Here at St Eustachius, we are blessed to have two Church Schools, St Rumon’s and St Peter’s, with which we have a really close relationship.

We seek to support the schools in their aim to develop an environment in which all children can explore deeper questions of spirituality.  Led by Mrs Suzy Dyter, the Headteacher, the schools’ vision is to enable every child to ‘Live life to the fullest’ (drawing on John 10:10), which is summed up in three words – Dream, Achieve, Inspire.  For this vision to be effective, it must be known, lived out and have a measurable impact upon relationships and in the curriculum.

The schools use a relationship approach, exploring spirituality through:

• Relationship with self
• Relationship with others
• Relationship with the world and beyond
• Relationship with God and the transcendent

They use the visual below to help the children to understand this and as a cue to make sure this vision is being embedded across the curriculum and school life:

A recent review of the school supported the staff and the children to reflect on how the school enables everyone to flourish.  The Trust and Governors observed an assembly (nowadays called Collective Worship), led by Father Matt.  They also visited RE lessons and looked at the curriculum to see how teaching and learning contributes to pupils’ understanding and knowledge of the Christian faith, as well as of other faiths and of spirituality as a whole.

Together we were looking at the quality and impact of collective worship on enabling pupils and adults to flourish.  The outcome of the review was very positive and encouraging.

Finally, we have vacancies on the Governing Body for the schools.  If you wish to find out more about the invaluable support governors give to the schools, please see more detail at this link or speak to Catherine Stoate, one of our Churchwardens.

For us in schools, September is a time of new beginnings.  The point in the school year of children moving up and moving on.  At St Rumon’s and St Peter’s it is a time when we focus on building new relationships which will give us the foundations needed for the best learning experiences for our children.  Teachers have taken time to welcome and nurture children and to set defined boundaries and expectations.  We have allowed pupils the time to rekindle their friendships with peers and we always plan opportunities for building new working relationships.

A great way for pupils to get to know each other and their adults is through outdoor and adventurous opportunities.  Each of our classes have ventured onto Dartmoor to climb their class tor!  During their moorland journey the children develop their relationships as they support each other over the rugged terrain and the challenges that Dartmoor invariably presents.  They persevere, succeed and celebrate together.  Of course, these visits also ensure that we are getting our children out into our local habitats and environments and growing their understanding of their relationship with the world around them.  The wonderful rangers who guide us on these visits share their expert knowledge of the natural and human history of the moor and the wonders of the flora and fauna.

Whilst the impact of COVID is still on going, we feel that life in our school is becoming ever more settled.  It has taken time for teaching and learning routines to settle and for children and staff to re-establish the day to day ebb and flow of flourishing school life.  I have had many opportunities this term to take stock of the progression of children’s learning and to reflect on the impact and difference that our teachers and support staff are making.  It is a joy to see the children’s passion for learning, desire to reflect and improve and consequently the positive journeys through learning over the term.

As we ended last school year and moved into this new school year, myself and Mr Woodgates took time as the still relatively new leadership team to reflect and plan for the ongoing improvement journey for our schools.  We have identified and set our priorities and mapped out the tools and strategies that will support us in achieving the best outcomes.  We are extremely fortunate to be a part of St Christopher’s Trust.  The wider services, support and opportunities provided by the trust enable us to have a sharp focus on the core focus of Teaching and Learning and draw on wide expertise from within and beyond the trust team.

This term, the staff and pupils were very excited to meet Father Matt in church and in our schools for the first time.  Father Matt has taken time to visit classes and speak to pupils and adults.  It is clear to us that the spirituality of the young people of the parish is in great hands and that the strong links between the school and church will continue to thrive.  This term we were warmly welcomed to St Eustachius for our Harvest and All Saints services and representatives from both schools attended the Remembrance Service at The Cenotaph.

As I write this, the planning for the Christmas season is well underway.  With the pressures and challenges that many of our families are feeling this winter, we are committed to ensuring that through our Christmas activities all our children have lasting memories of Joy and celebration this Christmas.

The summer term has thankfully brought a settled period to St Rumon’s and St Peter’s with the majority of staff and pupils remaining COVID free and thus all of us finally feeling able to settle properly into the routines of school life.

Of course, as the term has progressed we have continued to realise the extent of the impact of COVID.  More consistent time with pupils has enabled the staff to reflect and consider more how development of relationships and regulation has been challenged.  Staff all over our school can be heard talking about how children have missed opportunities to ‘learn relationship management’ and how to ‘self-regulate’.  However, staff have worked incredibly hard and grown their own professional knowledge to find solutions and make time to explicitly teach and embed in children these skills of real-life importance.

On the first day back after the Easter holiday, my early morning Worship was interrupted by a phone call from Ofsted.  The next day the inspectors arrived at St Peter’s and spent two days thoroughly probing all aspects of school life and teaching and learning.  However, the sense of calm, purposefulness demonstrated our readiness and allowed staff and children to show off what St Peter’s is all about.  We are delighted with the judgement of ‘Good’ that we achieved.  Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have been involved in the long journey to the school gaining the recognition that it now deserves.

