Terraces 2020-21 - Truro School Magazine

MAGAZINE 2020-21

NURSERY | PREP | SENIOR | SIXTH FORM

TERRACES TRURO SCHOOL

Esse Quam Videri

Foreword Head This magazine has the word ‘life’ running through its index and rightly so.

ANDY JOHNSON HEAD OF TRURO SCHOOL

Across the pages of this magazine you will find the creativity that has abounded this year, be that broadcasting Chapel services, virtual Open Events, online competitions, a reconstructed Sports Day, or simply ensuring surfing lessons could happen in a swimming pool. The school has maintained a life of endeavour throughout. A highlight for me was the Sing2G7 project that projected the voices of young people to those at the heart of that summit.

The power of creative partnership was clear across our talented boy and girl choristers, benevolent and highly skilled parents, professionals and entrepreneurs, Truro Cathedral, the local Council, local and international children’s choirs, Prep and Senior school educationalists, the Y7 and associated Future Leaders Network.

Compassion has been at the heart of this year too. We rallied to support families struggling under the impact of the pandemic through our emergency bursary fund, and I thank all those who quietly help in that regard. We rallied to support those outside our immediate school family too, as a school of Methodist foundation should, with pupil-driven charity initiatives including to support All We Can, Children in Need, the Wave Project and Unicef’s vaccination programme. Our World Aims focus this summer was ‘Let Creation Breathe’. It was also a privilege, as the leading school promoter of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards in the South West, to celebrate his life.

We also, of course, sought to support each other, as the many smiling faces you see throughout this magazine show.

We will help children across our school to restore and draw confidence from the last year, when we know for some it has been knocked. For our public examination cohorts this began with their deservedly outstanding results.

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More important than the 74% A*-A at A Level and 67% grades 9-7 at GCSE have been the personal triumphs. 99% of our Upper Sixth Leavers were in control of their next steps after school within 24 hours of results day, including the vast majority securing places at first-choice universities, courses or employment. A great schooling should give confidence over future life choices, and that is exactly what happened this summer.

Confidence is not simply academic or career related. It has been a year in which we have supported a school-aged world champion windsurfer, and celebrated the efforts of an alumni Paralympian too.

I praise the courage of our pupils, families, staff and the Governing Body throughout this year too. The above achievements have been reached in a hostile climate that still lingers. 140 years after our foundation stone was laid on site, our school continues to evolve. A new pupil magazine (Steps) was launched, and a new, dynamic Sixth Form Diploma programme from this September too, designed to enhance the choices and opportunities available to our most senior pupils. Practical life skills will be developed and a broad and broadening education remains championed alongside the pursuit of intellectual and academic excellence.

As I spoke to our community at a carefully reconstructed Speech Day in July, filled with pride over what had been achieved, and seeing the exhaustion in the faces of those who had made it happen, I knew that this coming year would be one of curiosity.

It is time to reflect on where we are, what we have achieved and what the possibilities are for our future. Curiosity is the best antidote to boredom, and also a wonderful pathway to insight and ambition for the future.

I look forward to sharing the next phase of our school’s unique and precious journey with you over the months and years ahead.

CONTENTS

TERRACES TRURO SCHOOL

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WITHIN THIS YEAR

AUTUMN TERM Pre-Prep Life Prep Life Senior Life

SPRING TERM

Pre-Prep Life Prep Life Senior Life

4 8 18

34 38 46

SUMMER TERM

10 62

Pre-Prep Life Prep Life Senior Life

58 68 88

BOARDERS

108

ART

112

Sports Summary

128

A Message from The Governors

130

102

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AUTUMN TERM

Pre-Prep Life Nursery discover Forest School Mrs Mikail-Jones introduced the children to the delights of a Forest School Lesson. The adventure clothes were donned and some of the exciting learning experiences were discussed, including toasting marshmallows. The important rules were chatted about to keep everybody safe and the children listened intently.

The Early Years Forest School area was explored and investigated by all of the children, and they all had a super inaugural experience.

Nursery experiment in chemistry Boys and girls in nursery played together with all sorts of soft and squishy, hard and cold materials as they were introduced to science from Senior School chemistry teachers Dr Brogden and Mrs Chanter.

Usually the teachers would come to the nursery to show them all the materials in person, but this year the children watched a pre-recorded video of them opening the boxes.

The children then got to see what objects were in the boxes and had a play and feel of the textures.

It’s safe to say it got very messy when the cornflour and water mix came out. They scraped through the mixture to watch it magically reassemble itself. The slime was also a highlight, mixing the red and blue colours to make a purple goo.

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AUTUMN TERM

Year 1 Victorian Day There were chimney sweeps and maids everywhere in the Pre-Prep playground on one December day.

On Victorian Day, Year 1 dressed up in Victorian outfits and learned what life was like for children and families during that era.

They had a traditional tea party, eating cucumber sandwiches they had made earlier in the day, and tasty cupcakes and gingerbread biscuits that they had also baked for dessert.

Year 2 Virtual Carol Concert Towards the end of term, Year 2 pupils were very excited to virtually welcome their loved ones into the classroom, who watched them perform their carol concert over Teams.

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AUTUMN TERM

Pre-Prep parties The entire Pre-Prep enjoyed a week of Christmas parties in their grouped bubbles.

The children played Pass the Parcel, donned their Christmas cracker hats, ate tasty snacks and tried their best to ‘freeze’ in musical statues, a little difficult with all the excitement in the air…

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TERRACES 2020-21

Premiere DVD night Year 2 were treated to an extra special ‘premiere’ DVD night in, where they enjoyed pizza, snacks and hot chocolates whilst watching the much-anticipated launch of the Pre-Prep Nativity.

Film Director Mr Caddis joined in on the blue carpet, and was thanked by the staff and children for all his amazing help in filming and editing the production.

The children enjoyed watching, laughing and singing along to all their Nativity songs.

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AUTUMN TERM

Prep Life Back to school The September sun was the perfect partner for the first full week back at school.

Sticks with magic powers, climbing on equipment, running around, finding worms, digging for ‘chocolate’, playing football, doing handstands and cartwheels, you name it; the prep children were happy to be back with their friends using all their energy and imaginations…

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AUTUMN TERM

Walking around Daubuz Moor Year 3 enjoyed the last of the sunny and warm weather on their local walk to Daubuz Moor.

On their circular walk, the children used their spotter sheets to look for types of trees and insects. They used their Forest School knowledge from Pre-Prep to remember not to touch wild mushrooms as they could be very poisonous.

At a stop on the riverside they drew what they could see around them, surrounded by trees, butterflies and even dragonflies.

Volcanoes and Earthquakes Year 4 stretched their volcano knowledge with a brilliant talk from Senior Lecturer and Volcanologist Dr James Hickey. During the virtual session, Dr Hickey broke down the intricacies of Volcanology in a fun and interesting way with his extensive research on the dynamics of active and restless volcanoes.

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Later in the term, the young scientists discovered what makes our world shake, rattle and roll investigating the power of earthquakes, which they demonstrated by making their own models using spaghetti and marshmallows.

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AUTUMN TERM

Prep Life Extra-curricular clubs After-school clubs were busy in the Autumn Term.

Boys and girls played netball and football, learned ballet techniques, had gloopy hands making clay bugs, picked the veg of their labour in the school’s garden and put their brains to the test playing chess.

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AUTUMN TERM

Children in Need There were lots of spottyfaced children and Pudsey ears to raise money for the annual BBC Children in Need. At lunchtime, the young Pudseys lined up to take part in fun-filled activities.

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AUTUMN TERM

Prep Life A ray of light The Assembly Hall welcomed a new, colourful addition. Children’s artwork culminated in the creation of stained-glass windows, which created a special chapel area within the hall.

Fundraising for the project came through selling the children’s hand-drawn Christmas cards, and the generous support of the FTS. The frames and installation of the windows were completed by the School Estates team. Tony Minnion, a local artist, worked with the children to create the windows, which reflect Cornwall in both its industry and beauty, with all pupils contributing to the finished work.

Mrs Ashdown, art teacher at the Prep, was central to making it all come together.

Keeping up community spirit

Remembrance Day Two children laid a wreath in honour of the fallen for Remembrance Day, whilst all the pupils stood silently and respectfully at 11.00am.

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Truro School prides itself on its community spirit, and this year, more than ever, that spirit has been needed. Normally, Year 3 visit Langholme Care Home in Falmouth, to meet residents and chat with them as part of their humanities topic on ‘how childhood has changed over time’. As the children couldn’t visit this year, they compiled a list of questions to ask so that the residents could write back. They also made some paper Christmas decorations for them.

AUTUMN TERM

Year 4 launch their boats There was much excitement from Year 4 as they tested their motored boats, made in DT, for the first time in the pool.

Some motored smoothly, some capsized, some funnels fell off; but, most importantly, the boys and girls learned that Design Technology is all about trial and error. Designs might need tweaking and refining until they get the desired results, and the fun is in the playing around.

Year 6 train in First Aid As part of their Year 6 Diploma, the children undertook Level 1: How to Give First Aid. Year 6 mastered how to give CPR on a dummy adult, child, and baby, as well putting someone in the recovery position, with Lily being the volunteer.

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AUTUMN TERM

Walking the cliff coast path Year 6 walked a circular route starting in Chapelporth, taking them up to St Agnes Beacon and back along the coast path to Chapelporth car park. The young explorers experienced the rugged coast path, splashed through puddles, picked blackberries and climbed on the ruins dotting the cliffs, all whilst having the chance to bond.

Cornwall has a rich history in tin and copper mining, and this was an opportunity to learn about their local surroundings.

The experience also contributed towards the Year 6 diploma.

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AUTUMN TERM

Bodmin Moor As part of the John Muir Award, Year 5 take a trip to Bodmin Moor. Enjoying the early autumn weather, the group visited the Cheesewring, Minions, and Gold Diggings Quarry for a lunch stop, followed by The Hurlers, before making their drive back to school.

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AUTUMN TERM

Cornwall Christmas Box Friends of Truro School (FTS) and everyone at Prep supported Cornwall Christmas Box this Christmas, filling boxes of donations which went towards Christmas dinners for Cornish families in need.

Year 5 film their play This year’s Year 5 play, featuring globally famous boy band ‘Long Diversion’, followed their journey from switching on a small town’s Christmas lights to travelling to Lapland and meeting Santa and his elves…

Due to socially distanced guidelines there was no audience this year, but the performance was filmed for parents to enjoy from the comfort of their own homes.

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TERRACES 2020-21

Last day of term It was a jam-packed last day of term. There were squeals of excitement as they awaited the arrival of Santa on his motorbike and cheered him on as he arrived.

The playgrounds were awash with Santa hats, reindeer antlers and sparkly Christmas jumpers as they enjoyed a relaxed day before the Christmas holidays.

After the special visitor, Nursery went on a surprise reindeer hunt. They followed the trail where the reindeers had been, which led them to finding special gifts for the boys and girls…

Prep Christmas Concert This year’s concert was filmed over the last few weeks of term. Thank you to Mrs Renshaw for ensuring the show still went on.

