Latest News

Finding Nurdles

Fri 15 Sep 2023 Mr L

Nurdles? Sounds as if it could be the name of a comic character in a Dickens’ novel. Well, nurdles aren’t so funny, albeit they are useful and, consequently, ubiquitous in our modern world.

Yesterday, we (Adventurers) ventured to Crooklets beach to meet Fiona, a member of the The 2 Minute Foundation and its Beach School Co-ordinator. The aims of the foundation are to see a world without plastic litter and pollution, and to inspire and to enable people to change the way they interact with outdoor spaces.

Fiona outlined the activities for the day. First, we undertook a two-minute beach clean. The beach was divided into three sections, with a group allocated an area. Unsurprisingly, we were looking for plastic waste, in particular nurdles. The best place to find nurdles is along the strandline.

So, what is a nurdle? Nurdles are pellets of plastic, each less than 5mm in diameter and weighing around 20mg. It is from nurdles that plastic items are made; for example, it takes about 600 nurdles to make a small plastic disposable water bottle. Unfortunately, not only do the finished products end up in the oceans of the world but so too do nurdles.

Each year, an average of over 200,000 tonnes of nurdles end up in the oceans, circulating for decades, eventually washing ashore – at the moment, they seem to find Scotland’s coasts particularly attractive places in which to end their oceanic odysseys.

Our next activity was exploring the rock pools of the inter-tidal zone. We were delighted to see that these were teeming with life. We were even lucky enough to find some Beadlet anemones and some Strawberry anemones; also, we found a rare Pink velvet crab lurking in one of the larger pools. After lunch, we tested our map-reading skills.

Fiona had placed some painted stones at various locations on the beach and our task was to navigate our way to them. As well as a picture painted on it, each stone had an interesting, ocean-related fact written on it. For example, nineteen out of every twenty animals on the planet lives in the oceans; and over half of the oxygen produced on Earth evolves from phytoplankton in the seas.

Our day on the beach in Fiona’s company was an interesting learning experience. We look forward to increasing our knowledge of pollution and recycling over the next few weeks as Fiona leads an after-school club.

To coin a phrase: every little helps!

Leavers' Ball 2023

Tue 11 Jul 2023

This year's leavers, joined by some of their classmates from Year 5, forgathered with family and friends at the Falcon Hotel for the inaugural Leavers' Ball.

The Year 6s sang songs, recited poems and recounted some of their memories of their time at Whitstone, provoking many to reach unashamedly for the boxes of tissues. Each leaver was presented with a book. The formalities over, it was time to request that tearful family and friends left so the party could get going in earnest. After a delicious meal, the dancing began.

The Big Sing

Tue 27 Jun 2023 Mr L

Members of the school choir joined hundreds of other pupils from a number of primary schools from across the length and breadth of Cornwall in the Hall for Cornwall in Truro to be part of an inclusive celebration of music called The Big Sing.

Over the weeks, in preparation for event, the school choir has been practising the songs that comprised the repertoire for the event. The singers were supported on stage by some of the talented members of the Cornwall Youth Choir and some accomplished instrumentalists from the Cornwall Youth Orchestra, aided and abetted by leaders Matt and Angela.

We arrived punctually at the Hall for Cornwall and were ushered to the row of seats in the auditorium allocated to us. After introductions had been made to the musicians on the stage, we performed some voice-warming exercises, which were followed by rehearsal of the eight songs we would be singing later in the afternoon.

After lunch, having jealously guarded our food from the squadron of piratical gulls that was flying sorties over the large pedestrian area outside the theatre, we returned to our seats, ready and fortified, to sing our hearts out in performance and make a concerted attempt to raise the hall’s roof. With almost all of the more than 1200 seats occupied with enthusiastic, exuberant singers, the result of all our efforts was a spiritually uplifting celebration of ‘community’ singing, in which it was undoubtedly the case that the total effect was considerably greater than the sum of the individual parts. Fortunately, the roof wasn’t ‘uplifted’ - but we definitely gave it good go!

It had been a long haul down and back to Truro, but it was a journey that was certainly worth undertaking, with the reward of an experience that will live long in our memories.

Plastic Pollution

Fri 23 Jun 2023 Mr L

Recently, we welcomed to the school Delia and John, who made a presentation at an assembly and led some class-based workshops. The theme of the assembly and workshops was plastic pollution, with the focus on the effects it is having on our marine environment.

