Terraces Magazine 2022-23

MAGAZINE 2022-23

NURSERY | PREP | SENIOR | SIXTH FORM

TERRACES TRURO SCHOOL

Esse Quam Videri

AUTUMN TERM

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to parents, carers, guardians, grandparents, and friends of our School for joining us on this journey throughout the year and for entrusting us with the education of your children.

A special thank you goes to all Friends of Truro School and our alumni, whose loyalty and dedication continues to strengthen our School family. I also express my deep appreciation to the Governing Body, whose commitment and support empowers us all as we steer our School on its strategic path.

My sincere thanks go to all the staff that I have the honour to lead. The achievements and triumphs we read about in this magazine rightfully belong to the pupils, but they are made possible and inspired by exceptional staff. This is truly a collaborative effort.

I extend my gratitude to my leadership team for their invaluable wisdom and support, our teaching staff for their profound knowledge and unwavering passion for education, both within and beyond the classroom, and to all the operational staff whose dedication and often less well noticed, but equally valuable, service, ensures the seamless functioning of our school.

I take his opportunity to offer a special tribute to two remarkable colleagues who bid farewell to the School this last summer: Martin Palmer, who led the Music Department for an impressive 19 years, and Aubin de Gruchy, our beloved Chaplain for 21 years. Their contributions were rightly lauded at various events this summer.

Under Martin’s guidance, the realm of music at Truro School has undergone a remarkable transformation. Its resonance and prominence have never been stronger, a testament to his exemplary leadership and unwavering dedication.

Aubin personifies compassionate methodism – a warm and welcoming presence who radiates love and inspiration. We will miss them both.

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This magazine, however, is a celebration of our pupils and students, the young minds who epitomise a Truro School education. I acknowledge those who may not grace the pages of this edition – your contributions are equally valuable. You are an integral part of our school and community, for we are only whole when we are all together.

At the core of our institution is an education rooted in values. As we venture into an era where the careers of the future are yet to have taken form, and the challenges and opportunities of the modern world remain unpredictable, it is our values that serve as our guiding compass. More so than knowledge and grades, it is these values that will determine whether our impact on others and the world is positive. While knowledge is undeniably exciting, and transferable skills are essential, it is our values that define us.

This notion was at the heart of Wesley’s vision when he laid the foundation for schools like ours in the 19th century, and it holds just as true today. Throughout this last year, our focus was on the value of Compassion.

This is a call for us to respect and care for all, not only when reaching out to those we see as being in need or those we hold dear, but also in our day to day lives and in moments of disagreement or conflict.

It is an acknowledgment that we may not always see eye to eye with everyone, a fact of human nature, but that how we navigate difference is a reflection on our values. Differ with respect, tend towards trust, don’t default to doubt, cherish what we have in common, and celebrate diversity.

Every day within our school walls, as evident throughout this magazine, we see countless individuals who choose this culture of compassionate engagement and that fills me with optimism for the future. I find joy in this vibrant community, and am proud to be a part of it.

As we celebrate another remarkable year, I eagerly anticipate the many more that lie ahead, filled with promise, growth, and shared values.

Thank you, and here’s to our courageous journey ahead.

We witnessed numerous examples of this, from charitable endeavours to educational outreach in local primary and secondary schools, to the now annual Truro School Summer Festival, culminating in World Aims days and Speech Day. Compassion, however, should permeate our culture, not just be an occasional choice. In the wise words of a Chaplain with whom I have worked, commenting on one of the most renowned passages in the Bible, God does not call on us to ‘like’ every one of our neighbours, but to ‘love’ them.

ANDY JOHNSON HEAD OF TRURO SCHOOL

CONTENTS

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WITHIN THIS YEAR

A Year of Compassion at Truro School

AUTUMN TERM

28 81

SPRING TERM

Pre-Prep Life Prep Life Senior Life Sixth Life

6 12 22 34

42 46 64 70

SUMMER TERM

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Front Cover Image: Collaborative Portrait Painting Project: The 3rd Years at the Senior School painted pupils from the Pre-Prep and vice versa; see more portraits on page 139.

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Pre-Prep Life Prep Life Senior Life Sixth Life

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Pre-Prep Life Prep Life Senior Life Sixth Life

74 82 92 110

A Year in boarding

120

Sports Summary

126

Outdoor Living

130

ART AND DT

134

A Message from the Governors

146

92

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A YEAR OF COMPASSION

A Year of Compassion at Truro School

As the Academic Year draws to a close, so too does our focus, for this year, on the Truro School value of Compassion.

As a School value, Compassion can be summed up as the ability to understand and champion the needs of others in our community and beyond.

It is true too that our pupils, staff, parents and wider School community have also recognised the importance of finding compassion for ourselves.

Through this inner compassion, we can recognise the needs of others and have the energy and strength to support them accordingly.

This edition of Terraces is a celebration of that compassion, the highlights of which we will reflect on in greater depth here.

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Undoubtedly, the pinnacle of our celebrations has been the Truro School Festival of Compassion, held in June and July. Now in its second year of being, the Truro School Summer Festival has been a triumphant celebration of our School, with Sports Days, fetes, concerts, wellbeing events, educational lectures, films, plays, balls and Speech Days, all of which were underpinned by the thread of compassion.

As always, it was the staff, students, pupils and their families who were fundamental in bringing this festival to life and in creating the experiences we were able to share as a community.

One of the many highlights of the Festival was World AIMS Day. This was the culmination of a year of World AIMS (Action in Methodist Schools) activities, created to encourage the family of Methodist Independent Schools to look beyond themselves and consider the needs of the local and broader community.

Throughout the year, World AIMS inspires so many of our school activities, highlighted by our dedicated charity and sustainability committees and community and philanthropy partnerships, as well as our annual World AIMS day.

This summer’s event focused on supporting five local charities; All We Can, Cornwall Air Ambulance, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, St Petrocs, ShelterBox, and Why Why Why. Each charity was welcomed into school, enabling our staff and pupils to experience first-hand some of the critical skills that each charity might use during their day-today work. Alongside these sessions, there were fundraising, teambuilding and compassion-themed activities to inspire and engage our pupils.

Truro School‘s Community Action Group, led by Mrs Alford and Mrs Kenwood, has also been heavily active this year in supporting pupils with their wider charity projects and community projects.

A YEAR OF COMPASSION

Community Action Days are held termly throughout the year, with assemblies and fundraising to support charities that are close to the hearts of our pupils. The Umunthu Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Malawi aimed at improving the quality of life for people and their families living with HIV, is one such charity that was supported in this way this year.

In addition to our termly Community Action Days, each form group holds its own charity week, with the planning for this being a big part of tutor-group time.

Each form researches the charities they would like to support and, together, plan and promote a small fundraising event for their chosen charity, often in the form of a bake sale or other initiative.

This charitable work also thrives at Truro School Prep, and in the Year of Compassion, charity events have formed an important extra-curricular activity. Each half term, a different Year 6 form chooses a charity and activity to raise money. This TRURO SCHOOL

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sits alongside assembly work to look at the importance of charity and compassion, both locally and in the wider world.

One notable event from this year was the Curry Eating Challenge organised by 6JL to raise funds for the Cornwall Air Ambulance. Seven brave teachers agreed to participate: Mr Frewer, Mr Lord, Mr Goddard, Mr Piper, Mr Dove, Miss Raines and Mrs Sparkes. Pupils could bring in money for a chosen teacher; the more money raised, the hotter the curry they were challenged to eat.

On the day of the event, the curries, kindly donated by Daaku in Falmouth, ranged from mild to extra hot. With much sweating and trepidation, all teachers managed even the spiciest dish, a Naga made with fiery viper peppers. Whilst lots of fun was had, this charity event raised over £600 for Cornwall Air Ambulance.

We are pleased to have supported many local, national and international charities, having so far raised over

£11,000 this academic year for charities including ShelterBox, Macmillan, British Heart Foundation, All We Can, Truro Food Bank, Children’s Hospice, Educate not Mutilate, Cancer Research, St Julia’s Hospice, Women for Women International, Surfers Against Sewage and many more.

Our Year of Compassion has also seen a concerted effort to build links with our local community. This year, Truro School has hosted Primary Maths Days, a Career Fayre and a Primary Football Tournament, to name but a few events.

Once again, it is the community of staff, students, pupils, alumni and parents who make these events possible.

As we look towards the next academic year, the School will be celebrating the value of Courage. With so much gained from a year of compassion, we do not doubt that our School Community will once again rise to the challenge of celebrating this value in the very greatest way.

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AUTUMN TERM

Pre-Prep Life Sharing is Caring Mrs Banks and Mrs Stableforth have been helping the nursery children to practise sharing and teamwork skills this week. The class was divided into pairs, each being given a bowl of beads and one string between them. Working together they took turns to thread their beads onto their strings whilst practising communication, motor skills and sharing.

The pupils worked together really well and produced some beautiful beaded creations. They then went outside to practise their excellent ‘sharing’ skills in the garden.

Spots Galore for Children in Need Prep turned spotty in aid of this year’s Children in Need. There was spotty school uniform, Pudsey ears and even capes as children and staff raised money for this fantastic cause.

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Scootathon Fun Our pupils showed great courage and determination as they took to their scooters for this year’s Scootathon.

The groups completed a range of activities and races, all on their scooters, before taking on the challenge of riding some technical lines to practise precise balance and coordination.

A Busy Start to Term There were spadefuls of learning and fun in class as the first full week of term got underway, and there was plentiful play in Nursery as the pupils settled into their new surroundings and started to make new friends.

Roman Mosaics As an extension to their work on the Romans, Year 2 spent an afternoon in Art working on mosaic projects.

They chose their colour palettes for individually painted mosaic tiles, which formed part of a larger class mosaic project.

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Pre-Prep Life Shadows in STEM STEM club had a fascinating time when they learned all about light and dark and how they affect shadows and reflections.

The group then watched a short clip of a shadow-puppet show before discussing how they thought it worked.

Working on their own ideas, pupils then made their own shadow puppets, with inspired designs from unicorns and fish to rockets and ghosts.

They were all amazed by how their puppets transformed under torchlight and how they could make clever shadow effects by cutting shapes into their designs.

Science Curiosity Pupils had an exciting science visitor, where they curiously learnt all about the human body. Linked with their Tudor topic, the children looked at the importance of metal armour for protecting knights in battle as they explored the human body.

They learnt all about our vital organs and where they are located. They then investigated how long our intestine is and the weight of our brain, which surprised all the children! A big thank you to Sarah for coming in and sharing her knowledge with the pupils.

Horsing Around in the Pool Reception have been in the pool practising their swimming techniques with help from their teachers and their ‘noodle horses’. The pupils spent time working on their kicking techniques and balancing on their ‘horses’. The lesson culminated in a noodlehorse race across the pool where there were some outstanding jockeys and lots of laughter.

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Learning Through Play Play is a vital part of learning and our pupils were certainly working on lots of important skills.

In Nursery, the children were finessing fine motor skills during their daily dough disco. They then lined up beautifully and walked to lunch.

Reception made the most of the autumnal sunshine with a carousel of forest-school play activities, including clay modelling and ‘talking’ through a tube. Their forestschool topic has been investigating diurnal and nocturnal animals, and it was lovely to see some little clay and pinecone hedgehogs taking shape.

Some of our Year 1s were rewarded with outdoor play following a spelling and grammar assessment. In contrast, Mr Keveren had others mastering a tricky (but enjoyable) maths game to help them count upwards from any number. Fresh from their swimming session, the Year 2s practised their number ordering during their tablet maths time.

RNLI talk about Beach Safety Children were excited to meet Tom Kay, an RNLI crew member and volunteer on the St Agnes lifeboat, who came in to talk to them about lifeboats and beach safety.

The pupils showed great curiosity and could ask questions, try on the equipment, and even take home some RNLI goodies. They learnt all about RNLI rescue boats and how they get them from land to sea, and the special dry suits they wear to keep them warm and safe whilst they work. Thank you to Tom for coming in to share his knowledge and experience with us.

Paired Reading Supports a Love of Books Pupils from older years were paired with developing readers from younger years as paired reading sessions took place across School. Reading is a key skill that unlocks learning across all subjects and the pleasure of reading is never greater than when sharing a book with a friend.

Our paired reading sessions are designed to support developing readers across all year groups and to support inter-year peer relationships.

Big imaginations and the magic of reading were evident everywhere as favourite books and stories were read together.

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I-Spy Christmas It was lovely to welcome parents to this year’s early years play, I-Spy Christmas. The I-Spy Christmas play tells the Christmas story entirely through song and using the game I-Spy. A huge thank you to Mrs Banks and the early years teachers for making it such a memorable show.

And a huge well done to all of the performers, who were amazing!

Christmas Decoration Day Pupils and staff were full of festive cheer as the children participated in a carousel of Christmas activities.

Children created their own decorations including willow stars, made from our school willow and covered in bio-degradable glitter, paper baubles and snowflakes, and sparkling Christmas trees.

Alongside decorations, festive gift bags and cards were also made, complete with plenty of sparkles.

Tuneful voices were coming from another one of the classrooms with Christmas songs and dancing, and magical reindeer food, created with personalised boxes to store it in.

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Santa’s on Strike A big thank you to all the staff, Year 1 and 2 pupils, and everyone involved in the two brilliant performances of ‘Santa’s On Strike’.

It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa’s in a mood! He’s seen too many episodes of Supernanny and thinks children don’t deserve presents anymore, so he goes on strike! Mrs Santa and the elves show him snapshots of family life to show that Christmas is still a time of giving, caring and sharing. It was lovely to see all the children performing with such confidence and courage.

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Prep Life Excitement at the Start of Term It was lovely to have the site filled with activity again after the summer break as the pupils were welcomed back for the start of the Autumn Term.

Pupils made the most of the dry weather and took to the playgrounds to enjoy their lunchtime as they caught up with their friends.

It was clear that all the staff and pupils were glad to be back.

Exploring St Ives Year 6 had an exciting day as they travelled down to St Ives for a day of English and Art. The trip, organised by Ms Cadwallader and Miss Ashdown, allowed the children to explore their imaginations and understand how art and literature influence each other through the three activities.

It was a beautiful day spent in the glorious Cornish sunshine.

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Spots Galore for Children in Need It was great to see Prep children and staff embrace the spotty theme to support Children in Need this year.

From wearing spotty clothes to donning Pudsey ears and capes, their efforts to raise money for Children in Need were commendable and everyone enjoyed the day.

Curiosity in Co-Curricular Co-curricular activities are a big part of learning at the Prep, with a lot on the agenda, including gardening and art.

There was a hive of activity in the school garden as pupils spent the session potting crocuses and daffodils, ready to take home to nurture for the spring.

Meanwhile, junior artists were busy creating patterned boxes, with some planning to use them to hold birthday gifts and others keeping them to store their special things.

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Harvest Festival Pupils celebrated Harvest Festival in an assembly led by the Revd Aubin De Gruchy. They learnt about the importance of sharing through the Stone Soup story, where hungry travellers convince the people of a village to each share a small amount of their food to make a meal that everyone can share and enjoy. The pupils brought in donations for Truro Food Bank with Year 6 kindly organising the collections.

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Prep Life Year 4 Walking in the Sunshine Year 4 spent the day at St Anthony, walking in the beautiful sunshine. It was a glorious day and the pupils shared how much they enjoyed it, especially the picnic lunch!

An Afternoon of Netball The Year 6 girls travelled to Truro High School for an afternoon of netball with the hosts and Polwhele House.

The girls worked hard in all games, passing the ball into space and marking their opponents closely.

They showed great adaptability when a couple of injuries meant they had to swap positions, a true sign of good teamwork.

Winnie and Scarlett were nominated as players of the match by the opposition, but all girls should be immensely proud of how they played; their progression since the start of term was evident.

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Finessing Fencing Skills Our young fencers have been finessing their skills with instructor Nikolay.

The midi fencers group continued practising their all-important footwork, which included playing some fastpaced activities to get them thinking.

Meanwhile, advanced fencers have been learning new techniques to block their opponents. They put all they learned into play by the end of the session, where they could use what they had learnt in their fencing games.

AUTUMN TERM

Year 5 Bodmin Moor Walk ‘My favourite bit was having lunch at the quarry. It was nice to see the weather and be outside.’ Rowan, Year 5.

After a very soggy start in Truro, the clouds cleared away, and the blue skies appeared as the group arrived in Bodmin. The circular walk was rich in new experiences, with some children saying that they had never been to such a wild place before.

The children loved exploring the enormous granite slabs at the top, created over thousands of years by geological erosion. The Cheesewring was their favourite: seven granite slabs balanced on top of each other, with the smallest at the bottom and the biggest at the top.

Lunch was spent at Gold Diggings Quarry and the last stop was the most famous part of the walk: the ancient stone circles known as the Hurlers and the two standing stones called the Pipers.

Foodbank Visit House Captains visited the Truro Foodbank to deliver all of the goods collected by the School as part of the harvest festival; these totalled 279 kilograms, which equates to 168 meals for families.

They met with Nick, the foodbank manager, who gave them a tour of the distribution centre and shared the importance of their work there. The children had lots of opportunities to ask questions throughout, which they recorded on their clipboards to take back to school and share with their peers in an upcoming assembly they’re organising.

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AUTUMN TERM

Prep Life A Busy End to the Week It was a busy end to a busy week at Prep. Year 5 grappled with tricky homophones, while Year 3 looked at different strategies to help them with subtraction and Year 6 raced across the grounds to find control points in orienteering practice.

In DT, children practised their sanding, sawing and drilling skills as they continued making their boats.

Other Year 6s were busy writing up an exciting experiment using sodium hydrogen carbonate and ethanoic acid (or sodium bicarb and vinegar!) to create carbon dioxide fire extinguishers.

And finally, in humanities, Year 4s were busy researching recent earthquakes, finding them on Google Earth and then plotting them onto a map.

Determination on Display at Girls’ Hockey Festival Year 4 girls travelled to the hockey park at Plymouth Marjon for the annual hockey festival. Our team played three matches (consisting of eight minutes each way) against teams from Mount Kelly School, Stover School and Plymouth College.

What did the girls think?

‘I really liked working as a team.’

Alyssia ‘I enjoyed scoring a goal for the school.’ Florence ‘It was a great to be chosen as player of the match by the other team.’

Tilda and Ellie 16

European Day of Languages The children gathered to celebrate European Languages Day, starting off with an assembly celebrating the many different cultures we have in our School. A video was shared of pupils and staff speaking over 15 European languages.

At break time, there was a languageinspired treasure hunt where the children matched up Spanish, German, French and English words. This was followed by a special themed lunch of German sausages, Spanish tortillas and French crêpes.

Thank you to all staff for making it a memorable day.

AUTUMN TERM

Fun and Learning as Clubs Commence Clubs and activities recommenced, providing a plethora of co-curricular learning and fun for our pupils.

The clubs offered to Prep pupils include football, Lego, German, art, sabre fencing, LAMDA and judo. Pre-Prep activities include sewing, threading, ballet and our favourite, ‘shark attack’.

Through our broad co-curricular programme, we endeavour to give our pupils a fun, varied and holistic education and the opportunity to try their hand at many different things.

Festive Feasting at the Prep The Christmas music was on, crackers pulled, jokes told and hats worn as Prep pupils tucked into a delicious Christmas Lunch. Turkey and all the trimmings were on the menu, with a Santa-hat-inspired cake or traditional mince pie to finish.

With thanks to all of our catering staff for putting on such a wonderful feast and to everyone who helped make the lunch feel so festive.

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Santas on the Run Truro School was awash with Santas as the children took part in the Santas on the Run event for Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW).

Dressed in their finest Christmas outfits, the Santas, along with elves, reindeer and other festive faces, started the course at the front of the School, collecting various items and navigating several obstacles along their way.

From throwing snowballs into a bucket, taking an Elfie Selfie, an ‘ice and spoon’ race and even playing in the snow, it was a joyful course of Christmas fun.

Helped by a fantastic team of Year 6 Sports Leaders, children from Nursery and Reception right through the school joined in to raise money for this important cause.

Well done to everyone who took part, and thanks to all of the staff and helpers who made it possible.

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AUTUMN TERM

A Visit from Father Christmas There were squeals of delight alongside sleighbells as Father Christmas arrived to greet the children at the front of Truro School Prep.

Santa having made his list and checked it twice, we can confirm that all of our fantastic pupils will be receiving gifts aplenty from Father Christmas this year.

