Issue No. 283

11 July 2017 From the Headmaster...

‘Karenza whelas karenza’

POLWHELE HOUSE TRURO CORNWALL TR4 9AE TELEPHONE / FAX 01872 273011

EMAIL office@polwhelehouse.co.uk www.polwhelehouse.co.uk @polwhelehouse

Another academic year has flown by and what a year it has been. Most importantly the school remains a vibrant, happy and purpose-ful place where all are encouraged to be their very best at all times. I hope my speech tomorrow will go some way to illustrate the huge number of achievements and successes the pupils have had over the past year, although it will be by no means exhaustive and I’ll get my apologies in early for any omissions! Tomorrow’s presentations in the hall will be followed by a cream tea on the gravel car park and we look forward to seeing you then – all families and friends are welcome. The holidays are now upon us; it is the time of year to recharge the batteries exhausted by the commitment of being in a busy prep school. I hope the sun shines on you and yours and that all associat-ed with Polwhele House have a lovely, long relaxing holiday. The words of tomorrow afternoon’s blessing are a fitting way for me to sign off the year:

May the road rise up to greet you May the wind be always at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face And the rain fall soft upon your fields

And until we meet again May the Lord God hold you in the power of His hand

And may all your ways be true May the sun shine warm on you

And the Lord God hold you until we meet again. With best wishes,

Alex McCullough HEADMASTER

headmaster@polwhelehouse.co.uk

THE NEWSLETTER OF POLWHELE HOUSE

THE

Polwhele Post

DIARY DATES

Tuesday 11 July

1.50pm Set Rounders and

Tug of War

6.00pm Year 8 Leavers’

Barbecue

Wednesday 12 July

am Whole School

Photograph

2.30pm Prep School

Presentation

Afternoon

3.40pm End of Term

Monday 4 September

all day Staff INSET Day

Tuesday 5 September

all day Staff INSET Day

Wednesday 6 September

8.00am Michaelmas Term

commences

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

Tim Roberts who has taken his Grade 4 Trinity Guitar exam and passed with distinction!

GOOD LUCK TO:

Charlie and Jack Beckly who are both sailing in the Mirror Nationals and World Champi-

onships this summer!

And last but not least— photographs that are full of fun, and inspiration, to end the term!

PRE-PREP

Nursery Graduation Assembly

On Thursday morning in Pre-Prep the children in the Nursery class received

their hand made mortar boards and certificates from Mr McCullough watched

by lots of mums and dads and members of their families. The Nursery class

were all praised by Mrs Reed for the progress they have made during their

time in Nursery. The children started off their assembly by spelling out the

word GRADUATION while doing some cheerleading! They then told everyone

about the things that they have enjoyed about their time in Nursery. These in-

cluded playing on Noah’s Ark, playing with the new work bench, writing num-

bers and eating ice creams at Callestick Farm. A new graduation song was

sung including actions and lots of clapping. The children finished off by singing a

song that they chose from the list of songs that they have learnt this year

‘Bumpy pointy little star fish.’

Well done everyone. I am very proud of you all.

Mrs Reed

PREP NEWS

PHSoc NEWS

PIMMS AND PONIES SUMMER FETE

What a fantastic day! Miss Galaxy officially opened this year’s Pimms and Ponies Summer Fete

on Saturday 17th June 2017, our first in several years. We could not have asked for better weath-

er to showcase our beautiful school, the grounds, and riding school and for such a great turnout!

The stalls included a tombola, face painting and tattoos, a bouncy castle, strawberries and

cream, cakes, make your own hobby horse, international food stand, shoot the goalie, a coconut

shy, hook the duck, lucky dip and a nerf water gun range and several others. We also offered

pony rides throughout the day which were a huge success and each child that took part received

their very own rosette. The Cornish Food Box and lifeboat stand also came and supported us for

the day. We certainly had enough to keep all ages amused!

Mr McCullough agreed to get soaked by the pupils with wet sponges! This proved to be a very

popular event and a crowd gather, though I don’t think he expected the boys from the nerf water

gun stall to take up the challenge too! It’s amazing how much extra money that pulled in; we did

not know you were so popular Mr McCullough, but hopefully you will be back for more next

year?!

We would also like to take our hat off to Andrew (Kathryn’s brother) who stood in the heat cook-

ing the burgers and sausages all day - next year we will make sure it is around the corner in the

shade for you!

Mrs Julia Knight-Bennetts Head of Music, organised (and played in) the Skyliners Wind Band

and what a lovely addition that was to the day, thank you all.

It was great to see all of the children and adults enjoying themselves, and feel that this event has

helped to raise the profile of Polwhele House School and its community. Alongside this we also

managed to raise a staggering £1500!

