News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 31st March
We started the last day of term with the whole school watching the final of Appledore’s Got Talent. A big thank you to our house captains and Mrs Wilkins for organising, the judges, the finalists and everybody who entered each year group auditions. Congratulations to third placed finalists from year 2 (song and dance duet), second placed year 3 (solo magician) and first placed year 6 (Gun’s n Roses tribute band).
During a school holiday children’s online activity increases, so with the Easter break now upon us now could be a good time to check all your parental controls on all the devices your children have access to. Recent conversations we have had with children indicate a significant number do access content intended for older children or adults. Here are some parent guides for YouTube Kids, YouTube, Roblox, Minecraft and Netflix that provide advice on how to ensure safe use. If there is a particular game or app you need help with, please contact admin@appledoreprimary.co.uk and we will try and help.
Hakeford Woods Forest School is running an Easter Holiday Club 10am-2.30pm on 4th, 5th, 11th and 12th April costing £25 per child per day (limited number of reduced price places for families in receipt of Universal Credit). For more information please find them on Facebook or visit https://bookwhen.com/hakefordwoods
You are invited to St Mary’s Church, Appledore, next Friday 7 April (Good Friday) for Easter crafts, Easter gardens, drinks and hot cross buns. 10.00 -12.00. This event is free of charge and fun for all the family. On Easter Sunday morning we have 3 services. Sonrise Service at 6.30am in Churchfields carpark, followed by hot drinks and bacon rolls in the church hall. Easter Family Church at 9.15am. Easter Holy Communion at 10.30am. If you’re feeling creative there will be an Easter bonnet competition at both 9.15 and 10.30 services.
For social tennis sessions for girls coming up at ARC in Bideford, please click here.
Interested in training to be a teaching assistant? If so, please click here for details on course available at PETROC.
Please click on ‘more’ to find out what has been going on in each of the classes and we wish you all a super Easter.
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have continued learning about Spring. This week we have focused on the flowers that grow during Spring. On Tuesday we were set the challenge of making a daffodil using a range of different materials. On Wednesday we looked at how Spring fits into the four seasons. On Thursday we read the Easter story and talked about how we celebrate Easter. Today we enjoyed having an Easter egg hunt.
In year 1 this week we have finished off our topic learning by looking at what happened to St Paul’s Cathedral during the Great Fire of London. We learnt about the old building and then looked at how it was rebuilt and compared the buildings. In Art we have made collages of the fire with flames as the background and we used black paper to make silhouettes of the houses to go in front, we talked a lot about tearing the tissue paper carefully to create the flames and they look great! In Science we were thinking about what animals and humans need to survive and then wrote a fact file for how to look after a Budgie. In Maths we have been doing lots of measuring, first with cubes, then we started using rulers to measure in centimeters. In RE we learnt more about the Easter story and even made some tasty egg nests with Mrs Monroe! We’ve had a lovely half term and hope you enjoy the Easter holiday!
This week Lundy Puffins have been learning how to choose and use great verbs in their sentences to make their writing more interesting for the reader. They tried really hard to use the great verbs in their descriptions of the new machines they designed based on the book ‘The Dragon Machine’. In Maths, they have been reading the temperature on thermometers and beginning their learning for their new Maths topic: Fractions. In their topic work, they looked at Neil Armstrong and thought about the qualities needed to be an explorer. To finish the topic, they thought about exploring Mars and wondered what sort of person might be needed to take part in an expedition to Mars. They are looking forward to an outdoor learning session on Friday morning. Mrs Stephens, Mrs Halloway and I (Mrs Stanbury) wish you a relaxing Easter break and thank you for all your support this term.
Year 3 have had a brilliant last week of term. In English, we wrote our own interviews based on the book ‘Interview with a Tiger’ and we all interviewed different animals and plants. In Maths, we finished off our learning on fractions by exploring equivalent fractions. On Wednesday, we went for our last swimming lesson and it was wonderful to see how much the children’s swimming has improved. They also got to play on the big floats which they loved. We finished our learning on the Stone Age and Bronze Age in history by learning all about Stonehenge. We created our own visitor guides for this prehistoric monument and wrote lots of facts that we had learned about it. In Science, we looked at a variety of food packaging and explored the different nutrients that each one contained.
In HMS Echo (year 4) this week, we have been finishing off lots of work in preparation for the Easter break. In English, the children have been writing a formal letter to Lord Shaftesbury, which links with our Topic of the Victorians, to thank him for his work on improving the working conditions for children. In Maths, we have been looking at hundredths for the first time, and how to represent this as fractions and decimals. In Science, the children have been given a mission: To persuade Appledore School to take better care of the environment and to save living things – this consolidates all the learning we have been looking at for our Science unit of Living Things and their Habitats. The children are then going to present their work to the class and I will film them to show Mr Cooper! In PE, we got the climbing equipment out in the hall, which the children had lots of fun playing on, to practise their balance and flexibility in gymnastics.
Year 5 have been really busy all week completing their work for this term. I am really pleased with the space homework projects and will enjoy marking these over the break. We will share these with our Y2 reading partners at the start of the summer term. We have now completed our poetry unit in English, statistics in maths, and Earth and space in science. The class has really given a lot of thought about what ‘consent’ means for them and created clear definitions which have gone into the class values book. You all deserve a restful Easter break and the Y5 staff look forward to seeing you in the summer term.
Year 6 have completed a piece of writing this week – I was highly entertained by the many items they chose to have voices that wouldn’t ordinarily be able to speak and the complaining that they did. In maths, they have been looking at sequences and working out the nth term. As part of Esafety, they thought about the effect of using technology on their bodies and what they could do to try and stay healthy eg: get plenty of sleep, limit time on gadgets, sit sensibly and adjust the brightness levels. They have had a hectic term, with lots to learn and have worked extremely hard. Over Easter, they need a well earned break but have also been encouraged to look at the resources they have been given – a little and often – just to keep skills ticking over. Have a lovely Easter!