Joyous Sounds at the Christmas Concert Parents, staff and pupils gathered at Truro Methodist Church for the annual Christmas Concert.

The audience was treated to a variety of poems and performances from the children, with the Brass Band, String Ensemble and a group of very cool Christmas rappers (or should that be wrappers?) performing Christmas classics like Jingle Bells and stirring songs like Arctic Home. The School choir wowed the audience with their moving rendition of ‘The Voice of an Angel’, directed by Mrs Renshaw.

It was a special occasion as it was the last Christmas performance with guitar teacher Mr Stevens, who retires this year. He has been with us since 1995 and will be dearly missed.

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Prep Life It’s a Wrap for the Year 5 Play The Year 5s took to the stage for their annual Christmas performance. The pupils performed ‘No One Wraps Like an Elf’ and delivered an outstanding performance of laughs, magic and plenty of Christmas cheer.

When the dastardly Smash and Grab threaten to ruin Christmas with their evil plan to kidnap Santa and unleash their cheap, plastic toys on an unsuspecting world, children from Truro School Prep and elves from Santa’s own workshop – not to mention the mysterious MINT spies – work hard to foil the plot.

Can they manage it in time to save Christmas? And will everyone realise what really matters at this time of year?

The show was divided into three parts, to enable each form to lead one. The story’s characters were rotated in each section to allow every pupil a starring role as the play progressed.

A huge well done to all of the performers who worked so hard.

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Festivities Flow at FTS Christmas Fayre A huge thank you to the FTS and volunteers for putting on a truly wonderful Christmas Fayre.

The hall was decked out with stalls, all suitably Christmas themed, with games including pin the red nose on Rudolph, knock the elf off the shelf and teddy tombola. Children were also busy getting stuck into crafts with a bauble decoration station and getting into the Christmas spirit with snowflakes and reindeer face paints.

Meanwhile, the other side of the hall was full of fantastic gift ideas and delicious Christmas food and cakes.

The event was complete with a magical grotto where children met Father Christmas and his elf whilst opening an early Christmas gift.

The Most Christmassy of all Christmas Shows Children were treated to a fabulous Christmas performance from Squashbox Theatre.

The aptly titled ‘Christmassy Christmas Show of Christmassy Christmasness’ is a celebration of everything Christmas.

Smashbox hosted three performances on Friday, to allow all of the children from Nursery through to Year 6 to enjoy the performance. It was wonderful to see the children laughing and joining in with the performers and to hear the hall full of Christmas joy.

With thanks to the Friends of Truro School and to Squashbox Theatre for bringing this fabulous performance to our school.

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Senior Life Welcoming Back WAAs Wednesday Afternoon Activities started again with a bang. The sun came out as pupils loaded onto minibuses for off-site activities including sea angling and surfing, while the classrooms were filled with fascinating clubs including psychology, physics, music theory, ceramics, textiles and even a Christmas fayre enterprise club in the DT lab.

Taking on BF Adventure The 1st Years and their tutors went to BF Adventure for a team-building day, an important part of our transition programme into the Senior School.

It was a delight to see the form groups come together as a team and embrace all their day had to offer.

A huge thank you to all of the tutors for supporting the pupils throughout their day, and particularly to Mr Aston for equipping them with vital first-aid skills.

Thank you to BF Adventure and all the great instructors for having us, and for giving the pupils a great day out!

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Fencing Showcase Our fencers showcased their talents to their peers this week following their successes at the recent Commonwealth Games.

The event was one of a range of ‘Sport Showcase’ events demonstrating the diversity of sports available to the school community and offering pupils the opportunity to try lesser-known sports.

The high-performance fencers put on an exciting and impressive display to pupils and staff who may be interested in joining them in the Salle, before teaching some fencing skills to the spectators, who could also try on all the fencing equipment and get a feel for what the sport is like.

Physical Computing Club 2nd Year to Sixth Form got to grips with MicroPython coding on Raspberry Pi Pico in Physical Computing Club.

Having spent time getting to know their Raspberry Pi Pico (a low-cost, high-performance microcontroller board with flexible digital interfaces) and understanding the basics of programming with MicroPython, our Physical Computer Clubbers were challenged today to create a mini pedestrian-crossing system using multiple LEDs and a push button.

Having cracked their challenges, Stanley worked on a morse code encoder, while Sam worked out how to play scales (and even Fur Elise) using his Raspberry Pi Pico.

Led by Mr Vanstone and helped

by Sixth Form mentors Amari and George, it was a fascinating lesson that gave the pupils a thrilling insight into the world of physical computing.

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Commonwealth Fencing Championships Fencers performed brilliantly in the Commonwealth Fencing Championships.

Amy (representing Wales), Lexie, Henry and Sam competed alongside five fencing alumni: Will Deary, Nick Howes, Luke Haynes, Darcy Holdsworth and Max Cromie, who won several gold, silver and bronze medals between them.

Amy competed as a U20 fencer, finishing in the top 16. Lexie finished 3rd in the U17 women’s sabre individual competition and 2nd in the team event. Henry came 2nd in the U17 men’s sabre individual event and won in the team event. Sam finished the individual competition in the top 8 and he won a gold medal in the team event too.

Balazs Kurucz, Head Coach of Truro Fencing Club, located at Truro School, tells us how proud he was of the students. “It was quite tough for them because the Commonwealth Games was between seasons, so there was no break. It will be difficult for them to focus on the new season.

Fencing is quite mentally taxing and so we usually like to give them some time in between seasons to rest.

“I am very proud of them as a team.

I’ve had messages from referees and coaches from the Games that the Truro guys showed great spirit. Even if they lost, they continued to support each other, which is important.”

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AUTUMN TERM

Senior Life Mary’s Letters Premiere It was a night to remember as the cast of Mary’s Letters gathered with friends and family for the red-carpet premiere. They dressed to impress as they walked the carpet before watching the film in the Burrell Theatre, equipped with canapes and fizz.

The original film was written and directed by Mr Oldfield, Director of Drama. He used the pandemic to challenge pupils to try something new when the usual school productions weren’t an option.

Filming began in September 2020 in various locations across Cornwall, producing nearly 25 hours of footage edited by the technical team with help from the drama department.

Part rom-com, part Victorian gothic, part gritty drama, Mary’s Letters is Truro School’s first feature film, featuring a cast of students from all years, and made with huge support from the student tech team. A massive well done to everyone involved!

A Surprise Visit from Gary Players and spectators on the Truro School playing fields got a rather unexpected surprise as acclaimed singer, songwriter, composer and producer Gary Barlow landed his helicopter during a rugby match between Truro School and Penryn College.

Gary greeted excited onlookers before heading off to the Hall for Cornwall to narrate the journey of his life alongside the music from his incredible discography.

Our Operations Team was on hand to secure the area and support Gary safely to his onward journey whilst pupils enjoyed taking a closer look at the helicopter.

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Girl Choristers Tour Our girl choristers had a fantastic tour to London and Cambridge in October half term. The choristers began their trip in London where they were warmly welcomed at Westminster Abbey for a beautiful Evensong. The following day the girls enjoyed the privilege of singing Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral with their Vicars Choral.

The girls then travelled to Cambridge to sing Evensong with the lower voices of The Choir of St John’s, Cambridge – a truly amazing experience! This was followed by a well-deserved spot of punting on the river Cam. On the last day of the trip, the girls sang Evensong at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

Creative Cell Models 1st Years got to show off their fantastic biology models in class. Pupils were tasked with creating their own examples of plant and animal cells as part of the 1st Year biology module about cells and microscopes.

There were some incredible creations which the pupils had clearly spent a lot of time working on at home. They chose many different materials to represent their cellular structures, including painted fabric, plasticine, foam, pipe cleaners and clay.

The models were on display for judging by the Sixth Form Biology prefects, who had difficulty selecting a few from a very high standard of work.

A Return to Whole School Assemblies The Assembly Hall was full again as the School gathered together for a whole-school assembly, the first since March 2020. Led by Mrs Ellison, this was the first time the youngest three years at the Senior School would have experienced this.

Students and pupils were told about the School’s renewed emphasis on pupil voice for this year. The School Council is now meeting every fortnight to discuss issues raised by the wider School community.

The first issue under discussion will be how to mark the passing of the Queen. The Assembly ended with a simple prayer thanking the Queen for her dedication throughout her reign and asking for comfort at this time for those who might need it.

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Senior Life Odd Happenings at Truro School...

Staff and students donned their finest odd socks today to mark this year’s Anti-Bullying Week.

Odd Sock Day first started in 2017 as a way to raise awareness of bullying in schools and has now spread to include workplaces and communities. It is a simple way to spread the message that being different, standing out or simply being yourself is more than enough.

London Theatre Trip a Smash Hit The cast of the forthcoming production of Les Misérables, along with drama, music and tech pupils, took an exciting two-day trip to London to see the West End version of the performance.

The students and pupils travelled up via coach to see the stunning stage show, along with a matinee performance of Matilda. The group also managed to squeeze in some sightseeing, including a bronzestatue “Scenes in the Square” tour and street performances in Covent Garden.

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Silence was Golden at 1st and 2nd Year Disco Headphones were donned and songs were selected as the 1st and 2nd Year Silent Disco got underway. Pupils gathered and grooved to music from one of three channels, allowing them to be their own DJs for the night.

Delivered by SSS Disco, Kate, Olivia, Reuben and George from the Community Action Team were also there, volunteering to supervise the sweet stall and glitter face painting, with all funds raised going to charity.

Voices Ring Out for Nine Lessons and Carols The annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols took place at Truro Cathedral. A celebration of the special relationship between the Cathedral and Truro School, the service was originally devised by the first Bishop of Truro, Bishop Edward White Benson in 1880.

It is now held in churches across the world at Christmas.

The service runs through nine passages, interspersed with carols and hymns, leading to the birth of Jesus.

The readings were undertaken by staff and pupils, including Will from Truro School Prep. The Chamber Choir, Girl Choristers and Barbershop Group provided stunning musical interludes, with their voices lifting high into the ribbed vaults of the Cathedral.

There was also a moving performance from the Prep Choir, who sang ‘The Voice of an Angel’.

A special thanks to the fabulous Music Department and to Revd Aubin De Gruchy for bringing the evening together, and to all of those who took part and joined in the celebration.

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Standing Ovations for Les Misérables

Nearly a year in the making, the groundbreaking performance of Les Misérables (School Edition) wowed packed-out audiences from start to finish.

Truro School’s Director of Drama, Ben Oldfield, said, “The students have excelled themselves once again with their vigour, commitment, discipline and good humour. It has been wonderful to see a mini community spring up in the drama and music departments, with students of all years involved as musicians, technicians, design assistants and performers - all working together towards a common goal, forging new friendships and making new discoveries of what can be achieved. It is, quite simply, a privilege and a joy to have worked with them in such a fertile and creative environment.”

The cast were accompanied by Truro School’s Symphony Orchestra. The music, with new orchestrations specially adapted for the School Edition by Stephen Metcalfe, is one of the most memorable musical scores of all time.

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The Orchestra thrilled audiences with knock-out numbers including ‘At the end of the day’, ‘Do you hear the people sing?’ and the entertaining ‘Master of the House’.

All musical numbers were delivered with energetic precision and fun under the careful guidance of Musical Director Martin Palmer and Associate Musical Directors Peter Thompson and Oliver Jones.

Furthermore, the meticulous detail and abundant effort from the Truro School Tech and Theatre Team, which included four former and three current students, ensured a highly professional show was enjoyed by 1,323 audience members over five performances.

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Senior Life

By Pup-ular Request…

Presenting Alfie By pup-ular request… presenting Alfie.

Alfie recently joined the boarding family as Trennick’s newest pup star. Since his arrival he has been enjoying endless cuddles and walkies with the boarders.

Alfie’s human owner is our new Head of Boarding, Mr David Mckeown.

David also joins us new this term and has been Head of Boarding at the Swiss International School since 2019, leading boarding communities in the UK and abroad for many years.

We are very pleased to welcome David, his wife Anna and Alfie to our boarding community.

Check Mates Chess Club has proved as popular as ever at both the Prep and the Senior School and continues to welcome new players with and without any previous chess experience.

Golf Sporting Showcase As part of our Sports showcases, we welcomed Cornwall Golf Union to School, which allowed pupils to try Golf. Pupils could have a go on their inflatable golf range and try their luck at potting balls into nets.

There was lots of enthusiasm as pupils relished trying a new sport, with the support of their peers cheering from the sides.

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Those new to the game are welcome to come along to learn the primary phases of the game and practise their skills against other players.

With online competitions and midschool championship opportunities, seasoned chess players can quickly develop their game to new levels.

Chess can also be adopted as a skill for the DofE, and we hope pupils working towards their bronze award will be able to tutor some of the younger players.

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From Skip to Stage; the Les Mis Muskets From skip to the stage, the fantastic muskets being used in our performance of Les Mis have been lovingly handmade from re-purposed wood.

The twenty muskets used by the Army and Revolutionaries on stage this week were made by Andrew Gill, father of cast members Diggory and Celia, and Vice-Chair of the Friends of Truro School (FTS).

Mr Gill spotted the opportunity to salvage some roof trusses, which had been stripped from the roof during the restoration of the Graham Smith Building at Truro School. With permission, Mr Gill saved the wood and re-purposed it into 20 authentic-looking muskets.

These fantastic muskets, seen here in rehearsals, are a key prop in the stunning stage show and we would like to thank Mr Gill for his entrepreneurialism, care and outstanding craftsmanship.

Inspiring Futures Day Thinking about the future was on the agenda for our 3rd Years who took part in our Inspiring Futures Day. Their day was split between six lessons, including taster sessions in three subjects on offer at GCSE - Computing, Geology and P.E. - a FutureSmart workshop, a Looking Ahead session and a talk about options and Unifrog.

The pupils had a great time exploring Geology, P.E. and Computing lessons, where they were given a range of activities based on the courses they would study at GCSE. This was an excellent way for the pupils to get an insight into the subjects and see if this would be something they’d be interested in studying at GCSE.

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Senior Life Music, Mulled Wine and Mince Pies The Assembly Hall was packed with Christmas delights as the Christmas Concert took place. The audience was treated to musical entertainment while they enjoyed mince pies and mulled wine.

The programme began with the Symphony Orchestra, followed by year-group Christmas songs and performances from our senior bands and choirs including the B Natural Pop Choir, 5th Year Rock Band, Flute Choir and The Doughnut Club (aka the 1st Year Boys’ Singing Group), to name a few.

With Christmas classics including ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ and ‘Wassail’ by Judith Bailey, it was a fantastic evening that showcased our School’s remarkable range of talents and genres.

A Festive Feast The Catering Team triumphed with a delicious festive lunch for all of the staff and pupils on site. With more than 1000 hungry mouths to feed, the lunch included turkey with all the trimmings and a vegetarian option, as well as mince pies, festive cupcakes, beautifully iced cookies and Christmas pudding to finish.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our fantastic catering staff.

They make School community events like today possible and provide nutritious options for our pupils and staff throughout the year.

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Creativity at Christmas The Christmas spirit was in full flow yesterday as 3rd Year musicians shared their creativity with a Christmas concert for their friends and families.

In groups, they made up their own Christmas songs and music for the accompanying instruments, ranging through drums, piano, violin and xylophone.

Mince Pie Fun Run 2nd Year pupils and staff put on their Santa hats and trainers this lunchtime to participate in the ‘Little Harbour Mince Pie Mile’ on behalf of the Children’s Hospice South West.

After an energetic warm-up session in the SBA, pupils raced, jogged and walked the mile-long course around the school site.

They were encouraged to bring their Santa hats and fancy-dress costumes, with teams dressed as the Grinch, the Nativity, Santa’s reindeer and even a woolly mammoth taking part.

Miss Overend would like to thank everyone who participated and helped raise a whopping £855 for the Little Harbour Hospice in St Austell.

Christmas Cards Inspired by Compassion Pupils were tasked this year with coming up with a design inspired by ‘Compassion’, our School values theme of the year. A considerable number of entries were submitted from across the School, and the judges were really impressed by the quality of the work.

It was a tough decision but, after much deliberation, the winners were Martha and Libby, whose designs, the judges felt, represented Compassion beautifully.

The designs were printed and became the annual Christmas cards sent by the Senior Leadership Team and School Governors.

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Sixth Life Geology Residential to North Somerset Our Upper Sixth Geologists enjoyed blustery blue skies on their three-day residential to North Somerset. The purpose of the trip was to investigate the rocks and structures across several key locations and then determine the geological history of the area, which spanned over 150 million years.

The students sketched the worldfamous Millook Haven and completed a graphic log of Bude on the first day.

The following day, they visited various locations around the Watchet area to find evidence for the extension and contraction of the Bristol Channel.

On the final day, the students visited two quarries near Frome, where they discussed the importance of geotechnical consultants and sustainability in the extraction industry with the quarry’s manager.

Miss Hope and Mr Blackie were very impressed with the interest and enthusiasm shown by the students and would also like to thank Mr Aston for his help during the trip.

Geology Trip to Pendower Beach Lower Sixth geology students visited Pendower Beach on the Roseland to examine rock formations and structures as part of their A-level Geology studies.

Pendower Beach provides good opportunities for students to recognise and examine examples of Devonian and Quaternary sedimentary rocks.

Their aim was to understand how sedimentary rocks were formed and to observe how they might link to the broader tectonic environments they are studying in class.

The students completed detailed rock descriptions from their observations, located and plotted geological features on a base map and practised drawing annotated field sketches. Field trips are an essential part of the Geology course, allowing pupils to practise critical fieldwork skills required for their practical endorsement.

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Cycling Success for Truro School Students A huge congratulations to Aimee and Lara who have just completed their charity bike ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats. The girls cycled a gruelling 900 miles to raise more than £2000 for two amazing charities, The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and Truro Fencing Club Gold.

Louis Secures Place at Harvard England No.1 U17 (2021) squash player Louis Murray is expanding his list of exceptional academic and co-curricular achievements, having secured a highly prestigious place at Harvard University.

The talented and dedicated squash player has worked his way up through the ranks competing in South West, England and British Opens. The road to Harvard has been a long and intense one for Louis and Truro School has supported him throughout his journey. In March 2021, under the guidance of Mrs Jupp (Deputy Head of Sixth Form and Overseas Universities Advisor), Louis contacted several US universities and started a

series of conversations with their squash coaches, and at Easter he accepted invites to visit five US universities. Louis stayed at each university for two days, training, living and attending lectures alongside his fellow squash players, giving him a real insight into what life could be like at a US university.

Head of Truro School Sixth Form, Ross Williamson, said “We are thrilled to hear Louis is off to Harvard. He has worked his socks off to get there, and nobody deserves this opportunity more. We wish him every success and will continue to follow his next steps and future career with genuine enthusiasm.”

Psychologists learn about Eye Witness Testimony

Lara wanted to support the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, which offers sailing sessions to young people going through cancer treatments as a way to help them to gain confidence and community. As a competitive sailor herself, Lara wanted to broaden the appeal and reach of the sport and help others as well.

Aimee is a fencer at Truro School Fencing Club and wanted to raise money for TFC Gold as it helps those who wish to access the sport of fencing, but might need additional funding or support to do so. Aimee discovered fencing after struggling to access some more traditional sports.

Her mum explains, “Aimee can’t see in her left eye, so [some] traditional sports were hard but she’s been able to achieve Team GB status with fencing due to excellent coaching and the nature of the sport that also works well for people with neurodiversity.”

Psychology students have ended their study of Memory by completing projects on Eye Witness Testimony. They created their own witnesses to a crime scene and then applied their knowledge to write an advice sheet for police about the influence of leading questions, post-event discussion and anxiety on recall. Finally, the students created advice on questions the police could use to elicit the maximum amount of information, as well as the benefits and problems associated with using a Cognitive Interview with their eye witnesses.

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Sixth Life Leiths Christmas Canapè Party Our Leiths students held a Christmas canapé party to remember as they welcomed friends, family and teachers to sample their creations.

As a component of their Leiths professional cookery qualification, students have to plan, prepare and host a large, themed canapé party, and have spent the past three weeks trialling and tasting canapes and designing packaging and decorations.

The special guests were greeted with mulled cider before walking into the canapé party to enjoy a range of delicious nibbles, from cheese croquettes and roast-beef croutons to smoked-salmon latkes and delicate Florentines.