Since their invention, the use of plastics has become pervasive – for obvious reasons – in our everyday lives. Eventually, left unprocessed, most items made of plastic naturally break down into smaller and smaller pieces. Unless carefully recycled, some of this plastic finds its way into the environment.

Some types of plastic, microbeads, are intended to be small. They are used in many health and beauty products (although the single greatest source of microplastic pollution is microfibres from synthetic textiles). Microbeads pass unchanged through waterways and end up in the oceans, where they can have a toxic effect on fish and other aquatic creatures.

So, what can we do? Simply, try to avoid using plastics where possible and re-use and recycle responsibly. Currently, scientists are researching effective and economic ways of removing micro-plastics from the environment.

Acorn Class visits the former home of Sir Francis Drake - Buckland Abbey

Thu 22 Jun 2023 Mr L

We (Acorn class) journeyed to Buckland Abbey, the former home of Sir Francis Drake. Sir Francis is famous for his part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada and for being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.

In the education centre, we dressed in replica clothes of the period of the first Queen Elizabeth and learnt how the Elizabethans would have formally greeted each other.

After lunch, we toured the main monastic buildings that had been converted into an impressive Tudor mansion.

Our thanks to the two National Trust volunteers who looked after us on our visit.

Porthpean Residential 2023

Tue 20 Jun 2023 Oak Class

This year, the residential visit was to the outdoor education centre at Porthpean, which overlooks the expansive St Austell Bay, on Cornwall's stunning south coast.

On arrival, we (Oak class) trooped to the beach where we had our lunch. After lunch, we went to the centre and were shown our accommodation – some rather glamorous pods. Having deposited our bags in our allocated pods, we were straight into our first activity: archery, in which concentration and hand and eye co-ordination are prime attributes. We’re certain that our archer ancestors would be proud of our prowess with the bow. After perforating the target with arrows so that it reminded us of a hedgehog, we moved on to our next activity – caving.

Although the caves we were exploring had been constructed at the centre, the experience was a realistic one, providing chambers, rises and falls, sumps and squeezes. The chambers were of different shapes and sizes, and to negotiate the claustrophobic tunnels linking the caves involved contorting the body into some odd shapes; flexibility was definitely an advantage. After emerging from the caves, blinking likes moles, it was time for our evening meal.

Having assuaged our hunger with a tasty curry, it was time for a silent disco. A silent disco? It's a disco where each of us wore headphones; a practice, no doubt, that was much appreciated by the neighbours!

Day two saw us returning to the beach, where we were going to kayak and paddle board. The session started with a beach-based briefing, learning all about lifting, launching and paddling. We were now ready to go on an adventure around St Austell Bay. We passed through archways, exploring sea caves and beaches that can only be reached by sea. We were lucky on our voyage to encounter some marine locals in the shape of a couple of grey seals. The day’s activities were rounded off with a game of laser tag.

All too soon, it was our last day at the centre. Our final activity was the high ropes, a challenge, literally and figuratively, on many levels. Amongst the elements we experienced were the leap of faith, the wobbly walkways, the zip wire and the alpine ladder.

The leap of faith involved scaling a ladder to a high, narrow platform with a swinging buoy. The bravest amongst us jumped off to kick or touch the buoy. The zip wire is a gentle introduction to a zip wire, launching onto a 100-metre-long zip wire from a four-metre-high platform - it proved to be great fun. The alpine ladder was something that many of us hadn’t experienced before. This is an exercise to develop team-work: one person climbs on one side of a wire rope ladder and another person climbs on the other side, each taking care to alternate where hands and feet are put.

We had a great time at Porthpean. We would like to offer a big thank-you not only to the instructors at the centre but also the members of our staff who organised the trip and came with us.

Writers' Workshop

Wed 17 May 2023 Mr L

We welcomed Sarah and Grace to school. Sarah led us (pupils in Key Stage 2) in a writing workshop. We created poems, wrote descriptions of settings and characters and fashioned imaginative narratives prompted by a variety of objects. It was an inspiring experience.

We've been to the zoo, zoo, zoo....

Fri 28 Apr 2023 Mr L

Seedling class enjoyed a fantastic trip to Newquay zoo.

Surf's Up

Mon 24 Apr 2023 Mr L

At Widemouth Bay, we enjoyed our first surfing session with instructors from Outdoor Adventure. During the session, we practised the techniques of body-boarding. Next time, we are looking forward to riding the waves on surf-boards.