schools Alternative Sports Day which took place at Looe Primary Academy. Mrs Hannaford accompanied them and the amazing news is that we won the competition! What a perfect end to the spring term! I wish you all a restful Easter holidays with your fantastic children.
Weeks ending 21st March 2025
Red Nose Day and more!Thank you to those of you who came and supported us at the Jumble Sale at the Junior school a couple of Saturday's ago. We raised over £240 which has gone to the Junior base to invest in some equipment for the children to use at break times.
Some of our Y3 and Y4 pupils were busy last week helping to create the new giant for Mayfest which takes place in Callington on Saturday May 10th. Our Phoenix is all set to transform into a huge ostrich this year with some colourful bugs to accompany her!
Today (21st) was a very successful Comic Relief/Red Nose Day. We really appreciated your support with this event which is raising funds for good causes in this country and in Africa. The children really enjoyed coming to school in their pyjamas, dressed as superheroes or teachers!
The school council based at the Infant school did a fantastic job painting red noses on people and giving them superhero tattoos.
The brave school council from Year 5 and Year 6 were 'splatted' with 'pies'.
Once we have counted up the money, I will let you know what your generous contributions have raised.
Please take the time to sign up to the parental consultations which are taking place next week. I will be around on Monday and Tuesday after school if you would also like to talk to me - just pop into the office at the Junior school on the Monday night or the Infant school on the Tuesday night.
I hope that you all have a great weekend with your families.
Some of our Y3 and Y4 pupils were busy last week helping to create the new giant for Mayfest which takes place in Callington on Saturday May 10th. Our Phoenix is all set to transform into a huge ostrich this year with some colourful bugs to accompany her!
Today (21st) was a very successful Comic Relief/Red Nose Day. We really appreciated your support with this event which is raising funds for good causes in this country and in Africa. The children really enjoyed coming to school in their pyjamas, dressed as superheroes or teachers!
The school council based at the Infant school did a fantastic job painting red noses on people and giving them superhero tattoos.
The brave school council from Year 5 and Year 6 were 'splatted' with 'pies'.
Once we have counted up the money, I will let you know what your generous contributions have raised.
Please take the time to sign up to the parental consultations which are taking place next week. I will be around on Monday and Tuesday after school if you would also like to talk to me - just pop into the office at the Junior school on the Monday night or the Infant school on the Tuesday night.
I hope that you all have a great weekend with your families.
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Week ending 7th March 2025
A busy week at Copper Valley!
What an incredibly busy week it has been. On Thursday we celebrated World Book Day. It was so lovely to see so many children dressed up as characters from books. They enjoyed lots of stories being read to them during the day and loved discussing their favourite books.
Friday was a very special day as we held our first ever Career Fair at the Infant and Nursery school. Our Year 5 and Year 6 joined us for a day finding out about a range of jobs. The children found out, first hand, what it takes to become a vet, a health and safety consultant, a tanker delivery driver, a dog groomer, an engineer, a dog walker and Taekwondo teachers. Evaluations from the children were overwhelmingly positive and the adults leading the sessions were very complimentary of the pupils.
I would like to send a massive thanks to the volunteers we gave up their day to lead the sessions, all the staff for supervising the groups and a special thanks to Mrs Wright who, with Mr Wright, ensured that the appropriate risk assessments were in place for the event. Mrs Wright also contacted the participants and organised the complex timetable.
We hope that this will be an annual event as it was so valuable to see our children inspired by the adults from the workplace.
We ended the day with some Cornish dancing and a beautiful dance solo by Ivy Symons from Year 6.
Our enterprising pupils Bella, Harper, Georgia and Charlie made £55 selling drinks and cakes in aid of Gables animal shelter- thank you for supporting them and well done to you- what a lovely, thoughtful act.
I hope that you all have a lovely weekend.
Week ending 7th February 2025
Latest Head's Blog
At the end of last week some of our Year 3 and Year 4 took place in part in a multi skills festival. They all reported back that they had a great time and they represented the school fantastically.
Last week the Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 were treated to a special assembly about rivers and science - delivered by two scientists (Alice and Reg) from Exeter University. The children learnt about the ways in which scientists test water quality in order to keep our river water safe. The Year 4 class are going to be taking part in a Freshwater Monitoring project with a focus on the River Tamar in Gunnislake.
Congratulations also to a group of our Y4 children who represent the Junior school in the Bridge Dodgeball Tournament at Callywith College. Mrs Hannaford and Mrs Pearce, who accompanied them to the tournament, were so impressed with the ways in which they showed excellent sportsmanship throughout the competition. Mrs Hannaford also accompanied our mixed football team to the Arena tournament in Callington where they lost one match and drew the other. Fantastic effort to all!
