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Dear Parents & Carers,
Before focusing on the children, I write to inform you that Will Silk, who joined Truro School Prep as Assistant Head (Pastoral) last year, has been offered an exciting opportunity to take up a Headship within the IAPS sector in April 2026. I write this with mixed emotions as I am delighted for Will, but naturally, I am sorry that he will leave us so soon. The recruitment process for his successor is already underway, and we plan to complete this process before the end of the term. I will, of course, keep you up to speed with all developments.
Returning to the children, I have been mightily impressed with their efforts both in and out of the classroom over the past week. Continuing our theme of environmental awareness, the Prep School children enjoyed a fascinating talk on the regeneration of our oceans from Luke Ansell, Head of Operations at Algapelago. As for activities outside, the change in the weather has made little difference to the children’s enthusiasm and appetite for life, and this was particularly apparent at sporting events that took place during the middle of the week.
In terms of our theme for the week, we returned to the ‘National Anti-Bullying Week’ theme for the year, ‘The Power For Good’. We took the time to explore the key terms of Bullying, Respect and Kindness, and we embarked upon a ‘kindness challenge’. Introduced by Rev Helen, the Truro School Prep Kindness Challenge sees acts of kindness being identified and recorded as the individual forms compete against each other to win the ‘kindness cup’.
As you are well aware, kindness and service to others run through the very heart of Truro School Prep life, and it is a pleasure to be part of a community that fosters a sense of understanding, respect and consideration for others. That said, we are acutely aware that we are far from perfect, and given that our community comprises hundreds of individuals who are all learning, it is inevitable that there will be times when we disagree with one another.
As such, we took the opportunity to explore what happens when things do not go according to plan in our friendships or when interacting with peers.
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In the first instance, we identified that sometimes we get bullying confused with a lack of respect and unkindness. Whilst we would prefer it if these things did not happen, they are, unfortunately, sometimes a part of life and especially so when we are a little tired, when we do not understand, or when we are feeling less confident ourselves. We agreed that these will be occasions when we have made ‘poor choices’ and, as such, are an opportunity to learn so that we are better set next time around. All agreed that this is not bullying.
A definition of bullying from the government website ‘stop bullying’ identifies bullying as unwanted, aggressive behaviour that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.
It goes on to identify that to be considered bullying, the behaviour must be aggressive and include an ‘Imbalance of Power’ (children who bully use their power – such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity, to control or harm others) and ‘Repetition’ (bullying behaviours happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once).
We then moved on to respect. Respect is an important component of our relationships with others and our own personal identity. We agreed that respecting someone else is ‘simply accepting who they are and not expecting them to be someone that they are not’. Just as we would not want to be expected to change our own beliefs and practices.
We then focused on kindness. The children were very quick to identify that kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate to other people. It is about thinking about other people before ourselves and about trying to help. We identified that acts of kindness can be grand and impressive or tiny and quiet, but they all matter, and they all cost nothing.
As I have written before, I genuinely believe that Truro School Prep children are, in the overwhelming majority of cases, kind and respectful. That said, there are occasions when words and actions fall short of the expected. When these happen in front of staff during lessons or at break time, it is straightforward for us to address them and the individuals involved.
Of course, such interactions do not always take place in these circumstances, but rather when travelling between lessons or on occasions such as when making one’s way to the changing rooms. In order to address these incidents, we rely on the children to inform us of any concerns or issues. This, we understand, can for many reasons be challenging, and we do our utmost to ensure that the children are confident and capable in terms of standing up for what is right and can report any worries or concerns, without the fear of undermining friendships.
Informing the School must never replace the children telling you, as their parents, but if we can work together to encourage them to speak to their teachers and staff immediately, we will be better able to act and intervene to ensure a positive outcome. I hope that you will be able to remind your children of the importance of such actions.