Thank you to all the parents, pupils, teachers and outside agencies that

manned all of the stalls and for all of the parents that supported PHSoc by at-

tending the day to make it such a success.

Finally, we only have one question to ask, the winner of the barrel of booze

was Ms van Emden, have you managed to drink it all yet?! (Nearly—Ed!)

Hopefully this is the first of many more to come, look forward to seeing you all next year!

Catherine Reeve, PHSoc

Following their recent AGM, PHSoc

Committee is pleased to announce

the following results:

Chairman: Vicky Goldby

Vice-chair: Amber Brown

Treasurer: Kathryn Nicholas

Publicity Officer: Natalie Lewis

Secretary: Jo Davies

and Class Contacts from September

2017 will be:

Early Years (Nursery and Reception): Jo Da-

vies

Year 1: Larisa Radmore

Year 2: Amber Brown

Year 3: Kathryn Nicholas

Year 4: to be announced

Year 5: Vicky Goldby

Year 6: Natasha Hooper

Upper Prep (Years 7 and 8): Natalie Lewis

ASSEMBLY THOUGHTS:

Year 4 led a final assembly today:

PREP SCHOOL

Pol(whele)dark

Last Wednesday saw the start of the school’s run of this year’s production,

Pol(whele)dark. No special anniversary this time, instead a story that was

firmly rooted in Cornwall, and indeed, in Polwhele itself!

The story revolved around Ross Poldark showing off his torso (or not!) and

the shifty and loathsome George Warleggan trying to destroy our hero. On

a trip down the mine with the strict(ly) judges, George was spooked by the

Tommy Knockers and rushed out of the shaft, accidentally and somewhat

ironically discovering the seam of tin that Ross had been so desperately pursuing. The story ended with a good old fashioned

knees up back at Ross and Demelza’s place, complete with windswept, clifftop hairdos.

The main roles of Ross, Demelza, George, Elizabeth and Jud Paynter, played respectively by Ruben, Hannah, Tom Luke, Made-

lin and William held the show together brilliantly. They were ably supported by the judges (Tom Reed, Lucio, Katia and Arthur

Trotman) the miners (Patrick and Oscar), Doc Martin (Tim) the Clerk (Tansy) and of course, Richard Polwhele (Dylan) whose

help bought Ross valuable time.

The prizes for comedy performances of the show went to Pirate Ant and Pirate Deck (Ethan and Charlie) and the Tommy

Knockers (Harry, Piran and George). The pirates had a seemingly endless supply of awful jokes and sang a rousing version of

the Cornish folk song ‘Lamorna’. Not to be outdone, the TK’s spoke entirely in rhyme and provided an inimitable dance rou-

tine to Isaac Hayes’ ‘theme from Shaft’. Surreal entertainment of the highest order.

The music was arranged by Mrs Knight–Bennett who breathed new life into Cornish songs such as ‘Camborne Hill’ and

‘Trelawny’ as well as more modern numbers such as ‘Going Underground’. She also played in our small but able orchestra

alongside David Falconer and Käthe Wright Kaufman.

The technical side of things was ably controlled by Bertie, Fergus, Josh and Zack.

Once again the end of year production was a huge success thanks to the commitment of so many people, and the talent and

hard work by the children. Thanks to everyone who played their part in bringing the whole thing to fruition. It’s simply bril-

liant when so many people contribute to a whole school event, and I can’t wait for next year’s extravaganza! Mr Caddy

For those of us waiting with bated breath for Mr Caddy’s next master piece I can say we were not disappointed!

The story opened with fabulous scenery - a rugged cliff line with the obligatory sailing vessel all in wonderful silhouette. The familiar

notes of the TV Poldark theme tune flowed from the band’s expert fingers, and we were transported to another land - a land where Winston

Graham's Cornwall was blended (seamlessly?) with Strictly Come Dancing and Doc Martin - you couldn't make it up!

The backbone of the story - Good (Poldarks) vs Evil (Warleggans) - was embellished with the 'contractual' beach scene with Pirate Ant

and Pirate Deck. Two budding stand ups if we ever saw them. Watch out for them on Dave!

Strictly judges Darcy, Len, Craig and Bruno added another vital element to the plot. Lucio Mombelli-Armondi as the flamboyant Tonioli

was very good - no doubt helped by his Italian roots!

The cottage scenes, with Ross, Demelza and Elizabeth, all very strong characters were played by very strong actors with the lazy , ruffi-

an Jud - expertly portrayed by William Piccin-White.(another one to watch in the future!). The enthusiastic, animated chorus supported

and blended with the actors on stage and the expert lighting provided the mood changes.

