News
Newsletter for the week ending 23rd May
Once again there has been a lot going on, including a rugby tournament, football tournament, beach clean and art gallery visit amongst other things so please read the main article to find out…
Important things to remember
The first Monday back after half term (3rd June) is a non pupil day so you children don’t start back at school until Tuesday 4th June.
Sports Day (weather permitting) is the second day back for children on Wednesday 5th June. Please see Sports Day specific article.
AROUND AND ABOUT THE VILLAGE
Atlantic Racquet Centre
SUPER FREE TENNIS WEEKEND takes place Sat 8th and Sun 9th at Atlantic Racquet Centre. The centre is open all weekend for families to try tennis for FREE and take advantage of some great offers on beginner tennis courses during the summer. For more info visit www.atlanticracquetcentre.co.uk/opendays
Appledore Village Green Fayre
So that the above event can go ahead thsi year and not be cancelled, the committee urgently needs volunteers to help on the day (Saturday 1st June) with setting up stalls and gazebos and/or spending half hour stints running stalls. If you think you can help, please contact Kathy Hancock on 07715 973877 or Dave Thomas on 07790 130708.
Cricket for Girls
On Monday, Devon cricket came into deliver cricket sessions for girls. If your daughter enjoyed the cricket and is interested in taking it up, your nearest cricket club is Bideford and Littleham Cricket Club at Westward Ho!. They run a session just for girls on a Monday evening and also sessions for boys and girls on a Friday, starting at 6pm. For more information, contact Andy Davies on 01271 314306
North Devon Fringe Theatrefest
The North Devon Fringe Theatrefest is back over the weekend of 27th-30th June 2019! There are many shows across the weekend, at an affordable price, and some shows for families are ‘Pay-What-You-Will’ at the end of the show. You can see the full programme on the website: https://www.theatrefest.co.uk/program/shows – If you search ‘family friendly’, you will see the shows that the Children’s Trail will highlight.
AROUND AND ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Sunny Days
It’s getting hotter, so please ensure your child comes to school with a sun hat and 12 hour suncreen applied.
Dates for the Diary – PTA run events
Wednesday 5th June, sports day. Races for Y1-Y6 9:30am-12pm, lunch for all children and parents 12pm-1pm and afternoon activities for Reception to Y6 1:30pm – 3:30pm
Wednesday 12th June, reserve day for sports day (if bad weather 5th June)
Friday 5th July (NEW DATE), summer fair. Details to follow.
Communication
As always, please ensure we have the current email and mobile number of the primary contact because this is to whom messages will be sent.
AROUND THE CLASSES
This in FSU week we have finished off our topic about dinosaurs. On Tuesday when we arrived at school we found some dinosaur footprints and this made us wonder what dinosaurs might look like now so we invented our own. We have found out about fossils and made our own using salt dough and today we thought about how dinosaurs became extinct and formed our own opinions.
We have had a great final week of term in Year 1. We have written our own versions of The Disgusting Sandwich and are looking forward to sharing them with you on Friday afternoon. We are also looking forward to our sandwich party from the badger. In Maths we have continued our work on halves and quarters but some of us are still getting confused with quarters! Our beans have grown really tall and we have written our last entry in our bean diaries. Our Philosophy session this week was all about being positive to each other. We have taken it in turns to write what we like about our friends. Soon after half term is the Year 1 Phonics screening so any phonics work you do over half term will be greatly appreciated. The ‘Teach Your Monster to Read’ website is a great one and episodes of Alphablocks are also helpful. Hope you all have a lovely half term break and we will see you on Tuesday the 4th of June.
Lundy Puffins have had a great half term and have worked really hard, so well done everyone. This week they completed their end of key stage assessments and everyone tried as hard as they possibly could and we are very proud of them all. They have written some fanstastic dragon descriptions and have tried hard to include some amazing vocabulary. They will put the finishing touches to these after half term alongside some dragon instructions. In Maths, they have been practising multiplication and division. They are looking forward to sports day after half term and have taken part in a mini competition to decide which races they would run for their houses. Have a relaxing half term break everyone!
Seahunter have had a busy week including some amazing writing, multiplication and division skills, swimming, girl’s cricket, boys’ hockey, forces (science) and art! We have enjoyed our walks to swimming so far and have been really impressed with the children’s attitude and commitment to their lessons as well as how amazingly fast they are at getting ready! In English, they have been writing their final reports about Howard Carter and the Discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb. They have worked particularly hard to make some ambitious vocabulary choices and we can’t wait to share the finished work with everyone on the writer’s wall after the half term break. We wish everyone a sunny, relaxing break next week.
HMS Echo have been working particularly hard on times tables practise this week and have also been working on rounding and estimating money in Maths. For Literacy, the children have been writing stories following on from a story starter that was read to them and have been carrying out lots of vocabulary activities linked to this. For Philosophy, we read the story ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’ and discussed our big question ‘Should you stay positive and work hard to achieve your dreams?’ Later in the week, we had a great day out on our trip crossing on the ferry and walking along the Tarka Trail. The children were also really inquisitive asking questions in the Burton Art Gallery. Well done Year 4! Thank you to our parent helpers and Mr Lawrence for joining us on our trip!
Year 5 have been using protractors to work on angles this week in maths, as well as working out missing angles from given information. In Literacy, they have been completing their stories and some people have had time to think about illustrations too. Science has involved thinking about water resistance and trying to make boats out of paper and plasticine that would float across the water as quickly as possible – we had a clear winner which was more streamlined than the others! A group from Year 5 went to football on Friday to represent the school in a tournament at Shebbear. They played so well that they won! Congratulations to them and well done for showing such fantastic team spirit.
Please check residential payments for Heatree – there is another one due 31st May (£30). Thank you for all payments made so far.
Another busy week for Y6 following SATs. We have been writing a range of stories to cover different genre; including ghostly and fantasy stories. In topic work we used world maps to label the main seas and oceans and started to research an ocean of interest. We worked with the Marine Conservation Society again to complete a beach clean, seashore safari, and micro-plastics survey. We had a really great time and learnt more about looking after our environment. It was good to see Jules again (after doing the seaweed project with her at the start of Y6). Thank you to the Northam Burrows rangers and adults who helped down the beach. Well done to the tag-rugby team who represented the school on Wednesday at Barnstaple Rugby club and to the girls who went to the Atlantic Racquet Centre to play tennis. We have improved our cricket skills following the weekly coaching sessions we have on a Friday. Have a restful half-term. You all certainly deserve it.
Have a wonderful half term and see you all on Tuesday 4th June
From Jeremy Cooper and all the staff and children.
