A wonderful visit to Pomphlett – Earlier this week I had the pleasure of visiting Pomphlett Primary School and touring the school with Mrs Makelis, the headteacher and for part of the visit, Alex Marinou, the EYFS / KS 1 lead. It was brilliant to see the children in reception and KS 1 as well as our pre school children, both inside the school building and then outside, playing in the mud kitchen, toasting marshmallows at the ‘Forest School’ and enjoying PE on the MUGA.
During the second part of my tour I saw the rest of the school and really enjoyed talking to some of the children about their history and their science, before hearing a fantastic rendition of a Christmas play song in preparation for the fast approaching festive season. Well done Pomphlett and thank you for hosting me.
What an amazing school!
Pomphlett Headteaher news – I am now in a position to share some important news regarding the leadership at Pomphlett Primary School. After many years of dedicated service, Mrs Makelis, Pomphlett’s current headteacher, will be retiring at Easter. Mrs Makelis has made a significant contribution to Pomphlett Primary over the years, showing unwavering commitment to the staff, pupils, and wider community. We thank her for her dedicated leadership and wish her every success and happiness for the future.
I am delighted to announce that following interviews last week, Mrs Britta Nicholls has been appointed as the new Headteacher of Pomphlett Primary School. Mrs Nicholls is currently the Headteacher at Stuart Road Primary School in Plymouth and she brings a wealth of experience and proven leadership. Her vision and dedication will ensure that Pomphlett Primary continues to thrive and provide the very best education for its pupils.
To support a smooth transition, Mrs. Nicholls will work closely with Mrs Makelis over the coming term as part of a comprehensive handover process. This will allow her to become familiar with the school, staff, and pupils before officially taking up her role after Easter.
The work of a headteacher is never done!
Just before we leave the updates on Pomphlett, I wanted to share the following picture with you all.
When I arrived at Pomphlett for my visit earlier this week, Mrs Makelis couldn’t see me right away because she was busy….. cleaning the tables in the hall at the end of lunchtime.
The reality of life in a great school, where everyone mucks in to help out!
Well done Mrs Makelis. We really will miss you!
Christmas card competition winners – The recent Christmas card competition produced a wonderful selection of school winners and the judges (drawn from the LAT Trust Board) have had the incredibly difficult task of choosing a winner. We had 3 categories for KS 1, KS 2 and staff and the winning entry in each group is shown below. A big well done to Roman from Foundation at Widewell Primary who won the KS 1 competition, Rose from Salisbury Road who won the KS 2 competition and Kim Jordan from Plaistow Hill who won the staff competition. Prizes for the winners and the runners up will be on their way to you soon.
A huge thank you and well done to everyone who took part.
A visit to the LAT from the ‘Truro and Penwith Academy Trust’ – This week a group of 10 primary school headteachers and a deputy CEO / Director of Education from one of the largest MATs in Cornwall, TPAT (The Truro and Penwith Academy Trust) visited the LAT. They spent the morning looking at maths and teaching and learning generally at Prince Rock Primary.
In a follow up ‘thank you’ email, Chris Gould, TPAT’s Deputy CEO / Director of Education wrote the following; ‘It was a great pleasure to bring a group of Headteachers and trust leaders from TPAT to visit Prince Rock this week. The group were so impressed with the forensic approach and rigour demonstrated by all staff in the school. The children were a credit and so engaging. The visit has left the leaders with many exciting developments to take back to their schools. A huge thank you to all staff.’
I was fortunate enough to join part of the morning and I couldn’t have been prouder of the staff and pupils at the school. Well done Prince Rock!
Next week we will have an update on ‘Movember’, times table rock stars and the LAT’s fantasy football competition.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Simon