Looking at the bigger picture, I hope that the cups of kindness overflow in the days and weeks ahead and that our community remains positive and supportive as we move through the term. That said, having been in education for some time, I am sure that there will be times when tiredness will lead to poor decisions, and that such decisions will lead to disagreements.
As always, we will support the children throughout all their experiences and will make the most of every opportunity to help them develop their own resilience as well as their understanding and respect for others. I have no doubt that these skills will stand them in very good stead for the many social and workplace challenges that will come their way in the future.
As ever, I thank you for your support and hope that you will not hesitate to contact me, or indeed any member of staff, if you wish to discuss the contents of this message or any other matter.
With every good wish,
Rob Morse
Head of Prep
Latest From Truro School
Messages & Downloads
Prep Christmas Fayre
We are getting excited about the Prep Christmas Fayre, which is taking place on the 5th of December. See poster below for more information.
We would be grateful if families could start collecting and bringing in donations for the event from the 24th of November. We are collecting the following items:
Santas on the Run
We will be taking part in the Santas on the Run Schools Challenge on 17th December 2025, raising money for Children’s Hospice South West.
Please help us raise vital funds for families supported by their 3 hospices across the South West.
The FTS Team is asking for donations ahead of the event and would be grateful for donations here.
Truro School Baubles
Our beautiful Truro School Christmas baubles will be on sale at the Truro School Artisan Fayre and the Truro School Prep Christmas Fayre at £10 each.
For those unable to get to these events, please email [email protected] to place an order. Deliveries can be made to either the Senior School or Prep office for collection.
Business Breakfast
Jump(er) into business networking with Truro School!
Join us on Friday 5 December, 8.00 am – 9.30am, at the Heseltine Gallery for our ‘Christmas Jumper’ Breakfast Networking session. Open to all parents, associates, and friends of the School.
Book your free place now: https://forms.office.com/e/gFMarycAyD
Our Sponsor and Guest Speakers will be Henry and Rich from Intent Leadership, who will lead an interactive session on high-impact leadership and team development.
There will be a prize for the best Christmas Jumper!
Headlice
I wrote in last week’s bulletin about having cases of head lice in school. Unfortunately, they still appear to be circulating, so we really need your help in breaking the cycle of recurrence.
If you see your child scratching their scalp (especially if they are itching behind their ears or nape of the neck), this is definitely the time to do a quick check.
However, not everyone itches when head lice are present, so please spare a few minutes of your valuable time this weekend to check for any signs of live head lice or unhatched eggs.
It is better to catch them at this early stage, before they reproduce.
When checking your child’s hair, pay particular attention to behind the ears, temples and nape of the neck, as these are the main places where you are likely to find the eggs, which are brown and about the size of a pinhead.
You may find white, empty egg cases slightly further down the hair shaft. The eggs will be glued to the hair shaft, and you will be unable to slide them down the hair strand with your fingers.
We would recommend continuing with a weekly check and, if you want to be even more thorough, consider incorporating a quick visual check into your child’s daily hair care routine, whilst brushing or styling their hair before school or nursery each morning.
Then a weekly wet comb check in the bath or shower will mean you are always on top of it before an infestation can really take hold.
Many thanks for your help with this.
Mrs Katrina Cameron
Medical Care Lead [email protected]
Pentominoes
HOW TO TAKE PART:
You can find the weekly Pentominoes challenge HERE every week in the Notices section of the Online School Bulletin.
To access the weekly challenge, you will need to click on the VIEW option below to bring up the weekly challenge.
These can then be printed at home and enjoyed. Please note that they need to be printed off as A3, 100% size (not fit to scale).
If you do not have an A3 printer at home, there are ready-printed copies in the Prep Reception Office that your children can collect on a Friday and bring home.
Finally, hints on how to solve the puzzle will be available each week. These will also be here in the Notices section should you get stuck!
Please take a photo of the completed challenge and email it to Mrs Ryder at [email protected]
Pentominoes Hint
Here is your weekly Pentominoes hint.
Click image to view
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