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AUTUMN TERM

Senior Life 1st Year Induction Day 1st Years couldn’t wait to get through the doors on their first day at the Senior School. They hurriedly said their goodbyes to parents and guardians to meet friends old and new.

After finding out their form groups, they split off with their new form tutors to commence the day’s activities: discovering the school grounds, participating in teambuilding games, participating in Q&As to ease any nerves, and introductions to the IT and languages departments.

Welcome back For the first time in six months, Truro School was filled with the excitement and buzz of pupils and staff once again as the site re-opened for the first day of Autumn Term.

Though it was not the usual start to a new academic year, with precautions in place and bubbles created, it was undeniably a happy return to a school environment.

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AUTUMN TERM

A new Head Boy and Head Girl Upper Sixth Students Jenny and Isaac were introduced as 202021’s Head Boy and Head Girl, along with their Senior Prefect team consisting of Deputy Head Girl Holly, Deputy Head Boy Monty, Senior Prefects Amber, Alfie, Charlotte, Benjy, Ellie, Cameron, Jenna, Henry, Lucy, James, Zoe and Matt, and Heads of Boarding for Malvern and Trennick, Stephanie and Trevor respectively.

We caught up with Isaac and Jenny in September as they started their new roles.

Why did you apply for the roles?

J: I applied for Head Girl because it seemed a wonderful opportunity to represent my peers, influence some decisions that are made about our school lives and accept greater responsibilities.

I wanted the chance to work more closely with teachers and make sure that our views are represented and heard.

I: Truro School has given me so much in my time spent here and so I saw the role of Head Boy as an opportunity to give back to this amazing community.

What do you aim to achieve in your roles?

J: This year we’re hoping to preserve the sense of community at Truro School, despite the physical barriers Covid has created. We’d like to work on integrating the Sixth Form with the rest of the school in a figurative sense, creating a student support network by utilising the Prefects and ACHE teams. We want to make sure that everyone feels represented and heard throughout the school, and continue to work on the issues raised in last year’s student charter by finding new ways to create school community.

No one is quite sure what this year will bring, but we know that we want to continue preserving the atmosphere at Truro School and leave something positive and enduring behind after we’ve left.

I: I’m most looking forward to helping bring the hopes and ideas of the prefects and wider school community to fruition, thus ideally leaving the school in a better place for future students.

What’s your favourite aspect of school life?

J: My favourite aspect of school life is socialising and participating in extracurricular clubs and events. Some of my favourite moments from last year were when I went to Southampton with the debating team to participate in the Mock Trials Competition, attended the Model UN, and performed in ‘This Sceptered Isle’. Although for the foreseeable future events like this will look a little different, I know that there will still be lots of opportunities to get involved in this type of activity, which I’m really looking forward to.

I: My favourite aspect of school life is the sheer variety of activities and opportunities available to us, be that the various sporting clubs running all week at all times of days, to the business lunches that allow us to meet business leaders and get an insight into potential different careers and extensive academic enrichment sessions.

I: I hope that Jenny and I, as part of the Senior Prefect team, can (despite current circumstances) lead the team to integrate further into the school, and increase the presence around school, to give all students greater access to the specialised skills that our subject prefects offer them.

JENNY

What are you most looking forward to as Head Boy and Girl?

J: I’m really looking forward to sharing ideas between the prefect team, getting to know and working with our new head Mr Johnson, and rising to the challenge of new responsibilities.

ISAAC

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AUTUMN TERM

Senior Life Discovering Cornwall’s geology With dramatic coastlines, hundreds of beaches, rugged moorland and lush green countryside, Cornwall’s landscape provides our budding geologists with plenty to explore.

Enhancing their studies, the GCSE geologists ventured to Widemouth Bay and Carn Brea to see for themselves the geological richness in these areas.

Meanwhile, A-Level students also experienced field trips out. They discovered the features of the metamorphic aureole surrounding Cligga Head Quarry on the coastal footpath to Perranporth.

There were several other stops along the route to investigate decreasing grades of thermal metamorphism.

Cape Cornwall Art While it was still warm and sunny, the A-Level artists ventured to Cape Cornwall, a scenic area perfect for practising their drawing and paintbrush skills.

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AUTUMN TERM

New decorations outside Burrell Theatre The clay heads that were made in last year’s ceramics Wednesday Afternoon Activities were put on display outside the Burrell Theatre.

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day was marked with a livestream ceremony and a small amount of Sixth Form students present in the chapel, along with Mr Johnson, Dr Pope, Mrs Ellison and the Rev. After Mr Johnson opened the service, Dr Pope and Mrs Ellison read out the names of fallen Old Truronians who sacrificed their lives in both world wars and in Afghanistan. Whilst their names were projected on the screen, each Sixth Form student pinned a cross to the boards in their honour.

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AUTUMN TERM

Inter-Year Group Music Competition Over 100 pupils performed in their Year Group Bands and Vocal Groups for the Inter-Year Group Music Competition which took place virtually.

1st Year Cookery 1st Years familiarised themselves with the Cookery School and learned to cook a delicious carrot, orange and tarragon soup with homemade bread, and mastered a variety of basic cooking skills in their first term.

Harvest Festival During Harvest Festival week, each year group dropped their food donations in the chapel entrance.

Three Sixth Form students led an assembly at the beginning of the week with information about the chosen charities, and encouraged donations. Representatives from Truro Foodbank collected the food donations; there was so much they needed help from the caretakers to load it into the van. On Charity Day, money was donated to All We Can.

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AUTUMN TERM

Truro and Falmouth MP visits Truro School Cherilyn Mackrory, Conservative MP for Truro and Falmouth, visited Truro School for a tour around the site, whilst meeting new Head Andy Johnson and Head Girl and Boy. On her tour Cherilyn visited the chapel, where she could see for herself the piles of food donations made

by Truro School pupils ready to be collected by Truro Foodbank as part of Harvest Festival.

Ten Tors Walk The Truro School Outdoor Pursuits team were pleased to be back out training for the 2021 Ten Tors event after it was cancelled in 2020.

The teams hiked a long, windy walk in tough conditions from Padstow to Mawgan Porth/ Watergate Bay.

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AUTUMN TERM

Truro School announces new partnership with Saints Southwest Truro School was pleased to announce a new partnership with leading football development centre Saints Southwest.

Saints Southwest is an official club partner of Southampton Football Club, and provides education, community, football and sporting provisions across the South West.

As an official Saints Southwest partner, Truro School pupils will benefit from the club’s commitment to ‘developing potential for all’ both on and off the pitch.

Building on an already high standard of coaching at Truro School, which last

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year saw Truro School’s Under 16s team crowned joint winners of the Independent School’s FA National Shield, the unique programme will provide pathways for boys and girls, taking them to the next level, as well as opening doors to a wide range of roles within the industry, such as coaching, performance analysis and research. Delivered through daily sessions, alongside classroom analysis, gym work and individual development programmes, the programme is designed to complement GCSE, A-Levels and C-Tech lessons to produce well-rounded, balanced individuals.

AUTUMN TERM

“It’s with great pleasure the Saints Southwest join forces with Truro School. A proactive partnership built on key values, attention to detail and professionalism. Saints Southwest have a proven track record in developing people both on and off the pitch and pride ourselves on being able to offer opportunities for many young people to take part in sport, football and reach their full potential.”

A L E X WAT S O N MARK TITCHARD D I R E C T O R O F S A I N T S S O U T H W E S T.

As part of the new Saints partnership, ex-professional football player Alex Watson has joined the school to oversee the Cornwall part of the Saints South West regional and development centre.

Alex had a successful career that started in the late eighties through to the mid-noughties, beginning by signing for Liverpool Football Club.

During his career, Alex had over 400 league appearances in a host of clubs including Derby County (loan), Bournemouth, Gillingham (loan), Torquay United, Exeter City, Taunton Town, and Clevedon Town.

Alex commented in October: “The school’s fantastic and everyone’s lovely and helpful. I am looking forward to building and progressing the football programme down here and getting to know the area better. The long-term goal is to make Truro School a hub for football. Excellent programmes will ensure players and students enjoy themselves and that students stay in football after they leave school.”

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AUTUMN TERM

Senior Life Being active citizens As part of the 4th Year active citizen lessons in PSHEE, pupils contributed to their communities in several ways including litter picks, Christmas Box Appeal, donating money and items to various charities and lending a helping hand with someone’s gardening.

Figuratively drawing…

World Champion Windsurfer The IQFoil International Games took place in October on Lake Garda, Italy. Sixth Former Finn triumphed and became the first ever U19 IQFoil World Champion. The young windsurfer also won 2nd place in the U21s and 14th overall against the seniors.

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1st Years enjoyed an after-school session of figure drawing using the grid method. Usually, a volunteer would come in to pose so that the young artists could experience drawing a real figure, but due to Covid restrictions this could not happen in the Autumn Term.

AUTUMN TERM

Helping the environment On behalf of the 1st Year, 1K spent a busy afternoon planting trees in a geography lesson. 1K were keen to leave a positive mark on 2020 by planting trees that they will be able to watch grow throughout their time at Truro School. Species planted were oak, wild cherry, crab apple, willow and hazel.

Synthesising aspirin As part of their A-Level chemistry practical assessment, the Upper Sixth chemists synthesised aspirin in the lab. They had to compose their own experimental risk assessment before carrying out a careful esterification, reacting 2-hydroxybenzoic acid with ethanoic anhydride under strict temperaturecontrolled conditions to achieve their desired product.

Once their reaction was complete, they had to purify their crude product using a process called recrystallisation.

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AUTUMN TERM

Senior Life Wednesday afternoon activities The Autumn Term’s co-curricular programme varied dramatically as the country entered a second lockdown in November, meaning the clubs available adapted to the situation. Off-site activities such as surfing and sailing weren’t allowed under the national guidelines, but pupils found ways to stay active and creative on Wednesday afternoons.

The surfers may not have been able to go to local beaches, but they took to the school pool to practise their techniques. As part of their training, the pupils swam up and down through hoops to simulate going through waves, and practised basic board paddling, how to roll over with the board and how to stand and balance, putting their skills to the test in team races.

Meanwhile, the young sailors were joined by various pro sailors for virtual talks, and found ways to bring the water to them by making and racing homemade model boats.

Other activities included cooking creamy lasagnas and creating ceramic sgraffito and, of course, as Christmas drew nearer, festive fever swept the co-curricular programme. Pupils made decorations in chemistry, played hockey and netball in tinsel and Santa outfits, and practised traditional carols on instruments.

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AUTUMN TERM

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AUTUMN TERM

Senior Life Subject breakfasts Choosing A-Levels can be daunting.

Luckily our Sixth Form students were on hand to advise and guide our 5th Years about specific subjects in weekly ‘subject breakfasts,’ which took place in the Sixth Form Café, where GCSE pupils sampled the delights that the exclusive student café has to offer.

