Spring is not only officially here, because probably the most exciting thing happening here this week was the children being able to go on the field at lunchtime and this usually signals springtime!

Great to see the children in red today, despite the displeasure it caused our resident diehard PAFC supporter who goes by the name of Mrs Bannister! Thank you for supporting the children with wearing red for Comic Relief.

• School Spring Disco Friday 28th March and more information here
• Sports Day Tuesday 17th June and reserve date is Tuesday 24th June
• Please keep an eye out for communication regarding forthcoming parents evenings

Wishing you all a good weekend

From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff

!AROUND THE CLASSES

This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have continued to learn about spring. We have matched animals to that young and found out about the different types of flowers that grow in Spring. On Thursday we had a go at making a daffodil using a range of different materials. Today we went down to the woods to look for signs of spring.

In year 1 this week to start our new writing unit on instructions we made stretchy slime, the children worked in groups to follow the instructions and then had a fantastic time playing with it. There are some photos on google classroom and some instructions to make edible slime if you fancy having a go at home! In science we continued our learning about the human body by thinking about our senses. We took part in some experiments where we had to guess objects by just using just our sense of touch or hearing. They had great fun guessing food by using their sense of smell only. On Friday we continued our senses work in outdoor learning by focusing on our sight and hearing senses. If you fancy doing your own taste test at home there is a video on google classrooms. Have a lovely weekend!

Year 2 invited two visitors into the classroom this week. One visitor was a Muslim lady. She spoke to the children about what being a Muslim means to her and the five pillars of Islam. She was very impressed by their knowledge and they asked some really interesting questions. The second visitor was a trombone player from Appledore Band. She showed them how the instrument works and played some tunes for them. They were really inspired for their next lesson with the p-bones (plastic trombones). In Maths, they have been looking at capacity and volume. They have been working in groups to use different containers to measure capacity and volume. In English, they have been writing their own animal books with the facts they have been learning. We have been very impressed with how their writing skills are improving. Well done!

Year 3 have begun to plan their spooky story that they will record over the soundtrack they have created in Yu Studio. Year 4 had fun trying to match onomatopoeia to the cyclic patterns they have created which they will also record into their composition as an audio file. Year 5 added a subtrakt to their composition and will begin structuring their final piece. In RE, year 3 designed Mendhi patterns, year 4 made palm crosses and designed alter cloths, year 5 looked at how a Hindu strives to be truthful and do know harm and year 6 researched a number of different twentieth century martyrs.

Seahunter class (year 3) have had a brilliant week. In Maths, we recapped reading scales and then we learnt all about grams and kilograms. In English, we explored the use of the present perfect tense and then used this to write a letter to congratulate Arthur on saving his town. Towards the end of the week, we began to plan our own quest story based on Arthur and the Golden Rope. In Geography, we explored the quality of our local environment. We discussed what we thought made a good local environment, and then came up with our own criteria for measuring the quality of a street. In PE, we focused on our sending and receiving skills and also explored some different counter balances with a partner. In Values, we thought about what is helpful and harmful for our bodies and sorted our ideas into a venn diagram. In Computing, we discussed how digital devices can help us by changing the way we work, and we began to recognise some similarities and differences between using digital devices and non-digital tools.

In year 4 this week, the children have written a nonfiction piece about volcanoes and earthquakes which links nicely to their Geography unit. The children explained clearly how volcanoes and earthquakes occur using technical vocabulary and they also wrote a ‘fantasy’ way of ‘how they thought’ earthquakes and volcanoes occur which links to the style of the English text ‘Until I Met Dudley’, They have been a joy to read and soon they will be published for everyone to see displayed in the main building. In Maths, we are coming to the end of learning fractions where the children have now learnt about how to add and subtract from mixed numbers. In PE, the children took part in a circuit of activities where they had to practise their sending and receiving skills with a ball, such as footballs, tennis balls and rackets and throwing and catching, and they counted how many successful passes they did. Next week they will see whether they can beat their scores! In outdoor learning, the children looked for living things around the school and classified them.

