A TOUCH of ‘wizardry’ made the return to school for pupils of North Petherwin a little more unusual this autumn.

Last month, pupils were surprised to receive a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’s ‘North Petherwin Witching and Wizarding site’. Hogwarts is the fictional British school of magic, the primary setting for the first six books in J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

The letter, from Hogwarts’ own deputy headmistress Minerva McGonagall, tells pupils they have been identified as a ‘perfect Muggle’ — the term used in the books to describe non-wizard folk — and included was a ticket for the ‘Hogwarts Express’ train — the train students in the stories used to travel to Hogwarts.

The letter was even in the style of the letters received by students in the stories, the parchment envelope with wax seal pointing out it had been ‘delivered by owl’.

The letter finishes: “Parents are reminded that first year students are not allowed their own broomstick.”

Teacher Emma Godwin sent the letters out to the pupils, and said this is the second academic year they have based planning on topics that the pupils wish to base their learning around, to ensure pupils are engaged and enjoying their learning. Harry Potter was a popular request in Class Three.

Mrs Godwin said: “The staff are always looking for a hook or wow idea to start off the topics and that’s when the letters came to mind. We all know that muggles only get to go to Hogwarts when they receive their official invite.

“I thought about giving them out at the end of the academic year but thought how much more exciting it would be as a child to receive one through the post along with their Hogwarts Express ticket! The class HLTA was even sent one asking. We even wallpapered up the classroom door to make it look like platform 93/4.

“The children arrived in school on the first day back and there was a definite buzzing in the air as they arrived with their letter and tickets. Parent feedback was that children were very excited when they received the letter and for a while, a few actually thought that they were off to Hogwarts! The wax seal on the parchment envelopes really topped it all off! After six weeks off, it was a great way to get children enthusiastic about their return to school.

“The staff across the whole school all work incredibly hard to make the learning as fun as possible for the children. Last year, we even had a giant dragon egg in a nest in the school grounds and some pupils found some small eggs in the nest too! We incubated them to see what would hatch.

“The sign-up sheet to look after the dragons at the weekend was very long as the pupils liked the idea of a pet dragon! They currently get to take Shelldon, the class tortoise, home at weekends. After 21 days, we were surprised to get four chicks and not dragons!”

Recently, pupils have transformed into palaeontologists and excavated fossils, which held dinosaurs; they became surgeons to dissect a lamb and several hearts; and they became explorers and survival experts as they built dens, explored the area and lit fires for hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows in Barton Woods.

Mrs Godwin added: “Children have an engaging and fun learning experience from the moment they enter the school in nursery until they leave in Year 6.

“The Hogwarts acceptance letters were a real hit and I’m sure that the hook for next term will be just as brilliant!”