News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 20th June
Sports day was a really lovely day and thank you to you all for making it such a success. Your support was greatly appreciated by the children and staff and thank you to FOAS for providing the refreshments (£621 raised!). And be warned, we will be much stricter in the application of the rules in the parents’ races next year!
In addition to sports day, this week has seen: an educational trip to Coldharbour Mill, Early Years library visit; a fabulous performance from our singers and dancers at a music festival on The Big Sheep stage; a good showing at an athletics meet and the continued growth of our dragon egg/ Please read on for more information…
Dates for the diary:
- Girls cricket @Bideford Cricket Club free turn up and play sessions information see here
- North Devon BioBlitz Friday 27th and Saturday 28th June is free to all. Please see here and here for information.
Wishing you all a great weekend.
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have continued learning about under the sea but we have focused on the different layers. We have found out the names of three layers and worked out which sea creatures might live in each one. We have created pictures of these different layers. Today we thoroughly enjoyed our last visit to the library and buying an ice cream!
We have had such an exciting week in Year 1 this week, starting with our dragon egg growing again! We’ve been brilliant this week at using adjectives to describe different dragons and making sure we are keeping our handwriting neat. Then they had their first full sports day! We were so impressed by how Year 1 cheered on their classmates, waited patiently for their turn and tried their best! Next we had our music morning at The Big Sheep on Thursday where they made us proud with their brilliant behaviour and beautiful singing, well done Sea Lions!
The highlight of the week for Year 2 was Sports’ Day. Well done everyone! You all tried really hard and we are very proud of you. This week in Maths, they have been looking at block graphs and then making their own block graphs to show information. In English, they have been writing their own imaginative instructions and information in preparation for their writing next week based on the book: Outdoor Wonderland. In their History learning, they found some of the things people used to do at the seaside over 100 years ago and compared this to what they like to do at the seaside today. They are looking forward to their Outdoor Learning session on Friday where they will be planting as part of their Science learning.
A huge well done to all the children who performed at The Big Sheep on Thursday. In what were potentially very difficult circumstances, the children excelled. There were year one children who had been nervous of going on stage who came off saying they wanted to do it again. There were members of the choir for whom this was their third outing who were loving it as much as ever. Thank you for enabling your children to be part of this wonderful experience and thank you for being such a wonderful audience. I assume that the Appledore portion of the audience kept the Appledore end up in all the audience participation! Next year ensure you have also learnt the words your child brings home in preparation for a repeat of this year!
Year 3 have had a wonderful week! In Maths, we finished our topic on money by using everything we’ve learnt to solve a range of tricky reasoning and problem-solving questions. In English, we started reading The Story of Tutankhamun and explored ancient Egypt through books and online research. Using what we discovered, we wrote our own non-chronological reports all about life in ancient Egypt. We learnt some really fascinating facts! In Science, we investigated forces and learnt that a force is a push or a pull. We also explored the difference between balanced and unbalanced forces through fun activities and discussions. In History, we examined some primary sources from ancient Egypt and researched what each artefact was used for, helping us become historians for the afternoon! In PE, we had an exciting tag rugby session with Richard from Bideford Rugby Club. We played lots of energetic games and practised our passing skills in a fun relay activity
In Year 4 this week, it’s been very sporty! The children had such fun taking part in lots of races and activities on Sports Day. It’s fair to say they were exhausted for swimming on Wednesday! The children also took part in some football where they were trained by a football coach. Aside from all the sports, the children are looking forward to their trip to Coldharbour Mill on Friday where they will learn about life as a Victorian working in a cotton mill factory. In Maths, the children have been perfecting their time skills where we also looked at 24 hour time. In English, we planned a story about the Dragon Slayer which the children are really excited to write about.
Year 5 has had yet another busy week. After all the excitement of sports day we have taken part in tennis and cricket sessions. We had an outdoor learning session linking to our science work on forces and we sent a team to Northam School to take part in athletics. Back in the classroom we have written our own stories about how an animal came to be the way it is, while in maths we have started to look at converting units. Our science looked at what a force is and in history we found out more about Ancient Greek cities. Well done to the members of the choir who took part in the singing event at the Big Sheep; you were amazing.
Year 6 had such a great trip to Lundy on Saturday. The weather was kind, they were non-stop busy and the journey home was a little rough, so quite exciting – and we even saw a dolphin. (Well, some did, who were looking in the right direction, at the right time!) This week they have been on the stage again, as well as learning a bit more about The Tempest. They were all so brilliant and helpful with Sports Day – I think they were all a little tired afterwards and so a day in the art room doing Design Technology this week has been at just the right time. They have worked hard to make their mechanisms for their automata work and then have added as much decoration as they have had time for. There are some lovely results. We are trying to keep everyone focussed for the last few weeks and are having lots of conversations about feelings they may have as they know their Appledore School time is finishing – encourage your child to talk to us if they feel they need support. Please check at home to see whether you have any school reading books that need to be returned before your child leaves. Also, please send in your pictures of your child when they were younger if you haven’t done so already.