Leiths International Afternoon Tea Instead of the usual Leiths canapé evening, this year the Leiths diploma students worked hard planning, preparing and serving their takeaway ‘tastes of the world’ afternoon tea to an invited audience.

The menu, which is served as part of the Leiths Certificate in Food and Wine and the CTH Level 3 Certificate in Professional Cookery, included 12 canapés from seven different countries including Japan, France and Italy, with five sweet and seven savoury delicacies.

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AUTUMN TERM

Ruthless “Done to perfection” The Burrell Theatre became the dark and gloomy house of Dr Armitage, as part of the A-Level Theatre Studies students’ examined performance ‘Ruthless’.

The play was livestreamed to YouTube, as well as being watched live in the theatre by some fellow Upper Sixth students.

Play-doh diagrams Play-doh isn’t just for the Prep children: A-Level students showed that it can prove a useful tool for 3D learning. Student psychologists were tasked to create a memory diagram out of the colourful dough to help them visualise what goes on in our brains.

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AUTUMN TERM

Shooting hoops Basketball is still a relatively new sport at Truro School, but grows in popularity each year. The afterschool programme offers all year groups the chance to play ‘in-house’ basketball and develop their skills and understanding.

Inspiring futures 3rd Years experienced their Inspiring Futures GCSE taster day. New subjects such as geology, computer science and PE were introduced to help them understand the courses and the doors they can open.

Sixth Form Christmas Social Sixth Form students prepared their common room for Christmas and enjoyed their festive social, eating festive treats, playing games and decorating the walls and themselves.

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AUTUMN TERM

Christmas Concert Our Christmas Concert is always a highlight of the musical calendar, and this year was no exception.

Playing everything from ‘Frosty the Snowman’ to ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’, this year’s Christmas Concert sparkled with festive fizz.

The fantastic performances took place within yeargroup bubbles and were shared with the school community on YouTube.

Nine Lessons and Carols Recording took place for the virtual version of the traditional Nine Lessons and Carols Service, which was available to view as part of the ‘Friday Night is Music Night’ schedule in December.

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SPRING TERM

Pre-Prep Life During the January lockdown, the Nursery was allowed to remain open, and some of the children still came to site.

They spent their weeks going through the alphabet, learning individual sounds of letters.

In ‘p’ week there was a lot of discussion about where potatoes come from and what potatoes can be made in to.

The children watched as Mrs Banks cut potatoes in half, and then enjoyed printing patterns on paper.

When the children discovered ‘b’ they had much fun bouncing balls, bubble painting and button sorting and fastening.

The children were introduced to a new approach to writing called ‘squiggle while you wriggle’, involving gross motor skills to write. They held a piece of material in each hand and copied Mrs Banks’ moves.

With large sheets of paper and crayons held in both hands, they did the same moves on the floor.

When a very exciting, handwritten letter arrived in Nursery from Miss Patterson, this inspired the children to write letters back to her with their new-found squiggle wriggle techniques.

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SPRING TERM

When Dylan went on a walk to Perranporth Beach with his family, it ended up as a rescue mission.

Extra! Extra!

Year 2 wrote the front-page news for their own newspaper, based on the Highway Rat. They had the option to then record this as a newsreader or to make their own front page.

Dylan wrote about what happened: “My dad spotted a seal at the very corner of the beach. He thought it was unwell as it looked tired because it was trying to climb up onto the rocks but it couldn’t, so dad called the seal rescue people.

The seal rescue people came and they weighed and measured the seal and they took his temperature.

The temperature was too high for a seal. They thought he was too skinny so they stuck a tube with a funnel down his neck and gave him some liquids to drink. The seal rescue people said that the mother leaves the baby seal when it’s fluffy.

This seal was still quite young so maybe it still needed its mum!”

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SPRING TERM

Lockdown projects There was an abundance of activity during remote learning, with plenty of stories and poems written, working out with Just Dance, folding origami birds and recreating the famous ‘A Starry Night’ painting, as well as bringing alive science by eating the moon and modelling the solar system out of household objects.

Spiderman even led a PE lesson!

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SPRING TERM

Forest School Excited for their Forest School lessons once again, Year 2 made their own wormeries and found plenty of worms to put in their new homes.

Making music Year 2 were heard strumming away on their ukuleles, learning the basic chords for ‘A Sailor went to Sea Sea Sea’ and singing along.

In the same tune, they also made up an Easter version about how much they like to eat chocolate eggs…

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Phonics Every day in the afternoons, Nursery practised phonics. The children’s abilities to put the sounds together to make a word got stronger by the day. They wrote three-letter words on a whiteboard and also identified them on an interactive magnetic board, helping to boost their memories.

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SPRING TERM

Prep Life Budding chefs Cookery skills developed hugely over lockdown, with many children able to make dinner for their families.

In pasty week there were traditional pasty fillings, as well as more unconventional cheeseand-marmite pasties.

In pizza week some opted for a sweet pizza with chocolate spread and Oreos, and in baking week there were chocolate, blueberry or cheese muffins.

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SPRING TERM

Humanities Year 3 went through the ages during lockdown. Beginning in the Stone Age, they replicated stone huts, made berry-and-nut stews just as Stone Age people would have in living off the land, and created their own Stone Age restaurant menu featuring squirrel kebabs and boiled caterpillar… They also made their own tools for hunting and drew cave paintings.

They moved on to the Bronze Age and finished in the Iron Age, where the children took inspiration from Iron Age metal work to design their own shields.

Meanwhile, Year 4 explored in depth about beaches and cliffs and how they are formed through erosion and weathering. To help them understand this geological process, the pupils made their own experiments to see how much force from air and liquid would move or change their sand / soil trays.

Later on, they learned how to read a map and a compass, and when and why they might need those skills. Finishing off this topic using Perranporth as an example, the children learned about the physical human geography of the area.

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Prep Life DT From thermochromic smart-material designs creating fantastical dream homes (many with sustainable features) and rideable skateboards to launching homemade rockets, flying kites and gliders, making hanging mobiles from sea glass and testing fidget spinners, the children’s imaginations knew no bounds in Design Technology.

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Welcome back!

It was a huge welcome back to all pupils on site on March 8 as face-to-face learning recommenced. Prep was filled with chatter and laughter as the children settled back in to the school routine.

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Comic Relief This year on Red Nose Day the theme was… Crazy Hair Day! The children came to school with wild and wacky hairdos and dressed in red to raise money for Comic Relief 2021. Some of the teachers also took up the challenge on the rowing machine.

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Songfest The Assembly Hall was a joyous atmosphere when Year 5 gathered for Songfest 2021, organised by Cornwall Music Education Hub. Primary schools from all over the county took part, and there was a big cheer from the children when Truro School Prep was read out on the participants list.

Prep’s very own music teacher, Mrs Renshaw, hosted the event, and the children revelled in seeing her on screen. The songs began and the young singers were immediately giving it their all. There was dancing, clapping, jumping and arm swaying as a mix of lively and classic songs featured on the set list.

Afterwards the pupils continued being creative, making up their own lyrics to one of the songs.

First Aid Continuing on from Autumn Term in their First Aid Training, Year 6 learned about anaphylaxis, what can cause an anaphylactic shock, and why those with severe allergies carry EpiPens. The first aiders learned how to use one in an emergency situation, and used all their strength to (pretend to) puncture it into the thigh muscle.

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Prep Life Celebrating World Book Day World Book Day was postponed so that the children could celebrate it together towards the end of term. There was an impressive sea of costumes, from superheroes and princesses to explorers and plenty of white rabbits, which suited the theme of Alice in Wonderland, the children having learnt it in English lessons beforehand.

Reception discovered a trail to the outdoor classroom where a few treats were in store, along with the game ‘Pin the grin on the Cheshire cat’. After the children had had their treats, they went across to the hall for party games.

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Prep House Music Competition 2021 Huge congratulations to all our young musicians who took part in this year’s House Music Competition, streamed via Teams.

Overall winners in the performance house music are: Scarlett – runner up Trystan and Ayesha - joint winners Composition competition winner: Charlie

Youth Speaks Homework: is it a waste of time?

The National Youth Debate Competition, run by the Rotary Club, was virtual this year and entries were recorded. Taking part was Ayesha (Chair), Toby (Speaker) and Nova (Vote of thanks) who discussed the pros and cons of having homework set. The trio all performed with real confidence in front of the camera and came Runners Up. TRURO SCHOOL

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Senior Life Inter-Year Concert Adjudication Alex Tester, Director of Music at St. Edwards School in Oxford, kindly adjudicated the Inter-Year Music Competition.

“It’s been really lovely to see so many wonderful performances. Well done, particularly in what has been a strange year for our schools. It is good to see Truro on great form!”

The results were: Solo Pieces Winners: Talulla and Gracie, Upper Sixth Vocal Groups Winners: 2nd Year Boys with A Christmas Blessing, for their performance and sensitivity Bands Winners: The very accomplished Upper Sixth Band with Braziliera (soloist Romano Bezzi-Coddetta)

Students launch magazine Thanks to the hard work of the student magazine team, we were pleased to launch ‘Steps’ at the end of the Spring Term.

Head Girl Jenny commented, “When we moved to online learning, we found new ways of sharing ideas and celebrating achievements both big and small, personal and professional. There seemed to be so much happening inside and outside of school, such as sponsored walks for charity, incredible artwork, learning to bake and exploring a new way of living.

We realised that there was more to celebrate besides academic achievements and we wanted to create a space where we could share them all. With this in mind we decided to create Steps – a student magazine run by Sixth Form prefects that would showcase all of the wonderful things we do besides purely academia.”

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1st prize in national STEM competition Soumya won joint 1st prize in a national STEM competition exploring ‘how vaccines work and their uses in controlling infectious diseases in children’, organised by the Microbiology in School Advisory Committee (MiSAC).

Harry D was also awarded a notable commendation for his work. They had to consider making the entry entertaining for its intended audience, whilst remembering that part of the competition would be judged on the scientific merit of the entry.

Prefect Confirmation Since the start of September, our Lower Sixth students have been working to become prefects: ambassadors for their departments and leaders for the whole school. Applying to be a prefect is no easy task, with the process seeking to find the very best role models for our school.

Lower Sixth came forward in the chapel and received confirmation of their roles, along with their prefect badges and a distanced handshake with the Head.

Addressing the whole school, Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Lucy Jupp, said, “It’s not simply a title or a badge, it is an attitude and what you will see in our Lower Sixth prefects are the leadership skills of role models. Students are at the heart of everything we do and our prefects have a voice and help feed into that journey. Our prefects will be challenged as leaders to make tough decisions, developing skills which can enable positive change in the future for those who come after us.”

Virtual WAA For most of the term, WAA took multiple formats. For the new Wednesday ‘offscreen afternoons’ pupils used the time to undertake their favourite hobbies.

There was hockey training, baking, origami bookmarks and chemistry experiments. There was a return to the normal co-curricular programme when school recommenced.