There were also homemade goods on offer to buy, including homemade chutney selections, a beautiful Christmas cake and Christmas-inspired tea.

Without a doubt, this was a canapé party to remember.

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Poetry and Psychoanalysis It was a pleasure to welcome Anne Alvarez and Kate Cogan (grandmother and mother of Cass and Tommy) to a talk given to Sixth Form English Lit and Psychology students.

Anne and Kate came in to share their thoughts and experiences of the life and works of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, poets who we teach as part of both the iGCSE and A-Level curriculums.

Anne is an eminent psychoanalyst whose husband, Al Alvarez, was poetry editor of the Observer in the 1960s, championing the work and becoming a personal friend of Plath and Hughes. Anne shared her very personal memories and perspectives in a moving and memorable way.

Kate is writing a creative memoir, based on some artefacts from this time inherited from her father.

Re-thinking Research at Psychology Conference Truro School’s inaugural psychology conference, ‘Research for the Stars’, got underway in October.

Designed to encourage students to look at research in a new light, the conference welcomed 150 students from Truro School, Saltash Community School, Launceston College, Torpoint Community College, Liskeard, Newquay Tretherras and Truro High School.

Alongside a series of challenging and exciting workshops, group work and experiments, students were treated to a lecture from guest speaker Dr Cathy Schofield.

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Dr Cathy Schofield has been a psychology lecturer for over 25 years specialising in sport and exercise psychology. She designed and managed the only psychology degree in Cornwall for the last twenty years, before moving on to the Open University as a Staff Tutor.

We had an hour of fascinating, wide-ranging and deeply affecting discussion, which had the pupils mesmerised.

Their study of this poetry is immeasurably enriched.

It was an evening to remember, and we wish to say a huge thank you to Anne and Kate.

The conference was organised by Mrs Stone with help from Sixth Form Psychology students, and proved to be a thought-provoking and engaging day for all of the attendees.

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Sixth Life Christmas Party The Great Hall at Truro’s Alverton Hotel was the venue for the Christmas party.

The Sixth Formers, dressed in their finest black tie, gathered for a sumptuous three-course Christmas dinner followed by music and dancing.

One hundred and thirtysix students attended the festive feast in the beautifully decorated Hall. Truro School staff were also dressed to impress and joined their students in the celebrations.

A wonderful evening was enjoyed by everyone, with great food and conversation.

It was a welcome opportunity for our Sixth Formers to dress up, let their hair down and celebrate in style.

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DT Students’ Product Design Trip A-level DT Students took a trip to Morgan cars in Malvern and Mini in Oxford to compare Morgan’s bespoke, handmade production versus the high-volume mass-production methods used at Mini. The students were given a tour of both production facilities and had the opportunity to question the teams on their contrasting design and production methods.

The students then ventured to Bath, where they checked in to their hotel and enjoyed a Thai meal before exploring the city’s vibrant culture.

They finished their trip with a visit to Exeter’s IKEA, where they could study furniture designs and take inspiration for their own DT projects.

The group had a wonderful time, and it was an excellent experience for all.

Thanks to Mr Baker for the updates and lovely photos.

Sixth Formers Take on Top House Quiz The hottest quiz in town returned, as pupils gathered in The Burrell for the battle of the houses in the Sixth Form edition of Top House Quiz.

After some fraught heats, it was all to play for Vinter and Smith. The round was close, both teams neck and neck until near the end before Vinter stepped up the game to win with a score of 10-8. Well done to all the teams for participating.

Introducing the New Head Girl and Head Boy and Deputies The new academic year heralds the arrival of a new Senior Prefect Team, this time led by Head Girl Soumya, Head Boy Oliver and Deputy Head Girl Alicia and Deputy Head Boy Magnus.

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Sixth Life Entering The Dragon’s Den Our Upper Sixth DT entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to a panel of experts in the hopes of gaining some valuable feedback in this annual Dragon’s Den experience.

Before entering the Den, the group was tasked with improving and exploring their designs, which included a wide range of ideas from an accessible chair for autistic children to self-watering plant systems and an artificial-intelligence lamp.

The event gave the students a great experience and insight into what professional designers expect at this stage.

Aberystwyth Bay A huge well done to all of our Upper Sixth drama students who performed their devised piece as part of their examinations.

The group showed great creativity as they worked on the self-written piece, Aberystwyth Bay, over the past months.

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Lexie crowned U23 British Champion On 30 October our fencers competed in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

This was a senior competition where Lexie C won the gold medal, remaining unbeaten throughout the day and beating senior fencers who represent Great Britain in the senior World Cup and Grand Prix. The following weekend, Lexie fenced in the U23 national championship in London and had another fabulous day. Just like on the previous weekend she won all of her fights and became the British U23 Champion in women`s sabre.

In Stratford-Upon-Avon, in the men`s sabre event, Henry Martin finished at the top 16. With this result, Henry qualified himself for the senior World Cup in Orleans (France).

Burrell Society Lecture with Patrick Foster As part of the Burrell Society Lecture series, Guest speaker Patrick Foster, cricketer and Mintridge charity worker, came to speak to Sixth Formers.

This series is part of the Sixth Form diploma and allows students to broaden their knowledge and experience outside the classroom.

Patrick spoke about his gambling addiction and gave the students an insight into his life pre-rehab before sharing how he overcame this adversity and turned his life around Patrick now works with Mintridge and the Professional Cricketers Association, giving motivational talks about his life to avoid others going through the problems he endured.

Aimee W and Lauren A were also selected to represent Great Britain in the next two U17 European Circuits in Sofia (Bulgaria) and Eislingen (Germany).

The youngest fencers competed in Stratford a week later than the seniors. In their next LPJS competition, Chris L came 2nd in the U15 boys’ event. He lost the final with 1 point. This was Chris` 5th podium in the year. Etienne S came 3rd in the U13 boys` competition.

He lost only one fight in the poule rounds and only the gold medallist could beat him in the semi-final.

De-Coding Computer Science The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and coding, thanks to Sixth Form boarder Amari. Now in the Upper Sixth, Amari is balancing his A Levels in Maths, Computer Science, Physics and EPQ with a passion for AI data science and machine learning.

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SPRING TERM

Pre-Prep Life Discovering More About Dinosaurs Young palaeontologists from Reception visited the Senior School to discover more about dinosaurs and get close to the School’s impressive fossil collection. The lesson, led by the Head of Geology, Miss Hope, began with a talk about dinosaurs and their characteristics.

The children then tried identifying possible dinosaurs from models and matched their characteristics to some example fossils. The children were surprisingly knowledgeable about the prehistoric reptiles and confidently shared their knowledge and observations with the class.

New Year Celebrations In the Pre-Prep, there was a day of Lunar-New-Year-inspired activities, from creating rabbit stained-glass windows and New Year’s cards to making red-and-gold envelopes to fill with chocolate coins.

The Reception children were also lucky enough to be gifted fortune cookies and filled envelopes from their classmate Chloe.

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Learning Through Play The rain doesn’t stop play in Pre-Prep, and fun and learning are always seen in abundance.

Through play, children develop skills in language, listening and social interaction. Play helps them to build confidence and problem-solving skills that will help them in more structured learning as they progress through school.

In Nursery, the children were practising getting ready to go out to play with a helpful song to encourage them to put on their coats and hats. It was lovely to see the children beaming with pride when they were all dressed and ready.

Reception braved the rain and participated in a series of games and challenges including ‘stuck in the mud’ and balancing on a rope path on the playground.

The lesson was structured to develop their listening skills alongside more physical ones.

In Maths, Years 1 and 2 were using various tools to help find strategies for problem-solving. The Year 1s were using rekenreks, numicon and blocks to make different numbers and patterns they could then write in words and use in addition problems.

The Year 2s were learning to measure accurately, finding interesting things around the classroom to measure. It is always a joy to see these confident, independent learners enjoying their lessons every day, come rain or shine.

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Pre-Prep Life Alfred Wallis Pre-Prep took inspiration from the work of local artist Alfred Wallis to create landscape artwork. They used different media, including scrubbing brushes, sponges and toothbrushes, to create the rustic look of the pictures that Alfred is well known for.

They also learnt about the life of Alfred and the hardships he faced as a fisherman before discovering painting in his later life, using leftover boat paint and cardboard gifted from the local community as he was too poor to afford other materials.

Alfred’s paintings only became famous after his death, and he is now considered a local star.

Sharing Compassion in Paired Reading Years 4, 5 and 6 have been sharing their favourite books with their Pre-Prep reading partners. They spent time in English lessons learning how to be an inspiring reader and how to engage their listeners. They were then able to spread compassion by sharing their favourite books with the younger children, who very much enjoyed hearing these stories. The older years showed great enthusiasm and animation when reading, which was lovely to see as it brought the magic of reading to life.

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Visit From An Optician There was a lot of excitement in Pre-Prep as Reception and Nursery had a visit from Sophie, an Optician.

The children could try on glasses and learn how to clean them, apply contact lenses to eye models and try out 3D glasses to see how they changed things on the page.

They also learnt about the importance of looking after our eyes and the foods we can eat to keep our eyes healthy.

A huge thank you to Sophie for coming and sharing her knowledge with the pupils. They had a fantastic time learning all about the eyes.

Year 2 Museum Workshop Year 2 visited the Royal Cornwall Museum as a part of their topic on Inventors.

The children had a brilliant morning at the museum, meeting Mrs Trevithick and learning about her husband Richard Trevithick.

The children finished their trip making clay tiles of Richard Trevithick’s “Pen-yDarren” locomotive.

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Prep Life The First Day of Term It was a hive of activity as pupils were welcomed back for the start of the Spring Term.

With joyous chatter filling the corridors, lessons then began with pottery painting in art, acting out emotions in drama, creative writing in English and problem-solving in maths, to name a few.

Times Tables Rockstars Dressed to impress, our Rockstars enjoyed a day of rockstar-themed activities for the launch of Times Tables Rockstars. Times Tables Rockstars is an award-winning maths learning platform where children can practise their times tables through a question-based programme that adapts to meet each child’s learning needs.

It is fun and rewarding, encouraging the children to practise this vital skill while having fun.

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Snow Way! Snow isn’t something we see often in Cornwall, but our pupils were in for a snowy surprise this term, which Truro School Prep made the most of.

They donned their hats and gloves as they participated in snowman building and snow-angel making, as well as throwing a snowball or two!

Spicing it up for Charity The afternoon took a turn for the spicy as a charity event with a kick got underway: a curry-eating challenge. 6JL organised the event, to raise funds for the Cornwall Air Ambulance.

The form has been spending their PSHE lessons planning for the day and came up with the idea of a curry challenge. Seven teachers agreed to participate: Mr Frewer, Mr Lord, Mr Goddard, Mr Piper, Mr Dove, Miss Raines and Mrs Sparkes. Pupils could bring in money for a chosen teacher; the more money raised, the hotter the curry they were challenged to eat.

On the day of the event, the curries, kindly donated by Daaku in Falmouth, ranged from mild to extra hot. With much sweating and trepidation, all teachers managed even the spiciest dish, a Naga made with fiery viper peppers.

Whilst lots of fun was had, this charity event raised over £600 for the Cornwall Air Ambulance.

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Prep Life Year 3 Play Jungle Book A cast of colourful jungle characters came to life on stage at the Prep School as Year 3 performed Disney’s The Jungle Book KIDS. Adapted from Disney’s beloved animated film and the works of Rudyard Kipling, the “man cub” Mowgli bounds through the jungle and learns what it means to be human. The show includes lots of toe-tapping songs, including ‘The Bare Necessities’ and ‘I Wanna Be Like You’.

The children have worked hard on their production since January and all performed brilliantly to an audience of family and friends.

Well done to all of the cast and a huge thank you to all of the staff and parents who helped to bring this fabulous production to life.

Super Strings Afternoon Our string musicians had an exciting visit this term from Soumya and Ollie, Head Girl and Boy at the Senior School. Cellos and violins are just two of the instruments that pupils have the opportunity to learn as part of their Year 4 music lessons.

The string musicians shared their music pieces before splitting into cello and violin groups to learn from Soumya and Ollie, who started playing their instruments when they were at the Prep School themselves. Ollie started playing the cello in his Year 4 music lessons and continues to do so today. This year’s String Orchestra is extra special as it features six cellos, which amazed Ollie. He told our budding musicians that this was more than in the whole Senior School.

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World Book Day This term, Prep celebrated one of their favourites, World Book Day. The pupils and staff arrived in an array of creative costumes, including Toad of Toad Hall, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and three Gangsta Grannies.

The children enjoyed celebrating with various activities throughout the day and making ‘book trees’ in their houses to display their favourite titles on book-shaped baubles.

Red for Red Nose Day Prep was awash with colour as pupils donned items of red in aid of Comic Relief. Both staff and pupils have been busy raising money for the cause whilst learning about all the important work that Comic Relief does.

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Prep Life Coast to Coast Well done to our incredible bike adventurers from Year 5, who explored the mining landscape and heritage of Cornwall on their epic coast-to-coast cycle ride. Fortunately, as we have just experienced the driest February in thirty years, the trail was pretty dry, so despite the lower daytime temperatures at the moment, we had an enjoyable ride.

Despite living in Cornwall, the majority of these children had never previously cycled the distances involved in this adventure: 11 miles from Portreath to Devoran and the extra few miles to reach the Bissoe pick-up in the afternoon.

For most of them, another highlight was the sense of achievement gained from participating in the trip that forms an important part of their John Muir Award, for which the children are expected to explore and discover wild spaces.

Boy Choristers Become Full Choristers On Mothering Sunday, four of our pupils were ‘made up’ as full choristers of the Truro Cathedral Choir. The boys have served two terms as probationer choristers, learning the routines and musical discipline required, and are now joining the other choristers to sing fully in the choir.

In a special moment in the service, the boys received their white surplices. They were admitted into the choir by the Director of Music, Christopher Gray, and the Dean of Truro Cathedral, Simon Robinson.

The congregation warmly welcomed the boys; many congratulations to all.

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Coose Trannack On 11 March some of our talented Year 5 boys took on the Coose Trannack crosscountry race. In typically grim weather, the course was 1500 metres of freezing muddy hills, with tight corners and over 45 runners. It was a competitive race, with runners from all over the county.

All four boys did the school proud, walking the course, warming up together and backing each other up with encouragement and laughs. Archie J claimed 2nd, winning a lovely bit of tin as a medal. He battled his friends hard, then he pulled ahead of the field and pushed the front-runner right to the finish line.

Rowan returned to excellent form after injury and ran neck-and-neck with his friend Jacob. They both stormed down the final straight to claim 4th and 5th place respectively.

Jack H, more often found on the rugby pitch, showed huge potential, pacing a very busy field and finishing with an epic sprint finish to claim 15th place.

Safer Internet Day To raise awareness for Safer Internet Day, a group of Sixth Formers travelled over to Prep to share their social-media knowledge with Years 5 and 6.

The Sixth Formers expressed the importance of online safety and gave the pupils advice on what to do to stay safe when exploring social media.

The session was studentled and very interactive, with lots of questions and guessing games to test our pupils’ knowledge about keeping safe online.

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Electrifying Oranges and Lemons In Science, Year 4 has been learning about electricity this term.

They made fruit batteries and discovered that oranges and lemons make excellent conductors.

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Prep Life Hall for Cornwall Concert Prep musicians joined forces with Senior School musicians to fill the Hall for Cornwall with music at the ‘Truro School Goes Around the World’ concert this term.

Celebrating and embracing sounds and stories from around the world, the concert showcased acts and ensembles from across our Senior and Prep School, interlaced with presentations from our international community.

A Busy Week on the Hockey Pitch The Year 3 and Year 4 girls played hockey at Truro High School this term. The children were split into four teams, based on their level of hockey experience, with each team playing three matches during the afternoon.

These were coached games, which were focused on developing their knowledge of the rules and game understanding. Our hockey players had a great time dribbling the ball, passing the ball and scoring goals.

It was brilliant to see how quickly their game awareness developed during the afternoon.

Later that week, it was the turn of the Year 5s and 6s, as two teams travelled to Truro High. Each team played three exciting and closely competed matches during the afternoon. It was a great opportunity to see the many benefits of sport. Our hockey players developed their leadership and communication skills, teamwork, self-esteem, sportsmanship, compassion and resilience.

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Swimming Galas Children from Years 5 & 6 travelled to the Senior School for a fantastic House Swim Gala. Cheered on by friends and parents, the pupils showed great determination and house spirit, with some fantastic team and individual performances.

Year 4 pupils also took to the pool at Prep for their House Swim Gala.

All pupils represented their competition houses (Vinter, School, Smith and Wickett), and when not racing in their heats, supported each other with friendly cheers from the sides.

A Royal Surprise at the Maritime Museum Year 5 had an unexpected royal meetand-greet during their trip to the National Maritime Museum. The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, on their first official visit to Cornwall since taking their new titles, chatted to pupils as they left the museum.

The children’s trip was the culmination of their term’s topic on the Vikings. The children spent the morning taking part in a Vikings workshop, where they looked at maps, did a trading exercise in Viking goods, made their own coins and tested out Viking vessels in the model “sea” on the ground floor of the Museum.

The children were lucky to have been present as the Duke and Duchess left the museum. The royal couple spotted the children and came over, spending several minutes chatting about Vikings, lessons and being a chorister at Truro School and TRURO SCHOOL

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Truro Cathedral. George was able to joke with the Duke about football. He said, “We asked Prince William what team he supports and he said Aston Villa, which is disgraceful!”

Meanwhile, Kate commented on the fact that a number of the pupils were wearing shorts, despite the chilly February weather, remarking that the children were “just like my George.”

Fabergé Easter Eggs Year 3 Prep looked at Fabergé Egg designs in art this term. They learned about Peter Carl Fabergé, one of the most famous jewellers in history, best known for the magnificent jewelled eggs that he created for the Russian royal family. Pupils looked at some pictures of the famous Fabergé Eggs and then created their own designs for their Easter project work.

The children were thrilled to have met the royal couple and happy to explain what they had been learning about during their visit. Lexi said, “Kate asked us what we were doing, so we told her about the Vikings.” Kate responded by sharing her own experience testing out the Viking vessels at the museum. The pair happily posed for photos and gave lots of highfives before they headed off.

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Prep Life Grit and Determination for our Runners Pupils showed some great sporting spirit in several cross-country events in the last few weeks of the half term.

We took thirty runners to compete in the Richard Lander Cluster Primary Cross-Country Event, where around 300 children were taking part.

The course was flat and fast so a good start was important, as the races were relatively short and pacy. Well done to all our talented runners and to those who qualified for the next round by finishing in the top eight places in their age group.

The following week, two teams competed in a cross-country event at Polwhele House School. Truro High School also joined in the fun, bringing twenty runners to this event.

We were very impressed with the effort and determination shown by all our runners.

Water vs Air in Year 5 Science As part of this term’s Forces project, Year 5 scientists have been testing the weight of objects in the air and comparing the weights of the same objects in water. They used a wide range of materials to conduct their experiment, including a metal block and wood.

The group was fascinated with the results that varied significantly depending on the object.

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Butterfly Lion Creations In English, Year 4 has been studying Michael Morpurgo’s Butterfly Lion, the beautiful story of everlasting friendship between a boy and his white lion.

The pupils were tasked to create their own Butterfly Lions and share with the class how they did this; there were no rules around the project, making the possibilities endless.

The finished projects were incredible, including delicious decorated cakes, colourful pinatas and a puppet show.

The creativity and vision of the Year 4 pupils have been outstanding; well done, Year 4!

Divorced, Beheaded, Survived…

Year 5 were in full costume, working on a short play called ‘The Season of Henry VIII and His Six Wives’. This mini-play picks up on the Tudors project work the class did in Year 4 and provided some fun and drama practice.

The children were clearly enjoying themselves, and the costumes and props helped them to get into character.

Round of a Paws for Tayto

Year 5 and 6 Netball The Year 5 and 6 netball teams showed growing confidence and skills in their matches against Mount Kelly School, one of the first matches of the term.

Big-number maths problems were on the schedule for Year 3 when Tayto popped in to say hello. Tayto belongs to Ms Simpson and is used to being with school children as he was a school dog in a previous setting.

Substantial evidence supports a wide range of benefits of therapy dogs in schools linked to memory stimulation, problem solving and game playing, as well as encouraging expression.