The ' baddie' George Warleggan was brought to life by Tom Luke. Very good pompous strutting! He was, of course, overcome by the 'good'

and the saviour of the day, Richard Polwhele. The solo by Dylan Spokes one of the highlights of the whole performance. Polwhele’s money

released Ross from his debt to Warleggan allowing everyone to live happily ever after and Ross back in the field shirtless - thank good-

ness!

Lastly, and ending the show, the Tommy Knockers who live in the mine - amazing dancing lads!

All in all a very enjoyable evening - very entertaining - lots of practice and hard work definitely paid off - well done to everyone involved

both in front of and ( just as importantly) behind the stage.

Written by an admiring parent

KEYES’ Corner:

Geography puzzler!

Where in the world?

Answer to last time’s puzzler:

Boston

POLWHELE’S PUZZLES!

Pre-Prep School's Puzzle

Prep School’s Puzzle

CADDY’S CONUNDRUMS!

Please use a dictionary to find your answer!

Answer for last conundrum: Obstreperous - noisy and difficult to control

EUPHORIA

SPORTS NEWS

Polwhele House School Sports Colours

Summer Term 2017

Full Colours - These are awarded to Year 8 pupils who have shown excep-tional skill and outstanding dedication in their sport whilst at Polwhele House School.

Half Colours - These are awarded to pupils who have shown exceptional skill and outstanding dedication in their sport whilst at Polwhele House School.

They will have:

*Shown high levels of dedication and determination to succeed in that sport.

*Maintained a highly positive attitude towards his or her sport in both training and matches.

*Demonstrated good leadership skills and qualities.

*Been a good ‘role model' for the rest of the school.

ATHLETICS

Half Colours:

Oscar Haslam-Hopwood (Y7)

Has shown great promise on the athletics track achieving very fast times in his running events. He took Part in the ISA South West Athletics Trials in Exeter where he achieved 2nd place in the 800m race and was selected for the ISA South West team and travelled to Birmingham to compete at the Al-exander stadium in the 800m. He spent many a break on the track working on his time and pro-duced a fantastic time on race day.

KIT REMINDER!

Gum shields needed for first week back – all current Y2-

Y7girls and all current Y3 – y7 boys (current Y2 boys option-

al).

Athletics News

After many weeks of waiting the children got to tackle our final ‘Sports Day’ field event - the high jump.

The winner for 2017 is Zack Lewis with 1m 20cm!

Senior Set Cricket Match - 10 July

Herons victorious in the Senior Set Cricket Match!

EQUESTRIAN NEWS

SUMMER HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES!

We also have an action packed summer holiday period planned at the stables, so please

keep an eye on our Facebook page for all of our events. Our very popular Saturday Club

will continue throughout the holiday period (9.30am to 1.00pm), and we will also run a

Midweek Club on most Wednesdays, for those whose Saturdays are already jam packed full

of activities.

Our Toddlers’ Club, for younger children under 5 years, will continue at 1.00pm after Sat-

urday and Midweek Clubs, and we are also planning an amazing Toddlers’ Teddy Bear Picnic

during the holiday period!

We will have lessons available throughout each week, so children will be able to brush up

on their riding skills over the Summer. We also offer lessons for adults, either on our lovely

gentle Charley, or our wonderful schoolmaster Bruce, or should you wish to bring along

your own horse for training, we can help you work towards your own riding goals, wheth-

er they be to prepare for competition in dressage or show-jumping, or just to gain confi-

dence and forge a deeper understanding with your horse. Please give us a call to discuss

on 07944 749586.

The greatest event during the holidays will be our residential Summer Camp! Open to

children from 8 years old, the camp will commence on Monday 31st July for three days

with two overnight stays. There will be lots of riding, including dressage, show-jumping and

cross-country lessons tailored to suit all levels. Children will play an active role in the daily

care of the ponies, and daily stable management sessions will help to advance their

knowledge and understanding of horse care. Included in Summer Camp will be all meals, a

host of daily activities and a whole lot of fun! We will have our own Mini One Day Event

on the afternoon of Wednesday 2nd August, to which all parents will be invited. The cost of

the Camp is £250 and we will require a deposit of £50 to secure a place. The balance will

be payable a week prior to the camp (by Monday 24th July).

We wish you all a super summer holiday making very special memories!

Tuesday 11 July

Toad in the Hole Vegetarian Toad in the Hole (V)

Served with Mashed Potatoes, Peas and Leeky Gravy

Chocolate Cracknell

Wednesday 12 July

Green Pesto Pasta Served with Cheese, Tuna, Salad and Homemade Bread

Fruit Muffins