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
Please note, we are a nut-free school.
Latest News
It’s great to see classes taking advantage of our wonderful grounds during lessons by taking aspects of learning outside of the classrooms. To find out more please read the Around the Classes section further down this post.
Comic Relief is next Friday, so it’s wear red for the day and if you are able to donate please feel free to send it in to school.
The charity Book Relief in Bideford has kindly donated a wide range of second-hand natural history books on topics the children are investigating in the Royal Society ‘Tomorrow’s Climate Scientists’ project. Similarly, The British Trust for Ornithology has also donated bird identification books. Developing a permanent library of reference books is one goal of this project.
Safeguarding conversations with pupils this week has highlighted that children are accessing online activities at ages below, in some cases significantly below, the minimum age ratings. One example is the currently popular online game Dumb Ways to Die that has a recommended age restriction of 12+. For general advice on age restrictions see here and specific app age guidelines see here
- Class photos will be taken next week on Tuesday 18th March
- School Spring Disco Friday 28th March and more information here
- 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 (more…)
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
Welcome back and we hope you all had a good half term.
Some months ago the newsletter included information regarding a ‘Discovery Centre’ that we hope to build on our school site. This will provide a dedicated place for the children to engage with environmental studies, science, technology, engineering and maths learning for primary school children, their families and the wider community. You can see what we believe it could look like and find out more by clicking here. Our next stage is to get the plans through planning permission stage and we are hoping to raise this through fundraising led by parents association. Please see here for more information and if you are able to donate, and no donation is too small, that would be great please.
As a school we encourage a sense of belonging and strongly believe that every member of our community should be treated with respect and kindness. This is supported in many areas of curriculum, including one of our core PSHE values and areas of learning being Inclusive, and observance of days such as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21st March). We firmly believe that any form of disability, racial religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender based prejudice or hostility towards another person is unacceptable.
llsham National English Hub would like to invite you to attend a FREE session on Wednesday 5th March 2-3pm to support you with helping your child at home in their reading journey. During this free, hour-long session, The Ilsham National English hub team will be sharing videos and practical solutions to support practice at home. The focus will be on supporting your child to become an expressive fluent reader.
This session is targeted at families (including grandparents), carers, childminders and before/after school provision workers. It is designed to support children from pre school age up to the end of Key Stage One (Year 2). For booking a place please see here
Dates for the diary:
- World Book Day 2025 is Thursday 6th March. Turtles, Dolphins, Years 1 and 2 can come to school dressed in pyjamas for a bedtime story. Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 can dress in pyjamas or as a character from a book they have read
- 9.30am-12.30pm
- 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 super weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff (more…)
