News
Newsletter for the week ending 21st June 2024
Apologies for the late posting of last week’s newsletter (technical hitch) and please do read it, because there is important information on there as is there also below and in the Around the Classes section further on in this post. Not to mention the whole of main school recording their own song..!
Staffing of classes will remain the same next year, which means: Nursery is Steph Olliffe, Lucy Davie-Llewellyn, Nicky Elphick, Michelle Wilson and Emily Day; Reception is Claire Bannister and Cathy Ley; Year 1 is Sarah Malyn, Fleur Monroe and Helena Grant; Year 2 is Eleanore Stanbury, Jane Halloway and Jillian Harris; Year 3 is Emily Wetz and Sue Hughes-Whiffing; Year 4 is Olivia Avery and Kellie Evans; Year 5 is Julie McMorine, Lisa Evans and Sue Evans and Year 6 is Kathryn Mitchell, Lisa Evans and Kay Carstairs. Teacher release time in Years 3-6 will be covered by Jo Carr. Children will meet their new teachers next Thursday morning.
Wishing you all super weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all of the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have started to find out about Appledore and our local area. We had a discussion about where we live and the things that we can see and do in Appledore. We talked about why we have a Quay and the things that we can do on the Quay. Today we found out about the Tide Bell.
Year 1 has had a wonderful week with lots of surprises. We had a visit from Blue, a therapy dog. We heard all about Blue visiting people and how she helps people to feel better. She was very well behaved and the children had so many brilliant questions. On Wednesday we had a surprise delivery: a parcel containing a rainbow dragon egg and a letter asking us to look after the egg until it hatches. The children have been very excited by this. We have been reading the book ‘Tell me a dragon’ looking at the beautiful illustrations and description of dragons trying to guess what our dragon could look like! We have finished off the week with visiting Reception to read to them our new versions of Jack and the beanstalk. They loved our stories and were a brilliant audience. Please have a look at the photos on google classroom from this week. Have a lovely weekend!
Year 2 have had another great week. In Maths, they have been learning about position and direction. They had to use the words: forwards, backwards, left, right, clockwise, anticlockwise, quarter turn, half turn, three quarter turn, full turn to describe how different objects moved and turned. In English, they were excited to learn that a dragon is on the loose in Appledore and they were asked to help local residents find it by writing information and instructions. For their History work they have learned about some of the ways seaside holidays were different 150 years ago and some of the ways they are the same. They spent some time practising the school song which they were able to perform with the rest of the school on Wednesday. We have been very impressed with their improving tennis skills – well done!
We did it! The children from reception all the way through to year 6 sung beautifully when we recorded our school song. Their attitude and diligence was wonderful to behold. Thanks to their cooperation, we were able to get it in one take, but we did a second one just as an insurance policy. The footage is being edited as I type this and it will be shown to the children next week. We will then send out the URL to you so you can enjoy the children’s efforts. It will also be submitted to the national school song competition. The closing date for this is 1st July and I am hoping we will hear one way or the other before the end of term. Well done to all the classes, it was an impressive effort!
Year 3 have had a brilliant week! In Maths, we have been learning about years, months and days and we have also learnt how to calculate durations of time. We used this knowledge to answer some problem solving questions. In English, we started reading a new book, ‘The Story of Tutankhamun’. Using information from the book and the internet, we researched what life was like in ancient Egypt. We then planned and wrote our own non-chronological reports using all of our research. In Science, we looked at a variety of magnets and explored how they behave and we noticed that they attract and repel. We also took part in some outdoor learning where we recapped our previous learning on friction. In Guided Reading, we read all about mummification and used the text to order the different steps in this process. In Values, we discussed the meaning of this half term’s value, inspiration and then thought about people that were inspirational to us.
In HMS Echo (Year 4), the children have been learning about different triangles and different quadrilaterals in Maths. In English, the children have been improving their writing using adverbials and expanded noun phrases in preparation to write their own story next week. In History, we learnt about the Industrial Revolution and how this changed the way Victorians lived. In Science, the children made string telephones as part of their experiment to test what medium sounds travel best through (either solids, liquids or gases). In outdoor learning, the children did some cooking where they made some mince and garlic bread to enjoy outside which was delicious! In Values, we read about inspirational environmentalists and why they were considered to be inspirational. In Computing, we learnt about copyright and what this means.
Year 5 has been in the art studio for half of the week! They created their layered pictures, using a range of techniques, to produce a piece of work to go alongside their poem for the Arts Award. They also painted and glazed their clay dragon sculptures. We have also had time to write two more sections for our ‘ology’ books; this has been based on life cycles and how to tame them. In maths we have been adding decimal numbers and our history has been looking at secondary source evidence from the Ancient Greek period. Well done to the athletics team who took part in events at St Margaret’s school this week. It’s our last week of making pizzas. Hope everyone has enjoyed trying these!
Year 6 have evaluated their Design Technology this week – most of them have now taken their models home to share. In History, they have been finding out about what we know about The Mayan Civilisation – they were particularly surprised by one of their games. In Science, they have been drawing circuit diagrams and hope to do some of their own experiments next. The play is well underway, with many children out for transition at different times next week, it is our main rehearsal week. It’s been great to see the progress in learning lines – please ask them to remind themselves during next week so that they don’t forget them! A reminder that the play will be on Thursday 4th July at 2pm. Payment has gone out now for our Lundy trip on Tuesday 9th July – the children have been spoken to about this trip and how important it is to listen to instructions. It’s a long day. Our Lundy Ambassador will be coming in on Wednesday to speak to the class so that they will find out a bit more and can ask any questions that they have. The boat leaves at 8am from Bideford Quay but I am anticipating that we will have to be there ready at 7am to register – I will confirm this next week,