Even with our ‘Good’ judgement, the cycles of improvement continue for both St Rumon’s and St Peter’s.  Work has continued on our many improvement projects, with wider members of St Christopher’s trust being integral in this process.  Our ‘Discovery Curriculum’ has gone from strength to strength at St Rumon’s, with all children gaining from their enhanced engagement in all curriculum areas.  Our ‘writing’ focus has led to a wider selection of inspirational books stimulating exciting writing across the range of genre.

As usual, the church has welcomed us with open arms this term for our Easter and Pentecost services.  The clergy and wider team have also continued their weekly visits to our school to lead the children in Worship.  It is such a delight to see the positive expressions on the faces of the children as they enter the school hall and realise Reverend Rosie is leading the Worship!

As usual in the summer term, the opportunities for our children to engage with wider curriculum activity has flourished.  The majority of our pupils in KS1 and KS2 have been involved in sporting activities including Quad Kids, Cricket and Aquathlon.  Our joint sports day was a triumph with children showing off not only their sporting excellence but also their team work and support for each other.  Wider curriculum visits have provided further enhanced opportunities.  Especially the KS1 beach day at Wembury and the Y6 Beam House residential.

This school year is now of course drawing to a close.  Once again, Covid has challenged and once again we have risen to the challenges.  We have not ‘fixed’ everything yet, but we certainly know that we have a great team who take time to reflect and learn.  We have grown in our pedagogy, knowledge and skills and cemented great environments and learning for our children. We move towards September with a sense of excitement at the prospect of new classes and new opportunities.

As ever, January brings a new school term and opportunities for new beginnings.  However, we must still take time to reflect, for the purposes of this report, on the opportunities and Joy that the Christmas season bought to our children.

With events in school last Christmas being so curtailed by the restrictions of COVID, this festive period gave us an opportunity to once again embrace (all be it cautiously) celebration.  Throughout the advent period we focused on the value of ‘Joy’ in our schools and the origins and importance of the Birth of Christ to this in Christians.  In particular during Worship, Rev Rosie enlightened the children with pictorial representations of ‘The Angels’ spreading the good news.  

As part of our school improvement work, our teachers at St Rumon’s are now well on the road to embedding a more ‘Discovery’ hands on curriculum in wonderful, enhanced learning environments for our Y1 and Y2 pupils.  Christmas allowed them to thoroughly embrace creativity with Christmas craft activities.  At St Peter’s a whole school Christmas Craft day of sticking, printing, cutting, painting and so much more resulted in children going home with a goodie bag of their marvellous creations.

A real strength at St Rumon’s and St Peter’s is our school choir led by Mrs Hodgkiss.  The children have a real passion for singing and this year were able to perform their Christmas pieces at the Salvation Army Christmas Concert.  We were extremely pleased to be able to go ahead with St Rumon’s Nativity and St Peter’s Carol Concert in St Eustachius church.  The hours of rehearsing and preparation led to wonderful performances that really got everyone in the Christmas spirit.

But now back to the new year.  Once again, children and staff have come back to school refreshed, ready and energised for the term ahead.  Despite the winter weather we have already begun a program of sport and outdoor activity with Y5 and 6 honing their cycling skills through ‘Bikeability’.  We have dates ahead for ‘Balance Bikeability’ for our youngest children at St Rumon’s and many sporting fixtures including the annual Tavy 13 for St Peter’s pupils.  Teachers at St Peter’s are planning Dartmoor visits linked to topic work and residential experiences for Y4 and Y5 are also planned for the Spring Term.

Our work to ensure that learning is the best it can be for all our pupils continues across St Rumon’s and St Peter’s.  This term we will be welcoming our trust partners, English expert and Phonics expert into school to share best practice.  We are also looking forward to an input from a Mental Health expert on our inset day in February.  She will be giving us hints and tips for maintaining good levels of mental health for all in our school community.

As for a personal January reflection.  I have now been the head at St Rumon’s and St Peter’s for one year and that time has flown by.  As I stood at the front of Collective Worship on the first day back, I felt so proud and honoured to be the head of two schools with such wonderful children and staff.

Year 6 pupils from St Peter’s have composed these stanzas for Remembrance:

I dream that I grow in a solemn garden
A blast of colour in my simple surroundings
Remembering the people we have lost,
The history we have made
Whilst our colours never fade…
We will remember them.

I dream that I proudly decorate a veteran’s chest
Dazzling scarlet against navy-blue
My brother’s flowing through the Tower of London
A symbol of peace, a sign for the fearless
The everlasting flower of the lost…
We will remember them.

I dream I am the symbol of silence
Stretching over the world
Reflecting down on generations
Peace among the lost
Silent-scarlet between the crosses…
We will remember them.

I dream I stand tall
A memorial to the heroes who fought for peace on Earth
Leaves emerald green
Seeds black as midnight
A queen on remembrance day…
We will remember them

I dream I sway in the breeze of Flander’s Field
Thousands like me, yet each one special
When a word is desolate, I still grow
Just like those ancestors long ago
An invincible grave in the fields…
We will remember them.