Pupils from Year 5 and Year 6 learnt some of the important basics of First Aid this week. They learnt how to operate a defibrillator and perform CPR-. They were rewarded with some lovely certificates, which were presented during Friday's celebration assembly.
Thank you to all of you who sent in your unwanted clothes for the Bag2School initiative. We raised £30! Thank you also to those of you who have already signed up on the Easy Fundraising website www.easyfundraising.org.uk. every time you shop online through this website you will make money for both schools and it won't cost you a penny extra!
We are collecting Easter egg donations for the children in Petrykivka, Ukraine. If you are able to donate an egg then can you send it into school by 26th February.
Wow are now collecting any unwanted items for a Jumble Sale to be held in the Junior base on Saturday 8th March.
A reminder that Friday 14th February is an INSET day and the school will not be open for pupils on that day.
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Week ending 24/1/25
Head's BlogAs we reach the end of a busy couple of weeks I just wnated to let you know about some of the highlights and some reminders.
Year 2 enjoyed a fantastic trip to Ferry Farm in Calstock last Friday. They really enjoyed learning about the animals on the farm and exploring different habitats. This visit was linked into their Science learning about different types of habitats.
The Year 3/4 football team, with their wonderful coach Mrs Hannford, travelled to the local Arena School League on two occasions. They showed great improvement in their playing and scored some fantastic goals. Mrs Hannaford is delighted with their progress. I want to publicly thank Mrs Hannaford for, not only coaching the team, but also driving them to fixtures in the minibus.
A couple of reminders about how you can support the schools with some recent fundraising initiatives. Firstly, we are collecting unwanted cloths, shoe, handbags etc. for Bag2school. These items can be sent into school in bin bags. Please send any bags into school by 4th February.
Do you shop online? Amazon,? Supermarket delivery? Buying insurance? If so, you can help to support the schools in one easy step. Just sign up to www.easyfundraising.org.uk and look for the school. There is no charge to do so and every time you shop you raise funds for the school as long as you remember to visit the easy fundraising website first. Your items will not be more expensive by shopping in this way. We already have 23 supporters but it would be great to have more. etc.
We still discover lots of unnamed uniform/drinks bottles/hats in lost property. To try to alleviate this we have teamed up with 'Tiger Tags'. If you visit their website at www.tigertags.co.uk you can design labels for your child (either stickers or iron-on) They are competitively priced at £12.95 for 52 labels or only £16.95 for 52 iron-on labels and 52 stickers (see photograph below for an example.) For every order you make and link to the school with code 5577, the school will receive £1.
I hope that you all enjoy the weekend.
Year 2 enjoyed a fantastic trip to Ferry Farm in Calstock last Friday. They really enjoyed learning about the animals on the farm and exploring different habitats. This visit was linked into their Science learning about different types of habitats.
The Year 3/4 football team, with their wonderful coach Mrs Hannford, travelled to the local Arena School League on two occasions. They showed great improvement in their playing and scored some fantastic goals. Mrs Hannaford is delighted with their progress. I want to publicly thank Mrs Hannaford for, not only coaching the team, but also driving them to fixtures in the minibus.
A couple of reminders about how you can support the schools with some recent fundraising initiatives. Firstly, we are collecting unwanted cloths, shoe, handbags etc. for Bag2school. These items can be sent into school in bin bags. Please send any bags into school by 4th February.
Do you shop online? Amazon,? Supermarket delivery? Buying insurance? If so, you can help to support the schools in one easy step. Just sign up to www.easyfundraising.org.uk and look for the school. There is no charge to do so and every time you shop you raise funds for the school as long as you remember to visit the easy fundraising website first. Your items will not be more expensive by shopping in this way. We already have 23 supporters but it would be great to have more. etc.
We still discover lots of unnamed uniform/drinks bottles/hats in lost property. To try to alleviate this we have teamed up with 'Tiger Tags'. If you visit their website at www.tigertags.co.uk you can design labels for your child (either stickers or iron-on) They are competitively priced at £12.95 for 52 labels or only £16.95 for 52 iron-on labels and 52 stickers (see photograph below for an example.) For every order you make and link to the school with code 5577, the school will receive £1.
I hope that you all enjoy the weekend.
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Week ending 10th January 2025
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
Welcome back to school and 2025! I hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas with your families. I wanted to thank you all for supporting our Christmas events last term- it was so wonderful to see so many of you- especially at the magical Christingle and Carol Service.
