NEWTON St Cyres School had a surprise visit from two Ofsted officials recently.

In the current Covid climate Ofsted are not actually inspecting schools this term, but are carrying out a programme of supportive visits to find out how everyone has coped in the return to school since lockdown ended.

Newton is one of only 1,200 schools to be selected. The Inspectors’ fact-finding mission asked about the positives and the negatives encountered over the past six months, in the hopes that the whole country can benefit from shared experiences. They were particularly interested in the wider curriculum and were pleased to hear how children at the school are still accessing a wide range of subjects and are still excited about their learning.

Head of School, James Akhurst, was able to point out some wonderful science experiments as well as some great creative activities for the very youngest members of the school community.

Newton remained open throughout lockdown and Exe Valley Federation staff worked together as a team to carry on educating the children of Key workers on site and to provide online learning for those at home.

The school re-opened to all pupils in September.

In Class Three the topic of Misty Mountains and Rivers has also included a fascinating art project.

Children have made a special study of Impressionism and have tried their hands at colour-mixing to match the shades used by Monet in his paintings of water.

Mrs Horrell, their teacher, said: "We are thinking about what Impressionism is and how to paint in this particular style. We have investigated how Monet used light and colour in his artwork and are basing our own final Impressionist paintings on the River Thames.

Mrs Horrell is new to Newton having taught at Silverton School for nearly seven years teaching almost every year group.

For the last three years there she taught Y5/6 class where she loved organising special events, such as taking the children on a residential to Dartmoor and running a murder-mystery reading activity!