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1st Year Egg Drop Challenge In DT, 1st Years were challenged to stop an egg from smashing when dropped from a range of heights.

The task included conducting research into slowing the velocity of a fall and strategies to absorb impact, analyse existing projects, produce three ideas and then test the design and record the evidence – either on paper or by editing their own video.

BioArtAttack 2nd Year Iris was shortlisted in the Royal Society of Biology’s annual BioArtAttack competition, placing in the top 15. Iris’s artwork, My Micro Microscopes, was made from card, watercolour, markers, beach sand, tracing paper, lino cut and ink, pen and acrylic paint.

Sleep The PE department tasked pupils to complete a task following their games lessons, reflecting on their session and setting themselves a wellbeing goal. Each week had a different wellbeing focus such as hydration, sleep and emotional intelligence. 2nd Year Anna independently researched more on the topic of sleep and created a wonderful PowerPoint.

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Skiing success

Following success at the British Championships, 12-year-old Felix was selected to join the Apex2100 International Ski Academy in Tignes, one of the world’s leading ski academies for young skiers.

Felix enrolled in the performance programme in December and we were delighted to receive these photos and an update on his training prior to his return to Truro School next term.

With education remaining centre stage, Felix’s schedule has been a continuous balance of academic curriculum with ski coaching and performance training.

Felix commented, “We are out the door by 8.30am for ski training and we spend about four hours in the morning training, either skiing slalom or giant slalom.

We have been really lucky that the ski lifts have remained open for us when they have been closed to the public. We are only allowed to train because we have race licences. Sadly, there have been no races this winter due to Covid 19.

He continued, “We return to school in time for lunch and start school at 2.00pm.

We then have lessons until 5.40pm. This also includes one or two periods of S&C which includes strength, yoga, balance, Pilates, hand-eye coordination, core and eye gym on the computer which improves your hand-eye coordination. It is a long day and I normally sleep very well!

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On Saturdays we have lessons all day and on Sundays I usually get a day off but sometimes we ski in the mornings.”

Commenting on his time in the programme and his friends at Truro School, Felix said, “It has been a great winter and I know how lucky I am to have been out here while everyone at home has been in lockdown. I am really looking forward to coming home, seeing everyone at Truro School, getting in the water and getting back into all the summer sports at school.”

Director of Sport, Dan Sanderson, commented, “It has been lovely seeing what Felix has been up to over the winter. Felix is part of a world-class training programme, which also allows him to focus on his school work, to ensure a balanced learning environment.

We are really looking forward to Felix returning to Truro School and sharing his experiences. I know that his friends are missing him greatly. Felix is a talented young man across a range of disciplines, and I am pleased that he has had this opportunity to explore his talents.”

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Ollie’s music In 2019, Ollie had a total hip replacement after three years of battling with arthritis. During that time, Ollie was distraught at not being able to play his cello, or the piano, so re-found a love for composing music. Since then, 15-year-old Ollie has been on a remarkable journey of curiosity and creativity.

“I spent endless hours writing my own music in the styles similar to that from film / tv, and akin to the likes of Ludovico Einaudi and Hans Zimmer. After my operation I had composed four pieces, so decided to look into how to put my music on streaming platforms such as Spotify / Deezer etc. I found a company called “Ditto Music” that were willing to do so. I compiled my four pieces, created a website and released my first-ever solo album, called “Images”, which highlights the ups and downs of my life with arthritis and then a new hip.

“This sparked my curiosity further to really see how professional musicians survive, despite the financial stereotype! I took online courses throughout my recovery to show me how to construct a great website, and how to set up an e-commerce feature on it. I started making CDs and sheet music for my album that sold within months of being put on sale! This small amount of money, along with the tiny amounts I was earning from streams, pushed me to further endorse my knowledge on such subjects.

“In March 2020 I started social media pages and accounts and, with help from my parents, I got many more fans of my music than I would ever imagine. This boosted sales of pretty much everything! Someone told me to start making merchandise which, again, sparked a streak of trawling the internet to find such companies that would help me do so.

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I found “Bonfire,” a company that makes mugs, t-shirts and other merchandise for free, and all profits go towards charitable causes. I got lots of sales in the first few months.

In August, I released another five songs on an album called “Flight”, and was featured on radio stations and YouTube channels. I then released another album consisting of three songs called “The Cellist” in December.

“I have learnt everything, from managing a business and a website, negotiating customers, making CDs /sheet music, learning how to use music software such as GarageBand and Sibelius, managing an e-commerce store and exactly how to create a user interface that lures customers and stops them making second decisions. It has been so interesting.”

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Senior Life International Women’s Day 2021 March 8 marked International Women’s Day. This year the theme was #choosetochallenge, with our staff and pupils raising their right hands in support of this year’s theme. The school’s Amnesty group put together a presentation about International Women’s Day, which was shown in form times throughout the week.

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Chemistry Olympiad In late January, a number of Truro School students took on the prestigious RSC Chemistry Olympiad. We were delighted to report the best grades obtained in the last ten years, with many outstanding performances. The paper is designed to test chemical knowledge linked to problems solved by chemistry in the real world. An incredible total of nine awards were presented to our students this year.

Henry achieved a Gold award, whilst Alistair, Benjy and Ed scored highly, all gaining Silver awards. Strong performances were also seen by Isaac, Zoe, Kushal, Louis and Soumya who were all presented with Bronze awards.

A special mention needs to be given to both Ed and Soumya, for entering the competition which is designed for students who are about to complete their A2 studies.

Back in the lab The first week back in a school environment also coincided with British Science Week. After a long time, A-Level chemists were back in the labs with goggles and white coats at the ready to get stuck in to a practical. The experiment was a complex set-up oxidising ethanol.

Important topics in PSHEE To prepare Upper Sixth leavers for their next life chapter in the wider world, students cover a broad range of topics, from how to handle their finances and wellbeing to spotting dangerous or illegal behaviours.

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of hand. Suggestions included remaining calm, giving space to each other, listening, and avoiding the temptation of making it personal.

The lesson then moved on to forced marriage and honour-based violence, and how this denies some women basic human rights and perpetuates false stereotypes of women.

A-Level Physics students achieved excellent British Physics Olympiad The results placed one of our students in the top 6% nationally and four others in the top 30%.

Benji was awarded a Gold medal, Henry, Alistair, Louis and Isaac were awarded Silver medals and Kushal a Bronze medal.

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Senior Life Rowing length of Thames 1st Year pupil Felicity completed a very impressive challenge, rowing the length of the Thames (346km) in 30 days, raising £666 for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Felicity’s intention was to raise as much money as possible for Great Ormond Street Hospital, hoping for £1 for every kilometre she rowed. She far exceeded her initial fundraising target.

Felicity had never used the Concept 2 rower before and had to work out how many kilometres a day she needed to row to meet her goal.

She set the fan to five (drag factor of 126) and, with a slow start of 4km the first day and 2km the second day, she soon realised that she was going to have to up her game to three rows a day of 4km each row.

As the days turned into weeks Felicity got stronger and faster, completing 4km in 23 minutes, and with great tenacity and a big heart for charity she completed the gruelling task.

Squash training with England Captain Current Squash England captain and British National Squash Champion, Alison Waters, put our squash players through their paces at the end of term. Working across different year groups and abilities, Alison provided group and individual sessions, looking at point structures and focussing on fitness and skills-based training. She made her Tour debut in 2000, winning her first Tour title at the Forbes Open in 2005, and has since been a prolific player at British events.

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Oxbridge success Truro School would like to congratulate four Upper Sixth students who were offered places at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.

In what has been an unprecedented year for all, it did not prevent our students from continuing to challenge themselves through applying to the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge.

This was, arguably, the most demanding application year to date, with significant changes to the application process which meant that each stage of the application was adjusted (including pre-interview and at-interview assessments and interviews) to be completed via online platforms. This created a new challenge for all who were offered an interview. However, each pupil took it in their stride, turning each new task into a chance to learn and strengthen their digital skills in order to portray their exceptional subject knowledge.

Mrs Eleanor Collinge commented, “I am delighted to announce the success of four of our pupils who have been offered a place at either Oxford or Cambridge.

I am also unbelievably proud of each pupil

who followed the Oxbridge programme through, as the resilience and strength shown has been impressive. Part of the challenge of applying to either Oxford or Cambridge is knowing that the outcome of an application can help to identify which type of university, teaching style and learning environment will help you to thrive as a student. For those offered a place, it is the beginning of a working relationship with tutors (often those who have interviewed you) who you will go on to study under next year. For those who were not offered a place at this time, the application is never in vain as the outcome helps to show that other outstanding universities will instead provide an even better environment for you to thrive in beyond the Sixth Form. Similarly, due to

the rigorous application process, each application made to Oxford or Cambridge ensures that you have applied to your other chosen universities in a competitive manner. For those that applied this year, they have already found great success in receiving offers from some of the top universities in the country.”

The students who have received an offer of a place are: Isaac Dale (Oxford, Engineering) Alistair Sutton-Freckelton (Oxford, Biochemistry) Louis Pender (Cambridge, Engineering) Romano-Rosencrantz Bezzo-Codetta (Cambridge, Music)

Christian Union prepare for Easter With Easter on the horizon, the Junior CU cracked out the eggs and created their own interpretations of Pysanky eggs, which is a Ukrainian term meaning ‘to write’. Traditionally they are hand-drawn creations sketched in pencil first and sectioned off in a grid pattern, with detail then added.

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Charity Concerts 2021

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Like everything else, the Junior and Senior Charity Concerts were pre-recorded this year, and were livestreamed on YouTube with pupils and students acting as presenters. In total, £502.50 was raised for Invictus Trust from the Junior Concert, and £970 was raised for Medecins Sans Frontieres from the Senior Concert.

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In memory of

HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

1921-2021 On 9 April 2021, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, passed away at the grand age of 99. One of his most notable initiatives was setting up the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE), which launched in 1956, and over six decades later sees close to 300,000 14-24 year olds complete an Award every year.

In the early days of the Award, it was initially offered to boys in Local Education Authorities, the Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, and a handful of independent and grammar schools across the UK. It set out to ‘make the best use of their free time, find interests, acquire self-confidence and a sense of purpose that would support them into their future and help them to become well-rounded citizens’. These days the Award can be achieved through schools, colleges, universities, youth clubs, businesses, housing associations, young offender institutions and voluntary organisations and is now globally recognised, with 130 countries offering a format of the scheme.

DofE at Truro School dates back to 1962, organised by Peter Lang (TS Staff 195292). The first group to undertake the highest level, Gold, was in 1964. Primarily the expeditions took place on Dartmoor and the Lake District, but in the 1990s Gold expeditions began abroad.

Sophie, Lower Sixth, is working towards her Gold award: “I was determined to embark on Gold as I was really excited to go on an expedition to Slovenia.

