Welcome to Appledore School
Appledore School is located in the heart of an ancient fishing village, rich in maritime history, where the River Torridge meets the River Taw in beautiful North Devon.
We have approximately two hundred and fifty children, aged 3-11, taught in single age classes with names linked to the sea. Many are named after famous ships built in Appledore Shipyard and reflect our pupils’ pride in their local heritage and community.
Through a rich and rigorous curriculum, our pupils play an active part in their local community and prepare for life’s opportunities, responsibilities and experiences, now and in the future. The creative arts are of huge importance to us and our art studio, woodland and polytunnel are the creative hubs of the school and our main corridor is our art gallery! We are part of a cooperative trust of schools and a training school for student teachers.
We hope you can find the information you are looking for, but if you can’t please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do all we can to help. And as for the quotes, they are real!
From all the staff and pupils at Appledore School







Latest News
The North Devon Cross Country League races are fast approaching. These very well organised races are open to children and adults of all abilities and are a great way for your children to burn off any excess energy (particularly if that is needed at the weekend!). They certainly appeal to those who enjoy mud. More information can be found by clicking here. Please be aware that registration for the first race is now and if you want to register as running under Appledore School please let school know and you can borrow one of our running vests.
Thank you to Book Relief UK for a substantial money donation to help us with the continual restocking of our library. Thank you to those of you who donated clothes that resulted in us raising over £200.
Please click here for a QR code with very helpful parent guides for many aspects of internet safety.
Diary Dates
- Get your crabbing buckets at the ready! Appledore pirates crabbing competition in association with Appledore Book Festival returns this Saturday 23rd September !! Team registration opens at 11am from the Pirates gazebo on The Quay The competition will run from 11:30am -12:30pm, teams can be any size BUT must use NO MORE than 4 STANDARD lines (no nets allowed!!) and an entry fee of £5 per team is required Crabbing for the competition will only be permitted from the quayside, not the slipway or steps and remember it’s size that counts! We’re looking for the team with the 3 BIGGEST crabs NOT the most caught with a special bonus prize for the biggest overall crab caught The Appledore Pirates will be marshalling the Quayside to ensure that it is a fair event for all. Everyone welcome
- Year 1&2 Harvest Festival, 2.30pm, Friday 20th October, our school hall
- Year 3-6 Harvest Festival, 2pm, Tuesday 10th October, St Mary’s Church. Relatives of year 3-6 children welcome
- Parents Evenings are being organised, so please keep an eye out for communication from school on how and when to book
Wishing you all a super weekend
Best wishes
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff (more…)
The first full week back is often a tiring one for the children, so hopefully they (and you!) will all have a good night’s sleep. But the prize for the most tired is likely to go to year 6 and their accompanying staff who return from their week long residential trip today. Well done year 6 and thank you to the staff who volunteer to work significantly longer hours during a residential.
Promoting and achieving good attendance habits is vital for children and the NHS has provided a helpful guide if you are unsure if you child is too ill for school. Please click here for the link to information and if you are unsure please call school. Pease be reassured if you do send your child and they turn out to be too unwell or deteriorate we will call you. Please inform us of any changes to your contact details.
Appledore Book Festival is hosting a free family fun day on Saturday 16th September. For more information click here.
There is now a gazebo in the car park for you to leave bags of used and no longer needed clothes.
For information about a Free Kids tennis Party at ARC (Atlantic Racquet Centre), Bideford on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th September please click here.
Wishing you all a super weekend and as per usual please read on to find out what has been going on in each class this week.
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff (more…)
Welcome back everyone and welcome to Appledore School all our new families! A very busy week and the children have settled very well (and dealt with the weather very well too!)
Thank you to FOAS (Friends of Appledore School) for the amazing Matilda themed float at Appledore Carnival that won the cup. If you are interested in becoming involved with FOAS and helping to raise money for the school, please contact the school office on admin@appledoreprimary.co.uk and we will forward your details to the committee.
Please click here to view term dates for this year and for the 2024-2025 academic year. An email was sent out yesterday with an attachment detailing what each class will be learning this term. Additional copies are available here Overview Dolphins, Overview Year 1, Overview Year 2, Overview Year 3, Overview Year 4, Overview Year 5 and Overview Year 6.
Please keep an eye out for a gazebo in the school car park where you can leave bags of clothes you no longer need. A company collects these and then gives money to FOAS based on the weight of clothes collected. I believe last year this raised over £250 for the school, so please donate if you can. last day for donating is 9am Tuesday 19th September. For more information please click here.
FOAS has also arranged collecting used printer ink cartridges and there is a box on the front desk in the main building for these.
On he bottom playground is a rail of second hand school clothes for you. Please help yourself and if you have any to donate to the rail please drop them into the office. Small donations for any clothes you take are welcome, but of course are not a necessity.
Bideford Rugby Club are hosting an Open Day for children to come and try out the game, even if they have never tried it before! They are looking for primary school from Year 2 to Year 6 to try out some games run by our Club Coaches and this is an ideal time for them to come along and see what it is all about. It’s all free and they also have 3 free trial training sessions too! For more information please click here
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
PS – Please read on or click more to find out what has been happening in each class this week (more…)