News
Newsletter for the week ending 22nd October
As mentioned last week, trips have continued this week for various classes and have included the Year 5 residential trip to Georgeham House, Year 1 to Exmoor Zoo and Year 3 to the Eden Project. Despite rain, rain and more rain all trips were a real success.
Please click on the title to find out about local events that may interest you, information regarding outdoor afterschool clubs, the pending flu nasal spray and what has been happening in and around the classes this week.
We wish you all an ejoyable half term and look forward to welcoming you back on Monday 1st November.
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
IN AND AROUND THE SCHOOL AND VILLAGE
We continue to wait for confirmation from NHS Virgin Healthcare when pupils in reception to Year 6 will be offered the nasal spray flu vaccination and will let you know as soon as we receive confirmation of the date and arrangements.
On Saturday 30th October East the Water is getting involved in the 2021 Big Draw Festival. Please click here to find out how you can get involved. For information on Taiko drumming lessons for children in Years 5 & 6 please click here.
Mudtastic, a business run by Jayne Wheatley, no longer operates at Appledore School. Mudtastic ran the Tuesday and Thursday after school clubs in our woodland as an independent concern. To clarrify and to avoid any musinderstanding, outdoor learning that happens during the school day and the club after school on Wednesdays are run by the school and are separate from Mudtastic. These will continue to run and we have some exciting new plans for the year ahead. The income from school run clubs is reinvested into increasing opportunities for the children at school. Lucy Willans has not been involved with Mudtastic for about a year and Bex Willison no longer works for Mudtastic. Both will continue their vital involvement in our outdoor learning and after school clubs. For infomration on our Wednesday outdoor club, please contact rebecca.willison@appledoreprimary.co.uk We are working hard to organise clubs that make use of our wonderful site on more days after school and will communicate this to you as soon as possible.
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have continued to find out about the season Autumn. We had the challenge of making a scarecrow on Tuesday. The Turtle’s Scarecrow was called Pumpkin Shazza and the Dolphin’s Scarecrow was called Rainbow Blue. Yesterday they left us a note and we had to go on a hunt to find them and they were hiding in Anchor Park! We have made scarecrow faces and leaf men. We have painted pictures of tractors and scarecrows. Today we also found out about Harvest and why we celebrate it. We have made pumpkin soup and bread.
Year 1 have reached the end of the first half of term; the children have all done extremely well. On Monday the children went on their first-ever school trip to Exmoor Zoo. Despite the persistent rain, it was a great day. The children were able to have a closer look at some of the animals we have been learning about in class. A particular highlight was watching a Tawney owl swoop over the children’s heads during a flying demonstration. I was really impressed with how the children conducted themselves and represented Appledore School. The children have finished writing their letters to and from Mother Goose this week. Again they have really made me proud of how their writing has improved over the course of this half term. Thank you to all the parents who attended parent consultation meetings this week. It was great to have the opportunity to talk about your children and celebrate their successes. Have a peaceful half-term break.
This week Year 2 have made posters about how to save the bees and made a life cycle of a bee’s life. In PE we have been finding different ways to roll, such as log rolls and teddy bear rolls. Our Music lesson involved us learning how to hold a note on the trombone for four seconds. In Maths we have continued to add and subtract, but now we are adding and subtracting 1 digit numbers from 2 digit numbers. In English we have used the book ‘How to Wash a Wooly Mammoth’ to write instructions on how to wash a cheeky chimpanzee. We have also shared our homework, thanks to everyone for helping to complete these tasks at home and sharing them on Google Classroom or in class.
Years 3 and 4 gave polished performances of their dances which were filmed so they could view and evaluate their dance skills. Thank you for sending in the costumes which helped the children to perform to the best of their ability. We will let you know when the videos are available to view. Year 6 used a variety of pitched and unpitched instruments to accompany a song about global warming. They furthered their understanding of drone and ostinato and gave a pleasing rendition of the song.
This week, Seahunter have been learning how to subtract in Maths including subtracting a 1-digit number from a 3-digit number borrowing tens. The children have then practised adding and subtracting using the methods they have learnt over the last couple of weeks. In English, the class have looked at the skills used in a diary entry and in a letter. They have then written their own letters to Claire in the rainforest informing her of their research. At the start of the week, the children were very excited about their trip to the Eden Project and enjoyed their learning. They all showed respect for the other visitors, listened well to the guides, and engaged well with their learning asking sensible questions! For Topic, the class have used what they learnt at the Eden Project about surviving in the rainforest and made items in the woods for teddy to take on his exploration.
HMS Echo have been working really hard on their times tables facts all of this half term and we have been so impressed by their commitment and determination to learn them. This week in their independent practise time, many children have been developing strategies for testing themselves including book making to store facts they need, missing answer problems, learning ‘tricks’ and using websites that help them track their progress to identify their next steps. It has been great to see such good learning skills developing. In English, we have started work on a new sequence; Evie and The Wild Wood. The children have explore woodland themed vocabulary and created some fantastic, descriptive writing. They have been really focusing on the quality of their sentences over quantity, carefully creating each one to paint a picture in the mind of their readers. They have all worked really hard this first half term and deserve a lovely half term break.
Beechcroft had a fantastic time this week at St George’s House. They really pushed themselves to try new things and were surprised by their achievements. All returned to school safely, if not a little tired. Please ask your son/daughter to see the photographs on the Google slides they have created over the last couple of days. This has been a lovely end to a very busy and productive term. Have a restful week off and see you on Monday 1st November.
Year 6 are in the process of writing their version of ‘The Princess’ Blankets’ in Literacy – the focus is to write effectively and accurately. In Maths, they have been securing skills in long division and finding that they can use their skills and apply them to more than one method – choosing carefully which method is most efficient. In Science, they have learnt about Carl Linneaus and the classification system. In Topic, they have tried to complete climate change work but know that there is still more to learn and as new ideas come to light, hopefully it will be possible to make positive changes to help. In PE, they have learnt some partner balances in gymnastics and refined team skills in benchball. In Reading, they are nearly at the end of Skellig and have enjoyed hearing the chapters and thinking about what is happening. We hope you all have a lovely half-term and don’t forget not to leave homework (publishing work) until the last minute: it is due in on Monday when we return to school.
