News
Newsletter for the week ending 9th July
Congratulations to Indian House for winning sports day. It was a very, very close competition and the children participated in good spirit and provided immense support to one another.
Now that the country is moving towards an easing of Covid restrictions the Department for Education has published information for parents of children in schools. We have also written a letter to all parents and sent this out to you by email earlier this week. The current school organisation and protective measures will stay in place until the end of this term.
Wakeboarding, gong farming, castle buiding, Tarka Trail hiking, algorithms, online safety training and making birdboxes (plus lots of reading, writing and maths) have all been part of a ‘normal’ week. Please read the main section of the article to find out more of what has been happening in and around the classes this week.
School start time is as per normal on Monday and we look forward to a competitive match played in good spirit on Sunday and wish you the outcome you desire, wherever your loyalties and allegiances lie!
Have a lovely weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphin we finished off our learning about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We had a great morning on Tuesday interviewing the characters, we came up with some great questions. On Thursday we made some porridge. We went and played on the equipment to let it cool down and when we came back some of it was gone! We decided that Goldilocks had been and we wrote her some letters. Today we made sandwiches and cakes and had a teddy bears picnic.
Another glorious week in Year 1 comes to an end. This week the children have been busy painting their castle models. We learnt about colour mixing, blending and stippling as the children covered their mottes and baileys in a variety of green shades. Next we will be painting the mote before constructing model keeps and palisades. In science the children have been learning about how ears work and how sound is made. We went on a listening walk around the school grounds. The children were surprised by how many sounds they could hear even in places they thought to be quiet. In maths the children have been building 2-digit numbers and learning how to order them from biggest to smallest and smallest to biggest.
Lundy Puffins have worked hard this week to get to grips with telling the time and finding durations of time. Please keep practising telling the time at home whenever possible. In English, they have finished their final piece of writing about how to catch a dragon and have begun to write letters about a new castle they have discovered. In their topic work, they found out a little about what life might have been like in a medieval castle by learning about the different jobs carried out in and around the castle. They were able to apply for the jobs and then interview each other to find out who would be most suitable. Some children even applied for the job of ‘gong farmer’ (ask them to tell you what this job entailed!). This week Miss Turnbull completed her final teaching practise and we would like to thank her for her hard work and an enjoyable few weeks. She will be in school next week, but we would like to wish her all the best for the future.
Seahunter have had some exciting events this week; a walk on the Tarka Trail and the Burton Art Gallery Museum as well as an Ancient Egyptian day today. On Tuesday, they walked from Instow to Bideford, stopping to observe and sketch features along the river. They then enjoyed a play in the park before visiting the museum to find out about how and why the old bridge was built and has changed over time. Today, they have been learning how to write like Egyptians, build pyramids, research on the Chromebooks and how to mummify someone! They have had a great day and learnt many new facts as well as developing their research skills. The day was organised by Miss Rose and today was her last day of teaching. She will still be around until the end of term but has now completed her teaching practice and will graduate as a fully qualified teacher at the end of term. She has been an amazing addition to our team and we wish her many congratulations on her new career!
This week in Year 4 the children have continued their learning about shape where they have learnt how to identify and compare angles, and learnt the properties of shapes with a particular focus on triangles and quadrilaterals. In English, the children have practised and prepared a range of skills for their final write, and have begun writing their own version of ‘Firebird’. The class have enjoyed continuing developing their tennis skills in P.E. For computing, the children have learnt what an algorithm is and how to debug an algorithm. In Topic, we have continued our learning about ‘Earthquakes’ and the children have compared the impact of earthquakes in Chile and Haiti.
Year 5 enjoyed a show and discussion about ‘Virtual Reality’ on Monday this week. They listened really well and asked some great questions. They came away with several messages about the pros and cons of technology and what to watch out for when online. They have enjoyed cricket and tennis again this week – despite being drenched in tennis they worked really hard and laughed a lot. In Science, they have finished forces (levers, pulleys and gears) and in Literacy they have written more poetry which has included some interesting rhyming choices. In Maths, we have completed the shape work and are moving on to measures. The class were in great spirits on Wednesday in red and white which was lovely to see! Thank you to all those who have returned SOE3 forms for Heatree, please check payments again to complete before the end of term. For those who are swimming, next week is the last session.
In maths Y6 have been learning about angles in different shapes. It has been a bit tricky at times but we all pushed through. We are now revising the areas we are not so sure about. In English we have been writing about different islands and their specialities. We did the writing using different genres. It was good to have a choice. In ICT with Mrs Evans we have been doing some scratch and coding where we have to code stories, games, animate names and characters and much more. In art this week we have been designing bird boxes and cutting the wood to the correct sizes and angles. This week we took a school trip to the wakepark and did some activities, some we had already done, others we had never done before. We all really enjoyed it, it was very fun and a good time for the day. We had a visit from the Lundy Ambassador telling us all about the history and wildlife of the island. We certainly know a lot more about it following the 90 minute talk. Now we can’t wait to go next week. Reporters: Ernie and Maxim