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or Bronze. So far I have enjoyed my Leiths cookery, which is part of my skills section for Gold. I have really improved in confidence and doing DofE definitely encouraged me to take the diploma along with my A Levels.”

Jenna, also completing Gold, added, “I first decided to do bronze DofE as I absolutely love the outdoors and I thought it would be an amazing experience to have. I made so many good memories, so I decided to continue the award to gold. DofE gave me the chance to really get to know people I otherwise wouldn’t have. Training weekends provided me with a break from the stresses of school and exams, which I was really thankful for. It also gave me the opportunity to try new things outside of the school curriculum and find new hobbies and learn new skills. I feel I have learned a lot about navigation and wild camping through the expeditions. DofE has also helped me gain confidence in myself and my abilities. It has taught me how to be resilient, especially when things go wrong, and in my opinion this is an essential life skill. Doing DofE pushed me out of my comfort zone and provided me with many incredible experiences I will be forever grateful for.”

A shift to eDofE in 2011 enabled an online record of how many people completed an award since that year.

From 2011 to present, a total of 1070 Truro School students have been involved in the scheme. A breakdown shows 636 Bronze, 260 Silver and 176 Gold awards presented.

Mr Cucknell, DofE Co-ordinator, said, “DofE requires a phenomenal effort which takes perseverance, dedication and commitment to progress through their activities, which culminates with their expeditions. And not forgetting all the behind-the-scenes organisation from staff, parents and volunteers to support the students in reaching these awards.”

Last year, Truro School was confirmed as the leading school in the South West providing the scheme. A total of 3,341 hours of skill, 3,146 hours of physical activity and 3,432 hours of volunteering with a social value of £14,929, was achieved by Truro School participants in the 2019-20 academic year alone.

The Head, Mr Johnson, said, “The Duke of Edinburgh Award has been transformational for so many of our pupils. It has given them the opportunity to show themselves in the best light, whether giving up time for volunteering, building on their team work and determination in the expedition, or developing their skills and fitness.

The philosophy of the Award mirrors that of the School’s and has been embraced by pupils as a result, shaping them to enter the world confident, curious, creative, courageous and compassionate members of society.”

As the School moves forward we are honoured to continue the incredible legacy created by HRH Prince Philip, and look forward to inspiring the next generation of people embarking on their DofE adventure.

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Pre-Prep Life Year 2 discover gas, liquids and solids There were bright lights and big bangs when Year 2 excitedly took part in chemistry experiments at the Senior School with Head of Chemistry, Dr Brogden. The children delved deeper into gas, liquids and solids and discovered a variety of materials from slime to iron wool.

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Year 1 and 2 swimming Bravely building confidence in the water, Year 1s and 2s enjoyed time in the pool. In preparation for competitive swimming galas when they move up to Prep, both year groups took part in fun races, practising different strokes. Though it was only for fun, the little ones cheered each other on and were very supportive of one another.

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The natural world In the first half of Summer Term, Nursery children looked into all aspects of the natural world.

They created their own mini cress garden by sprinkling seeds delicately onto a soaked cotton pad. Nurturing the seeds, and the components needed for growth, were aptly discussed, encouraging conversation amongst themselves about the natural world.

To help them understand the growth cycle, the children re-enacted growing plants. They curled up into a ball like seeds in dark soil, whilst teachers ‘watered’ the children to rhythmic music. Floaty scarves were used as sunshine and rain and the little seeds slowly grew. They stretched up high into the air, manoeuvring their bodies as tall as possible as they grew.

When it was their turn for Forest School lessons, the children went to collect worms for wormeries. They tried to stamp their feet and pretend to be birds, but in the end had to dig the soil to find the wriggly creatures.

The children set to work layering the wormery with soil, compost, sand and leaves. The children were very excited about their wormeries, which resulted in lots of worm-related activities and play. They made wriggly worms from play dough, drew worms and pretended to be worms.

Later on, Nursery were intrigued

by Eric Carle’s artistic approach to illustrating his stories, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The German-born artist was famous for his use of collage and die-cut pages, and other original elements. Sadly, the author died in May at the age of 91.

The children had a go at their own display, called Lifecycle of a Butterfly, echoing the famous story and using the same method of artwork, and dedicated it to Eric Carle. Mrs Banks read his amazing stories to hundreds of children over her many years of teaching, and has loved watching the children’s faces as the story unfolds.

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Pre-Prep’s Cornish baking When the G7 summit took place in Carbis Bay in June, Pre-Prep got into the spirit by baking traditional Cornish saffron buns. The Truro School Cookery team led the baking session, and went from Nursery to Year 2 baking in small groups.

The young bakers were fascinated with the colour of the saffron and learned basic techniques to get the best dough possible.

They were baked in the school ovens in the afternoon, ready to be enjoyed at home.

Forest School Year 2 had a full day of Forest School in the woods with the sun shining on them through the foliage.

The first task was to build dens using branches and logs so that they could set up their camp blankets.

They all made fruit kebabs for their morning snack and enjoyed them in their dens.

They climbed trees, made mud art with their own nature-made paintbrushes, cooked chocolatefilled bananas on the fire and created magic potions in Mr Sharp’s hidden hut. After a sausage lunch and their bananas for dessert, the children had a Mountain Rescue talk and an afternoon of team games.

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Pre-Prep Life Year 1 go wild at the zoo The young explorers couldn’t wait to see all the different animals and enjoyed reading the information plaques, discovering more about where they originate.

During their picnic, a Zoo guide spoke a bit about the park and took interesting questions from the children.

Questions ranged from ‘how many herbivores are there?’, to ‘what are the slowest and fastest animals?’, ‘what’s the biggest animal at the zoo?’ and ‘can the lion eat us?’. The children were very intrigued by the answers, which satisfied their curiosity.

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Beach trips The Summer Term meant a couple of beach trips for the little ones, for a chance to get some sea air and play in the sand.

Reception went to St Agnes, where they had a full day building sandcastles with moats, carving out ponds and rivers, making sand mountains and burying themselves like mermaids. After a picnic lunch, two RNLI lifeguards judged the children’s sand creations, before finishing with refreshing ice lollies.

Year 2 ventured to Castle Beach, where they had a whale of a time doing plenty of investigating in rockpools and finding crabs and a cushion starfish. They loved finding different shells and seaweed types and identifying them on a coastal marine life sheet. While they were out rockpooling, a seal made an appearance, which caught the children’s attention.

After a beach picnic, it was time for some beach games and an obligatory ice cream before going back to school.

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On the farm Nursery children had a fantastic time at Healey’s Cyder Farm. The children got to go on a very bumpy tractor ride through the orchard, design labels for their own bottle of apple juice, watch the apple juice production line and compare with how apple juice was made in the past. The highlights of the trip were going on a coach, seeing lots of farm animals and, of course, eating lunch!

The children told Mrs Banks what they enjoyed most on their visit. “ I liked doing all of it. I also liked seeing the pigs and the unicorn goat.”

Max J “ Bumping up and down on the tractor was my favourite.”

William “ Going up the big barrel and hearing the bubbles was good even though I was a bit scared.”

Otto D “ I liked it when we saw the apple juice being made and the old one that went round and round to get the juice.”

James “ The cheeky baby goat that can fit through the fence was my favourite.”

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Pre-Prep Sports Day A big well done to all the children for participating with much enthusiasm, and also to Mr Harvey for organising his first sports day at Truro School.

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Prep Life

Rotary Young Writers’ Competition

A moving short story, written by Gabriel, won first prize in the Truro heat of the annual Rotary Young Writer competition.

As well as winning the junior section of the local heat, Gabriel’s story on the theme of “My Happiest Day” also won the junior section in the District Final, beating hundreds of young writers from across Cornwall and Devon.

Based on a book Gabriel had been reading in his English class, his entry told the story of a neglected and abused orphaned boy whose life was transformed by a kind woman who adopted him.

“I was inspired by a story called Street Child, written by Berlie Docherty,” explained Gabriel.

“I based my story on the theme of that story, with my own characters.”

Gabriel was not the only young writer to impress the judges at this year’s competition. Fellow pupil Jessica C received second prize for her story, while Florence A was awarded third prize.

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The three winners were presented with a certificate and a National Book Token

by Cornwall’s Lord Lieutenant Edward Bolitho, who also presented Highly Commended certificates and book tokens to Olliver G, Iris K, Grace N, Evie N, Ayesha P and Rupert W. “It is so good to see children being encouraged to take part in creative writing at an early age,” said the Lord Lieutenant.

Richard Lingham, organiser of the competition on behalf of the Rotary Club of Truro Boscawen, said, “I would like to congratulate the Truro School Prep pupils for winning first, second and third prize in the junior section, together with six Highly Commended awards. This is a significant achievement and everyone at the school should rightly be feeling very proud.”

Mrs Cadwallader, Head of English at Truro School Prep, said, “In a time of dull, rainy days, away from school and friends, the given title of ‘My Happiest Day’ was a welcome ray of sunshine in a world of remote learning. Years 5 and 6 revelled in memories of happier days and delighted in dreams of a brighter future to come.”

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Naomi was the youngest member in the 29-strong team and, two days before her 11th birthday, the young athlete ‘arrived’ in Cambridge, USA, on March 27.

Her team covered a distance 6247km, of which Naomi contributed 403km (equivalent to 250 miles), putting her in joint 46th out of 1411 contestants.

The huge effort raised an impressive £2802

Fundraising In March, Year 6 pupil Naomi took part in a physically demanding race, running or walking from Cambridge, UK, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to raise money for Cancer Research UK. For the fundraiser, Naomi was invited to join the ‘Histon Hobblers’, a ladies’ adult running club based in Cambridge.

On the dark and rainy nights, Naomi kept her spirits up, determined to get as many kilometres covered as she could. She didn’t take one day off in the whole month.

Naomi said, “I found it an amazing experience especially as I love running.

It was also nice to get out during lockdown and raise money for Cancer Research, due to the fact my grandad unfortunately passed away from it. We’ve also lost other family friends to cancer so I thought it was a great cause.”

Mr Goddard’ s ‘Ultra Marathon’ Mr Goddard took part in The Endurancelife Classic Quarter, an ‘Ultra Marathon’ along the south Cornish coast from Lizard Point to Land’s End, a total of 44 miles.

Leo’s mile a day on his bike Leo took on a fundraising challenge for Cornwall Hospice Care, by cycling a mile a day on his bike for the entirety of April.

Leo raised an incredible £425 for the local charity, in memory of his great granny. He received a certificate from Cornwall Hospice Care.

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Many Prep children undertook their own fundraising endeavours throughout the year, and this is what inspired him to take up his own challenging fundraiser for Children’s Hospice South West.

Mr Goddard said, “I’m always up for a challenge and enjoy running, so I thought why not. Since working at the Prep School a number of children have taken part in some amazing fundraising events for amazing charities, so I felt inspired to take on a challenge of my own.

I’ve never run over 30 miles before so I’m a bit nervous about the last quarter of the race, but hopefully it will be fine. If anyone is keen to carry me over the finish line that would be fantastic!”

