News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 19th December
As always, the last week before we break up for Christmas is full of fun and excitement and this week has been no exception!
Last week it was Key Stage 1 and our Foundation Stage Unit children putting on their Christmas celebrations for you. This week it was the turn of our Key Stage 2 children to share with you a performance of the origins of Silent Night at St Mary’s church and such a lovely way to end the term as we break up for Christmas. A huge thank you to everybody who has been involved in the organisation of all the Christmas celebrations, including the school Christmas Fair last week, the Christmas discos a couple of weeks ago and the school Christmas lunch on Wednesday. You are all very much appreciated.
Not content with organising last week’s school fair, Our PTFA crewed the Bideford Round Table Santa’s sleigh around Northam last night clocking up around 25,000 steps each and raising over £1000 for local causes. For our PTFA newsletter please see here.
Thank you for all your support this term and we would all like to wish you a very merry Christmas and we look forward to welcoming you back in the New Year on Monday 5th January.
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have continued to learn about Christmas. On Tuesday we read the story ‘A gift for Christmas’ and we decided to decorate the trees in the woods for the woodland creatures. On Wednesday we talked about how we celebrate Christmas and we learnt that we all do it slightly differently. On Thursday we had our Christmas party and Father Christmas came to see us. We have also been busy finishing off our decorations and Christmas cards.
In Year 1 this week we have been changing the story of the Three Little Pigs to our own character! We had lots of great ideas and then created a story map for our own version. In Maths we have been recapping our learning throughout the term and have focused on number lines this week. We practised addition and subtraction using a number line and were really confident! In topic we have been looking at the fire service and how it has changed from the past. We have been comparing the equipment we have now, as well as the uniform and how the service used to be used. We are so excited for the firefighter visit on Friday and have been thinking of great questions to ask them. We hope you have a lovely Christmas and enjoy the well deserved break! Keep an eye out on Google Classroom for a Christmas reading challenge if you would like to take part.
Year 2 have had a great last week. They have been looking at the properties of 3D shapes and making patterns with the shapes. They enjoyed walking to the church to watch the dress rehearsal of the Key Stage 2 Christmas performance. They have learned about Neil Armstrong and have finished their Explorer topic by thinking about what qualities an explorer going to Mars would need and designing a poster to advertise the job. They enjoyed a lovely Christmas lunch together on Wednesday. They have worked hard all term and should be very proud of themselves. Mrs Stephens, Kay and I (Mrs Stanbury) would like to wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year. Thank you for all your support and the cards and gifts.
Wow! What another busy week for Year 3. They have now completed their first term in KS2 and the progress has been amazing. All have settled into the routines and developed a wonderful sense of independence. This week we spent a day in the church rehearsing for the Nativity performance and also learning our parts for the values assembly. We have completed our history and science units of work and are now thinking of what the spring term will look like. Have a magical Christmas and a well deserved break with your families. See you all fresh and excited to start again in the new year.
In Year 4 this week, the children have been busy finishing off work and practising for the Christmas play. They spent all day at the church on Tuesday rehearsing and they are very excited for you to see it on Friday! Apart from that, in English, the children wrote their own poems which were such a delight to read and have published this in their English books. In Maths, we have applied our understanding of multiplication and division to solving problems. We continued reading Roman Invasion in Guided Reading and we will finish this book after Christmas. Our new Guided Reading book after Christmas will be ‘Digging for Victory’ by Cathy Faulkner and it would be great if your child could have a copy to help with their reading in class. Have a lovely Christmas and a well deserved break and I’ll see you all in the New Year
This week in Year 5, we have been busy wrapping up our learning and celebrating our achievements! In history, we finished our unit on the Vikings, exploring their homes, diet, jobs, and clothing. The children then imagined what it would have been like to live as a Viking, bringing their learning to life. In science, we completed our unit on the properties of materials with a final investigation into the flexibility of different materials. In values, we explored negotiation and compromise, discussing whether it is always necessary to compromise and thinking about how these skills can help us in everyday life. In literacy, we have been exploring different types of poetry with a festive theme. The children wrote their own acrostic Christmas poems, Christmas-themed haikus, and Christmas kennings poems, which they then edited, published, and illustrated. We wish all of our Year 5 families a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!
Year 6 have had fun with a variety of Christmas poetry in Literacy: we found some interesting rhyming words and it was hard to get the correct number of syllables in each line! Maths, they have completed fraction work – just needing to remember all the skills. In reading, they have been using the BBC radio version of A Christmas Carol and written a short version of the story. Have a lovely rest over the Christmas holiday: lots to do when we return. Our topics in Science will be ‘Evolution and Inheritance’ and in history, we will be looking at ‘How life expectancy has increased for the people in Appledore over the last 250 years’.
