News
Newsletter for the week ending 6th March
Another busy week, so please read on to find out what has been going on in and around the classes…
AROUND AND ABOUT THE VILLAGE
North Devon Surf School
After school group lessons are running again. Please click here for more information.
Coronavirus
We continue to receive regular updates from Devon County Council and the Department for Education that enable us to minitor the situation. Please see previous news article for more information and visit https://www.devonnewscentre.info/coronavirus-advice-from-public-health-england/ for up-to-date information.
Online Safety Newsletter – please click here
AROUND AND ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Dates to Remember
13th March Sports Relief – wear sportswear for a donation.
11th June Sports Day & 16th June reserve day if needed. More details to follow.
Uniform
I reminder to please check your children are wearing the school uniform. Trainers tend to appear instead of school shoes and headband become increasingly colourful and large! I have spoken to the whole school about it and individuals if required and the repsonse from the children has been excellent. If you are unsure please click here to see what is acceptable uniform and if you are still unsure please do call us before buying new.
Communication
Please ensure that we always have your current contact details, including address, email and all telephione numbers. Thank you.
AROUND AND ABOUT THE CLASSES
This week Turtles and Dolphins have looked at boats, we have talked about the different kinds of boats that we know and how they are different and similar. We have made boats from different materials and set them sail to see if they float or not. We have changed our role play areas into lifeboats and submarines and become Oceanographers – ask your child in Dolphins what this means. We very much enjoyed our trip to the lifeboat station today, asking lots of questions.
World Book Day has been the highlight of the week for year 1. Everyone looked great in their pyjamas, ready for a bedtime story. We enjoyed listening to Mrs Stanbury when she came in to read us ‘The Way Home for Wolf’. We also had good fun splitting into teams to answer the questions in the World Book Day Quiz. All the teams did really well with only 3 and a half points between the bottom and top scores! Also this week we have started a new Maths unit measuring length and height. We have used non standard units to measure objects such as our hands and pencils and we have used the Base 10 as a standard unit of measurement. We have also learnt what ‘Estimate’ means. In Writing we have made puppets of the Tiger, Sophie, Mummy and Daddy to act out the story of ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ and we have tried to think of different words for ‘ate’ and ‘drank’ to make the story more exciting. In Science we have learnt the different ways of classifying animals and sorted animals into groups such as mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds.
Lundy Puffins have been reading about Amelia Earhart and will be writing a biography about the author Julia Donaldson next week. In Maths, they have shown what they have learnt about division. In their topic work, they have continued to find out about Christopher Columbus and his discoveries. They were surprised to learn that there were no potatoes in Europe until Christopher Columbus brought them back. In their outdoor learning sessions they have had great fun building shelters in role as explorers. In the Art studio, they have continued to work with clay. They’ll be coming home with a World Book Day token today which can be exchanged in most bookshops.
Seahunter have been working on more new skills in Maths this week; finding fractions of shapes and ordering fractions. They worked hard to answer the question, ‘If you love cake, what would you rather have, a 1/4 or 1/7?’ They drew images and wrote explanations to prove why 1/4 is bigger than 1/7. It was tricky at first but they explored what happens to the denominator as fractions become larger, recognising that fewer pieces means each piece is larger. We have been particularly impressed by their computing skills. They have been learning how to create Powerpoint presentations and so far they have been able to add a background, title and images as well as choose how to order and animate each one. We are looking forward to seeing the finished products soon. Finally, everyone looked very cosy in their pyjamas on Thursday. During the afternoon, they designed their own book covers for real or fictional books before sharing their favourite stories with their Year 6 reading partners.
This week in Maths the children have continued their work on fractions and have been learning how to solve fractions of an amount. In English, they have worked on complex sentences, identifying and using nouns and pronouns in their writing and editing writing following a success criteria. For Topic, we learnt about the Olympics during Ancient Greek times and the children chose a particular game to research on the computers. In R.E, the children heard the story ‘Ali’s Hajj’ as a philopshy session and discussed the big question ‘If you save money for something you want or to go somewhere, should you give it to someone who really needs it or keep it for yourself?’
Year 5 have continued with their learning on the planets within our solar system. They can recall many interesting facts and are becoming astronomical experts! In literacy we have been watching short film clips on fictional planets and writing about them in the style of a space log. In maths we have been adding and subtracting fractions (challenging!!). It would really help if everyone is secure in their times tables facts, so keep learning these when you can. Thank you to Kitty and Rosie who represented the school at the Baptist Church for the World Prayer Day service. In our philosophy session we discussed the question ‘ Is it ever right to tell a white lie?’
Year 6 have begun to complete a mission for Albus Dumbledore this week, which has put their map skills to the test – this has lead to finding a new location for Hogwarts. In maths, they have been using coordinates, along with translations and reflections, for work on shape. In science, they have looked in more detail at the circulatory system and in PE they put their hearts to the test, enjoying the better weather and outside space, in some small sided games. They enjoyed their story on World Book Day, read by Mrs McMorine and it was great to see so many enter into the pyjama spirit. We had all homework in this week which is a massive improvement – keep working hard!
Have a wonderful weekend everybody and we look forward to seeing you next week.
From Jeremy Cooper and all the staff and children.
