News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 20th October
A very busy week of various school trips, awayday firsts for some classes, and reminders of some trips the first week after half term included later in this post. A big thank you to staff for making these happen and for all the additional (unpaid!) hours they entail and for the additional non school staff volunteers too. Please read the Around the Classes section of this post to find out more.
If you are on prepayment meters for your energy you may be entitled to receive fuel vouchers from Citizen’s Advice. Please click here for more information or call 01237 879156
Hosts are still required in North Devon and Torridge for displaced Ukrainians. If you have space and are interested, please click here for more information.
Diary Dates:
- School photos on the 3rd of November. Individual photos will be taken and siblings can come in from 8-9 for a family photo that includes children not at the school, children that are at school together will have their photo taken during the day so do not need to come in early
- Christmas fair 3.30-5pm, Friday 8th December, bottom playground
Wishing you all a super half term
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have continued to find out about Autumn. We focused on Harvest. We watched a video about Harvest and talked about how we celebrate Harvest. We looked at what the farmers and the fisherman have to do during Harvest. We cooked pumpkin soup and apple crumble and it was delicious. Today we found out about combine harvesters and had a go at making one from toilet rolls. We loved performing our harvest festival to you.
Year 1 had their first school trip this week! Everyone was very excited, we started off with the meerkat encounter talk and this was amazing as we got to stand inside the meerkat enclosure with the meerkats running all around us! We learnt lots about meerkats and got to ask lots of questions. Then we split into groups and walked around the dinosaur park, looking at all the different animals. We really wanted to see the penguins as we have been learning about penguins as part of our topic learning. We then all met together and had lunch before having a quick look at any animals we hadn’t already seen. Then, because everyone had shown such amazing behaviour, we got to have 30 mins in the soft play! Year 1 showed brilliant behaviour and great listening all day! Well done Year 1, it was a great school trip!
Year 2 have had a great last week. They have looked at different types of sentences in the ‘How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth’ book and had a go at writing their own. In Maths, they have been adding one-digit numbers and explaining how they did it. For their Geography work, they used maps to look at different types of land and buildings around Appledore. In Science, they looked at photographs of the habitats they investigated in outdoor learning and thought about what they found there. They are all looking forward to sharing the songs, poems and prayers with you in the Harvest Festival this afternoon. We wish you all a relaxing half term break and look forward to seeing you all again in a week.
In RE, year 3 thought about how they could lead a life which had less negative impact on God’s creation. Year 4 considered the benefits of exhibiting self control as shown by Muslims during the month of Ramadan. Year 6 looked at the importance of family time to a Jewish family and thought about how they could introduce moments of reflection into their lives. In Music, year 3 began a unit of work on graphic notation and began to think about how different sounds can be represented visually. Year 4 worked as a group to perform a pulse, cue and cyclic pattern. Year 6, listened to a famous piece of music by Vivaldi to see if they could work out what his inspiration had been.
Year 3 have had a wonderful last week of this half term. In Maths, we have been learning how to add and subtract across 10 and 100. In English, we started writing our own interviews based on the book ‘Interview with a Tiger’. In Science, we have been learning about how shadows change size when the distance between the light source and the object changes. We used this knowledge to create our own shadow puppet shows and performed these to the class. In Geography, we researched deserts and thought about how the climate in a desert compares to that of a rainforest. We had a brilliant trip to the Eden project where we took part in a ‘Rainforest Ranger’ workshop and got to explore the rainforest biome. We learnt how to survive in a tropical rainforest and found lots of plants that we could use for food and shelter and we even spotted some geckos!
In HMS Echo (year 4) this week, we have been learning how to use the column method with four digit numbers for addition and subtraction, as well as answering some real life problems. In English, we have written up the story of the Girl and the Fox, and the children have worked so hard including some high level vocabulary. They have been such a delight to read! In Geography, we looked at the use of solar cookers in Nepal as an example of sustainable development. In Science, we recapped the water cycle and how this links to changing states.
Year 5 had a fantastic time at St George’s House this week. their first residential trip! They took part in rock scrambling, surfing, canoeing, fencing, archery and building a giant marble run. It was great to learn new skills, build on team work and develop communication. The values cup was won by Molly but the whole class showed how much they had improved with their responsibilities over the past three days. The staff, both from school and at the centre, were impressed by how polite and helpful everyone was during their stay. Well done everyone for making this such a successful residential.
Year 6 have been busy with prime, squared and cubed numbers this week in maths, as well as revisiting long multiplication. In Literacy, it has been non-fiction writing about the climate which they will complete after half-term. In science, they have experimented with yeast and mould – I wonder what the bread will be like after the holidays? They have also enjoyed fitness in PE and a session of Outdoor Learning learning about compass skills. Thank you to all those who have already paid for the two local trips on the first week back – please pay on School Money if you haven’t already done so. It’s been a busy half-term and they are ready for a break, so we hope you all have a lovely time.