It has been a very busy and physical week for many in the year 5 class. Well done to all those who took part in the bikeability sessions and achieved your level 1 and 2 cycling skills awards. Badges and certificates are coming home on Friday! In our writing sessions this week we have continued to develop our explanation writing skills and linking this to our science work. New inventions have been created ready for our final piece of writing next week. We have completed our unit of maths work on decimals and percentages and we will end the term with further work on fractions. In science we used our graphs skills to see the difference in weight and height of baby boys and girls and then the life cycle of a butterfly and frog. The caterpillars in class are growing quickly!!

Year 6 have completed work on percentages, decimals and fractions this week as well as looking into calculating angles. In Literacy, they have been having fun with ‘The Day The Crayons Quit’ planning and writing their own versions. In reading, they have been going over 3 mark questions and looking at how to improve answers: some great improvements so far. Revision will begin in class just before the holidays – it’s time to make sure you know your grammar and maths facts. Please remind children to ask in class if there are things that they are unsure about.

It’s great to see classes taking advantage of our wonderful grounds during lessons by taking aspects of learning outside of the classrooms. To find out more please read the Around the Classes section further down this post.

Comic Relief is next Friday, so it’s wear red for the day and if you are able to donate please feel free to send it in to school.

The charity Book Relief in Bideford has kindly donated a wide range of second-hand natural history books on topics the children are investigating in the Royal Society ‘Tomorrow’s Climate Scientists’ project. Similarly, The British Trust for Ornithology has also donated bird identification books. Developing a permanent library of reference books is one goal of this project.

Safeguarding conversations with pupils this week has highlighted that children are accessing online activities at ages below, in some cases significantly below, the minimum age ratings. One example is the currently popular online game Dumb Ways to Die that has a recommended age restriction of 12+. For general advice on age restrictions see here and specific app age guidelines see here

• Class photos will be taken next week on Tuesday 18th March
• School Spring Disco Friday 28th March and more information here
• Sports Day Tuesday 17th June and reserve date is Tuesday 24th June
• Please keep an eye out for communication regarding forthcoming parents evenings

Wishing you all a good weekend

From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff (more…)

Already, it’s March! And of course March brings, amongst other things, World Book Day. Teachers enjoyed sharing a story that is special to them with a different class and the children, dressed in various costume, looked like they enjoyed it too!

Our project with The Royal Society is gaining momentum and today it is year 5s turn. Spending the day at PETROC, they will be looking at water monitoring and using microscopes, exploring underwater acoustics and lastly using 360 cameras to produce a film based on water pollution. This links with our desire to build a discovery centre at Appledore School and more information about that can be found here.

The internet has many benefits children and it is becoming an integral part of their lives. Unfortunately, it has its dark side and senior leaders at school received safeguarding training updates this week and internet safety and internet dangers formed part of this. A key message was that online activities we might have presumed were typical of teenagers are becoming increasingly typical in primary age children. Internet Watch Foundation is a recognised organisation that provides support and resources for parents and carers to support safe internet use by their children, including a T.A.L.K. checklist. Dove, the personal care brand, has produced a range of videos, many child friendly, that are a good starting point for a conversation with your child. The one here that highlights how the internet can affect body image and self esteem

Miss Olliffe is running a cake stall and raffle on Saturday at Chantal Law Fitness and Pilates studio, the Pill Bideford 7.45 – 11.00 am to raise some funds towards here Hyrox World Championship trip to Chicago. Qualifying for this is competition is a huge achievement and more information about it can be found here.

• Wednesday 12th March Torridge Family Hub, Victoria Park, Bideford is holding a free drop-in for parents to chat to Speech and Language therapists and Special Educational Needs Advisors. See here for more information.
• Class photos will be taken on 18th March
• Sports Day Tuesday 17th June and reserve date is Tuesday 24th June
• Please keep an eye out for communication regarding forthcoming parents evenings

Wishing you all a good weekend

From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff

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