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THE GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE REVIEW

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“ A happy, nurturing school where children receive a carefully balanced offering of excellent academic provision and inspiring extracurricular adventures. A glittering gem of a school in a highly popular part of the country.”

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Nothing could stop the pupils or their teachers as the power of music took hold, and they danced and sang their hearts out during an outdoor singing assembly, which allowed them to sing all together for the first time in months.

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Year 4 transport to Tudor times Kresen Kernow paid Year 4 a virtual visit as part of their history topic, The Tudors.

Boys become full choristers After a strange year of rehearsals over Microsoft Teams and socially distanced singing, the Cathedral Choir’s probationary boy choristers were made up as full choristers in May. Their patience, resilience and motivation to learn has been exceptional in the most trying of

They learnt about Tudor life in Cornwall and beyond, and were spot on answering questions about Tudor kings and queens. Later, they had a go at writing an inventory list, similar to a will, with a quill and pot of ink.

circumstances, and they all thoroughly deserve receiving their white surplices, which marks their promotion to becoming full members of the Choir. One of their first duties was singing in the Choir’s summer concert.

Egyptian jewellery Year 3 learned about the Ancient Egyptians, including their statement jewellery, and made their own versions of it.

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Prep Life Year 4 trip to Truro Cathedral Year 4 visited Truro Cathedral as part of their Religious Studies. The group had a tour around the Cathedral, learning about the different areas and what different Christian artefacts are used in the Christian faith. The children had plenty of questions and were very intrigued by their surroundings.

Triathlons After months of remote learning and dreary weather, all the year groups had the chance to participate in a fun triathlon made up of cycling, running and swimming, with the chance to win house points.

There was plenty of determination and good sportsmanship, cheering one another on as they approached the finish lines.

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Summer Term DT projects Prep pupils worked hard to finish their various DT projects.

Swimming galas Years 5 and 6 headed to the Senior pool to take part in their annual swimming gala. All pupils were representing their competition houses (Vinter, School, Smith and Wickett) and when not racing in their heats they supported each other with friendly cheers from the sides.

Special congratulations to Millie and James, who were crowned Victrix and Victor Ludorum.

Year 3 designed and made their own robots, Year 4 created bright acrylic desk tidies and Year 5 made bird feeders complete with a clay roof and wooden frame to hold apples or nut balls.

Year 6 made their own jewellery with a pewter cast pendant. First, they designed and sawed their wooden mould. They melted pewter with a blow torch and poured the pewter into the mould, which Mrs Sparkes did for them. Then they worked with ‘wet and dry’ papers to get the pewter to shine.

And a special mention to our trio of helpers, Nathan, Retallack and Jack, who were very efficient in their duties and helped the gala run swimmingly.

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The children had a brilliant time playing beach games, bodyboarding and surfing, organised by Global Boarders.

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Surf’s up Year 5 and Year 6 had fun in the sun on their surf days at Gwithian Beach.

Surf conditions were quite different on both days: Year 5 had a cloudy day, with a strong cross-shore wind and 2-3 ft surf, whereas Year 6 had a cleaner wave, with bright, sunny conditions.

What did the children think? ‘ It was fun doing the different things. I liked it in the dumpy surf.’

Sanna, Year 5 ‘ I enjoyed it a lot, especially since it was my first time surfing. I think you would really like it too. They even let us do a bit of coasteering.’

Finley, Year 5 ‘ It was really cool standing up – it’s more fun because you get to control the board.’

Archie, Year 5 ‘ It was great because we hadn’t been on a school trip for ages. It was nice when we got to jump from the rocks into the wild pool.’

Evelyn, Year 5 ‘ It was fun because I hadn’t been surfing in a while.’

Lowen, Year 5

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Year 5’s ride from coast to coast Year 5 completed their coast-to-coast bike rides, starting at Portreath on the wild north coast and following the heritage trail to Devoran on the south coast.

The bike ride forms part of the explore and discover sections of their John Muir Award.

The award encourages children to experience the wild beauty of nature for themselves, and share this through the English curriculum.

What did the children think about their bike ride? ‘ It was nice getting out into the wild and riding through the beautiful scenery.’

Archie ‘ One of the longest bike rides I’ve ever done, but it was also really fun.

I was really soggy at the end. I half submerged my bike in the giant puddle on the Bissoe trail.’

Thomas ‘ It was good to cycle with a large group.’

Gabriel ‘ This is the sweatiest thing I’ve ever done!’

Louis

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Prep children were excited to have their Sports Day this year as some normality returned. Parents and guardians were allowed to spectate from the sidelines, with Covid procedures in place.

The fields echoed with cheering and clapping as each group completed their races.

There were classic races such as egg and spoon, obstacle course and sprints.

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Year 6 present...

... ...

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Alice in Wonderland A gigantic thank-you to Mrs Gregory for masterminding the exceptional Year 6 performance of Lewis Carroll’s iconic tale of the little girl who falls down a rabbit hole, Alice in Wonderland.

Uncertainty was an overriding characteristic of the last year and a half, and it was with huge relief and the greatest thrill that we were able to welcome a real, live audience to the Burrell Theatre for the Year 6 production of Alice in Wonderland at the end of term.

It seemed fitting, as the world went through such unpredictable and bewildering times, that we presented a show about similar experiences. Alice goes on a journey of discovery and confusion, and it is not difficult to look back on the last year and a half and feel as if we, too, have fallen down a rabbit hole into a bizarre alternate reality.

The most enormous thank-you goes to the following for helping to give the pupils a right proper end-of-year show!

Set and prop design and backdrop supervision: Jane Ashdown Larger props: Mary-Lynne Sparkes Backdrop projections designed and painted by Year 6 pupils: Eva (kitchen), Ben (seaside), Christian (riverbank), Amaia (tea party), Ellie (pool of tears), Lara (rose garden), Tilly and Jessica (magical wood), Scarlett (rabbit hole and trial), Flo and Nova (doors)

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Painting of other props and scenery by Year 6 pupils: Clara, Harry, Toby, Retallack, Iris, Bradley, Evie, Esme, Amelia, Noah, Rupert and Isabelle.

Additional painting by Year 5 pupils Lois, Alicia, Freddie and Thomas Clocks and playing cards: Joe Ellison Large clock: Olliver Costumes and production assistant: Sue Rowe, supported

by Emma Curran, Melody Crowdy, Tomasine Hastings, Saumya Shankar and Tamsin Williams Make-up: Melody Crowdy and Tamsin Williams Additional props and costumes sourced and created by: Anna Chellamuthu, Sarah Cooper, Sarah Cox, Suzanne Darling, Mila Grant, Claire Hawkins, Sarah Howie, Sophie Mason, Sil Price and Rachel Vaughan.

Set construction, lighting, sound and video production by Swen Kearey, Sam Kemp and the Truro School Tech Team. Photography

by Carla Lamb (Cast 1) and James Darling (Cast 2).

Programme cover designed by: Esme Pawsey Musical tuition: Angela Renshaw Musical direction: Maria Eva Directed by Annabel Gregory

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Prep Life Speech Day With great pleasure we welcomed our guest speaker, Mr Chris Lubbe, and our audience of Year 6 pupils and parents, to this morning’s Prep Prize Giving.

An internationally acclaimed, inspirational keynote speaker and storyteller, Chris shared his incredible story of resistance against apartheid, keeping his audience spell-bound as he took them on a journey of discovery.

In relaying the horrors of apartheid, Chris explained how he became a freedom fighter, and the personal impact of the regime on himself and his family. After Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990, and after a chance meeting, Chris was handpicked to be one of his bodyguards.

Chris entertained the audience with many anecdotes of the world leaders and celebrities who he met in his time with Mandela, and how, with the inspiration of Mandela, he eventually learned to reconcile himself with his former enemies and, most crucially, forgive those who had tortured him.

With eternal messages of courage, perseverance and the power of forgiveness, Chris captivated the hall, inspiring the audience to make positive choices and positively impact our world.

Chris was joined on the stage by Chair of Governors, Richard Thomas, Truro School Head, Andy Johnson, Head of Prep, Sarah Patterson, Deputy Head of Prep, James Frewer and, most importantly, all of our super Prep prize winners. Well done all of you!

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Senior Life ‘The Yielding’ Over the Easter holidays, 23 4th Year students filmed The Yielding, a futuristic dystopian play inspired by the pupils and written

by Mr Oldfield.

The Yielding tells the bleak story of a group of teenagers kept as slaves in a mining complex: how they survive, the harsh ‘Guardians’ who rule over them, and the desperate resistance fighters who are bent on rescuing them.

The pupil-led inspiration behind the script came out of devising workshops undertaken last year in conjunction with Roseland Academy.

Whilst this was originally designed to be a coproduction performed in front of an audience, the drama department and technical team seized the opportunity to make the most of the current situation and create a film production instead.

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BBC Radio 3 premiere Annabel, Elsie and Imogen were chosen as part of a select group of singers to represent Cornwall County Choirs in a premiere of work written and composed by Michael Rosen and Russell Hepplewhite. The stunning performance was put together virtually, and was a great testament to the talent and creativity of the girls and Mrs Renshaw. The song Air featured on BBC Radio 3 In Tune, and on the Britten Pears Arts YouTube channel.

1st Year pupil in month-long triathlon fundraiser James decided to take on a big fundraising challenge during May in memory of his younger brother, who was stillborn.

Named May Madness, James ran 3km, cycled 3km and rowed 1km every day for 30 days to raise money for Tommy’s, a charity that funds medical research into the causes of premature birth, stillbirth and miscarriage.

James said, “Ever since my brother Harry was stillborn, I have wanted to help others going through the same, and reduce the risk of it happening to others.

Harry will always be part of our family and is sorely missed. My aim is just to make a difference, however small.”

James well surpassed his target, raising nearly £2000.

A-Level English literary modernism Upper Sixth A-Level English Literature students went on a trip to St Ives, where two famous writers, Daphne du Maurier and Virginia Woolf, are known to have stayed regularly and taken inspiration for their books.

On this particular trip the students were looking at literary modernism, and had a look around Woolf’s childhood summer home. To the Lighthouse is based on the view of Godrevy lighthouse. The group took the time to soak in the art at the Tate, where they could see correlations between Hepworth’s sculptures and paintings and Woolf’s writing.

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Geography students investigate local high street As part of their independent projects, A-Level Geography students looked closely into local urban landscapes by uncovering Falmouth’s high street.

Starting from the Moor, the students wound their way through Falmouth and finished at Events Square.

Surveying over 50 shops and talking to locals on the street, the students filled out The Clone Town Britain Survey from the New Economics Foundation, which helps to “determine whether your town is a Clone Town indistinguishable from dozens of others around the country; or a genuine Home Town that is distinctive and recognisable as a unique place”.

