News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 16th January
Parentkind offers a curated series of free webinars designed to empower parents and carers with knowledge on education, child development, and well-being that can be accessed here. The 2026 schedule includes interactive sessions on Zoom. Note that these sessions are not recorded for later viewing to encourage live participation. Upcoming topics in 2026 include:
- An Introduction to Autism.
- Socialising in Reception: Guidance on helping children navigate friendships and independence in primary school.
- Parenting Styles that Shape Children’s Future: Explores how different styles impact emotional well-being and boundary setting.
- Coping Tools for Your Child’s Big Emotions: Practical strategies for managing emotional moments through mindfulness.
- Keeping Your Child Safe Online: A behavioural approach to digital resilience for primary-aged children.
- Helping Your Child Develop a Love of Reading: Tips for making reading an enjoyable part of family life.
- From Meltdowns to Mindfulness
Also, Autism and Us is a programme offered to parents and carers of children and young people who are currently on the neurodiversity assessment pathway, as well as to families of those who have received an autism diagnosis. It is delivered by members of the Inclusion and Learning Service at Devon County Council and more information can be found here
For information about a netball camp at half term see here and for entering your child in a triathlon aimed at children of all abilities aged 7-13 please see here
Have a great weekend
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have started our new topic ‘Around The World.’ We have started off at The Arctic. We have looked at pictures of the Arctic and talked about what the weather is like there. We have found out and named some of the animals that live there and why most of them are white. We have printed pictures of these animals.
In Year 1 this week we have been looking more at fiction and non-fiction books. The children have been working together to compare books and found lots of similarities and differences. In Maths we have been looking at ways to make numbers up to 20. We have also been practising writing numbers to twenty and filling in missing numbers on a number line. In topic we have been learning about Florence Nightingale and why she is a significant person. We looked at how she changed nursing and why she was known as the lady with the lamp. In PE we have started gymnastics and have really enjoyed learning different shapes using some equipment.
Year 2 have had another great week. They have been looking at a new book for English called Little People Big Dreams: Amelia Earhart. They have been ordering the events in her life and looking at how the book has been written. In Maths, they have continued with money and have used different coins to make the same amount of money. Some children have found recognising the different coins and notes quite tricky, so any support you could give at home would be really helpful for them. Here are some games to help: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/money. In their Science work they have been looking at animals and their young. They read the book: Monkey Puzzle and played a game to match different animals and their young. In their History work, they have been learning about Grace Darling and her rescue. On Friday, they are looking forward to an outdoor learning session looking at Lifecycles.
In RE , Year 3 retold the story of Noah in a dramatic way be finding frozen pictures for key moments in the story. Year 4, looked at census data concerning religion. They identified Muslim communities and then researched to see if there were Mosques in the South West to serve these communities. Year 5 looked at 3 extracts from the Bible to see if there same qualities they listed the previous week for a divine being were mentioned. Having rewritten Cinderella in various different genre, Year 6 considered what genre they would ascribe to The Message which is the story of creation. Having done so they then looked at the Big Bang Theory to consider an alternative explanation for creation.
Year 3 have been planning their biography about a person of interest to them. These will be published and put on display in the main building next week. In maths we have been reasoning with our multiplication skills and making comparisons. For science we have looked at animal skeletons and compared these to the human skeleton. We sorted the x-rays into groups: vertebrates and invertebrates. We created a timeline of events for the life of Marie Curie and in art we have started our work on printing. Swimming is going really well; thank you to those who meet us at the swimming pool each week.
In Year 4 this week, the children visited Barnstaple Museum as part of their History topic ‘How has our diet changed since 1918?’ where the children learnt all about rationing during WWII and how this affected people’s diets. In Science, we have set up an experiment investigating the question ‘What causes tooth decay?’ where we have six boiled eggs and we’re soaking them for a week in six different drinks to see what happens! In Maths, we looked at related facts and how we can use known facts to help solve more complex calculations, for example if 5 x 4 = 20 then 50 x 4 = 200. In English, the children practised using expanded noun phrases, fronted adverbials and figurative language for some fantasy style pictures. In History, the children used clues to work out which foods are grown abroad and which foods are grown in the UK due to climate.
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Year 6 have been solving problems using fractions. In Literacy, they have written a diary entry as Cameron and are thinking about the style of writing needed. In history, they have been looking at how life in the 1500s-1840s still only had a low life expectancy and the reasons for this. We had a great day yesterday designing and building rockets. The winning Rocket travelled an amazing 44m!
