News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 13th February
It was quite special celebrating the end of our Positive value half term in an assembly today and seeing children receiving awards. Well done to Caya for receiving the Values Cup for being so positive and always seeing and celebrating the best in others.
Are you struggling to find an NHS dentist? If you, please see here for a dental surgery that is accepting new patients.
When we return after half term, please continue to park respectfully for our neighbours and remember that Kingsley Avenue is private road that you are not permitted to park on when collecting or dropping off your children. If you need a parking permit for Odun Road, please contact the school office.
For our most recent attendance newsletter please see here.
Dates for the diary:
- Half term theatre workshop Monday 16th February, Shirwell Village Hall see here
- Half term sports camps at Bideford Blues, Sandymere, EX39 1XX on the 16th and 18th February see here
- The Northam Burrows rangers run free family events and on Tuesday 17th February they will have crafts, games and stories at the Northam Burrows visitor centre – all on the theme of ‘magnificent mice’! see here and Thursday 19th February the Northam Burrows Rangers will be on the rocky shore near Westward Ho! slipway to lead a rock pool ramble see here. Both events will take place from 2pm to 4pm and are free to attend.
- Half term free Safari Storytime and Play, ages 4-11, 10am-12.30pm, Tuesday 17th February, St Mary’s Hall, Appledore see here
- Big Brush Club – Free Oral Health Webinar for Parents and Caregivers of Young Children 10am 28th February see here
- World Book Day – Thursday 5th March – Children in FSU and KS1 (Turtles, Dolphins, Year 1, Year 2) children can come to school dressed in pyjamas ready for a bedtime story. KS2 children (Year 3, 4, 5 and 6) can choose whether they wear pyjamas or come dressed as a character from a book they have read.
- Sports Day Wednesday 20th May all day for Years 1-6 and the afternoon for Reception/Dolphins. Tuesday 16th June is back-up day should the weather be bad in May. More details to follow nearer the time.
Wishing you all a good (and dry, perhaps) half term.
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have started to celebrate Chinese New Year. We have read the story and acted it out. We have cut out dragon masks and made dragons by folding paper. We have used Google Earth to explore where China is in the world. Outside, we made bridges to cross the river. Today, we walked to the library to change our books.
In Year 1 this week we have finished off our learning about the No-bot the Robot book and created our own versions! We loved thinking of different body parts that could go missing and what they might be used for. In Maths we have finished off our Addition and Subtraction within 20 and we have been so impressed with how well everyone has been recognising doubles as well as odd and even numbers! In topic we compared hospitals in the past to hospitals now. We have also been monitoring the weather everyday and recording how much rain water has been collected in the rain gauges we made last week in Outdoor Learning! We hope you all have a lovely, restful half term!
Year 2 have had a good last week before the half term break. They have been looking at division in Maths and learning to write number sentences with the symbol. In English, they have been looking at a book called ‘Daisy Doodles’ and using this to be imaginative with their writing. They finished their Grace Darling topic by making something to remember her by. We had some really great creations. Some children made models of the lighthouse and some children made medals. In their Science work, they looked at the ‘Eatwell plate’ and looked at different food groups. We wish you all a relaxing half term break.
Year 3 concluded their studies on what it is like to follow God by considering Noah’s side of the bargain after God promised not to ever send a flood again. Year 4 looked at how following the teachings of the Qur’an can be seen in the way a Muslim lives their life. Year 5 brought together all their learning this half term by writing and drawing expressively to explain why it is importantly for Christian’s to believe in a God who is holy and loving. Year 6 also reflected on this half term’s learning when deciding if they thought science and religion are in conflict or are complimentary.
Year 3 have worked really hard this week to complete all the half terms units of work. They have published their poems, using handwriting pens to show their excellent joining. We have completed our assessments in multiplication and division and now started to look at fractions. We looked at what it means to be healthy in science and used Digimaps and Google Earth to locate places in Appledore on a map. Great progress is being made at the swimming pool and lessons will continue next half term. Have a restful half term and enjoy the time with your families.
In Year 4 this week, the children have been busy recapping lots of concepts taught since Christmas to check we have learnt and remembered them. In Maths, we recapped calculating area and perimeter and we have also practised multiplication and division methods to make sure we are fluent with them. In English, we revised fronted adverbials and apostrophes. In Computing/History, the children recorded their podcasts about people’s diets and they created their very own QR codes that they can scan to listen to their podcasts. You can listen to their podcasts at home via the Google Drive when the children log in to Google Classroom! As well as this, we had a parent come in to talk to the children about all things healthy eating to keep our bodies strong and healthy! In Science, we learnt about food chains and the different parts of a food chain.
This week, Year 5 have worked incredibly hard as we wrapped up several of our units ready for half term. In English, we finished our literacy unit on the Great Plague. The children reflected thoughtfully on the key vocabulary we have been using and considered what they would like to focus on improving in their writing next half term. It has been wonderful to see how much confidence and historical understanding has developed through this unit. In Maths, we have been finding fractions of amounts and multiplying fractions. We also completed an arithmetic quiz, and many children improved their scores, which was fantastic to see. Their determination and resilience are really paying off. In History, we completed our unit on the Shang Dynasty. We learned about Fu Hao and explored her tomb, which was discovered intact in 1976. The children used their evaluator skills to learn about the artefacts found, and why this discovery was so important. We also recapped our key vocabulary from the unit and reflected on all that we have learned about the Shang Dynasty. In Science, we finished our Space unit by learning about the phases of the Moon and how they occur. We revisited the key scientific vocabulary from the unit and reflected on our learning across our studies of Space.
Well done, Year 5, for all your hard work this half term. I hope everyone has a fantastic and restful break!
Year 6 In Literacy, they have been revising noun phrases and writing in the passive voice – all of these skills will feed into writing about their own festival after half-term. In History, they have completed work on how life expectancy has improved for the people of Appledore over the last 250 years: producing a timeline and a written account of significant medical breakthroughs and changes in the way we live that have all contributed to people living longer. In science, they have been recapping work from outdoor learning last week about Darwin’s finches: evolution based on natural selection. They explored how different beak shapes could affect survival by testing a simple experiment. Maths homework over the holiday is all about the arithmetic paper. Enjoy the holiday!