Completing ACHE Lower Sixth students held a banquet to celebrate completing 16 weeks of ACHE training (Advice, Care, Help and Empathy). Four girls, Grace, Lara, Amba and Scarlett, took it upon themselves to organise the entire dinner for their peers. This year, 40 students finished the training to become peer mentors. Mr Sanderson was invited by the Rev to give an after-dinner speech, leaving the students to reflect on the importance of ACHE and how it can shape them as they move through life.

Mr Sanderson said, “Through your ACHE course, you have learnt how to give advice, care, help and empathise.

These are fantastic qualities. I know that if you carry these qualities with you throughout your life, you will be successful. It may not be in terms of riches or fame but it will be as a friend, colleague, partner and a person. You will naturally be seen as a leader. You will be trusted and allow others to feel secure, supported and valued. If you continue with your ACHE learning and always strive to be ‘Esse Quam Videri’, I promise you this: you will be a happy, respected and important member of any team, whether you are leading it or contributing to it.”

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PIPP Music Concert The first PIPP concert of the year went ahead with 1st Years, which was recorded for viewers at home.

The Programme followed: Finlay - Le Chant Du Patre by Simone Ple Annie - Hangin with Monty by Tom Davoren Dylan - Mazurka by Frederic Chopin Finlay- Petite Fantastie by Charles Dancla Max - Film Noir by Mike Cornick Gryff - Worrisome Blues by Martha Mier Max - Same Again by James Rae

A-Level Psychology A-Level Psychology students looked at cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as an intervention to improve mental health.

In order to fully immerse themselves in the study they tried out new activities, including potting seedlings, to illustrate “behavioural activation”, finding new pleasurable activity. They also found that looking after and caring for the plants, and therefore “looking outside of oneself”, can lead to a positive sense of purpose.

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Pupil wins Coppice Theatre’s art competition Coppice Theatre, a local group, ran a competition asking local children to send drawings, paintings, collages, poems and stories based on a theme from one of their new shows, to decorate their rehearsal spaces in Truro. The overall winner was our very own 3rd Year Kitty, who won a family ticket for their upcoming show and £50 worth of art supplies.

2nd Year Science Fair Across the sciences, 2nd Year pupils were encouraged to think beyond the curriculum, to tap into their curiosity and to develop their investigation skills by working on a project for the science fair. Pupils were given free rein to explore any topic which interested them, and their teachers enjoyed a huge range of projects as a result, including calculating how long a person could survive trapped in a supermarket and what affects how long raisins will dance in fizzy water, through to a student replicating a method used to analyse DNA. Class teachers selected the strongest projects to go through to the final and Mr Johnson, Dr Pope and Mr Vanstone had the challenging job of deciding the 2021 winners.

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4th Year Careers Day 4th Year experienced their Careers Day, as part of preparing them for life after Post-16 education and beyond.

The full day’s programme included Employability Skills, Researching Careers, Apprenticeships and alternative qualifications, Going to University, and Morrisby testing which “provides all the research tools needed to help students discover the world of work and pathways forward”.

Lower Sixth Post-18 Options Two days were set aside for the Lower Sixth Post-18 Options Days, with numerous talks from multiple universities and businesses on education and career paths. There were informative sessions on UCAS, student finance, choosing a course, writing a personal statement, creative pathways, and life studying in London. On the careers front, Mr Whatley spoke about the Armed Forces as a route, apprenticeships and grad schemes from Gareth Kenward at Babcock International, STEM careers from Alix Partridge, and the National Citizen Service from Anneliese Warburton.

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Senior Life Truro School participates in Rainbow Run Truro School’s boarding community completed the 5k Rainbow Run in aid of Children’s Hospice South West. Brightly decorated t-shirts were worn and a lot of fun with water pistols was had whilst the boarders, boarding staff and families completed 11 laps of the marked course in the Cornish mizzle.

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Local author gives creative writing talks and workshops The English Department and the Library invited local author Clare Owen into school to talk about her new book ‘Zed and the Cormorants’.

Clare talked to the 3rd Years about her recently published first YA novel, which is set in Cornwall, reading abstracts from some chapters and explaining how she came up with her plot and characters. She also ran a creative writing workshop with pupils from the 5th Year and Upper Sixth as part of their “bridging” activities into their next educational steps.

Lower Sixth Newquay Zoo trip A-Level Psychology students spent the day at Newquay Zoo, practising their observational research skills on a range of animals – penguins, lions, zebra, squirrel monkeys, meercats, peacocks and tapir.

Initially they did unstructured observations, noting down every behaviour they could see, devising operational definitions (e.g. what counts as “one” walk? When a tapir stops and then starts again is that “two” walks?). They then coded behaviours and checked for inter-observer reliability before starting their research. Students chose an animal each and practised event sampling and time sampling techniques, followed by pooling their data and creating graphical displays to illustrate their findings.

For the final element, each group created a video about their animal, their research findings and their experiences of observer bias and other methodological issues with observational research.

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THE GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE REVIEW

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“ A friendly, high achieving school with a truly holistic approach to education delivered via an enlightened balance of academic and cocurricular studies, inspiring a real sense of purpose and opportunity. Refreshingly lacking in arrogance but quietly setting itself up as the place to be schooled in Cornwall.”

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World AIMS: Let Creation Breathe This year’s World AIMS theme is ‘Let Creation Breathe’ which looks into the environment we live in and the impact of our actions and behaviours on nature. There were a whole host of activities during the week which aimed to get the pupils thinking about their immediate environment and what they do to impact it.

On site, pupils could be seen investigating the school grounds for lichen which indicates the local air quality. Some types thrive in polluted areas where they can suck in the co2, whereas others only like to grow in clean air. Pupils also took a quiz to assess their carbon footprint, made paper sculptures, and composed nature inspired music.

At the Cookery School, Mrs Taylor showed groups how to make an apple, orange and courgette cake to encourage them to cook delicious food with local, sustainable ingredients that are readily available in Cornwall. There were over 400 ingredient packs made up for the pupils to take home to make themselves to share with their families.

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Elsewhere, groups headed off on trips around the county to learn more.

At the Eden Project, a charity that solely focuses on sustainability and education, the children were guided around the rainforest biome to discover just how reliant humans are on the rainforest’s resources and how they are exploited for people’s gain, leading to global warming. The children were shocked to find out the huge amounts of palm oil used in every day products that we take for granted, like toothpaste.

Along the coast path from Chapelporth to Perranporth, students could be seen walking the cliffs to take in the coastal surroundings around them and to appreciate what’s on our doorstep.

It also served as a reminder how being in nature and fresh air can help calm us, especially if feeling stressed.

Finally, everyone in the school community made a pledge on how they’re going to play their part in everyday life to protect our world. These ranged from not using single use plastics, recycling more, drinking tap water, eating locally sourced vegetables as well as planting them.

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Senior Life Upper Sixth Leavers’ Day An emotional day for our departing Upper Sixth began with fun and games on the fields, and ended with their Leavers’ Service in the Chapel and lunch on the Terraces.

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Sports Day The very welcome sights, sounds and laughter of Sports Day filled the fields today. Following on from their department house challenges, pupils dressed in their house colours of red, yellow, green and blue and celebrated the competition with team spirit and unity.

With “enjoyment” the order of the day, pupils chose the activities that they wanted to participate in and had great fun competing to win points for their houses!

Congratulations to Smith House, who were this year’s Sports Day champions.

SMITH = 91 SCHOOL = 74.5 VINTER = 73.5 WICKETT = 71

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Senior Life Speech Day “Alone there is so much to do, together there is so much we can do… Be positive and proud of the impact that you can have on the world. Young people are a powerful force for change – together we can make waves for future generations.”

A huge thank-you to Sophie Daud, Chair of the Y7 (official youth engagement group for the G7 Leaders’ Summit), for sharing her inspiring and motivating words about the role and impact that young leaders can have in the world.

After a year of uncertainties and changes it was with great pleasure, and some relief, that we were able to welcome prize winners and Upper Sixth students, along with their parents, to celebrate another busy and successful year. Safely seated throughout the Sir Ben Ainslie Sports Centre, guests enjoyed a selection of musical and drama interludes, as well as speeches from Chair of Governors Richard Thomas, Head Andy Johnson, Guest Speaker Sophie Daud and our departing Head Girl / Boy Team, Issac and Jenny.

For those unable to attend in person, the event was live-streamed by the Truro School Tech Team into classrooms, and to parents and alumni across the world. Please scroll down to view the recording.

Congratulations to all of our prize winners.

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Senior Life Junior and Senior Gala Concerts The exceptional talents of the Truro School music department were showcased during the Junior and Senior Summer Concerts. The events were filmed for parents to watch at home.

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Senior Life International partnership helps Truro School boarders Kellett School, The British International School in Hong Kong, opened its doors to two stranded Truro School boarding students who were unable to return to the UK. Jack and Stephanie, who studied A-Level Chemistry, were unable to fly back to the UK in January 2021 to resume their schooling due to Covid-19. Remote learning on Teams allowed Jack and Steph to experience every theory lesson to the same standard as their peers, but they needed to complete experiments as part of their final assessments.

With no return to the UK in sight, Head of Chemistry at Truro School, Dr Anna Brogden, reached out to Kellett School Principal & CEO Mark Steed, having

previously worked with Mark when he was Principal of Berkhamsted School, to help her students complete their studies.

Dr Brogden said, “I knew he was someone who could be absolutely relied upon to support and champion the education of all students, facing any challenges head on. I was delighted when he agreed to help.”

Kellett Senior School Chemistry teacher Mr Wawn was happy to help, and accommodated Jack and Stephanie through three core practical sessions.

“The students really enjoyed being back in a science lab and being able to discuss chemistry face to face.”

After spending a few afternoons in Kellett’s science labs, Jack and Stephanie were able to complete the practical work of their Chemistry A-level requirements.

1st Year languages class exchange letters The 1st Year German class received letters from Laaerberg Gymnasium School in Vienna, Austria. They were excited to receive their post and read each other’s letters to find out more about their distant pen pals.

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Sing2G7 Truro School’s teachers and choristers have recently been involved with an international children’s engagement project, prompted around the UK’s hosting of the G7 summit, called Sing2G7.

At the centre of the initiative was a song, Gee Seven, written for the project by Tim Rice, Patron of Truro Cathedral Choir, with music by Peter Hobbs, arranged by Joseph Wicks.

Through the song and its moving YouTube video, the 35 choristers, aged 8-18, inspired children around the world to unite and “sing to G7” with a strong message, urging them to take full responsibility for the rest of the world.

Over 27,000 children signed up to sing the song in 31 countries, from Australia to Alaska, Japan to Mexico, Portugal to Poland, South Africa to Canada and the USA. Well over 300 schools across the UK took part, from Bristol to Birmingham, Newcastle to Thurrock. In addition, Truro School teachers created a range of education packs for primary schools, exploring key themes around the G7.

Over 250 primary schools downloaded one or more modules, representing over 1000,000 pupils.

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Inspired by how vulnerable to Covid many of their fellow young singers around the world were, the choristers decided to give all royalties from their Gee Seven single to VaccinAid via Unicef.

