News

Newsletter for the week ending 16th October
16 October 2020

School continues to strive for normality and to adapt so that the opportuities remain for children despite various restrictions placed upon us, so it was a genuinely moving to hear the sound of  classes singing again drifting across the school and through my window. Singing has to be conducted outside now and a big thank you to Year 4 for singing right outside my window. It felt like (very) early carol singers, just without the carols!

Hopefully the main contact we have for your family will this week have received a link to a survey requesting information principally about your employment status and internet access. If you don’t think you have, please email admin@appledoreprimary.co.uk for the link. This information is vital to us should school have to go into full or even partial closure and we want to be prepaped so transition to such a position is as smooth as possible for you as families and the chidlren as learners. We are aiming to be able to share our plan for remote learning by the end of next week. 

Thank you to all of you to all of you who have expressed an interest in the school fleeces and we will be in touch once we are in a position to progress with these. Please remember these are as an additional layer to a school jumper and not as a replacement. 

Orange arrows have been painted on the paths through our woods for those accessing the school from Pitt Lane and the alleyway off Richmond Road. Please use them to retain a measure of social distance from one another. Please ensure your children remain with you on the arrow and also if they are alone. 

Read on to find out more of what has been going on around the school and wishing you all a lovely weekend (not forgetting this is the last before half term) from

Jeremy Cooper and all the staff and children

AROUND THE CLASSES

This week we in Turtles and Dolphins we have been finding out about the Rainforest. We have found out what the Rainforest looks like and the animals that live there and where they live within the Rainforest. During the week we made some binoculars and on Friday we used them to spot animals whilst travelling through the Rainforest.

And then there was just one week left! Year 1 have been busy this week learning about information texts in literacy. We have written some fabulous facts about animals, thinking carefully about appropriate verbs for each animal. We have linked this learning with our knowledge of polar bears and used this to inspire our writing. In our Topic lessons, we have learnt about how and why polar bears build dens. The children have designed their own polar bear dens using the skills they have acquired in the art studio. In our computing lessons, we have continued to use Google Classroom as our digital platform. The children are really enjoying being creative with our technology.

Lundy Puffins have worked hard this week in Maths – they’ve been counting in 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s. Any support you can give at home with counting forwards and backwards would be most appreciated! You might like to use these activities: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/znywjhv 
In English, they have continued to read the book ‘How to wash a woolly mammoth’ and have used their knowledge of verbs to write new instructions for one of the pages. There was some great vocabulary used; well done everyone!  The polar bear topic has continued and they talked about some of the things they can do on a personal level to slow down the ice melting in polar bears’ habitats. They might come home asking you to turn the lights off, use the car less or use less water! In the Art Studio, they have added a polar bear to the backgrounds they had previously painted. Please make sure your child has a waterproof coat in school every day as we do try to get outside every day, in spite of the weather – many thanks. 
 

Seahunter have enjoyed exploring more about their topic, deforestation, this week. They found out about why the rainforests are known as ‘the lungs of the world’, how we work together in a cycle to breathe in and breathe out oxygen and carbon dioxide. They looked at the reasons why rainforests are destroyed, focusing in on palm oil production and how forest is often burned down, creating more carbon dioxide. Finally, they thought about how we can make changes; choosing products without palm oil and taking opportunities to plant new tree, and created posters explaining how and why. In philosophy they responded to an image of a palm oil plantation cut out from a rainforest and discussed whether it is always a bad thing or whether some farming is ok if the trees are replanted as people need farming to survive. They have shown some amazingly mature thinking and have been able to explain and discuss their thoughts and feelings really well. 

This week in Year 4, the children have been working on their addition and subtraction skills in Maths. They have learnt how to use the column method to add and subtract both with carrying and exchanging. In English, we have looked at writing in the present tense, practised writing compound sentences and using apostrophes to show possession. For computing, the class continued their research on environmental problems linked to our Science topic, and have made booklets on the problem that they researched. Our big question in P4C this week was ‘Is team work better than working alone?’ The children have continued to practise running this week, and next week they will be timed to see if they can beat their personal best speed from last time!

Year 5 have now planned their own stories based on ‘The Tear Thief’ which they will be writing next week. In Maths, they have been using estimation to check calculations and also using the inverse. In science, they looked at ways to separate mixtures: filtering, sieving, evaporating and using magnetic attraction. For Topic they looked into what is being done to help the problem we have with plastic pollution and for our value of responsibility, they have thought about how responsibilities change in different scenarios. Those children who signed up for Bikeability should now have the date for their sessions. Please make sure that they have a bike and helmet that they can use – not all children were able to take part this year so we have a reserve list. Please let me know if your child can’t take their sessions, as we have other children waiting. Also please don’t forget to get wellies and waterproofs ready for after half-term

This week Year 6 have been very busy writing their own story based on the Shakespearian play, Macbeth.  Many have selected to tell the story from the view of Banquo, Macduff or Prince Malcolm.  These will be published next week and put on display in the main building.  In numeracy the class have been looking at methods to complete short and long division questions, both quickly and with accuracy.  This has been a challenge and pupils have realised the importance of knowing their times tables.  Topic work has looked at ways in which we can help stop climate change and we have focused on a small village in Bangladesh.  A big well done to the class who are embracing the new Chromebooks in school and using Google Classroom to do their homework.  The standard is fantastic and is nearly all being handed in on time (a Wednesday!!).  Only one week until half term Y6 and you all deserve a rest.

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