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Prep Life A Magma-nificent Visitor to Prep We were delighted to welcome back Dr James Hickey, Senior Lecturer in Geophysics and Volcanology at the University of Exeter, to bring the topic of volcanos to life for our lucky Year 4 children.

The children were thrilled to hear his tales of life as a volcanologist as they learnt about how volcanos are made and why they explode. To bring the process of a volcanic eruption to life, Dr Hickey added Mentos to bottles of cola (the magma and conduit) to create bubbles and simulate an eruption.

The children learnt that more bubbles resulted in a bigger displacement of the cola and that, by changing the size of the vent (or the cap of the bottle), they could increase the pressure and make the explosion stronger. This resulted in much mess and a huge amount of joy on the faces of all of our children.

A huge thank you to Dr Hickey for taking the time to visit us and for creating such a memorable learning opportunity.

Inspiring Talk from Luke Gamble Year 4 was excited to welcome renowned vet Luke Gamble for a talk about his experiences helping animals around the world. Luke shared some incredible stories from his travels and answered lots of questions from the pupils. Luke also shared some of the thrilling children’s books he’s written, which fascinated the budding young readers in the group.

After listening to Luke, the children constructed poems based on some of the animals they learnt about in the talk.

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Learning the traditions of Evensong Evensong is a beautiful spiritual and cultural experience with its roots in the 1500s and language from the time of Shakespeare. Over the term, Chris Gray, Director of Music at Truro Cathedral, visited our Year 3 and 4 classrooms to explain the traditions of Evensong and teach our pupils some of the music sung during the services.

Evensong is a religious service, although people of all faiths and none are warmly welcomed, which takes place in Truro Cathedral most days at 5.30 pm, and has been done since 1887. Pupils had the opportunity to join the Cathedral Choir and perform this traditional service alongside the highly trained choristers.

They welcomed family and friends to join them in sharing this wonderful cultural, spiritual and musical experience.

Creativity in Prep DT Year 4 creators have been busy making marble runs in DT this term. The group began by plotting their games to scale on paper before using a wooden board to create a mould; they then used a sheet of coloured plastic to melt to their mould to create a colourful base for the game. The group showed great skills and creativity using new machinery, files and sandpaper.

IAPS Success Well done to all 17 Year 5 and 6 pupils that travelled to Millfield on 9 March for the first round of the IAPS swimming competition. Competing at this event was Millfield School Team who have held the title of IAPS finalist winner for the last 35 years, so the level of competition was high.

All pupils were a credit to the school, swimming their best and ensuring that they were where they needed to be. Our team had some excellent results, including placing third in two events, the Girls’ Medley Relay and Girls’ 25m Breastroke. Well done to everyone who took part.

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Prep Life Le Petit Déjeuner for Year 6 Year 6 Prep visited our Leiths Cookery School this term to learn more about French breakfast foods. During their visit to the Senior School, they had a go at making croissants and pain au chocolat, much-loved French breakfast staples.

After learning some basic pastry skills, they watched the head of Cookery, Mr Rosenthal, demonstrate how to make a Croque Monsieur. He first made a bechamel sauce, used traditional ham and French gruyere cheese between two slices of bread, and then topped off with more cheese. Mouths were watering when they came out of the oven, and everyone got to sample them. The children took this opportunity to practise their French food vocabulary and thoroughly enjoyed baking and eating their homemade French-style treats.

Head of Prep, Mr Frewer, said, “This is great practice for our Year 6 children ahead of their trip to Normandy in June, where they will be completely immersed in French culture for a week.”

FTS Easter Bingo Night

Medals for Kazoku Judo Championships Congratulations to our Prep children who took part in the Kazoku Championships Red and Yellow Belt Future Olympic Hopes competition in Porthtowan. Our pupils all finished the day bemedaled. For many this was their first competition, so this result was all the more impressive.

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The hall was filled with excited chatter and anticipation as the FTS Easter Bingo Night got underway. While younger children settled down to a movie and popcorn, teams sharpened their wits to answer a series of fiendishly tricky rounds, including a general-knowledge quiz, music bingo and a “Catchphrase” (say what you see) section.

With pasties and Easter chocolate to keep brains fuelled, it was our very own team of Prep pupils who raced to the first ‘bingo’ of the night, much to their delight.

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Christian Lewis’ Long Walk… To Prep Former Paratrooper Christian Lewis joined us at Prep, taking a brief break from his epic walk around the UK coastline, a total journey of around 20,000 miles.

Remarkably, this is only 5,000 miles less than it would be to walk around the world.

Chris is undertaking this challenge, which he started in 2017, to raise funds for SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity, having experienced first-hand how vital their support can be for those returning from conflict and their families.

In the year of Compassion at Truro School, his story is particularly pertinent as he started his journey with no money and relies on his foraging skills and the goodwill of the British public to help him on each leg of the journey.

He left the children with a rousing message to dream big, follow their hearts and not be afraid to take a risk; if they work hard, and have faith in themselves and determination, they can achieve anything.

Celebrations, Welcomes and a Big Thank You There were celebrations and awards galore in the final assembly at Prep, and a warm welcome to Mrs and Mr Lottie and Rob Morse ahead of Mr Morse joining as Head of Prep in the Summer Term. There was a huge thank you too as Mr Johnson, Head of Truro School, thanked James Frewer for his time as Interim Head at Prep. Mr Johnson remarked, “I have worked with a lot of people who have cared for children, but the level of care and commitment Mr Frewer has shown is just superb.”

Mr Frewer, in turn, thanked all of the parents, staff and pupils for their support for him, reminding the pupils that he will be in his new office from next term.

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U11 Boys’ County Hockey Tournament Congratulations to all the boys who participated in the County U11 boys’ hockey tournament, held this term in Penzance. This was a great tournament, with six local teams attending from St. Hilary, Gulval, Charlestown, St. Ives and Devoran schools.

Our team played consistently well during the tournament, keeping out the goals, with only two goals conceded during the day. All the games were highly competitive, with plenty of goal-scoring opportunities.

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Prep Life Year 3 Ancient Egyptian Excitement Year 3 was thrilled to venture to the Royal Cornwall Museum as part of their history topic on Ancient Egypt. The group were very excited to participate in many Ancient Egyptian activities, expanding their knowledge as ‘Egyptian spies’: exploring artefacts, learning the art of mummification and uncovering the importance of the afterlife.

Voices Ring Out for Boys’ Chorister Experience Our boy choristers hosted their annual Chorister Experience Day, with boys currently in Years 2, 3, and 4 in attendance.

Chris Gray, Director of Music at Truro Cathedral: “The event itself is a wonderful opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a chorister. Boys get to know the choristers and what they do, stand in the beautiful choir stalls where they sing in the amazing space of the Cathedral, explore the crypt where they rehearse, try on a chorister’s cassock and surplice and see and hear the mighty Cathedral organ being played close up! And, of course, they have the opportunity to learn music and sing along with the choristers.”

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Tudor Exploration at Kresen Kernow Children from 4SC and 4LL visited Kresen Kernow in Redruth this term as part of their topic on the Tudors. They spent the first hour looking around the library and the archives and then were able to look at several original Tudor charters in the strongroom, before taking part in a workshop on Tudor inventories in Cornwall. The activities culminated in the children writing their own inventories using quills.

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Learning New Skills in Co-Curricular Activities Bushcraft, badminton and art are just three of the popular co-curricular activities on offer at the Prep.

This term, pupils have been combining compassion and creativity to make Valentine’s Day cards for their friends and family in the junior Art Club and working as a team in Bushcraft Club to make dens, and our keen badminton players have been showing Mr Frewer how to play, sharing tips they’d been learning throughout the term.

Developing Skills and Confidence in Sports

Year 4 Trip to Truro As part of their Tudor topic, Year 4 has learnt about Henry VIII’s break from the Catholic church and the start of his new ‘Church of England’. They visited our special cathedral church in Truro, where they learnt about its history, the organ and the different features within the building, including the font, lectern and pulpit.

They then visited the Methodist church next door, where they learnt about John Wesley and the beginning of the Methodist denomination.

They had a chance to look around at some of the same features and compare the differences and similarities to the Cathedral, taking notes as they went.

PE and Sport form an important part of our rich curriculum, both in terms of our weekly lessons and our extra-curricular offering.

Aside from developing the actual skills of the game, children are learning additional life skills in team building, self-esteem, leadership and setting up healthy habits for life.

Our Year 6 girls enjoyed two great netball matches against the Senior School U12s and Polwhele House.

In both matches, the girls controlled the passing of the ball, looked for space and defended brilliantly.

The Year 6 boys were also in action against Polwhele in an extremely muddy encounter. Again, the boys showed great determination and teamwork as they worked to improve their skills against tough opposition.

Youth Speaks Winning Team for Truro Congratulations to our team who were the overall winners for the Truro Area round of the Rotary Club Junior Competition, Youth Speaks 2023. Chosen topics for the attending schools ranged from ‘Is beauty a blessing or a curse?’ to ‘Female participation in sport.’ Our team spoke brilliantly about the topic, ‘Is reading a waste of time?’ They argued eloquently that reading was, in fact, a superpower.

Feedback from the judges praised Gideon’s engaging manner and courtesy in his opening, George’s clarity and use of humour, and Winnie’s use of humour in her spontaneous response to the question from the audience. In particular, the judges highlighted their excellent teamwork.

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Senior Life Around the World From the spectacular sounds of the samba band to the melodic beauty of our talented Upper Sixth soloists, the Hall for Cornwall was the esteemed venue for our multicultural celebration of ‘Truro School Goes Around the World’.

Celebrating and embracing sounds and stories from around the world, the concert showcased acts and ensembles from across our Senior and Prep Schools.

Alongside our incredible musicians, our international boarders and several day pupils were asked to speak about their cultures and nationalities. Speaking in both English and their native languages, they impressed the audience with their confidently presented stories about music, art, cuisine and architecture from around the world.

The speakers represented Thailand, Spain, Brazil, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Ukraine, China, South Korea, Nigeria, India, Latvia and New Zealand.

Mr Johnson, Truro School Head, commented, “They spoke with pride and considerable humour.

They showed us that this School is both in Cornwall and part of a wider, diverse, and wonderful world.”

Portugal Surf Trip A group of our budding young surfers ventured to Portugal over half term to take on the waves of Lagos. The group had a jam-packed week of surfing tuition and sightseeing and enjoyed plenty of local culture and food. Everyone had a wonderful week developing their surfing skills and enjoying the warmer waters and waves of the Portuguese coast.

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GCSE Drama Devised Performance Our GCSE Drama pupils welcomed friends and family to the Burrell Theatre for their devised performance pieces. The four groups performed self-written pieces based on the course stimulus, telling tales of an unlikely DofE group, a murder mystery, a surely innocent murderer and a failing school. Congratulations to the 5th Years for their outstanding and entertaining performances.

Trivia Tested in the Top House Quiz Nerves were tested, knowledge was proven and the crowd was left on the edge of its seat as the four houses battled it out in the Top House Quiz cup.

There were some stunning rounds from all of the teams and it was anyone’s guess who would be crowned the ultimate winners, but in the end, School House managed to pull ahead in the final to win.

The quiz is just one of the many interhouse challenges that encourage friendly rivalry and team camaraderie between our four houses; School, Vinter, Smith and Wickett. With thanks to Dr Spring, our Quiz Master and host.

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Senior Life Morven Short Film Shoot Over half term, the drama department and pupils from across the school got to work on a new short film production.

‘Morven’ is a mythical fantasy fable and the latest production dreamed up by Head of Drama, Ben Oldfield.

The film shoot took place over three days in local woodland and was approached with great humour and positivity by everyone involved, despite all the mud.

We can’t wait to see the new film when it airs later in the year.

Log Relays and Burpees in Army Fitness Each week Miss Lobb puts the recruits through their paces, starting with a good warm-up, followed by sit-ups and burpees. This week’s challenge was a tough 200m log-run relay with their teams. Each log weighs between 2-5kg, which starts to feel much heavier after a few hundred metres. Each team must do five more burpees if the log touches the floor. A log-hurdle relay and other log-related activities followed this.

British Army fitness is all about strength and cardio training, and our pupils are out in the fresh air whatever the weather. Mrs Lobb said, “Our teams get muddy, out of breath and will ache the next day, but it is a very social way to build health and fitness.”

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1st Year Poetry and Performance 1st Year pupils performed their poetry ensemble pieces in front of friends and family at the ninth Poetry and Performance evening in the Chapel.

Audiences were treated to poetry

by Charles Causley, Hilaire Belloc and Roald Dahl as well as solo performances by the 2nd Year and 3rd Year winners of the individual verse speaking competition.

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The Future is Now Rainbows in the Chemistry Lab The Chemistry lab was all colours of the rainbow as our 2nd Year pupils carried out their flame test experiments. Pupils were surprised to see so many different-coloured flames.

Flame tests identify a small number of metal ions in a compound, and pupils used their observational skills and a flame-test grid to determine which ions the compounds contained.

Afterwards, there were some uncommon/mixed metal compounds the pupils had to try and identify by analysing their earlier data.

Our chemistry team work hard to build a lot of practical work into lesson time, as it helps develop good lab skills and reinforces memorable learning.

A huge well done to our dancers who took part in an incredible dance showcase at Hall for Cornwall, joining secondary schools from across Cornwall to experience and share the positivity of the arts.

In the showcase, The Future is Now, our Wednesday Afternoon Activity dancers performed ‘Stand up and Fight’, a piece exploring the idea of our youth and their fight for the future: perseverance, determination and a passion to fight for survival.

Our after-school club performed a commercial K-pop dance piece to ‘Run the World’, with the theme of empowerment running throughout.

Compassion Conference What kind of world would you like to live in? This was the big question we asked our 3rd and 4th Year pupils at our first Compassion Conference.

Guest speakers from around the country were invited to talk about significant, hard-hitting issues such as sexism, racism, female genital mutilation (FGM), misogyny and unconscious bias.

Staff were very impressed by how pupils responded to the day and asked them to ‘raise their gaze’ and put themselves in other people’s shoes, be more aware and always speak and think with compassion. The conference was very much one step in a journey to champion empathy and compassion within our school community, with empowerment to tackle injustice close to home and wider afield as a core objective.

The day ended with a pledge asking pupils to consider their role in the community and shine a light on some of the ways that they can help to build even greater compassion and empathy across the school community and the wider world.

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Senior Life The 16th Shakespeare Festival Our 16th annual Shakespeare Festival celebrated the life and works of William Shakespeare, with each of our 2nd Year forms producing a 20-minute play. Directed by our English teachers, worked on in lessons and performed on stage in the Burrell Theatre, the festival is a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to perform and connect meaningfully to the vivid life, language and intellect of the bard William Shakespeare some 400 years after his death.

Audiences were treated to a journey through the tragedies of Macbeth and Henry V, performed by 2J and 2H, and Oberon’s Hawaiian-styled fairies on scooters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by 2M. The second night started with the comedyturned-tragedy Romeo and Juliet, performed by 2K, and a memorable Macbeth performed by 2H. The evening was rounded off by a joyful production of one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, Much Ado About Nothing.

Performing for Charity Performing live in the Burrell Theatre, the sensational line-up of pupils and students from 1st Year to Upper Sixth treated guests to a night to remember at this year’s Charity Concert. The powerful and uplifting concert showcased a huge variety of instruments and styles, with every aspect carefully planned and coordinated by the student organisers – with a special thank you to the Tech Team, Mrs Alford, Mrs Kenward and The Rev. Nearly 30 acts performed across the evening, covering all genres from rock to classical and musicals too; the grand finale welcomed all performers to the stage for one final rendition of ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen. The event is an excellent example of how our community can unite to support two meaningful charities: Women for Women and Children’s Hospice South West. Thanks to Matthew, Finlay, Calum and Magnus for a superb evening!

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Inspiring a love of languages Finding exciting resources to inspire a love of languages can be challenging, but two of our 3rd Years seem to have cracked it! Ella and Flo enjoy learning languages and launched their engaging and exciting club last September to encourage others to share their enthusiasm.

Using the online platform Blooket, Flo and Ella have designed their club for 1st Years, and it is proving very popular.

Each term they alternate languages to allow pupils to build their knowledge over the term. This is an incredible opportunity for our 1st Years to learn from our 3rd Years, and we look forward to seeing how they all get on.

Geological Experiments with Jelly Our 4th Year Geology pupils are continuing their igneous rock analysis and today started working on a practical assignment for their GCSE assessments.

Due to a noticeable lack of lava in the vicinity, our pupils were recreating the effect of lava using strawberry jelly and drain pipes to observe, measure, record and evaluate response to temperature, slope angle and viscosity.

The teams came up with some interesting results and will write up this project as part of their practical exam assessment.

Terrific Scientific Curiosity Curiosity drives scientific thinking, and it is one of the greatest strengths we can have. For this reason, every year we hold a 2nd Year Science Fair for pupils to present their work on a science project of their choice and as a celebration of British Science Week.

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Practical experiments and field trips are a significant part of the Geology GCSE syllabus, and we are lucky to have excellent facilities in school and on our doorstep to inspire pupils interested in the physical landscape.

There is also a planned Fire and Ice trip to Iceland for GCSE students later this year.

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Senior Life Making their Mark The print room in the Art Department is always a fun and creative place to hang out, so it is not surprising that this Wednesday-afternoon club is very popular with pupils and students of all ages across the School. Pupils get the run of the printing room for the whole afternoon and can try their hands at different printing techniques each week.

They have so far tried collagraph printing, a technique where they each created a three-dimensional collage-based printing plate from which to print. Ink is added to the plate and passed through a hand-wound printing press to create a beautifully textured print. Pupils can then look at complementary colours to add layers of paint to their final pieces.

Across the term, they can also try mono printing, metal etching with acids, lino printing and dry printing, where designs are scratched into perspex plates, and also the new and popular technique of gelli printing.

Double County Champions A huge congratulations to the U15 netball and U12 girls’ hockey teams, who have both become county champions. The U15 netball team travelled to Bodmin College, where, after a convincing first round of games, Truro School secured the top of their group. The team fought hard in all of their matches, showing determination, focus and passion, scoring 113 goals, and conceding 14 in 8 matches.

The U12s also played a fantastic tournament, playing some superb hockey and remaining undefeated throughout the day. We wish them the best of luck in the regional finals next week. Thank you to all the girls for their effort and to the coaches for their support.

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Design and Build Projects 2nd Year DT pupils have been working on individual oil-burner projects this half term.

All pupils develop their designs, which must comprise a candle holder and a supportive metal structure to hold a glass dish for burning oil.

Pupils enjoy this project as it combines metal and wood, allowing them to learn about and work with the different properties of both materials.

They make their bases from beech, oak or cedar and shape a hole for a candle, before moulding and shaping a metal support structure from their designs to hold a glass dish for oil burning. Their creations are finally finished with lacquer and wax.

30 Days Lost in Space

Charity Jazz Concert This year’s charity Jazz Concert was a celebration of toe-tapping, ambitious and energetic performances. Featuring the Junior Band, the Barbershop Group and our joyful Samba Band, the evening also featured a variety of self-made groups, duets and vocal solo performances.

The evening ended on a high with a performance from the Senior Jazz Orchestra.

A huge thank you to everyone involved and to all who donated to our cause, Children’s Hospice South West.

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Ten budding computing pupils from the 2nd Year to Lower Sixth have become stranded 30 metres underwater on an alien planet.

The group are taking part in 30 Days Lost in Space, a computerprogramming course enabling pupils to improve their coding and circuitbuilding skills.

Their challenge is to problem-solve their way off the planet and return home by coding and wiring their own Arduino Uno with a kit of electronic components.

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Sixth Life Private Lives A huge well done to our Sixth Formers, who put on a completely student-led production of Private Lives, written by Noel Coward.

The show was a real hit with the audience as it told the story of divorced English couple Amanda and Elyot, who found themselves honeymooning with their new spouses in adjacent rooms in the same French hotel.

After an initial panic, the old spark of romance is reignited, and new relationships are formed in the aftermath of their impulsive decisions.

St Ives Study Day for Diploma Scholars Our new Sixth Form Diploma Scholars enjoyed a study day in St Ives, led by the Head and supported by the Head of Sixth Form and Ms Selvey.

These 5th Year pupils applied for the award in the Autumn and, along with all who competed for the accolade, have demonstrated their potential to embody the breadth and ambition of our Sixth Form Diploma programme.

Congratulations to our incoming Sixth Form Diploma Scholars.

