please read to find out about P4C in action, welcoming St Margaret’s School, art training for staff and much, more…

It’s that time again for our runners to compete in the Glidden & Squire North Devon Cross Country races. Children aged from year 2 upwards, experienced runners or not, or most welcome to enter and for the last two years we have entered a school team (and done rather well actually!).

The six races are held in beautiful locations across North Devon. You don’t have to run all six and there are many medals and cups for those who participate and/or win as an individual or team.

To find out more, please visit http://northdevonxcleague.weebly.com

It is possible to enter online, but please be aware online entries close at 9am on Saturday 23rd September. Runners may enter on the day, but race HQ is only open between 8.45am and 9.45am.

If your child does enter, please indicate on the form that you are representing Appledore School and ask them to see Mr Cooper to borrow a school running vest.

Bookings are now open for Art Clubs at our brand new Harbour Studio. Click above to see more info…

The P4C (Philosophy for Children) question the children posed in Year 6 this week was ‘Why is there not peace in the word?‘ – enjoy discussing that one over the weekend! And for more news of what has been happening around the classes please read on…

This year we have launched our new PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) curriculum based on twelve core values we believe important. The twelve values are responsible, inclusive, inspirational, honest, appreciative, cooperative, respectful, kind, determined, creative, positive and successful.

The children were introduced to ‘Responsible’ in an assemby (with a little help from Marge Simpson(and not a lot of help from Homer Simpson!)) or a visit to their class for an explanation. Over the term they will learn more about what being responsible means with the aim of them becoming more responsible. At the end of the term, progress in becmong more repsonsible will be celebrated in an assemly and one child will be awarded our Values Cup, complete with their name engraved on it!  For that to happen, we need to know what your child, or another child you have witnessed being responsible, do so please do inform your teacher or email me on headteacher@appledore-primary.devon.sch.uk so they can be considered. 

Have a wonderful summer and please read on for news from our last week at school…

…and don’t forget first day back for children is Tuesday 5th September.

A huge thank you to everybody who has pledged and supported our crowdfund. We’ve got until Friday 21st July at 3pm when it closes so if you haven’t pledged yet please click here…

Forest school club 12th and 13th July

Last week’s sessions offered some challenging new activities. The older children have been learning how to use a knife correctly to whittle a stick, and also how to pass, store and carry knives safely. They discovered that a sharp blade is safer than a blunt one, as so little pressure is needed. This makes very controlled, small movements of the blade possible. A thick piece of leather over the lap was used as an extra precaution, but all the children displayed excellent knife control. Hopefully they will be passing on some useful safety tips to friends.

The younger children have been using the newly repainted blackboard to record the types and numbers of minibeasts they have found in the woods, and are becoming very good at identifying different types and drawing them.

We have built a small forest loom, made from the hazel that grows in the school woods. Some of the children tried it out for the first time on Thursday and worked as a team to create a mat from dried dock stalks. We will be trying different materials, to identify which make the best mats, then using these as flooring in the dens, and in some wall and roof construction techniques. We can easily scale up the loom if the children want to try some larger projects!

There was also great excitement as the first harvest of forest-grown potatoes were successfully lifted, ready for this week’s big cooking sessions.

Summer holiday forest school sessions
A few spaces are still available. Five hour sessions (10am to 3.00pm) 27th July, and 3rd/10th/31st August. Club members and non-club members all welcome. £20 per session non-members, £18 for members.

If you have any queries or would like to:
• enrol your child in a session
• help to build new resources
• donate materials
• share a traditional skill or craft with the group

please call Jayne on 07984655688 or email jaynewheatley2001@hotmail.com

Please read on to find out about our new online payemnty system, contacting you by email and text, school plays and much, much more…

Please take a lok at this link and if possible pledge too…

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-harbour-studio

Thanks!

Over the summer term our forest school groups have become increasingly interested in improving the jungle space, working with natural materials and creating their own activities, using the new skills they are developing. On Saturday a group of these children, together with parents, grandparents, siblings and volunteer builders and gardeners, came together in the jungle to give the area a well-deserved tidy up, make improvements and clear new ground. With more and more families arriving over the morning the to-do list was soon completed. The work carried out included re-roofing and felting the wooden play house, painting the blackboard, clearing the rubbish and weeds out of the ‘Kid’s Kingdom’, planting trees, tidying up some brush fencing, building two new wood stores, weeding the veg planting area and tidying up the top of the willow arch. The barbecue was then lit and there was the opportunity to share a communal meal and chat in a nice shady spot. Many thanks to everyone who took part, young and old, these improvements would not be possible without your collective generosity and enthusiasm. It was a great day and we all made some new friends.

There will be another family day in the autumn term. If you missed the fun this time, please do come and join us next time.

Summer holiday forest school sessions
Some spaces are still available. Five hour sessions (10am to 3.00pm) 27th July, and 3rd/10th/31st August. Club members and non-club members all welcome. £20 per session non-members, £18 for members.

If you have any queries or would like to:
• enrol your child in a session
• help to build new resources
• donate materials
• share a traditional skill or craft with the group
please call Jayne on 07984655688 or email jaynewheatley2001@hotmail.com

Crowd Funding, drumming, sea exhibitions and much, much more – please read to find out what has been happening around and about our classes… 

Please read on to find out about the summer fair, choir news, a trip to Lundy and much, much more…

Forest school club 21st and 22nd June

In the latest sessions the children went on a hunt for leaves, flowers and other items in the woods, to complete an egg box collection. This activity was an invitation to slow down and take a close look – an opportunity to appreciate the wonderfully diverse shapes and colours that nature produces.

Due to the generosity of a local land owner, we now have a site where we can collect leafy tree branches and fresh bamboo. These new materials will encourage the children to experiment with different ways to build dens and other structures in the jungle. Some of the materials have already been used, including weaving stiff bamboo into the side walls of the willow tunnel. These spars will be in place temporarily, to help to train the willow across the wider gaps.
Hopefully this new site will also provide suitable materials for mat-making on a woodland weaving loom.

Summer holiday forest school sessions
Some spaces are still available. Five hour sessions (10am to 3.00pm) 27th July, and 3rd/10th/31st August. Club members and non-club members all welcome. £20 non-members, £18 members.

If you have any queries or would like to:
• enrol your child in a session
• help to build new resources
• donate materials
• share a traditional skill or craft with the group

Please call Jayne on 07984655688 or email jaynewheatley2001@hotmail.com

Please read on to find out about Sports Day (x2!), the Summer Fair, fairies, life skills, a visit to RMB Chivenor and everything else that has happened around the classes…