A welcome from the new head of Truro Prep, Sarah Patterson

Dear Parents,

Firstly, I would like to welcome back the Truro Prep School community from what I hope was a restful and enjoyable summer holiday. I have been at school for a large part of the break, finding my way around and spending plenty of time reading documentation regarding all parts of school life. However, a school only really makes sense when the children return, and they did, with gusto, on Monday morning. It has been lovely to meet the children, to learn names and to start to build relationships with them.

Thank you to so many of you for your warm welcome; it is fantastic to finally be here in Cornwall and start to really get to know this most wonderful of schools. As you can imagine, school holidays are not restful for all and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs McIntosh and her team for all the work they have done over the summer to improve and develop both the inside of the school and the extensive grounds.

Teaching staff all attended an interesting and worthwhile training session last week on Emotion Coaching and how we can further develop our interactions and relationships with children. I would also like to thank the staff for their hard work in preparing for the new academic year; last week was a hive of activity here at school.

Our choir, led by Mrs Renshaw and supported by Mr Hawker, Mrs Issaka, Mr Lovett and Mr Piper, had the honour of attending the International Musical Eisteddfod at Llangollen in Wales at the beginning of July; in our celebration assembly on Tuesday, the Prep School watched the film of the choir singing and congratulated them whole-heartedly on this impressive achievement.

I would like to congratulate the new Mrs Stone; Miss Reed was married over the summer break. She is covering Mrs Eva until she returns from maternity leave after half term. I would also like to wish Mrs Chapman well as she prepares for her upcoming maternity leave; we hope to have her with us for another three weeks.

I hope to bring you more concrete news about our new building project in the near future. There have been plenty of discussions and meetings regarding this exciting new development. Once plans and permissions are finalised, I will communicate them with you.

I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our new parents and to remind them that the Friends of Truro School will be hosting welcome drinks for new parents and class representatives on Thursday 15^th September from 19 00 – 20 00 in the dining room. It would be lovely to see as many of our new parents as possible at that event.

So now, to the busy term ahead – please do check the calendar regularly to ensure that you are fully aware of events and meetings at school that involve your child. I am looking forward to meeting you all personally over the course of the term at our organised events but please feel welcome to come and introduce yourselves to me at any point: I will be outside each morning to greet the children and each afternoon in the playground. Please make an appointment with Mrs Lahera if you would like to spend some time with me talking about any aspect of school life; I am available before and after school until 17.45.

With best wishes for a successful and happy term,

Sarah Patterson

Head of Truro Prep