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Essential Oils in Chemistry The chemistry lab smelled like a citrus grove as Lower Sixth students set up their reflux experiments to extract limonene from orange peel through a process of reflux and distillation.

Using Bunsen burners and condensers to prevent evaporation, they heated their water and orange peel solutions and distilled them to extract the oil.

This experiment is part of their module covering an introduction to Organic Chemistry as part of their A-Level syllabus.

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Kota Chef Masterclass for Leiths Students Upper Sixth students who had completed their Leiths Introductory Certificate in Food and Wine were treated to a masterclass with awardwinning chef Jude Kereama. Jude is best known for his two Porthlevenbased restaurants, Kota and Kota Kai, as well as for his appearances on the Great British Menu.

The students were given hands-on experience in creating the dishes and were able to sample new and exciting flavours and recipes while chatting to Jude about his career, his passions and their own cheffing ambitions.

Regeneration in Plymouth

Lessons in Wining and Dining The Leiths Introductory Certificate in Food and Wine provides students with an afternoon with a sommelier to learn about wine. Students were taught how to prepare their palette for a tasting by looking at the appearance of a wine, considering the nose and then tasting the wine, noting the sweetness, acidity, alcohol and body.

As a part of the course, the students also looked at the wine-growing process, how different wines are produced and the characteristics of famous regions for viticulture.

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Our Lower Sixth Geographers spent the day visiting Plymouth as a part of their research into urban regeneration. They visited the Royal William Yard, the Barbican, the Hoe and Plymouth city centre.

During their visit, they considered the issues surrounding gentrification and regeneration. They practised using research techniques that will be essential in their forthcoming independent study projects.

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Sixth Life Scuba Skills The team from Cornwall Diving Centre took a group of Sixth Formers scuba diving for the first time. Aspire Students can take up the opportunity for a try-dive with a PADI-certified coach, giving them the first taste of breathing underwater and what it is like to be a diver. A try-dive introduces students to the equipment and diving techniques in the comfort of the school pool. It is a great way to see whether students are interested in taking this further and progressing to the PADI-certified ‘Discover Scuba Course’.

This is one of many great opportunities offered to Sixth Formers as part of our Sixth Form Diploma Programme.

Geologists explore ‘Magnetic Earth’ A group of Lower Sixth geologists were thrilled to secure a place in the final of the Geological Society Schools Competition. This competition attracts geology students from across the UK and invited them to showcase their skills and explore how geoscience impacts our lives.

Meta-Ethics Conference for RS Students Mr Chamberlain and Mrs Richards took a group of the Upper Sixth Religious Studies students to an A-Level conference hosted by Wells Cathedral School.

The conference was led by author and principal examiner Chris Eyre covering topics such as meta-ethics, teleological argument and feminist liberation theology.

Both staff and pupils reported it as being a fascinating day, with full credit to the students for engaging with such profound topics and being excellent ambassadors for Truro School.

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The winning team chose to research ‘magnetic earth’, where they explored the hypothesis of ‘What would happen if the poles flipped’. The winning students went to the final at the Geological Society in London where, despite them not winning the top prize, they said it was a fantastic opportunity for the team to put into practice the Earth Hazards topic they studied earlier this term. The team were a credit to Truro School and acquitted themselves well against a strong field of young geologists.

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EPQ Presentations Sixth Form students took to the stage in the Burrell Theatre to present their EPQ presentations. The EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) is an established A-Level programme that equips students with a range of professional, academic and personal skills.

This year’s cohort brought a strong and diverse portfolio of presentations to inspire, challenge and inform the audience. Thank you to Mrs Thurlow and Mrs Stone for their continued efforts and support in this qualification.

Discussing the Future of Cornwall’s Natural Resources

GM Project for Biologists

Fifteen geologists and geographers visited County Hall in Truro to participate in the ‘Your Resources Your Future’ conference. This was a chance to collaborate with students from other schools and colleges on planning the future of Cornwall’s natural resources.

Sixth Form Biology students had a go at genetic modification using a special GM protein kit. GM is a multi-step process commonly used to produce medicines and crops and is a core part of the A-level curriculum.

a national STEM competition exploring ‘how vaccines work and their uses in controlling infectious diseases’.

Fellow student Harry also received a commendation for his project in the same competition.

Throughout the session, they were allowed to interview specialists from the local industry before debating the proposals and responding to questions. The students were congratulated on their thoughtful contributions and excellent debating skills.

Using E. coli bacteria, they ran an experiment using a specific kit to GM the bacteria. The Biology Department wasn’t sure whether the experiment would succeed as there were many variables to consider in the multi-step process.

However, they were pleased to report that synthesis was a success indicated by a noticeable bright-green protein residue.

In consultation with the Biology Department, Truro School purchased these special genetic-modification kits with the prize money to further their knowledge and experience of the role of green fluorescent protein in GM. Soumya said, “I chose these cutting-edge kits with help from the Biology team as it linked in well with our module on genetic engineering and was an excellent opportunity to do something extra to extend our knowledge in this field.”

Miss Hope, Head of Geology, commented, “This was an amazing opportunity for the students to network with a range of professionals and to open their eyes to the range of geological careers in Cornwall and the part they could play in the sustainable management of the county’s resources. We are very thankful to Frances Wall and Eva Marquis from Camborne School of Mines for masterminding the day.”

This fantastic learning opportunity arose from the success of student Soumya winning joint-first prize in TRURO SCHOOL

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Pre-Prep Life Pirate Antics in Falmouth Reception pupils were practising their best pirate impressions during a visit to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall (NMMC) in Falmouth. As part of their work on transport and in preparation for their next topic on pirates, the children enjoyed a fascinating morning learning about the golden age of pirates.

Visit From Devon and Cornwall Police Reception pupils were excited to welcome the Devon and Cornwall Police with some extra-special fourlegged visitors.

The children were delighted to meet police dogs Ronnie the German shepherd and Daisy the springer spaniel, and loved giving them lots of attention and cuddles. They learnt all about Ronnie and Daisy’s roles in the Police and how important they are to their handlers’ jobs.

A highlight, of course, was having a go at turning on the flashing blue lights and sirens in the police car.

A huge thank you to the police officers for taking time out of their busy schedules to visit us.

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Reception Swimming Showcase In their first swimming gala, Reception put on a wonderful showcase for parents.

The pupils showed off their swimming skills, including breaststroke and butterfly, push and glide, starfish and mushroom floats, and finished the session by jumping in and swimming the length of the pool. Well done to all of the pupils for taking part and showing such confidence in the water.

Library Learning Blossoms Library sessions are a firm favourite amongst our Pre-Prep pupils. They love choosing their own books and finding the perfect place to enjoy them with their friends.

Reading allows the children to unlock creativity and curiosity as they venture into different fictional worlds or learn new facts they can share with their classmates.

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Nursery’s Adventure to Newquay Zoo Nursery pupils had the most amazing day at Newquay Zoo. The excitement started early when they boarded the big green bus. They then visited the zoo, where they learnt all about penguins and enjoyed a picnic in the sunshine.

The children were fascinated by the animals and enjoyed exploring the zoo, looking at monkeys, parrots, otters and lemurs to name a few. However, the meerkats were definitely the most popular animal of the day, and the pupils loved watching them play and sunbathe.

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Fun Galore at Sports Day Courage, confidence and compassion were out in force as Pre-Prep held its annual Sports Day. The morning was filled with exciting events, from the hotly contested 30m and 50m sprints and class relays to obstacle courses and a challenging dress-up race to name a few.

Well done to all the pupils who put their all into competing and cheering on their classmates from the sidelines.

It was such a wonderful atmosphere, and lovely to welcome parents to the event as well.

A Creative Cornish Afternoon Year 1 celebrated all things Cornish with an afternoon of fun themed activities based around our home county.

The groups made clay pasties and model scones, as well as colouring in Cornish flags and getting cosy with their teddies to tell stories about the bolster.

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Perfectly Paired Reading Our budding young readers ventured outside to enjoy a book in the glorious sunshine and celebrate the penultimate paired reading session.

Over the year, Prep and Pre-Prep children have buddied up to share the joy of books and progress their reading through peer mentoring.

It’s a Pirate’s Life Yo Ho Ho! Prep was packed with a suspiciously swarthy crew as the Reception Pirate Day got underway.

With pirate-themed activities and a visit from the notorious Captain Beard keeping the crew in ship shape during the morning, the afternoon was a mutiny of treasure hunts and a glowstick disco to celebrate their pirates’ plunder.

Castle Beach Year 2 had a fantastic trip to Castle Beach in Falmouth. With sunhats and beach shoes donned, the children were ready to explore the beach and numerous rockpools, tasked with finding interesting features and creatures including starfish, crabs and sea snails.

The children discussed the importance of carefully uncovering these underwater worlds and the need to take only memories and leave only footprints to protect and preserve our beautiful Cornish beaches.

After a busy morning exploring, the children were very pleased to receive a hard-earned ice lolly to finish their morning off perfectly.

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Prep Life Beam House Residential Year 5 enjoyed a fabulous residential trip to Beam House in North Devon. The children took part in a wide range of activities including zip wires, abseiling, high-ropes and street surfing, whilst the challenge course allowed the children to embrace the mud like never before!

The character of the children, their resilience, compassion for each other, polite manners and good humour was constantly in evidence and remarked upon by all the adults involved.

Residential trips are a brilliant opportunity for our pupils to face new challenges and develop new skills, and it was great to see all our Year 5 children rise to the occasion.

Coronation Cheer Prep was a red, white and blue riot as celebrations got underway to mark the Coronation of King Charles III. Children were dressed in the colours of the Union Jack and the morning was dedicated to Coronation-themed activities. Buddies from the older year groups joined their partners in KS1 to make crowns. These were then donned at lunchtime, where celebrations culminated in a delicious BBQ lunch.

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Year 6 Play: Matilda the Musical Two sold-out nights and a standing ovation could only mean one thing; the Year 6 Play.

This year, our phenomenal Prep pupils took on Matilda the Musical JNR. The cast, split over two nights, were simply exceptional and the performances were perfection.

The staging, set changes, singing and acting left the audience wowed, with super songs and complicated dance routines including ‘Naughty’, ‘Miracle’ and ‘The Hammer’.

As Matilda struggles to live with her unforgiving family who fail to recognise that she is an exceptional child (and a girl), she is sent to an even worse fate: school under the terrifying Miss Trunchbull.

But, buoyed by the kindness of Miss Honey and propelled by a sense of what is right, our heroine rallies her friends to a happy ending.

With stand-out performances across both nights from Matilda, Miss Trunchbull and Bruce to name but a few, it was often hard to remember that this was a school performance.

The acting from every cast and ensemble member was excellent throughout and it was an utter delight to watch.

A huge well done to our amazing Year 6 and to all of the staff and parent helpers who made this possible.

With special thanks to Mrs Gregory and to West End Musical Director and Old Truronian Mark Smith who ran a Matilda workshop for our pupils.

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Sunshine and Sportsmanship at Sports Day Sports Day got underway this term in glorious sunshine. Pupils, staff and families gathered in the school field for the event, with individual and team events running throughout the day, including the long jump, high jump and vortex throw, with track events and a tug-of-war completing the day.

There were some stunning performances, with new school records made. But it was most impressive to see the sporting spirit, determination and compassion shown by our pupils as they took part and cheered their peers on.

Well done to all of the pupils who tried their best.

Victrix/Victor Ludorum ‘Winner of the games’ Year 3 – Ashleigh, Rohan Year 4 – Ellie, Henry M Year 5 – Isabella, Luca Year 6 – Isobel, Nathaniel Overall house points 1st = School (399 points) 2nd = Vinter (370 points) 3rd = Wickett (358 points) 4th Smith (347 points) New records: Year 3 girls’ 400m - Sienna 1.27.62 mins Year 3 boys’ HJ - Ethan 1.10m Year 3 boys’ LJ - Rohan 3.46m Year 4 girls’ LJ - Ellie 3.36m Year 4 girls’ 60m hurdles - Ellie 11.33s Year 6 girls’ HJ - Isobel 1.35m

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Year 5 Surf Day The weather was glorious as Year 5 took to Gwithian Sands for a day of surfing.

The group enjoyed a day of 100% water-based activities, including surfing, body boarding and swimming in the surf.

The pupils had a fantastic day improving their skills; a huge thank you to Global Boarders Surf School for organising a wonderful session.

Fun and Sun at the Summer Fayre It was a glorious afternoon for a summer fayre, and delightful to see so many current and new families and staff joining in the fun.

There were stalls galore, with a teddy tombola, a book and plant stall and plenty of fun activities, including the Year 6 World Record stand, raising money for ShelterBox. On the field there was even more fun to be had, with bouncy castles, a welly wang and coconut shy, a silent disco and even some delightful goats to be stroked.

Head of Prep, Mr Morse, commented, “It was a genuine pleasure to be part of such a lovely occasion and to feel the warmth of the Truro School community, as well as the sun!”

Thank you to everyone who made the day so special, with a particularly huge thanks to Lynette and the fabulous FTS team, and all of the staff, boarders, pupils and parents who worked so hard on this over the preceding days, weeks and months.

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Prep Life Year 4 Play - The Rehearsal Rooms A huge well done to all of our Year 4 pupils who put on a fantastic show for this year’s play, The Rehearsal Rooms.

The group have been working hard over the past few months to perfect their lines and moves, and they put on a performance to remember.

A huge thank you to Mrs Cadwallader, who organised the play, and to all the other staff that helped with the performance.

A Fun-Filled Night at Year 4 Camp Year 4 had a fun-filled camp, setting up their bedtime dens in the classrooms. Teams were kept busy making lanterns, weaving bracelets, creating incredible outfits out of newspaper and constructing green men out of clay in the side woods.

Embracing the rain, the pupils and staff enjoyed a water fight and toasted marshmallows around the campfire. Lanterns were lit on their return and looked magical as the campers were entertained with short plays and popcorn.

After a few hours of sleep, Year 4 was up early and cooking bacon in the Grassby area.

It was a fun-filled camp, enjoyed by all.

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Year 6 Take on Normandy C’etait bon is probably the best way to describe Year 6s time away in Normandy, France.

They had glorious weather and were treated to fantastic lodgings with wonderful hosts who made the trip extra special.

The children (and teachers) were immersed in the French language with lots of speaking opportunities throughout. It was a very busy week with activities including the aquarium, a trip to a goat farm and a visit to the hypermarket all taking place.

The pupils were a credit to the school, being complimented a number of times for their behaviour, manners and general pleasantness.

A Fond Farewell to the Rev Our much-loved Rev, Aubin De Gruchy, spent a moving day at Prep before he leaves us for pastures new at the end of term.

Having led a chapel service, Aubin then joined the pupils from Prep to share in their lessons, which included Spanish, Dance, PSHE and Art. He also had the opportunity for a question-andanswer session with the Reception children.

The Rev was presented with a leavers’ hoody and a beautiful stained-glass picture before watching a presentation of his day and memories from his twenty-plus years at Truro School.

He told us, “I had the most special day at Prep.

Getting to spend time with the children was wonderful, and I was extremely impressed by them and their curiosity about their learning.

As always, I was also touched by the staff at Prep.

By how engaged and engaging they are with their pupils and how beautifully and carefully constructed their lessons are. I was grateful to receive some beautiful gifts and will treasure those memories greatly.”

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Prep Life Coastal Features Found on Year 4 Trip As part of their Humanities topic on coasts, Year 4 spent a day on Perranporth Beach. After an informative talk by the RNLI, the children looked at coastal features such as caves, arches and stacks and had a great time making sand models to explain how they are formed.

Although primarily a Humanities trip, Mr Goddard never misses an opportunity to add a tricky maths task or two, and so the children were challenged to solve various problems, displaying their workings in the sand.

The day was rounded off with a much-deserved tasty ice cream for everyone.

A great day was had by all.

Prep Speech Day After such a busy and exciting year at Prep, it was wonderful to come together as a community of staff, pupils and their families to celebrate the hard work, determination and progress made by our amazing children.

With a presentation to Head Gardener Colin Dower, who is retiring after 49 years of service to Truro School, an inspiring speech from Gillian Burke and some outstanding singing from our boy choristers, it was a truly moving event.

A huge well done to all of our prize winners and thanks to everyone involved in making the occasion so memorable.

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Musical Talent Shines Parents, staff and pupils gathered for the annual Summer Concert. It was a fabulous occasion for all, and wonderful to see the abundance of musical talent at Prep.

There were some lovely individual, group and year performances. Some highlights included Year 3’s ‘Baloo Baleerie’, Jensen’s piano solo, Joseph’s piano and vocal solo, a rousing performance from the Year 6 ‘Matilda’ cast and a fabulous performance from Mr Pope’s Brass Group, to name but a handful.

The afternoon ended with a wholeschool rendition of ‘Try Everything’ from the movie Zootopia. As the community reflected on a year full of personal growth, compassion and challenges faced together, the lyrics, “Look how far you’ve come, you filled your heart with love,” seemed particularly resonant.

Beach Cleaners Find Lego A big thank you to all our keen beachgoers who went to Watergate Bay on a Sunday morning for a beach clean organised by the FTS in collaboration with Beach Guardians.

Our Year 6 pupils briefed the group about the types of waste and plastics that wash up on our beaches and, as teams worked their way along the beach, they collected two large buckets of waste that would have otherwise ended up back in the ocean.

A big thank you to all our families who came along and joined in the event and to FTS for their hard work in organising these events for us. Aaron from 6JL said, “I came with my family today as I wanted to help with the environment.”

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Prep Life Planning for The Future in Eco Club Our new Eco Club has been busy planting saplings given to the school by the Woodland Trust, which set up a tree-planting initiative last year as part of the Queen’s jubilee celebrations.

Organisations could apply to the Trust, which then sent out batches of tree saplings around the country.

Our Pre-Prep children have already been hard at work planting trees in their area, and our new Eco Club saw Year 6 pupils joining with their buddy Year 3 pupils to plant their first trees.

Each week, different groups planted their paired trees which will then be ‘theirs’ to keep watch over as they grow.

A huge thank you to Colin, the Woodland Trust and our fantastic Eco Club pupils for all of their hard work and care.

Science and CSI Year 5 played investigators for the day as they ventured to the Senior School for a CSI mystery-themed Science and Maths workshop.

They started the day watching a video showing Mr Johnson having his morning tea and biscuits as usual before rapidly falling unwell.

They completed four investigations working their way through Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Maths to find out “Who poisoned the Head?”

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Surf’s Up for Year 6 Year 6 had a fantastic beach day as they took to Gwithian Beach for their surfing day.

They took part in a range of waterbased activities from surfing to sea swimming and, despite the crisp 14-degree water temperature, they had a wonderful time improving their skills.

Thank you to Global Boarders Surf School for organising an unforgettable surf experience.

Young Writers Success Prep was proud to welcome the organisers of the Young Writers Competition. With over 250 entries from across the county chosen, the standard of entry was high and competition was fierce. We are delighted to share that Prep had the highest number of entries and the greatest amount of prize winners by school.

Huge congratulations to George, who was judged as the overall winner in the Cornwall and Devon section. Well done also to Lowenna, who placed 2nd, Harris and Ottilie, who placed joint 4th, and to all of the pupils who took part, 14 of whom were highly commended.

Fun Galore in Prep Activities Years 5 and 6 were excited to share some of the fantastic activities they’ve been doing this term.

Pupils have the opportunity to have a go at new activities, or continue with hobbies they already enjoy. Our A-Z Sports group made the most of the sunshine by making up their own team games on the fields. Meanwhile, our artists were getting stuck into printing and painting in the art studio.

On the other side of the school, pupils were enjoying dance lessons. Working in pairs, they used mirroring to copy their partner’s moves. Alongside onsite activities, other groups have been enjoying BMXing and Kayaking.

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Prep Life Creative Fun with Printing Our Year 5 creatives had a wonderful time participating in a fascinating print workshop with Tony Minnion.

The pieces were a Cornish twist on Asato flags, using Cornish birds and a Cornish flag to make up their artwork.

They experimented with different colours and used a blotting technique to blend colours seamlessly. A huge thank you To Mr Minnion for running another fantastic workshop!

Year 6 Matilda Workshop

Curiosity Explored Co-curricular clubs are one of the highlights of our pupils’ weeks; with an extensive list of activities they can get involved in, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Our keen musicians enjoyed learning a new piece, ‘Dan the Man’, in their String Orchestra session. Meanwhile, Years 5 and 6 were busy showing off their chess skills as they battled their peers and played against the computer.

