Culture! This has been the theme of the day.

If you were to ask your children why it is that there is such a rich history of art in St Ives, they will be able to tell you (based on previous learning in the lead-up) that in the early 20th century many artists moved to St Ives due its fantastic natural light. This is due in part to the surrounding clear waters, and the bright beaches made of crushed up white shells. Because of its incredible art heritage, the town is home to its own Tate Gallery. After filling their boots (or stomachs, perhaps) with toast, cereal and croissants and making their own sandwiches (you heard right), we headed out to the glorious building on the seafront which houses many famous pieces of artwork including Alfred Wallace, Ben Nicholson and an inspiring exhibition by Liliane Lijin. The pupils soaked up the works with great interest – they also enjoyed the playroom and shop too, naturally.

After that, we wandered through St Ives’ famed cobbled, steep and narrow streets to Barbara Hepworth’s house which has many of her most famous scultpures in the garden. Having recently made their own mini Hepworth-inspired sculptures out of soap, the pupils were really excited to see the works they had researched in real life – and they are huge!

We had lunch on the nearby harbour-beach. When the tide is low at St Ives, the entire harbour turns into a large stretch of clean and fresh sand – a great place to play. We stopped off quickly at the hostel to refresh, and then made our way up the long and steep climb to the Leach Pottery. They put on a very informative and engaging tour for us, where we learnt all about the history of Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, who met in Japan in the early 20th century in and set up their famous pottery in St Ives where they revolutionised pottery by emphasising artistic aesthetic while maintaining practicality, functionality and affordability. The kind folk at the pottery then put on a tile-making workshop, in which the pupils made their own designs which will be fired in the Leach Kiln and delivered back to school soon. An original keepsake as a memory for an amazing day!

After all of that culture, it seemed fitting to blow off some steam with a rip-roaring rib-ride. My goodness! It was fast, exhilarating, and also full of beautiful views of the coastline. Not only that, but we stopped at Seal Island and saw many seals lounging on the rocks! Every single pupil and adults (except Paul, but to be fair he takes a mean photo from afar) took part in the boat ride and they all whooped and howled along the way.

Dinner was delicious – Mac and Cheese! Yum. The kids are now all snoozing (we think) and we’re all so excited for surfing and body-boarding tomorrow.