The project raised £8,434 for UNICEF’s VaccinAid fundraiser, which will enable UNICEF to provide over 10,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses.

“I can’t quite believe that by singing a song we have enabled 10,000 people to be vaccinated. It’s amazing. Thank you so much to everyone who made a donation,” said Head Chorister Jacob, 13.

“I think it’s wonderful that we’ve managed to achieve this. We’ve beaten our target by so much money and those 10,000 vaccines will help protect people’s lives which is really cool.”Chorister Harris, 9.

The project involved partnerships with Truro Cathedral, Cornwall Music Service Trust, Cornwall Council, The Diocese of Truro, Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station and Future Leaders Network.

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Boarders

Despite months of uncertainty, the start of the 2020/21 Academic Year began with a bang for our boarders.

With school and boarding inductions done and first days completed, September was a month for beach trips, socials and learning the ropes of the new school year.

We welcomed several new faces and welcomed back some old ones, too, all of them showing incredible adaptability as they settled into the new Covid-safe practices the School had implemented. There was an instant, cosmopolitan feel to the houses with boarders from France, Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Thailand, the USA, Hong Kong, China, and the UK. Within a matter of weeks, the boarders settled into their routines. The Boarding Tutors were astonished at how well pupils got on, and the strong sense of camaraderie quickly formed in the houses.

By October, the boarders were busy throwing themselves into all things academic and extra-curricular, with hobbies and interests flourishing and field trips undertaken. Having spent most weekends off-site, the boarders formed cookery bubbles and made the most of Truro School Cookery with the year’s first ‘ CookSat’ experience.

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Despite some stormy weather, the boys enjoyed the Cornish surf and Sam, Henry and Cam H, were appointed junior boarding prefects while the girls got out for some kayaking on Stithians Lake.

The first half of term was not without its hiccups, and there were periods of (seemingly endless) isolation for the boarders to endure due to Covid. Once again, the staff were bowled over by the adaptability and strength of character that the boarders showed.

They embraced remote learning from their bedrooms. And while there were the occasional wobbles, staff and pupils pulled through, helping and supporting each other and remaining as upbeat as possible.

Thankfully, the new lockdown in November didn’t alter the day to day lives of the boarders too significantly. They were able to attend lessons and after-school activities.

The SBASC staff worked hard to allow the boarders evening and weekend access to the sports facilities.

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There were some restrictions regarding mixing and leaving the site, but the boarders showed great maturity and understanding of their social responsibility to minimise the risk of transmission.

There was a renewed focus in all houses on health and well-being during house meetings. The boarders were encouraged to talk about their experiences and challenges with each other and our staff community.

Christmas planning started earlier in 2020, with decorations going up and plans made for the Boarder’s Christmas meal and the party. The end to Lockdown 2.0 was met with joy, and we brought the Christmas socials forward to allow all boarders (some of whom needed to fly home earlier) to attend. There was much laughter and a LOT of wrapping paper.

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The new year brought Lockdown 3.0; the School was ready for the remote learning, which continued until March.

The junior and senior boarding houses were amalgamated, with all girls living in Malvern to create a more unified feeling.

The restrictions meant that off-site activities were limited, so the boarders busied themselves with sports, stargazing, puzzles, games, movies and cooking. The Cornish weather was pretty miserable, and there were some low moments. Still, the boarders made the most of their virtual learning and opportunities to relax and connect during their downtime.

The second half of the Spring term offered light at the end of the tunnel, with the government announcement that schools would return from the 8th of March. The boarders were genuinely amazing; their resilience and adaptability were inspiring, as was the positivity and camaraderie they showed to each other and staff, parents and those who could not return to School due to travel restrictions.

It was particularly thrilling to see Stephanie and Jack complete their A-Levels at Kellet School in Hong Kong.

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fishing at the beach, mixing at local restaurants, letting loose at our local theme park, Flambards, surfing and enjoying the inflatable water park at Retallack.

With lost lockdown time to make up for and the Cornish sun shining, at last, it was a jam-packed whirlwind of Rainbow Runs, go-karting, paddleboarding, trips and of course, hard work and revision for their studies.

There were mixed feelings as the end of the year arrived at last; relief to have made it through such unprecedented times, joy at the connections we were able to form and foster and sadness as we said goodbye to each other.

Of course, some boarders were off to pastures new, and we wished them the best of luck in the next chapters of their lives. We reflected on the quote from Malcolm X, “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”

We do not doubt that the strength and resilience all of our boarders have shown us this year will stand them in good stead for bright, shining futures. What an inspiring group of young people they are.

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Art A-Level art.

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Sports Summary Well, you may think it would be hard to write about sport at Truro School over the last year, but I am happy to report that it isn’t.

DAN SANDERSON DIRECTOR OF SPORT

Yes, we have missed the amazing, full and varied sporting calendar of the past, and we even had to adapt Sports Day, but, because of our incredible facilities, we have been able to run sports clubs, house matches, PE and games lessons without much disruption.

We even managed a few fixtures in football and cricket.

Our after-school programme has been a big challenge, but for all the right reasons. Since returning to school, we have seen many of our pupils return to clubs and embrace the time to be active and socialise with friends.

Trying to fit in all the year groups across 18 different sports has only been possible because of our resources. Exams were held in the Assembly Hall, allowing the Sir Ben Ainslie Sports Centre (SBA) to remain free for sport and exercise. Seeing our pupils make the most of their facilities has been pleasing to see, and I want to thank all our staff, coaches and volunteers who have run sessions and helped keep Truro School pupils active.

We have tried to recreate fixtures via our house matches, and the PE department has enjoyed the atmosphere around the house competition this year. They were very well contested, and seeing the desire to win house points created some excellent competition and close games.

Just as good to see was the sportsmanship and leadership shown by our pupils.

Whether it was giving someone a second chance or the benefit of the doubt, the willingness shown by pupils to work out

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problems and encourage others was one of the key takeaways from this year.

The lockdown in January had a significant impact on games lessons, with a whole term lost. The girls missed rugby and football, and the boys missed hockey and netball.

Despite this, we have managed to complete most of our curriculum. Swimming proved trickier to cater for, although every child could swim at some point in the year.

With the switch to online learning, we adapted PE lessons to look at different aspects of wellbeing. We shared Ted Talks and had year-group discussions on sleeping habits, hydration, emotional intelligence and reflection exercises. It was an excellent chance to look at ways to lead a healthy lifestyle in addition to physical activity.

Towards the end of the year we were able to host some fixtures. In cricket, the lower years played the Cornwall County agegroup sides. It was lovely to see the pitches and pavilion back in use, and we were even blessed with some cracking weather!

Truro School took several pupils to the Cornwall Schools Athletics Competition.

Despite a reduced number of competitors, our pupils competed with other schools from across the county. A few of our pupils went on to compete in regional and national events.

The senior girls’ hockey and netball teams hosted a touring Wycliffe School, and played back-to-back matches on a Saturday morning.

SPORTS

Seeing our girls in action after such a long break was a welcome sight, and our thanks go to Mrs Newton for organising the fixture.

Away from school, we have been able to celebrate some fantastic student successes. Our international fencers have competed in the latter stages of the year. And, as restrictions eased, pupils were back competing for representative and regional sides.

We have Truro School pupils selected for Team Bath (netball), Exeter Chiefs (rugby) and South West regional performance in hockey. Toward the end of the summer, two pupils, Jacob L (Lower Sixth) and Jess B (2nd Year), qualified for the National Schools Athletics finals in the 400m and 1500m respectively.

In October 2020, perhaps the biggest crowning glory of our pupils’ achievements was for Finn Hawkins.

He became the world champion in the u19’s iQFOiL event at Lake Garda in October. Finn also finished 2nd in the U21 event and 14th in the men’s competition out of 114. Finn will be focusing on competing at the Paris Olympics in 2024, and we hope he can achieve his dream. We are all proud of what he has achieved so far.

As we look forward to September 2021, we are planning a full and varied programme, with fixtures, competitions and opportunities for all our pupils at Truro School.

We will try our best as a school community to reach our potential.

I know that we will win and lose but, ultimately, we are here to provide a positive experience for our pupils and instil the love of sport and physical activity for the rest of their lives.

I look forward to seeing what the new school year brings and, as ever, thank you for your support and patience.

TRURO SCHOOL

TERRACES

2021

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GOVENER’S MESSAGE

A Message From The Governors

It was a proud moment when I took the helm as Chair of the Governing Body of Truro School. I am grateful to my fellow Governors for the faith they have in me, and I applaud them for the work that we have all carried out over the past year.

RICHARD THOMAS CHAIR OF GOVERNORS

The Governing Body is in place to challenge and support the school in all that it does from a strategic point of view. We are in the background of the system; we are hands-off in terms of operation but there to guide and advise on cardinal aspects. It is therefore with notable pride that we, as a Governing Body, see what has been achieved by our motivated and diligent staff and committed pupils in a year of education which has been like no other.

We have all had to adapt to a new way of working, a new way of getting the job done, using a different measure for achievement while maintaining exemplary standards.

Through the year, with the disruption that we have faced, the school has performed in all departments in a nimble and inclusive manner.

The imagination and lateral thought of the staff have helped maintain an inclusive community committed to supporting and caring for each other. As Governors, we also appreciate the commitments and sacrifices made by parents and we appreciate the many messages of support received.

This has all been achieved with a change in leadership, with a new Head. The support he has received from the Head of Prep and the Senior Leadership Team has been so important in a year when nothing is normal, and you are new to the school and local community. We can look forward,

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as school life opens up again, to see a level of person-to-person engagement previously present pre-pandemic.

As I sit down to write this, the Tokyo Olympics have just come to an end. I have marvelled at the commitment, endeavour and sheer hard work that has been put in by all the athletes, whatever their discipline.

While we applaud the winners, we must remember it is not only about them.

Everyone taking part has been successful in their way; for some, getting to the event is a success, for others they achieved a personal best. For all, the event has been a prodigious triumph. The same applies to all that is achieved in Truro School.

We applaud all those that excel, but success is not just about winning, it is about fulfilment, wellbeing, integrity, caring and honesty.

Although Truro School Governors are very much “back stage”, it is at the forefront of our desires to create the environment for your children to flourish both at school and in society, and we strive to support and challenge the school in that aim. We are always available, and if there are views or opinions you wish to share, they are very welcome.

SPORTS

TRURO SCHOOL

TERRACES

2021

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Highertown Truro Cornwall TR1 3QN

Truro School Senior and Sixth Trennick Lane Truro Cornwall TR1 1TH

FOR GENERAL ENQUIRIES: EMAIL:

prepenquiries@truroschool.com 272616

TELEPHONE: 01872

FOR GENERAL ENQUIRIES: EMAIL:

enquiries@truroschool.com 272763

TELEPHONE: 01872

Truro School is part of the Methodist Independent Schools Trust Registered Office: Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5JR Charity Number: 1142794 Company Number: 7649422

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