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Year 6 were busy this term rehearsing for their end-ofyear show, “Matilda Jr”. In preparation, they were given the opportunity to work with Mark Smith, an Old Truronian (CO03). Mark has been a professional musical director, musician and conductor in London for over 10 years.

He’s worked on some of London’s biggest West End musicals, including “Matilda”, “Jersey Boys” and “Mamma Mia!”. Year 6 loved the opportunity to work with the very person who trains the children performing in “Matilda” in the West End.

SUMMER TERM

Outdoor Learning Boosts Well-Being Pupils made the most of the glorious sunshine as they took part in some outdoor learning sessions.

Fresh from the success of their play, the Year 4s enjoyed some welldeserved time to unwind and relax by sketching and painting in the gardens.

Meanwhile, Year 6 enjoyed tackling some tricky maths challenges in our beautiful outdoor spaces.

Outdoor learning is an important part of the curriculum at Prep; pupils benefit from being in nature, feel more connected to their environment and have a more positive approach to learning through these experiences.

Year 3 Ceramics Workshop Year 3 had an exciting day as they were treated to a ceramics workshop with Christina Feltham, a local mixedmedia ceramicist.

The children spent the morning rolling out their clay and drawing designs for their book ends.

Their creativity was endless, with innovations such as rainbows, waves, houses and clouds all featuring.

Once they had set out their designs, they spent the afternoon assembling and painting their creations.

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Prep Life Creative Learning Nursery enjoyed the freedom of learning through play as they ran a ‘Garden Centre’, built Duplo towers and explored the outdoor kitchen.

Meanwhile, Year 4 looked at writing poems themed around ‘what’s in your box’, where they used their creativity and imagination when writing, adding things in their box such as a dolphin’s squeal and the scent of a bluebell.

The Art Department was also in full flow as pupils looked at drawing their own doodle animal sketches, thinking about what unique patterns they could add to their animals. The group will turn these sketches into clay models.

Prehistoric Findings for Year 3 Super Scholastic Book Fair Prep pupils were excited to welcome the Scholastic Book Fair to school this term. Classes had the chance to look at a selection of books they would like to take home, reading the blurb and flicking through the pages to choose the perfect stories.

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Year 3 had a wonderful time at Kresen Kernow. They found out about life in prehistoric Cornwall during an exciting workshop where they were able to look at some artefacts and explore maps and sites of prehistoric remains.

They took rubbings of stone carvings and were given a tour of the strongroom where all the archives are kept. A wonderful conclusion to their topic on Prehistoric Britain.

SUMMER TERM

A Show of Appreciation The Friends of Truro School (FTS) Celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week, extending the show of thanks to include all of the staff who work so hard in the school: our teachers, support staff, admin team, grounds people, caterers, cleaners, bus drivers and all the people who make our school the wonderful family environment that it is.

A Warm Welcome to Mr Rob Morse

FTS organised donations from the parent community to provide small tokens of appreciation across the week.

Treats included thank-you banners, cards and hampers, celebration cakes and even a coffee van on site providing refreshments at break time.

We were delighted to welcome Robert Morse to our community this term, as Mr Morse takes up his role as Head of Truro School Prep.

Rob has joined us from Aysgarth School in North Yorkshire, where he was Headmaster for eight years, having previously been Headmaster at Perrott Hill in Somerset.

Ms Cadwallader said of the week, “I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to every lovely parent involved in making this week so wonderful. You have truly made us feel even more blessed to have such supportive, generous parents.”

Having grown up on the Roseland, it is a happy return home to Cornwall for Rob and the family and an exciting start as Rob joins the Truro School community.

Words and Musical Interludes A huge well done to our finalists and musicians who took part in the ‘Words and Musical Interludes’ event in the Lovett Building.

A mixture of poetry recital and musical solos, the afternoon was full of dazzling performances and a good deal of humorous poems to tickle the audience. Judged by Mrs Lottie Morse, well done to Olivia, Mia, Rex, Albert, Ottilie, Jensen, Raphy, Harry, Joseph, Sam, Atti, Lissie, Winnie, Ellie, Maya, George and Annie who all performed brilliantly. The afternoon ended with certificates and a rousing rendition of ‘Cornwall My Home’.

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With a lifetime in education, Rob brings with him a wealth of experience in happy and successful schooling. Head of Truro School Andy Johnson remarked,

“ Rob has a deep-seated passion for the wellbeing and success of this community. This is matched by his energy and excitement at the prospect of being able to draw on all his experience for the benefit of the pupils and staff who will flourish at Truro School Prep and Pre-Prep under his care and guidance.”

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World AIMS In the final week of term, the whole School has been celebrating World AIMS (Action In Methodist Schools), an initiative created to encourage the family of Methodist Independent Schools to look beyond themselves and consider the needs of the local and broader community. Throughout the year, World AIMS inspires so many of our school activities, highlighted by our dedicated charity and sustainability committees and community partnerships, as well as our annual World AIMS day.

This year’s programme of events and activities focused on five local charities: All We Can, Cornwall Air Ambulance, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, St Petrocs, ShelterBox, and Why Why Why. A member from each charity was welcomed into School to talk about the work they do in our local communities and further afield.

Each session started with a background charity briefing followed by pupil-led tasks and challenges to build compassion and understanding of each charity’s work and utilise some critical skills that this charity might use during their day-to-day work.

A big thank you to our ‘Rev’ Aubin De Gruchy for organising a thought-provoking and action-packed day of activities to raise awareness and compassion for many great causes. Thanks also to all our staff for working together to deliver a fantastic programme of events.

Royal Cornwall Show Fresh from their performance at the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla, three of the girl choristers from Truro Cathedral Choir were at the Truro School Stand in the Royal Cornwall Showground yesterday.

The girls were joined by the new Director of Music at the Cathedral, James AndersonBesant, Head of Choristers at Truro School, Rachel Vaughan and three boy choristers.

They were there to chat with visitors and share stories from their experience at the Coronation.

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1st Year Field Trip The 1st Years took to Newquay’s high street for their first Human Geography fieldwork trip. In groups, they evaluated the high street, looking at the number of people, shops, traffic and litter around.

It was a great experience for the pupils and gave them a good insight into future Geography work. The pupils will now look at the data they’ve collected in their lessons.

Horsing Around in WAA Wednesday Afternoon Activities are a time when like-minded pupils enjoy trying new or existing hobbies. Horse riding is one of these, where pupils enjoy a range of horse-based activities each week, including riding in the school, jumping and hacking in the local countryside.

It’s lovely to see the riders’ passion for the sport and the confidence gained each week.

Flying the Flag for Diversity Members of our School community came together on the playing fields to create a rainbow flag, marking the end of June’s Pride Month.

Led by the Diversity Group (which meets on Tuesday lunchtimes), Miss Hill and Mr Murphy, the school was also joined by Matthew Kenworthy Gomes, Chief Executive Officer of Cornwall Pride. Matthew spoke of the importance of tolerance, acceptance and compassion, both to others and to ourselves.

The rainbow flag became a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community in 1978 and is widely recognised as a symbol of community and inclusion.

Our pupils and staff donned colours from the flag to create our own tribute, with a fitting chant of “oggy oggy oggy, pride pride pride” to mark the occasion.

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Sports Day Victory for Vinter at Sports Day Huge congratulations to Vinter on their victory at this year’s Senior Sports Day. The day began with fun games for all in the morning with the track race finals scheduled for the afternoon, and what an afternoon it was. The field was full of excited pupils representing their houses in red, yellow, green and blue, with parents, pupils and staff cheering the runners on. With Vinter, Smith and Wickett all in with the chance of sweeping victory, the results came down to the final race: the staff relay.

A huge thank you to Mr Excell, the PE Department and all the staff who ensured the pupils were at the centre of everything they did throughout the event and made it a special day for all of them.

The final scores were: Vinter – 1st Smith – 2nd Wickett – 3rd School - 4th

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Senior Life House Swimming Galas Pupils took to the pool for the annual competition, competing against one another in a huge variety of races to win points for their houses.

The 1st Years were up first. The competition was fierce in the pool and on the benches as pupils cheered on their houses. Congratulations to Dan G and Millie N who became overall Victor and Victrix for the 1st Years, achieving the highest number of points across the board.

Well done to Ayla M and Matilda M for placing 2nd and 3rd, as well as Willoughby and Olly for their 2nd and 3rd medals. Well done to Rocco E and Gabriel O who also achieved ‘Spirit of the Gala’ award for their amazing efforts and resilience!

The 2nd Years were next, with some swimmers taking on 50m races for the first time. After some close and fast racing, the victors for the 2nd year were Barnaby O and Victrix to Eva N. Well done to joint runners-up Joe O and Jack C and to runner-up Victrix Naomi H. ‘Spirit of the Gala’ was awarded to Freddie G and Joseph G. In the afternoon, it was the 3rd Year’s turn.

This Gala saw, for the first time this year, records being broken by students as well as the debut of board racing.

Benjamin O, who won overall Victor for the years, broke the 50m Front-crawl record with a time of 28.28 (previously 29.12) and the 50m Butterfly record with a time of 30.77 (previously 34.64). Well done also to the runner-up Victor Luke R. The girls’ competition saw some close racing and great determination, with some swimmers competing for the first time.

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Well done to Elodie V, who achieved Victrix of the Gala, and Harriet S, who was runner-up Victrix.

‘Spirit of the Gala’ award went to Mimi O, Drake L, Julia P, George S, Yilin C, Alex C and Josh C, all of whom contributed significantly to the event.

Congratulations to everyone who put themselves forward and for cheering on their teams with such enthusiasm and pride.

SUMMER TERM

Musical Gala Evening for 1st Year Parents and pupils were treated to an uplifting musical showcase at the 1st Year Gala Concert, which celebrates the hard work and musical talent of the 1st Year pupils throughout the past year.

A special thank you to all the Music team and peripatetic teaching staff who have worked with the entire 1st Year to achieve such a fabulous evening of music and song.

A Marathon Effort for Mitchell 5th Year Mitchell juggled his GCSE revision with a mighty challenge over the Easter holidays: running the 4x4x48 Challenge. Originally created by David Goggins, the runner must run four miles, every four hours, for 48 hours: the total distance of two marathons.

Mitchell completed this challenge to raise money and awareness for the Royal Marines Charity. In the year of Compassion, his inner strength and determination helped to keep him going. “What drove me to finish every run was that I always had in my mind the amount of mental suffering and torment marines have to go through to achieve their green beret and how much more some must go through when experiencing the terrible life of a combat zone.

That’s what kept me going to always push through the tough times during the runs.”

Portugal Tennis Trip Twenty-four tennis players across the school flew to the beautiful Vale do Lobo on the Algarve, Portugal, to kickstart their 2023 tennis tour.

The trip offered the players the opportunity to have intensive tennis coaching from the 5 Star Coaching Team at the Vale do Lobo Tennis Club, which has had famous tennis players compete on its courts.

The group enjoyed two tennis sessions a day. The mornings were focused on skill development, particularly on rallying and the basics of technique. The afternoons then focused on playing matches, including learning new doubles tactics.

After the last session, the coaches presented the Player of the Trip medal to Jess B and the Best Trainer/Most Improved medal to Eva S. Well done!

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Senior Life A Midsummer Night’s Dream This year’s junior play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, took place outdoors on our beautiful school grounds. The newly refurbished terraces were the stage of choice, and audiences gathered over four nights to watch over 60 pupils perform.

Each night was truly spectacular and showcased the talents of our pupils fantastically.

Well done to everyone involved, and thank you to Mr Ben Oldfield and Ms Johanna Egar for their ongoing enthusiasm for and support of our pupils, and thank you to the Gardening and Estates Teams for creating our new performance space.

Jazz on the Lawn Equipped with picnics, blankets and chairs, guests arrived for a unique afternoon of Jazz on the Lawn during our Festival celebrations. Families sipped cold drinks, sat back in the summer sun and enjoyed the variety of laid-back performances from our talented musicians.

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Look What’s SUP in WAA Pupils took to the water at Swanpool Beach in Falmouth for the Water Sports WAA. Run by Elemental UK, the activity provides coaching and tuition in a range of water-based activities, including kayaking, coasteering and stand-up paddle boarding.

One session involved the pupils on the giant SUPs, gaining valuable skills to improve their techniques. The group included novices and more confident paddle boarders; sessions are structured to allow every level to gain confidence and improve.

1st Year Take a Trip to Newquay Zoo 1st Year had an exciting trip as they ventured to Newquay Zoo to complete their biology work on Extinction.

The groups chose a continent to focus on, ranging from Africa and Asia to South America, and wandered around the zoo, collating information about animals from their chosen place, including red pandas, meerkats and wart pigs.

They also had a talk on extinction from one of the specialist Keepers at the zoo and were able to ask lots of questions to help them with their projects.

The pupils used the information they found to then create a project at school.

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Come and Sing Mozart’s Requiem Singers from all over southern England joined Truro School and Truro Choral Society for a triumphant ‘Come & Sing’ Mozart’s Requiem workshop and performance. Held in Truro Cathedral, the vast combined choir of over 260 included Truro School’s Chamber Orchestra and soloists Rachel Vaughan, Annabel Gregory, Magnus B and Oliver T, with Euan B on trombone.

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Senior Life Beautiful Brittany for 2nd and 3rd Years Two groups of 2nd and 3rd Years enjoyed an action-packed fourday trip to the picturesque towns of Châteaulin, Locronan and Concarneau. Departing over two consecutive weekends, all pupils were encouraged to stretch their language skills and, in small groups, took part in a treasure hunt around the beautiful town of Locronan.

They also visited a local spice market where they talked to stallholders and purchased items of interest.

During their visit, pupils undertook several independent research tasks and talked to local people to learn about historic buildings and local customs. They also enjoyed ordering a crêpe in the famous ‘Les Remparts Crêperie’. Pupils gleaned interesting information, such as the most popular variety of ice cream sold in one town and the total quantity of Nutella consumed daily at the local crêperie.

Staff congratulated pupils on their exemplary behaviour and positive and engaging attitude towards their French studies.

Rainbow Run Congratulations to our amazing boarding community who made it around the 5km Rainbow Run course at RAF St Mawgan. The 21-strong boarding team ran alongside 1300 others at the event held in support of Children’s Hospice South West. The boarders had a great time and we are immensely proud of all who took part – for many it was their first 5km run.

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Confidence Shines in BMXing WAA is about building confidence and courage, and BMXing has been doing just that. This activity is new to WAA this year and has proven to be very popular with the pupils, including those who are both familiar with the sport and those who are just starting.

Despite some initial nerves, everyone began to grow in confidence and skill.

One pupil commented, “I was nervous about going BMXing as it was really out of my comfort zone, and the idea of riding over the bumps and large drops was terrifying. Mr Baker and Mrs Selvey were so supportive, and after some practice with Mr Baker, I gave the course a go and really enjoyed the rest of the session.”

Rocking the Terraces Truro School turned up the amps as revellers settled in for the grand finale of the Festival terrace line-up with the Truro School rock concert.

The laid-back festival-style event, which carried the audience through an eclectic line-up of improv and hits from Blink 182 to the Beatles, was a culmination of the effort of music lessons, band sessions and small informal groups who get together in their spare time to jam.

Mr Thompson stepped in on vocals for some memorable numbers, including Tina Turner’s ‘You’re Simply the Best’, while Tom Holland provided a supporting role throughout some outstanding musical numbers.

In his address, Mr Johnson noted that, 20 years ago, the music department had to seek permission to play rock music on school grounds; twenty years later, there is hope and expectation this will be a firm feature on the Truro School Festival calendar.

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Cooking Up a Storm 2nd and 3rd Year cooks have enjoyed getting stuck into this term’s cookery club ‘Fresh is Best’. The group has been looking at a range of fresh produce this term to make delicious dishes to feed a family of four that they can take home to enjoy.

In one session, they experimented with sweet and savoury flavours, making a couscous salad with grilled halloumi.

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Senior Life Geology Trip Around the Cornish Coast 4th Year Geologists ventured out for their second field trip of the year this term. They visited two locations on the Cornish coast, where they could apply the knowledge they developed during the first year of their GCSE course, identifying minerals and interpreting igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.

They began the day at Praa Sands, examining the textures and minerals within a porphyritic dyke to understand its formation and how its emplacement had affected the surrounding rocks of the Mylor Slate Formation.

The afternoon was then spent at Godrevy examining the formation of an unconformity and using the sedimentary structures and textures to interpret the sea-level changes shown by the raised beach.

Celebrations Fit for a King There was a sense of jubilation in the air as the Senior School came together to mark the Coronation of King Charles III. Every pupil and member of staff at school was gifted a commemorative Coronation coin during form time before being treated to a special lunch in the Dining Hall. The mains featured coronation chicken, Cornish pasties, the King’s heritage sausages and a pea, mint and feta quiche finished with coronation cupcakes.

The School site looked resplendent, with the Union Jack flying high and the King’s cypher emblazoned on the lawn in the Celebration Garden (below the terraces).

The celebrations even reached as far as Trafalgar Roundabout. A specially organised team from Truro School, the aptly named H.O.G.S (Hedgehog Organisational Group Squad), treated the resident hedgehogs to a sprinkling of coronation cheer, with crowns, flags and fabric bunting.

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Top Teams in Ten Tors Four incredible teams joined 2400 other teenagers from across the Southwest for the annual Ten Tors challenge held in Dartmoor. Friends, family and staff were there to cheer them across the finish line at the end of their incredible two-day challenge of endurance, navigating and survival.

The challenge sees teams of six navigate routes of 35, 45 or 55 miles over the North half of Dartmoor, visiting ten nominated tors and checkpoints in under two days. All team members must individually carry everything they need to be self-sufficient for the entire challenge, including one overnight camp-out on the moor. All 400 teams set off with only a compass and a map for navigation - no GPS and no smartphones allowed. A big thank you to all our staff, parents and volunteers involved in the training, preparation and support for Ten Tors this weekend.

It takes months of preparation, hard work and dedication from everyone involved. Heartfelt congratulations to our teams for their grit, resilience and teamwork.

2nd Year Science Fair Final Our 2nd Year scientists exhibited their projects for this year’s Science Fair final.

Following earlier rounds, the finalists had to prepare to answer questions from leading industry professionals Fritha Durham, from Spaceport Cornwall, Lucy Cotton, CO09 and lead geologist on geothermal projects for Geoscience, Gill Doble who is an ex-Head of Social Sciences, and Sophie Whistler who is completing an engineering PhD in the field of renewable energy at the University of Exeter.

Pupils were quizzed about why they chose their topic, how they devised their experiment (and controlled variables), what they found out, the limitations of their investigations and what future work could be done.

The projects included ‘Can you deduce whether a subject is lying using a homemade lie detector?’, ‘Which surfboard wax makes the best ‘stiction’?’ and ‘What gas boils water most efficiently?’

Well done to all of the pupils for showcasing their excellent work, and thank you to our judges and teaching staff for organising the event.

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Golfers Compete in National School Finals Three pupils recently spent the weekend at Slaley Hall in Northumberland, competing at the Independent Schools National Golf Finals. Golfers Joe, Kobe and Alex competed against other players from top schools nationwide.

The standard of golf at the event was incredibly high, with Joe on day one playing alongside a player ranked in the top 15 in Europe for his age and with a handicap of +4.

Staff reported they were really impressed by their performances and the attitude they displayed towards other players. Mr Hooper said “Whilst we struggled to make an impact on the leader board, it was a fabulous experience for Kobe, Alex, and Joe and an event they will remember for years to come.”

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Heseltine Gallery Summer Show It was a pleasure to welcome parents, pupils and staff to the opening night of this year’s Summer Show. The exhibition includes a range of exciting works from across the year groups, along with some spectacular A-Level and GCSE pieces.

4th Year Careers Day Pupils attended a series of workshops for their Careers Day, held in partnership with FutureSmart, to provide them with valuable information about A-Levels, university, apprenticeships and alternative qualifications.

They also explored the sort of skills they will need to be successful employees in the future.

Pupils also took part in Morrisby testing.

Morrisby is a psychometric and aptitude assessment that helps identify particular strengths and skills; it can be helpful when making decisions about subject choices or possible future careers.

They were invited to think about careers that align with their values and the workplaces they could see themselves enjoying.

