St Rumon’s and St Peter’s School – Autumn Report

How wonderful this Autumn Term has been in St Rumon’s and St Peter’s schools.  In September we welcomed our children back to school following their ‘proper’ non-lockdown summer break.  Our adults and children all returned with a renewed sense of positivity and enthusiasm for the term ahead.  We began our new school year with a ‘Learning to Learn Week’.  Time to build relationships with new teachers and rekindle friendships with peers.  Time to consider skills and readiness for learning and develop positive attitudes and well-being.  Time to set out boundaries and expectations for the term ahead.

During the first couple of weeks we also managed our first ‘outdoor’ adventures of the academic year.  Our local natural environment is truly stunning and oozing with history and so many of us take this for granted.  So, we are aiming to maximise the full potential of our fabulous school grounds, our beautiful woodlands and of course our beloved Dartmoor to enhance the educational experiences we offer our pupils.  Classes from St Peter’s are named after our local Tors.  So, it seemed sensible that in their first few weeks in their new classes, the children climb their Tors!  This is what Pew Tor, Feather Tor, Great Mis Tor and King’s Tor did!  On the way they explored the beauty and ruggedness of the moorland terrain, enhanced relationships, persevered over rugged terrain and learnt a little more of the history and geography of their Tors.  This would not have been possible without the fantastic support of the Dartmoor Rangers and their team of volunteers.

As the term has progressed the teachers and children have got thoroughly stuck into their learning with the children really trying their best in all they do.  We have been relatively lucky with the ongoing COVID situation, with minimum disruption to staffing and pupil attendance.  The uninterrupted learning has led to fabulous progress through learning units and some lovely outcomes in the pupils’ work.

Of course, our work to improve our school in ongoing as ever.  This year we are engaging in a project to further develop our pupils writing.  Staff, alongside an external expert, have been reviewing the texts that we base our units of learning on and we have just placed orders for some beautiful new books to enhance variety in all year groups.  We are continuing with our maths research-based project that led to accelerated progress for many of our pupils last year – despite the pandemic!

This term, we have been delighted to take all our pupils to church on two occasions.  Our pupils led a beautiful Harvest Service – celebrating all that the natural world and farming provides for us.  More recently we were welcomed by Rev Sue and Rosie for an All Saints Service which was beautifully tailored so that pupils could engage and develop their understanding of the importance of the Saints within Christianity and how we can all be ‘saints’ in our own way.

As we look ahead, we are all truly excited about a more normal Christmas.  With delights such celebrations, church services and craft days planned we will have plenty to inspire us!

Mrs Suzy Dyter
Headteacher St Rumon’s and St Peter’s

Children in Y6 have been learning how to structure and compose persuasive letters.  They have written about subjects they feel passionate about:

Food Waste

Save the Bees

Click on the Church Schools News Category on the right to see other posts from the schools.

It has been truly wonderful that since our return to school in March, we have been able to return to some form of normality for our children in school. Initially we had a focus on regaining a sense of belonging, and reinvigorating and re-inspiring our learners. Within this we made plenty of opportunities for rebuilding key relationships and routines in order that our children and staff feel safe and secure at school and able to tackle learning. Thanks to the wonderful dedication of our staff team and the natural positivity of our children, we quickly re-established a calm and purposeful school environment.

Of course, the most memorable parts of our time in primary school are the trips, sporting events, visiting artists etc. We really did not want our children to miss out on all of these wonderful experiences. So this term we have also worked hard to make sure as much as possible goes ahead. All of our infant children have visited St Peter’s school for a day of ‘Wild Tribe’ outdoor learning. We have welcomed visitors such as Simon Dell into school to run workshops (a huge thank you to all of the volunteers who have made this possible). Whilst we could not mix with other schools for sport, we have engaged with competitive events within the COVID security of our own grounds. Day trips to the church (thank you Reverend Chris) and Dartmoor and after school clubs have also enhanced the wider education opportunities for our pupils.

With all this going on, we have also maintained our focus on the continuing development of St Peter’s and St Rumon’s school. Staff have continued to attend training, workshops and peer reviews and our wider St Christopher’s Trust team have continued to visit, support and challenge us in all that we do.

As we near the end of another extraordinary school year, our thoughts are with our year 6 pupils who will be leaving us and moving on to the next stage of their school career. We will be celebrating their time in school with a leavers event (COVID safe of course) and we will be sending them off with best wishes for their ongoing journeys and adventures through life.

Best wishes

Mrs Suzy Dyter
Headteacher St Rumon’s and St Peter’s