20 minute read
Senior Life
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
THE GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE REVIEW
“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.”
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