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Career Paths Uncovered at Health Symposium Pupils from the 4th Year onwards were invited to attend a Healthcare Symposium in the Heseltine Gallery this term. This event is designed to inform and support students interested in pursuing a healthcare career, making them aware of the vast array of career opportunities and pathways into healthcare outside of more traditional routes into medicine, dentistry and veterinary care.

Pupils had the opportunity to talk to an occupational therapist, a therapeutic radiographer, a pharmacist, a biomedical scientist, technicians and students.

Colours Awarded at 2nd Year The 2nd Year Chapel assembly was a particularly special occasion as junior colours were awarded to pupils who have made a consistent and significant contribution to music, theatre and performance.

Later in the term, the 2nd Year sports colours were awarded on the 1st team pitch. Pupils were recognised for their positive attitude and commitment to Sport at Truro School and for being role models and ambassadors.

Commended and highly commended Science Fair prizes were also awarded to pupils from the Annual Science Fair Competition, with Sarang scooping the top prize with his project ‘Can you deduce whether a subject is lying using a home-made lie detector?’

Colours at Truro School are awarded for representing co-curricular areas of school life, recognising loyalty and dedication together with a sustained commitment and contribution to a co-curricular area.

They are a permanent recognition of outstanding achievement.

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Mrs Havis, Head of Biology, organised the event as part of the career pathways programme.

She remarked, “These events are a fantastic opportunity for pupils to think hard about their career choices, ask questions of industry professionals and find out first-hand about their career paths. We are very grateful to all our guests who have given up their time to see our pupils today and have helped give a real insight into their work.”

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Senior Life An Insight to Fieldwork Surveying the streets of Truro, our 2nd Year geographers have been practising what they’ve learnt in the classroom, swapping their usual Geography lessons for a trip into town to research the city life of Truro.

They looked at the footfall through the streets, as well as the number of vehicles and rated the amount of rubbish around them. It was a very educational session giving them an insight into fieldwork that will be important for their future studies.

Fluvial Processes Explored Geographers were able to put their classroom knowledge into practice on a field trip to the Kenwyn River.

In a carefully orchestrated plan that allowed all of the 3rd Years to participate across two days, pupils gained practical experience in river studies in three locations in Kenwyn.

Pupils donned their wellies to measure the width and depth of a transect of the river, before using an orange to measure the velocity.

This involved some excellent fielding skills to ensure the orange was not lost to the faster-flowing sections.

They repeated these scientific recordings in two further locations, before using their evaluation and analysis techniques to draw conclusions and summarise their findings.

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Philanthropy workshop with Cornwall Community Foundation Addressing climate change and dementia care in Cornwall were among the local issues discussed and debated in a philanthropy workshop led by the Cornwall Community Foundation.

Amy Buzza-Blackwell (CO08), Philanthropy Director at Cornwall Community Foundation, was invited to School to talk about many of the issues facing the Cornish community and how,

as a local charity, they are particularly focused on projects relating to poverty and climate change in the county.

Rachel Vaughan, Philanthropy Coordinator at Truro School said, “Truro School is really engaged with charity and community action and we are looking into more ways we can work with the Community Foundation to raise funds and awareness for local projects.”

SUMMER TERM

LAMDA Success Huge congratulations to our pupils and students who have just received their prestigious LAMDA-accredited qualifications, certificates and medals. All passed with either a Merit or Distinction and 78% of students who took their Gold Medal received a Pass with Distinction.

Claire Rawlinson, LAMDA (Speech & Drama) teacher at Truro School, said, “I am so proud of all the students who took LAMDA (Speech & Drama) exams this year - they have all worked incredibly hard on top of a busy timetable and I’m so pleased they did well.

Very well deserved! I’m especially proud of my Grade 8 (Gold Medal) students, who I have seen grow up and flourish over the years: Ben D, Sophie D, Jessica H, Kit H, Liberty R, Arthur T, Tara S, Oliver S & William W... Thank you for being an amazing and memorable group of students.

I’ll never forget you.”

A Night at the Musicals Inspired by the epic musical production of Les Misérables, the pupil-led ‘A Night at the Musicals’ event was a phenomenal addition to this year’s Festival line-up. Organised and led by Lily W and Celia G, the audience was treated to a selection of hits from the musicals, including Wicked, Little Shop of Horrors, My Fair Lady, Cabaret, Mary Poppins, Frozen and more.

A huge thank you to Lily and Celia, along with the Music, Drama and Tech teams, for putting on an outstanding evening.

Boarders Coronation Celebrations Geological Skills in Co-Curricular A group of 2nd Year pupils have been busy taking bearings and modelling the geological features of the School site.

This group of 2nd Year pupils get together one lunchtime a week, as part of the co-curricular syllabus, to learn the practical techniques of geology, and will be competing for the first time in the Cornwall Mining Games this term.

They are led by Head of Geology Miss Hope and Mr Blackie.

They said: “Our pupils are excited to be taking part in their first event, and it is great they are enjoying learning these practical field techniques which are so useful for future studies in geography, geology and engineering.”

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Our boarders had a wonderful weekend getting stuck into celebrations to mark the Coronation. They enjoyed a red, white and blue street party complete with lots of delicious food fit for a King, including scones with jam and clotted cream, coronation chicken sandwiches and Victoria sponge.

They also played royal-themed games whilst wearing crowns, and even Alfie, the boarding-house dog, got involved.

On the Bank Holiday Monday, teams headed off to Carne Beach to take part in ‘The King of the Castle Challenge’, organised as part of The Coronation’s Big Help Out campaign.

Our teams worked together to create some truly stunning sandcastles, and despite the dreary weather, they took the win. A fantastic and memorable weekend was had by all.

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Senior Life 5th Year Ball Our 5th Years celebrated all of their hard work and dedication throughout their GCSE years at this year’s Ball.

Held at the Falmouth Hotel, the pupils arrived looking fantastic and enjoyed the stunning views from the seafront location. It was incredible to see how these young adults have grown during their time at Truro School and we wish them all a well-deserved and restful summer.

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Speech Day “Failing is not a disaster, but not attempting to try is.”

As our year of Compassion drew to a close, Truro School gathered for the final time at the Hall for Cornwall. Marking the end of another fabulous school year, it was a rousing celebration of the achievements of all our pupils across the school and an opportunity to bid fond farewells to our 2023 leavers.

Staff, pupils and parents were welcomed by the Head of Governors, Richard Thomas, who thanked everyone for their effort and support throughout the year. Mr Johnson then took to the stage to pay homage to our ‘global family’ and to all those who have contributed so much, in so many ways, to the thriving community that is Truro School.

Prizes were awarded to students and pupils to recognise their achievements, determination, courage, compassion and progress throughout this academic year.

The prize giving was followed by Head Girl Soumya and Head Boy Oliver, who both gave speeches that reflected on their journeys through Truro School. They also passed on some sage advice for those pupils following in their footsteps, with Souyma encouraging that “making a mistake and learning from it is more important than being perfect” and challenging pupils to, “try something new that you know you won’t get right the first time; this school has so many opportunities on offer that fear of failure will only lead to you missing out.”

Old Truronian Max Levene (CO10) delivered the keynote speech. His inspiring story is one of courage and compassion, with a fabulous dose of humour. He encouraged everyone to take five lessons from the day to be compassionate, to nurture relationships, to weather tough times in the knowledge they are temporary, to relish and contribute to your community and live your life and say ‘yes’ to opportunities.

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Sixth Life Sports Dinner The Sports Dinner took place at The Alverton in Truro. One hundred and forty guests attended to celebrate our senior sporting achievements of the last year.

Director of Sport, Mr Sanderson, said “It is always an evening that I look forward to, with this year’s event being one of my favourites ever. The evening was an opportunity to bring together pupils, sports staff and parents to enjoy each other’s company. We had some fantastic food and celebrated incredible sporting achievements. Awards, Q&As, expressions of thank you and, of course, the sports quiz ensured the evening was fully stacked and a pleasure to be a part of.”

The guest speaker was Ollie Andrews, Old Truronian (CO18) and Head Boy, who shared stories about his time at school, his favourite teachers, school sporting memories and what it means to be a professional rugby player at Coventry RFC. It was lovely to welcome Ollie back to the school and we are very proud of his achievements.

Awards were distributed for ‘Player of the Year’ in each sport, ‘Sports Personality’ for sporting achievement, and ‘Sports Ambassador’ which celebrates fantastic role models and their continued effort and commitment to Truro School Sport.

Sports Personality went to Tegan B for her outstanding sporting achievements in national and international surfing.

Sports Ambassador was awarded to Kobe K for being a fantastic role model and multi-sport athlete and for his outstanding commitment and effort.

Sixth Form School Colours were also awarded to students for their commitment, dedication, attitude and for being outstanding role models.

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An Emotional Farewell It was an emotional day as the Upper Sixth gathered for the last time as students at Truro School. The day started in the SBA with games, inflatables and a delicious breakfast.

This was followed by a fun ‘awards’ assembly in the Burrell, where students were recognised for their unique qualities and talents.

The students and staff then welcomed their parents to a poignant chapel service, where they reflected on their time at school and the bright futures they now all face. They then headed out to the terraces for afternoon tea and goodbyes in the marquee.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Upper Sixth for their outstanding contributions to the Truro School Community. Their hard work, compassion and leadership have been inspiring to see. On behalf of the School, we want to wish them the very best for their exciting futures ahead.

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Sixth Life Casino Royale Summer Ball Celebrating months of study, coursework and exams, our Upper Sixth joined staff, parents and friends at this year’s sold-out Summer Ball.

With the theme of ‘Casino Royale’, everyone came dressed in their finest attire and had a splendid time celebrating the end of the School year.

Geography Trip Lower Sixth Geography students enjoyed a two-day field trip to Nettlecomb and Minehead, where they collated the last of their fieldwork.

The group enjoyed exploring the beaches, including a trip to Porlock Weir, where they investigated beach profiles and analysed coastal sediments.

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To the Lighthouse The Lower Sixth A-Level English students study Virginia Woolf’s ‘To the Lighthouse’ and, this term, spent a morning visiting the lighthouse that inspired her.

Woolf spent her childhood summers in Talland House in St Ives, which boasts views of Godrevy Lighthouse. ‘To the Lighthouse’ revives this childhood memory of a perfect time and questions the conditions in which women could make art in the early 20th Century.

The Sixth Formers also spent time at the Tate and in Barbara Hepworth’s Trewyn garden, thinking about how women artists imagined landscapes and relationships through abstraction.

The students returned to school to tie in this wonderful experience to the final section of the novel, so they have fabulous contextual points to make in their coursework.

Gold DofE Celebrations at Buckingham Palace Congratulations to our students, past and present, who celebrated their fantastic achievement of completing the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award at Buckingham Palace. They were all invited to a garden party to collect their awards and celebrate with their peers.

Mark Aston, Head of Outdoor Pursuits, said, “All of the students should be very proud of their achievement. It is a great accomplishment to complete all three levels of DofE, and you have all put in so much effort to get this far.”

DofE promotes skills, including teamwork, as well as enabling students to improve their confidence and become more courageous. Gold DofE includes completing a year of volunteering and either a year or six months of a physical-based and skill-based activity.

The students also had to complete a three-night expedition and a four-night residential away from home.

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British Biology Olympiad Congratulations to our Upper Sixth Biologists who took part in the British Biology Olympiad, a national competition for students to expand and extend their talents in biology.

This annual competition consists of two 45-minute multiple-choice papers taken online under exam conditions. Students were presented with topics and ideas from biology outside the A-level syllabus to challenge their problem-solving skills and understanding of core biological principles.

Congratulations to all our participants. We were proud to achieve four highly commended and two commended certificates.

In addition, Louis and Euan came in the top 10% of entrants, gaining a Silver Award, and Hannah earned a Bronze Award for being in the top 15% of entrants. A very well done to everyone involved.

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Sixth Life Coronation Choristers “One of the most memorable parts of the day was when the Archbishop of Canterbury lifted the crown, and that’s when it hit me: we were there, witnessing this incredibly historic moment.”

In case you happened to miss it, seven of our girl choristers made history by becoming the first female choristers to join the choirs of Westminster Abbey and HM Chapel Royal Choir, St James’s Palace, to sing at the coronation ceremony of a British Monarch.

Ahead of their performance at King Charles III’s coronation, Rachel Vaughan, Head of Choristers at Truro School, said, “The girls have been rehearsing at the Abbey for almost two weeks and are incredibly excited to have been given the opportunity to be the first girl choristers to ever sing at a Coronation. It is an honour to be here alongside the Abbey Choir, Chapel Royal, the girls from Methodist College, Belfast and an octet from the Monteverdi Choir.

I will watch them sing with immeasurable pride later this morning.”

Talking after the event, Imogen said,"We all thought it would be the most nerve-wracking experience of our lives, but we loved every minute of it.

The only thing that could have made it even better would have been if everyone could have gone."

The Head of Truro School, Andy Johnson, said, “We are immensely proud of the commitment and talent of our chorister pupils, and the opportunities available to them via our partnership with Truro Cathedral. We are thrilled that these girls were invited to serve the King and the Queen Consort at their Coronation.

It has been an honour to be able to support them throughout this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

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Psychology Tutor2U Workshop Psychology students had the opportunity to attend the Tutor2U Grade Booster workshop in Bristol this term. They learned tricks on how to raise their grades, completed a tense maths challenge, and were shown how examiners approach their marking as well as a host of other interactive activities to develop understanding.

The group found it very worthwhile and commented, “It was a great confidence boost with practical activities which were fun” and “It helped solidify my understanding of Psychology as well as improving the structure of my work.”

SUMMER TERM

After Liverpool Four Sixth Form drama students were joined by Mr Oldfield and Mrs Vaughan to perform a spectacular rendition of After Liverpool.

The captivating performance was both thought-provoking and humorous and provided the audience with an evening of great entertainment.

New Senior Prefect Team Lower Sixth Visit to Wheal Jane The Lower Sixth Geologists visited Wheal Jane in the Carnon Valley. The group were met by Old Truronian Bryony Halliday (CO11), who provided an overview of the mine’s operational history. The group also learned about the 1992 acid-minedrainage incident that caused significant pollution of the Carnon and Fal Rivers.

Visiting during the Festival of Compassion made this part of the visit particularly pertinent, as the group could consider the environmental implications of mining, how the mine watertreatment plant established following that event prevents future pollution, and the strategies being implemented to progressively remediate the environment.

The group also visited UK Remediation, which uses bioremediation strategies to remove pollutants from contaminated land. At Wardell Armstrong they had a tour of the mineral-processing facilities, which allow the viability of mining projects to be determined and the consideration of waste disposal throughout the process.

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It was our absolute pleasure to present our Senior Prefect Team for 2023-24. Prefects are ambassadors and leaders for the whole school, and applying to be a prefect is no easy task, with the process seeking to find the very best role models for our school.

Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Mrs Lucy Jupp, commented, “This group of students has been selected as our Senior leaders of the School. They will enact changes which will help the School to evolve and will represent not only their peers but the younger years too. We are excited about what each of them will bring to the team and look forward to working with them over their tenure.”

Our congratulations go to: Tara S Florence M Lexie C Lowenna W Lara O Aimee B Olivia V Macarena A Tom S Oliver T Lucas de G-H Theo W Sam S Ben A Head of Malvern: Leora K Deputy Head of Malvern: Asia T Head of Trennick: Sam H Deputy Head of Trennick: Seb S

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Sixth Life Taking Geology Further Dr Rob Chapman, Senior Lecturer at Leeds University and specialist in gold mineralogy and exploration, joined our Geology Department to deliver a talk on careers in geology to interested pupils and students from the 4th Year to Upper Sixth.

His talk focused on the important role of geologists in the UN sustainability goals.

He also met with our Upper Sixth geologists to discuss the options of studying geology at university before teaching a session with our Lower Sixth.

The session looked at the identification of minerals and the plate-tectonic setting in which they formed. The students observed and interpreted the University specimens, one of which included a small bottle of gold.

Geological Mapping at Rinsey Cove Lower Sixth geologists enjoyed their first experience of geological mapping at Rinsey Cove, near Porthleven. In glorious weather, they were tasked with carrying out a range of observations and measurements that would enable them to reconstruct the geological history of the area.

They mapped the contact between the Tregonning Granite (featuring xenoliths, pegmatites and tourmaline mineralisation) and the Mylor Slate formation (exhibiting different grades of contact metamorphism).

After completing their maps, the group visited Praa Sands to examine an ‘Elvan’ dyke. They examined the dyke’s features to interpret its formation and collected data about the orientations of phenocrysts which they analysed back in the classroom to determine whether there is a statistically significant trend.

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Post-18 Option Days Over two days, our Lower Sixth discussed post-18 options with our Heads of Departments, UCAS, universities, Old Truronians and select industry professionals about life after their A-levels. The Universities of Exeter, Bath, Cardiff, Falmouth and Oxbridge talked to our students about how to stand out from the crowd in the application process.

They also discussed the dos and don’ts of personal statements and gave practical advice on preparing for life at university.

Old Truronian Charlie Armstrong, now working for Pendennis Shipyard, spoke to our students about apprenticeship schemes and Mr Whatley talked to students about the Armed Forces as a post-university career option.

Ethics Play Lower Sixth Religious Studies students performed an exciting compassion play in the Chapel about the famous tragedy of the “Mignonette” as part of their ethics studies.

Mignonette is a true story of a group of sailors cast adrift in a small wooden dinghy after their ship capsized en route to Australia. In a fight for survival, they resorted to murdering the cabin boy to satisfy their hunger.

The audience was called upon to consider the evidence and listen to expert witnesses before deciding whether the survivors should be found guilty of murder or excused on compassionate grounds.

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Sixth Formers also heard from entrepreneur Warwick Royden on running your own business and discussed gap years and studying in London with past pupils Chloe and Ben, before doing a deep dive into finances and future planning with Financial Advisor Luke Zorab.

Subject sessions were held across an entire day with Heads of Departments.

Mrs Kenward held a refresher session on practical skills, focussing on interview techniques, preparation, possible questions and excellent presentation skills for interviews.

AI Lecture for Sixth Form Lower Sixth gathered for a lecture on Artificial Intelligence. Heads of Departments from RS, Economics and Psychology shared their thoughts, looking at the possible opportunities AI presents in their particular area of interest and considering the potential consequences that might arise from AI’s rapid progress.

Students agreed it was fascinating to see things from three different perspectives. Afterwards, there were animated discussions about the possible opportunities it could provide for online mental-health services, provided strict privacy controls were in place.

One particular group of students has gone away wanting to know more about the possible efficiencies saved by AI and whether this could make us more prosperous as a nation or create more economic pressures due to a loss of jobs.

Other students left wanting to familiarise themselves with the ‘Chinese room argument’ and the work of American Philosopher John Searle.

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Exceptional Achievements Students, their families, and staff celebrated another year of excellent A-Level results and Sixth Form successes, including over 43% A*/A grades, and over 14% at A*.

Students also achieved 89% A*-A in their EPQs (Extended Project Qualifications) and 56% Distinctions in their Leith’s Certificates, alongside their A-Level successes, emphasising the breadth of talent and opportunity in our Sixth Form.

Andy Johnson said, “We congratulate all who have worked so hard to achieve these outcomes, as they celebrate goals met, or work now with dedicated staff offering ongoing support where plans may change. There is immense care for this year group individually and collectively. They are a superb cohort of young adults whose educational and personal journeys over the last few years have been exciting, challenging, and characterised by real compassion and courage. It has been a privilege to stand by them and work with them across that time, and on behalf of everyone at Truro School, I wish our class of 2023 every success for their future endeavours.”

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Leiths Visit to Nathan Outlaw Nathan Outlaw and his team put on an incredible experience for our Lower Sixth Leiths students as they enjoyed a mini fine-dining tasting menu and mocktail-making session. They also learnt about the hospitality industry from the perspective of both the back and front of house.

Zoo Visit Lower Sixth enjoyed a trip to the zoo this term as part of their Psychology studies. The students spent the day developing the observational research skills they had learnt in lessons.

The research task involved monitoring an animal of their choice, where they started by carrying out unstructured observations, noticing behaviours and operationalising them to make their work more accurate. The students then used various sampling techniques, including time and event, to create their structured observations. This helped the group to further develop skills that they’d learnt in the classroom as well as understanding the relative strengths and limitations of each.

