At The Bishops’, we are dedicated to creating first hand learning experiences in and outside of the classroom that engage pupils and make emotional foundations and memories for the future. Nothing is left to chance. We pride ourselves on seeking out as many high-quality learning opportunities as possible, ensuring all of our pupils leave our school as well-rounded individuals who have had every opportunity for personal development and make positive contributions to society. By the time our children leave The Bishops’, our pupils would have:

• Learnt how to speak confidently in public
• Developed their spiritual selves
• Performed in a musical
• Represented the school in sport
• Visited various places of worship
• Learnt water and beach safety, including how to surf
• Learnt how to ride a bike safely on the road
• Developed their teamwork, resilience and lifelong learning skills
• Taken up a leadership role
• Taken part in charity work through social action and courageous advocacy

Extra-curricular clubs

We offer a wide range of extra-curricular clubs for our children to enjoy organised by Team Bishops’. We run a range of after-school clubs from 3.15pm to 4.15pm and lunchtime clubs.  In addition, all of children are asked each year what clubs they would you like us to run.

Our clubs are led by our teaching team along with outside specialists. For example, Global boarder surf school, Newquay Hockey Club, Cornish Pirates, Cornwall Judo Club and Newquay model railway club.

Our weekly clubs include:

• Football club
• Coding and Programming
• Surfing and beach safety club
• Dodgeball
• Cricket club
• Nature club
• Walking to explore club
• French club
• Gardening club
• Choir
• Tag rugby club
• Cooking club
• Railway dioarama club
• Pom Pom club
• Invasion games club

Cycling

In 2021 we built a 273 metre mountain bike track on our grounds with support from British Cycling, Sustrans and Cornwall Council. We have class sets of balance bikes, scooters and a range of cycles for children to learn how to ride a bike safely. Two of our staff are cycle coaches and cycling is part of our curriculum; children gain their Bike ability Level 2 qualification before they leave the school.

Wild tribe

Forest School is an internationally recognised process in which children are educated in the outdoor environment, preferably a woodland setting, on a regular basis. It is a planned and well-organised programme of child-centred learning. Through a balance of responsible risk taking and building trust, Forest School explicitly supports children's social, emotional and physical development.

Throughout their time at The Bishops’ every child will participate and reap the benefits of Forest School through our Wild Tribe practitioners. E.Y.F.S. have weekly Wild tribe sessions. We have our own wooded area with loose parts, dens and fire pits.

Educational visits 

Educational visits include visits to other places off-site, including our local community and further afield. We also invite visitors in. Various visits/visitors include:

• Hall for Cornwall – dance and drama
• Eden Project
• Cornwall BMX track
• Invited speakers for Collective Worship
• Aspirational careers fayre
• R.N.L.I.
• Surfing
• Will Keating (Cornish singer)
• Weekly visits to support Kimberley Court care home
• Eden Project
• RNAS Culdrose
• Newquay Zoo
• Spaceport Cornwall
• Museum visits, including the Falmouth Maritime Museum, Bodmin Keep Museum, Truro Museum
• Tate Gallery, St Ives
• Trevaskis Farm
• Hayle Heritage Centre
• Plymouth Argyle FC
• Cornish Pirates RFC
• Beach visits/beach cleans

 

Residentials

Early Years Infants on Ice

In the first half of the spring term, our reception children spend the day at the Eden Project learning all about habitats, plants, nature and experiencing different biomes. They also find out what it is like on an ice rink!

Year 1/2 Space Camp

In the second half of the summer term, Year 1/2 pupils enjoy a Space Camp at school. We transform the halls into tented camps full of resources and experiments linked to their topic of space. They launch rockets, learn how to filter water, examine stars and use telescopes and binoculars. Visitors include astrologists and rocket scientists from Spaceport Cornwall and Kernow Astrology to bring real expertise to the classes.

Year 4 Residential visit:

In the second half of the spring term, Year 4 pupils have the opportunity to go on a three-day residential trip to Oakhampton on the edge of Dartmoor. They stay in the YMCA hostel near Bracken Tor and spend their time exploring Dartmoor, building on the learning they did in Year 3 when in school. They spend their time enhancing their personal development and character education, learning how to light fires, build chorales, support each other on the high ropes course and how to use a bow and arrow.

Year 5 Residential visit:

In the spring term, year 5 pupils have a 3-day residential visit to London to look forward to.  The pupils get the chance to experience what it is like in our capital city, seeing the main sights and visiting a selection of museums and attractions (eg. The Houses of Parliament, The Science Museum, The Natural History Museum, the Royal London Walk, The London Eye, The Tower of London and London Zoo. The highlight is always a visit to the theatre to see a show such as The Lion King.

Year 6 Residential visit:

In the second half of the summer term, Year 6 pupils spend a week camping at Porthpean Adventure near St Austell. They follow a programme of activities designed to get them ready for the transition into year 7 and make lifelong memories with their friends. The children spend a day coasteering, learning how to paddle a kayak, overcoming the challenge of the high ropes course, teamwork supping, laser tag tactics and axe throwing!

 

In January 2023 we featured on BBC1 national news - our school led a workshop on rocket science which was used to introduce a news segment on the first ever Cosmic Girl mission with Virgin Atlantic - see below:

Another great example of our pupils taking social action is our new bike track. In September 2019 the school council decided our school field would be the ideal location for a multi use cycling facility. 18 months later, with the help of British Cycling and Sustrans, we achieved it ! Here's a video that Great Western class made to promote the track all over Cornwall.

Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel @thebishopscofelearningacad263 to view a variety of our extra curricular activities.