You will remember that back in October we asked for donations so that we could make up some shoe boxes to send to Ukraine for the children to open at Christmas. Calstock parish council have arranged a twinning between this area and a town called Petrykivka and have sent us some lovely photographs of the children with their boxes. They send a huge 'Thank you' to everyone who donated items to give them a lovely Christmas surprise!
Look out for the latest newsletter coming to you via email soon- it contains dates for this term and details of fundraising.
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Latest Blog 9th December 2024
After a wild and stormy weekend, it has been a calm start to the week! A big thanks to you all for supporting our Rainbow Multi day on Friday. We had some generous and innovative coloured items and we are busy putting them together to make some gift hampers (take a look at the photograph of the red hamper above.) We will be raffling these on the final day of school with proceeds going towards some sensory equipment which we are going to install in a special space at school.This can be used if pupils need a quiet space to be calm if they are feeling angry/anxious and the classroom environment is just too noisy/bright/busy for them. Personally, I am currently favouring the purple hamper as it has lots of purple themed chocolate!
Year 6 spent a morning at Tavistock college in the art department where they worked with some of the students to create a wonderful hanging bird. They used a wide range of techniques to create these birds including sewing and printing. They also received some very positive feedback about their exceptional behaviour- well done Year 6- you are great ambassadors for the school.
Thank you to those of you who braved the winds on Sunday to have breakfast with Santa. There was a lovely festive atmosphere and the children (and the adults too!) enjoyed meeting Santa in his special grotto which has magically transformed back into the Infant school's stage- those elves must have been busy yesterday! Over £280 was raised by this event. This will also be used to furnish sensory spaces in both schools.
We are looking forward to the postponed Carol singing at the Rifle Volunteer on Saturday 14th December at 4.00pm.
Week ending 29th November 2024
Football Stars
A huge congratulations to Mrs Hannaford and her amazing Year 5 and 6 football stars. They took part in the Bridge Schools Football Tournament at Callywith College last Thursday. They won their heat and came second overall. They were also commended for their sportsmanship and manners- well done you are all superstars!
A reminder that there are parental consultation meetings this week. You can make an appointment with your child's teacher via Seesaw.
Thank you to those of you who came to the Christmas Kahoot Evening. Great fun was had by all and it was wonderful to see so many of you in attendance. A huge thanks to Dave Cunningham of Dave's Chip Stop who provided the food at such a generous discount.
Please see below for our fundraising newsletter which details how much money has be raised so far and what we have spent it on/intend to spend it on.
You should have received information about the 'Breakfast With Santa' event being held at the Infant and Nursery Base on Saturday 7th December. We hope to see as many of you there as possible.
We are looking forward to the Rainbow Mufti event on Friday 6th December. See Seesaw and Facebook for more details.
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Week Ending 22nd November 2024
Celebrating Copper Valley
Well we have had out first snow day closure of the year. Thank you for your patience with regards to decision making. It was a very tough one to call as the snow only really started to fall just before 6.00am and the weather forecast predicted heavy rain by 10.00am. In the end I feel that closure was the safest option as we have several staff and pupils who travel some distance to get to the schools. I
Thank you to those of you who joined us for our celebration of Copper Valleademyy. It was lovely to see the different ways in which the year groups chose to share the history of the local area. I absolutely loved hearing the children sing the 'Copper Valley' song. A huge thank you to Darren Jane for composing and playing every instrument on the backing track and to Miss Owen for the thoughtful and very appropriate lyrics.
Don't forget that there will be a 'Kahoot' evening next Friday at 6pm at the Junior Academy. Tickets are only £5 per person which includes a 'chippy tea' of either sausage and chips or veggie spring roll and chips. Alternatively you can just play the quiz for £2. Orders and payment are needed by Monday 25th- either cash or card. Prizes for the winners!
Enjoy the weekend.
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Week Ending 15th November 2024
Thank you all so much!
Firstly, I want to thank you all so much for your amazing generosity with regards to the shoe boxes for Ukraine appeal. Your donations resulted in an incredible 38 shoe boxes being sent this morning to Ukraine with members of Calstock Parish Council. These gifts will make such a massive difference to the children who receive them and, will hopefully, help to make Christmas a little brighter.
Also, thank you for your donations for Children In Need - I will let you know how much we raised when it has been counted!
I want to congratulate the Year 3 and Year 4 girl's football team who represented the school so magnificently the last two weeks in the football tournament at Callington. Some of them had very little experience of playing in a team but they worked so well together. Thank you to their amazing coach and mini bus driver- Mrs Hannaford!
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the celebration of Copper Valley next Friday.
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