A Winning Start Three sailors had a very successful start to the sailing season, competing in the RYA Youth National Championships in Portland and Weymouth over the Easter Holidays. Teams from around the UK were joined by sailors from Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands in the opening round of the UK Nacra 15 National Series and the European Super Series.

Sam and his crewmate Sophie from The Exe Sailing Club took a clean sweep, winning 1st British boat, 1st in the Eurocup event and gold medal position. Brother-and-sister team Tara and Jacques also demonstrated some fantastic sailing. The 14 and 16-year-olds placed 3rd in the UK U19 category.

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BOARDERS

A Year in Boarding

As our boarders departed in July after another busy year at Truro School, we look back on some of the highlights from 2022/23 in the boarding houses.

Before the boarders returned from their summer breaks, our facilities team had been busy behind the scenes working on the continuous improvement plan for our boarding houses. There were new doors and carpets fitted throughout Trennick, which followed on from new bathrooms the previous term and preceded a bedroom refresh scheduled for October.

D AV I D M C K E O W N HEAD OF BOYS’ BOARDING

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Along with new boarders joining Truro School, there was a new face on the boarding team as David McKeown started as Head of Boarding in September 2022. David had been Head of Boarding at the Swiss International School since 2019, having led boarding communities in the UK and abroad for many years.

He was joined by his family, wife Anna and sons Harry and Oliver, and also by puppy Alfie. Alfie very rapidly became a firm favourite ‘pup star’ in the boarding houses, with a talent for cuddles and walks with the boarders.

Weekend activities have continued in abundance as the boarders are encouraged to develop existing skills, find new talents and have a lot of fun in between. The extra-curricular schedule for this academic year has been a varied one, with paintballing, horse riding, surfing, bowling, ice-skating, cookery and sailing on the Helford, to name but a few.

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Some highlights include the Coronation Weekend, where our boarders had a wonderful time getting stuck into celebrations to mark the occasion.

They enjoyed a red, white and blue street party complete with lots of delicious food fit for a King, including scones with jam and clotted cream, coronation chicken sandwiches and Victoria sponge. On the Bank Holiday Monday, teams headed off to Carne Beach to take part in ‘The King of the Castle Challenge’ as part of The Coronation’s Big Help Out campaign.

Our teams worked together to create some truly stunning sandcastles to take the win. A fantastic and memorable weekend was had by all.

In June, 21 amazing boarders took on the course at RAF St Mawgan for the 5km Rainbow Run. Our boarding team ran alongside 1300 others at the event held in support of Children’s Hospice South West. The boarders had a great time, and we are immensely proud of all who took part – for many, it was their first 5km run.

In March, we were delighted to be listed in the Best School’s Top 100 Coeducational Boarding Schools in the UK by A-Levels.

Truro School was ranked 23rd overall in the UK and the 4th best in the South West.

It was the only school listed from Cornwall.

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Truro School was also listed in the Top 100 Boarding Schools by GCSE; again, the only school in Cornwall to have received this accolade.

Truro School Head of Boarding, David McKeown, said, “We are delighted that Truro School has been listed as one of the top schools nationally.

Our aims in boarding here at Truro School are simple and straightforward: to ensure that all of our boarders are healthy, happy, have fun and are able to maximise their talents. Our pastoral care means that every young person is valued, listened to and included.

Each has a strong sense of purpose in our tight-knit community.”

Also in March, alongside our incredible musicians and some day pupils, our international boarders were invited to 122

take to the stage at our annual Hall for Cornwall Concert. Titled ‘Truro School Goes Around the World’.

The international pupils (representing Thailand, Spain, Brazil, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Ukraine, China, South Korea, Nigeria, India, Latvia and New Zealand) were asked to speak about their cultures and nationalities.

Speaking in both English and their native languages, they impressed the audience with their confidently presented stories about music, art, cuisine and architecture from around the world.

Mr Johnson, Truro School Head, commented, “They spoke with pride and considerable humour. They showed us that this School is both in Cornwall and part of a wider, diverse and wonderful world.”

“ We were so impressed by the bravery of our international boarders and day pupils who stood up to speak in different languages on such a big stage – we are incredibly proud of them.”

MRS SARAH MULREADY HEAD OF GIRLS’ BOARDING

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Our boarding stars shone again in April as we created a raft of new boarding videos featuring some of our international boarders, again speaking in both English and their native language. These videos share personal stories and experiences on why Truro School is an excellent choice for boarding. These are available to view in the boarding section of our website under ‘Stories from the Boarders’.

As the academic year drew to a close in July, we were sad to say goodbye to our Upper Sixth and some of our boarders who had been with us for a short secondment. We also welcomed in our new boarding prefects: Head of Malvern, Leora K, Deputy Head of Malvern, Asia T, Head of Trennick, Sam H and Deputy Head of Trennick, Seb S. More good news fell at the end of term as we heard that we had been shortlisted for ‘Boarding School of the Year’ at the Independent Schools of the Year Awards… we look forward to further announcements later in the year.

With the Festival of Compassion creating a plethora of memorable events, including the Summer Ball, World Aims Day, plays, concerts and trips, we know that our boarders will head off into the summer with firm friendships made and valuable experiences lived.

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SPORTS

Sports Summary I had to check my previous year’s entry as I was sure that I was wrong. It turns out, I wasn’t (for once). The 2022-23 school year was the first school year completely unaffected by any covid limitations since I joined Truro School in 2018-19. That also means that I have been at Truro School for five years, which is a perfect reason to stop and reflect.

DAN SANDERSON DIRECTOR OF SPORT

To say that this year in sport was a busy one would be a gross understatement.

The energy that our pupils, staff, coaches and parents have is inspiring.

Due to everyone’s efforts, it has been an incredible year packed with fixtures, tournaments and new experiences.

Truro School has competed in over 700 fixtures, spread across 21 sports.

An incredible 63% of the Senior School represented Truro School in a fixture at least once this year. The 1st Years have been the most active year group (both in terms of pupil engagement and fixtures played) that we have had in the past five years. All of this is indicative of the phenomenal opportunity each pupil has to engage in sport at Truro School.

Sport is still largely judged by the win/ loss column but I am grateful that more people than ever can look past this.

The learnings, experiences and resilience gained through sport are well known and are of extreme importance in and beyond the school setting.

Winning is, of course, nice, but the added benefits of sport allow us to focus on preparation, process, creativity and risk-taking. These skills are of far greater value and benefit to our pupils than the short-term pleasure of winning a fixture.

I am honoured to have the opportunity to see the pupils of Truro School perform, grow and enjoy themselves in the sporting arena. Below are just a handful of some highlights of the last academic year.

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Team Highlights Our U16 netball team were crowned National Champions in netball after they won the Sisters in Sports Bowl competition. A special achievement from a wonderful year group and the first national title in netball for Truro School - well done girls! The U15 netball team were crowned County Champions and, once again, had a fantastic year in a variety of competitions.

The U12 and U15 boys’ football teams both made it to the national semi-finals, which was an incredible run for both teams. The U18 boys’ football team continue to be successful, again winning the double (league and county cup), following on from the double last season.

Our girls’ football teams continue to grow stronger, especially in the younger years. Well done to the players for training so well and for representing the school with passion.

Our mixed rounders and cricket teams were fantastic ambassadors in the Cornwall School Games. Not only did they compete with exemplary behaviour, they ended the tournament as winners.

The U14 cricket team won the county title, which was the first county title for this cohort in any sport and a welldeserved accolade for a tremendous year group.

Our athletics and cross-country teams had their busiest season ever, with over 100 pupils representing the school in a record number of events.

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Sports Summary We also had two golf teams in the national finals, which was an amazing achievement and a first for the school.

Our judo team travelled to Mount Kelly College to compete in our first judo fixture, in a triangular tournament, which we hope will be the first of many.

The team continues to go from strength to strength, with increasing numbers at training each week.

The U16 boys’ rugby team had a great season, playing some wonderful rugby throughout, both in 15-a-side and 7s.

A talented team throughout, they have produced some of the best rugby at Truro School for a long time.

Individual Highlights Daisy H (4th Year) and Naomi H (2nd Year) continue to achieve stellar success in triathlon and laser run events, representing GBR in numerous events across Europe.

Daisy H also received the Lord Lieutenant award, which is given to deserving and inspiring sports stars of the future.

Luke M (3rd Year) was crowned national road cycling champion in the summer of 2022; an incredible achievement.

Joseph B (2nd Year) cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money for the Friends of Royal Cornwall and Camborne Youth Band, raising over £2000.

Sam C (Upper Sixth) had some incredible success in sailing, qualifying with his partner for the Youth Sailing World Championships in the Hague last summer. Sam continues to perform at extremely high levels and is firmly embedded in the national team.

Fenella E (2nd Year) joined the Lioness Talent ID programme for football, travelling to St George’s Park to train, and continues to be involved in the scheme.

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Finlay Wyatt (4th Year) represented Scotland U16s in field hockey and took place in recent international fixtures, even securing a player of the match!

Harry Martin (Upper Sixth) continued with his excellent fencing displays and topped the season off by going undefeated in the U18 British Sabre event, winning the title in May. This is just a snapshot of some of the phenomenal team and individual successes. We continue to have pupils nominated for higher honours and representative teams in hockey, cricket, football, rugby, netball, judo and badminton, with pupils representing county and regional teams. We are so proud of all of our pupils who show commitment to their sport and who are dedicated to improving year on year.

Recent Alumni Highlights In rugby, Will Becconsall (CO21) made his premiership debut for Exeter Chiefs and has become a regular fixture in the Chief’s match-day squads. Ollie Andrews (CO18), who was our special guest at this year’s sports dinner, continues to impress at Coventry Rugby Club. Ollie has recently signed a new contract and has been a strong performer in the front row.

In football, Freddie Issaka (who left us last year) signed his first professional contract and has put on some eye-catching displays for Plymouth Argyle FC. Freddie becomes their youngest-ever player and has also gained national age-group honours.

Developing Sport at Truro School Away from the sports field, the PE team has been involved with various events and initiatives throughout the year, a few of which we will share below.

With the help of Mrs Norfolk, the team launched ‘masterclasses’ to give our pupils a snapshot into sports they may not have tried before. Sessions were held for fencing, badminton, golf and triathlon and we are looking forward to more showcases next year.

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Sports Summary

The PE department held a rainbow laces week, where we championed different LGBTQ+ athletes and shared their stories. Our staff and pupil community donned rainbow shoelaces to show that sport will always be available to everyone at Truro School.

Trips were back on the agenda, with highlights being the Portugal tennis trip and the World School Games Tournament, which took place at Loughborough University, with our U13 & U15 netball teams representing Truro School. With even more planned for next year, it will be fantastic to see our pupils performing far and wide.

The annual Sports Dinner took place in May, with 150 guests joining in the celebrations of our senior teams and individuals. Our keynote speaker was former pupil Ollie Andrews, who gave us an insight into life as a professional athlete and shared some entertaining anecdotes about his time at Truro School and his rugby career to date.

Tegan B (Upper Sixth) won the Outstanding Sporting Achievement Award for her phenomenal efforts in surfing, representing Team GB and England in events across Europe.

Kobe K (Upper Sixth) was awarded the Truro School Sports Ambassador for continued service, a consistently high positive attitude and for being a wonderful role model across a multitude of sports during his Truro School sporting career. It was a privilege to spend the evening with our senior pupils and it is always an occasion that I look forward to.

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I can’t finish without mentioning the first full Sports Day since 2019, which was won by Vinter. To see the whole school come together and compete, cheer on friends and enjoy being active for the day was long overdue.

I was filled with pride as I witnessed hundreds of pupils on the athletics track; it was clear then, as always, that we really do have a special school community.

I would like to say thank you to all of the OPS teams that are essential to running our sports programme. Transport, caretakers, maintenance teams and catering, your support is greatly valued and appreciated. The grounds team at Truro School go above and beyond and we have some of the best pitches in the South West. Thank you all.

Finally, I want to say thank you to the pupils, staff and parents. Thank you for your effort, patience and support.

For me, the best thing about sport is the spirit of teamwork that it creates.

Solo or team athletes, everyone needs others to help them achieve their goals and we are lucky to have a wonderful community at Truro School that enables this to happen. Thank you to all of the pupils who have represented the school.

We hope you have enjoyed sport at Truro School this year and we are looking forward to providing you with more opportunities next year.

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OUTDOOR LEARNING

Outdoor Learning Outdoor learning is an integral part of our curriculum at Truro School.

Our outdoor activities not only inspire students in the day-to-day but also prepare them for a range of careers and opportunities beyond school.

While Truro School is a selective school to a point, our selection criteria go beyond the classroom and academic achievement. We have a broad range of abilities in our pupil cohort, and every child is guided to find their passion and reach their full potential.

With this in mind, our outdoor pursuits and co-curricular opportunities create more access points for pupils and students to achieve in a broad range of skill sets. There are no barriers to accessing these opportunities, and they are open to all students.

Outdoor pursuits provide a valuable platform for learning skills that might not be so easily developed inside the classroom. In outdoor expeditions and excursions, our pupils are challenged personally and given a safe environment to fail and find ways to succeed.

They are encouraged to develop new skills in teamwork. Children develop physically and mentally whilst taking in the beauty around them; they develop resilience and independence and grow in self-confidence.

Truro School is recognised as a centre of excellence in the South West for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Each year, well over a hundred of our pupils achieve their Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards.

Without a doubt, the pinnacle of the Award is the Gold expedition to Slovenia, where Lower Sixth students undertake their expedition with our link school, ably supported by the Slovenian Armed Forces. In return, our Slovenian guests 130

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join us in the Autumn Term of the Upper Sixth to undertake their Gold expedition on Dartmoor.

Truro School has an enviable reputation in the Ten Tors Event; our proximity to the South West Coastal Path, Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor makes access to training easy as our pupils prepare for the event in May. Truro School also takes part in the World Challenge Award; our budding explorers have so far ventured to far-flung places, including Ecuador, India and Morocco.

Younger pupils have the opportunity to attend a day of team-building at Cornwall Outdoors as a part of their first-year induction. They work together as a team to uncover their strengths and weaknesses while getting to know their peers better.

For our boarders, every weekend spells a chance to explore Cornwall and participate in outdoor activities such as Camel Trail cycle rides, exploring Poldhu Cove, outdoor laser tag, quad biking, coasteering, horse riding and more.

For our International Boarders, Cornwall offers a world of adventure, and we encourage them to embrace as much as they can during their time at Truro School.

Truro School offers well over a hundred co-curricular activities through our Wednesday Afternoon Activities and our after-school and lunchtime clubs, many of which are based in the outdoors.

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Outdoor Learning

On-site outdoor activities include British Army Fitness, a gardening club and a huge range of sports, including hockey, football, rugby, tennis and cricket.

Our off-site excursions include golf, surfing, horse riding, BMX, skateboarding, sea angling, water sports,and sailing.

All of this combines to make sure that there is not a week or weekend that passes where our pupils are not outside enjoying the beautiful Cornish landscape or venturing further afield.

Being in Cornwall, our children have a rare opportunity to experience their educational journey “in real life” rather than through digital platforms. We have access to some of the UK’s best natural environments, from beaches and geographical formations to moorland, mining, farming and other outdoor pursuits and industries. Through our outdoor-pursuits department, co-curricular activities and departmental trips, our pupils and students are allowed to explore all that Cornwall has to offer. We have an outstanding Geology department, and our other departments host frequent Art, English, Geography and Biology field trips to local places of interest, including Cape Cornwall, Nettlecomb and Minehead and the Lizard Peninsula.

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However, we also remain passionate about taking our pupils’ personal development global to get the most out of life experiences. Travel is exciting and creates a chance for adventure and for our pupils to broaden their horizons, develop self-confidence, strengthen existing skills and uncover new ones.

Our trip offering at Truro School is broad; some of our trips are linked to academic subjects, others are cultural, and there are numerous sports and music tours.

This year, our pupils have ventured to Munich through MFL, Iceland through Geology, Portugal for surfing and tennis, Italy for rugby tours, Sistrier for skiing, London for Music, Drama and Art and Alicante for MFL to name but a few.

This year also sees the launch of an exciting new trip to Borneo: ‘Volunteering and Jungle Living’. With a varied itinerary, pupils will be able to trek in the rainforest, experience first-hand the impact of deforestation, take part in eco-camps and tree planting, visit a tropical island, go white-water rafting and meet experts in the local ecology.

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impact this has on the well-being and development of our pupils. This quote from a parent regarding their pupil’s recent experience at BMX Club sums up the power of clubs and activities for our pupils: “[They} went off this morning full of trepidation about BMX… the reality of the strange-looking bike and the terrifying drops and bumps made [them] wobble even more on arrival! But when I picked [them] up this afternoon, [they] told me how kind and supportive [the staff] had been. [Despite being] full of terror, they did it anyway, and halfway through the session realised [they were] actually enjoying [themselves]. I’m very proud of [them] for doing something so far out of [their] comfort zone, and it’s clearly a good life lesson that sometimes you feel the fear and do it anyway! What an exciting Wednesday afternoon!”

We hope you enjoy reading more about some of our clubs, activities and outdoor adventures in this edition of Terraces, and look forward to seeing what the next academic year brings.

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GOVERN0R’S MESSAGE

A Message from the Governors

There have, during this last school year been some significant and innovative changes in Truro School. It is important for every organisation to evolve and regenerate and I’m pleased to see that our School is no exception.

RICHARD THOMAS CHAIR OF GOVERNORS

In staffing terms, it is a pleasure to see the school recruit effectively, and we very much welcome Rob Morse as Head of Prep and also Rob Murphy as New Deputy Head Pastoral.

Both represent important additions to the Truro School Leadership Team.

Developmental changes have also occurred. An example of this is the holding of Speech Day in the Hall for Cornwall.

This is a departure from the historic norm.

As most people will know the Hall for Cornwall has been recently refurbished and as such, has an increased capacity.

The holding of Speech Day within the Hall shows Truro School to be at the heart of the community and our city, and to be in a position to show off our achievements. I do not say this with an ideology of selectivity or elitism, but with one of inclusivity.

The Governing Body firmly believes that the School should provide opportunities for all and is exceptionally proud of the level of involvement that we have in our city and our county.

A further initiative of the School has been that of the Summer Festival. The relandscaping of the terrace in front of the school and the development of this into a performance area allowed (along with excellent summer weather) some wonderful performances of drama and music of all genres. These events showcased the talent, ability and courage of our pupils and students. The Festival is certainly an aspect of school life which will be built upon and amplified in years to come.

It is welcoming, following the restrictions and limitations of the last couple of years, to see Mr Johnson our Head provide significant development and enhancement of the School and its reputation during this year. This does however not happen individually, and it is with the immense support of the Truro School Leadership Team and all those feeding into that team that help make the improvements year on year.

I would, in this review, also like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow governors

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for their part in the structure of the school.

They are not involved in the operational duties but play a vital role in the leading of the process of setting the strategy of the school and delivering governance.

This includes the compliance with educational policy and standards, the long-term development of the school’s buildings and facilities and maintaining a sound financial footing for a sustainable business. All governors work entirely voluntarily for the good of the school and I commend their commitment and dedication to ensure the best environment for the education of all children. We have recently had a very successful recruitment process for new governors, and I am pleased to see the desire of community members to oversee and help provide strategic direction for the school.

Truro School is a special place. It has an important role in the whole community, and as a governing body strongly feel that it plays a vital part and is indeed intrinsic to the whole education system in Cornwall.

A large part of making Truro School a special place is our Methodist ethos and the engagement of our Chaplain, Aubin de Gruchy. Aubin, as most will know, is sadly leaving us this year after 21 years in post. As a governing body our ethos and direction is core and the Christian teaching and pastoral care that he has provided through the school has been so important to us all here. We have all benefited at some point from the Rev’s care and advice.

So, to you all, on behalf of myself and the whole Governing Body, thank you. There are exciting if challenging times ahead and as a school, we will look to deliver our aims and maintain our values in the Community that is Truro School.

FOR GENERAL ENQUIRIES:

Highertown Truro Cornwall TR1 3QN

EMAIL: prepenquiries@truroschool.com

Truro School Senior and Sixth

FOR GENERAL ENQUIRIES:

Trennick Lane Truro Cornwall TR1 1TH

EMAIL: enquiries@truroschool.com

TELEPHONE: 01872 272616

TELEPHONE: 01872 272763

Truro School is part of the Methodist Independent Schools Trust Registered Registered Office: 66 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LH Charity Number: 1142794 Company Number: 7649422

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