News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 18th July
Thank you for such an enjoyable year. We wish all our children and families who are leaving us, moving to other primary schools around the country or onto secondary school, every success and happiness. Today we will say goodbye to our Year 6 at their afternoon leavers’ assembly as we wish them well for the next stage of their life. They have been a fun group of children and we hold many special memories of their time here.
Every year Devon County Council send out a Parent’s Childcare Survey to parents living in Devon to find out information about their use of childcare. Here is this year’s Parents Childcare Survey, please complete it yourself if you are a parent of a child or young person.
Well done to Pacific (red house) for winning sports day, closely followed by Indian (yellow), Arctic (blue) and Atlantic (green). It was a lovely day and thank you to all the participants and to all who came to see us.
Please see below for information about various summer holiday activities:
- Full on the 8th of August, but a few spaces remain on 22nd August for a woodland holiday club here at Appledore School. See here for more information
- HAF holiday club in Barnstaple see here
- Football holiday camp in Bideford see here
- Learn how to sail at North Devon yacht club, Instow, see here
- Events at Appledore Library see here
This week, Hannah Walters, the manager of our breakfast and after school club, died at North Devon Hospice. In memory of Hannah and her kindness and compassion we are renaming AOOSC Hannah’s Breakfast and After School Club from September and referring to the club simply as Hannah’s. This will be reflected in the communication we have with you regarding the club as we strive to continue the quality of service the club provided under Hannah’s leadership.
Please read on for the last posts from each class teacher to find out what your children have got up to this week.
Wishing you all a very happy summer and for those returning we look forward to seeing back on Wednesday 3rd September.
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have continued to explore Lundy Island. We have found out about the three lighthouses on Lundy and we had a go at making our own. We read the story ‘The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch’ and we talked about our favourite sandwiches. On Thursday we made sandwiches and had a little tea party in the afternoon. We hope you all have a lovely summer break!
Year 1 have had a brilliant week to end their time in Sea Lions! We’ve been finishing off our Science topic of Plants and loved going on a tree and flower hunt around the school! We also made a big class picture of a flower and labelled it. In Maths we have finished off our work on Time and the class were brilliant at telling the time to o’clock and half past! We also used a stopwatch to see how long it would take us to complete some challenges. First we had to estimate how long it would take and then we had a partner time us. We have had a fantastic year and loved seeing the class change and grow! We hope you have a lovely summer holidays and get some well deserved rest!
Year 2 has had a great last week. They enjoyed a walk down to St Mary’s church to look around as part of their RE work. They worked in pairs to look for all the different features of a church. On the walk back to school, as a reward for all of their hard work this year, they were treated to an ice cream from the Hockings Van. Their trip to the Honey Farm was amazing! They learned lots about bees and what they do. They dressed up as bees and held a frame from a beehive. They went on a tractor ride around the farm and went on a treasure hunt around the bee-friendly gardens. They even had time to play in the play areas! A great day and a great end to a brilliant year! Thank you to all the staff and parent helpers on the trip. Mrs Stephens, Mrs Halloway, Steph and I (Mrs Stanbury) would like to thank you all for your support this year and we wish you a relaxing summer break.
Year 3 have had a wonderful last week of school! In Maths, we ended our topic on statistics by learning how to interpret bar charts. In our science lesson, we conducted an investigation to determine the best material for an escape lane, and we then presented our findings using a bar chart. In English, we became reporters for the week, writing detailed newspaper articles about the fascinating discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. In PE, we had our last tag rugby lesson, and we used all of the skills that we have learnt over the past few weeks to play some matches. The children showed great passing skills and amazing team work. In History, we took a closer look at the role of the pharaoh. We then put our persuasive writing skills to the test by creating job adverts for a new pharaoh, describing their appearance, duties and the qualities needed for the role.
Key stage 2 children concluded their music studies this year by considering orchestral instruments. Years 5 and 6 drew a range of musical instruments and then collated them so build a symphony orchestra by placing their picture in the correct position. Year 4 drew a character from Peter and the Wolf and it corresponding instrument and then held it up every time they heard their instrument in the piece. In RE year three looked at how different religions seem to make the world a better place through different charities. Year 4 watched a Hindu wedding and compared it to a Christian wedding ceremony and Year 5 read the Amsterdam Declaration and looked at the winners of the ReThink award to conclude their study of Humanism. The display books are now full of work from a busy year of RE studies.
What a busy final week in Year 4! We have been finishing lots of topics. In Maths, we learnt about plotting coordinates on a grid as well as learning how to translate shapes on a grid. In Science, we learnt what pitch was and explored different pitches with a variety of musical instruments. In Computing, we learnt about infinite loops and count-controlled loops on Scratch and how to programme some dancing dinosaurs! We also finished our guided reading text Street Child where we learnt so much about how life was so difficult for Victorian children. Outdoor learning Sarah also did some cooking with the children where they prepared and cooked a spaghetti bolognaise!
It has been a really good end of the term, year and week for Year 5. We have completed all assessments and work ready to move onto Y6. The transition went well on Monday and all are very excited about becoming Y6! They are certainly ready for the challenges and responsibilities next year will involve. The year ended with a fun swim at Skern Lodge. Have a wonderful summer break together. “Remember all the great things we’ve done together in Y5. Keep learning, keep growing (but not too much!!), and never stop being amazing.”
What a year it has been! Year 6 enjoyed their trip to The Milky Way this week – as unfortunately the weather stopped a Wake Park trip – but they had a lot of fun and we couldn’t believe how much energy they had all day! They have cleared the room of all their things, prepared their Leavers Assembly and enjoyed activities for the last time – anything we find left behind (hopefully not too much) will be left in the school office for collection. As a final message from the Year 6 team – we’d like to say that we are confident that you all have some great skills moving forward to secondary school; you’re ready for the next steps in life and you should all be proud of what you’ve achieved during your time at Appledore. There are so many opportunities waiting for you – we can’t wait to see what you do next. All the staff at Appledore wish you every success. So goodbye and good luck – be true to yourselves and always be kind!
