News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 7th March
Already, it’s March! And of course March brings, amongst other things, World Book Day. Teachers enjoyed sharing a story that is special to them with a different class and the children, dressed in various costume, looked like they enjoyed it too!
Our project with The Royal Society is gaining momentum and today it is year 5s turn. Spending the day at PETROC, they will be looking at water monitoring and using microscopes, exploring underwater acoustics and lastly using 360 cameras to produce a film based on water pollution. This links with our desire to build a discovery centre at Appledore School and more information about that can be found here.
The internet has many benefits children and it is becoming an integral part of their lives. Unfortunately, it has its dark side and senior leaders at school received safeguarding training updates this week and internet safety and internet dangers formed part of this. A key message was that online activities we might have presumed were typical of teenagers are becoming increasingly typical in primary age children. Internet Watch Foundation is a recognised organisation that provides support and resources for parents and carers to support safe internet use by their children, including a T.A.L.K. checklist. Dove, the personal care brand, has produced a range of videos, many child friendly, that are a good starting point for a conversation with your child. The one here that highlights how the internet can affect body image and self esteem
Miss Olliffe is running a cake stall and raffle on Saturday at Chantal Law Fitness and Pilates studio, the Pill Bideford 7.45 – 11.00 am to raise some funds towards here Hyrox World Championship trip to Chicago. Qualifying for this is competition is a huge achievement and more information about it can be found here.
- Wednesday 12th March Torridge Family Hub, Victoria Park, Bideford is holding a free drop-in for parents to chat to Speech and Language therapists and Special Educational Needs Advisors. See here for more information.
- Class photos will be taken on 18th March
- Sports Day Tuesday 17th June and reserve date is Tuesday 24th June
- Please keep an eye out for communication regarding forthcoming parents evenings
Wishing you all a good weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have been celebrating pancake day and world book day. We read the story ‘Mr Wolf’s pancakes’ and talked about what we like to have on our pancakes. We also loved making our own pancakes and having pancake races. To celebrate World Book Day we shared stories and talked about our favourite books. We have also made houses using lots of different materials.
In year 1 we really enjoyed World book day, having the chance to share different stories. We completed some activities in class based around our favourite books. Earlier in the week we enjoyed learning about Shrove Tuesday and designed the ultimate pancakes. Some of the children had a go making their own designs at home. This week we have finished our maths unit on place value up to 50. We looked at partitioning numbers into tens and ones, using number lines and calculating 1 more/1 less of a number. In geography we drew our own maps of Appledore identifying roads and buildings. We also made our own 3D models of Appledore using building blocks and small world characters.
Year 2 had a great time on Thursday for World Book Day. They enjoyed sharing books with each other and completing World Book Day quizzes. They designed a book cover for their favourite books and enjoyed Miss Wetz from Year 3 reading them a story to finish off the day. In Maths, they have been practising the 2 and 5x tables before moving on to a new unit all about length and height. They used rulers and metre sticks to measure in centimetres and metres. In English, they have continued to read the book ‘Creature Features’ and have looked at the way the author uses adjectives. They were able to have a go at writing using adjectives in the same way. In their Geography work, they looked at where India is on the world map. They have started a new topic in Science about Materials and went for a ‘materials walk’ in the lovely sunshine around the school grounds to find different materials.
Seahunter class (year 3) have had a wonderful week. In Maths, we applied our knowledge of fractions to help us read scales and we learnt how to count in fractions on a number line. In English, we recapped the rules of direct speech, and then wrote the conversation between Arthur and Thor. For World Book Day, we wrote our own review of a book that we had read recently and designed our own bookmarks. In Science, we explored the role of each of the seven nutrients and then made our own soup in outdoor learning, and discussed which nutrients the soup had in it. In Geography, through the use of maps and images, we explored how Appledore has changed over time, and compared some images from the past with today. In Computing, we learnt what personal information means and we discussed the importance of asking before we share information about ourselves or others online. We also discussed some different places or people that we could go to if we are unsure about whether information is safe to share online.
In year 4 this week, the children have been busy learning about fractions where they calculated fractions of amounts and also counted in fractions on a number line beyond 1. In English, we practised writing a range of conjunctions to extend sentences where they practised explaining how a vacuum cleaner works. In Science, the children learnt what features mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles and fish have and they practised identifying different types of animals and classifying them. In Geography, the children looked at the most powerful earthquakes in New Zealand and plotted them on a map. In Values, we looked at the NSPCC Pants lesson where the children learnt the underwear rule, such as privates are private, always remember your body belongs to you, no means no, talk about secrets that upset you and speak up, someone can help.
Year 5 has had a very busy out of the classroom this week. On Wednesday and Thursday we spent time in the art studio creating clay sculptures based on the work of Barbara Hepworth: these look amazing. We have been working in groups to develop a script ready for our visit to Petroc. When we are there we will be taking part in three workshops; one will be with the North Devon Biosphere, looking at water monitoring and using microscopes; another will be exploring underwater acoustics and lastly using the 360 cameras to produce a film based on water pollution. All are very excited about spending the day on this project. We have started our maths work on decimals and looking at using tenths and hundredths. It was great to see everyone dressing up to take part in World Book Day. Thank you Mrs Bannister for coming into the classroom at the end of the day to read a story.
Year 6 have been busy with decimals, fractions and percentages this week in Maths, as well as using a protractor to measure angles. They still need more practice on converting easily between decimals, fractions and percentages and some children still need to learn the facts about how many degrees in a full circle (360°) on a straight line (180°) and in a triangle (180°). In Literacy, they have been creating a Y6 chocolate celebration for shared writing and then writing about their own festivals. In Spelling, they have explored different prefixes and how they change words. They have completed some practice SATs papers which will come home when we have gone over things in class. In PE, they had a tournament of bench ball and all teams played really well: there were some well thought out tactics developing.
