News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 23rd October
Well, that half term went quickly. It has been a busy couple of weeks with the three different harvest celebrations performed for parents and thank you for your kind donations that will be delivered to a local homeless charity. Planning and preparation for the celebration of Christmas have already begun!
Raffle tickets are coming home today. Please help the PTA by selling as many as you can! More can be collected from the school office if needs be.
We have set our term dates for 2027-2028 and they are available here
Dates for the diary:
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- Year 7 Assessment & Activity Day at West Buckland School, taking place on Wednesday 28 October, see here
- Friday 6th November 5-6pm Reception – Y2 Halloween Disco and 6.30-7.30pm Y3-6
- Friday 4th December School Christmas fair 3.30pm
Wishing you all a super half term and we look forward to welcoming you back on Monday 2nd November.
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have been learning about Harvest. We looked at how people celebrate harvest and we really enjoyed singing our songs at our harvest festival. We found our about a combine harvester and had a go at making one from a tube. We made pumpkins from salt dough and yesterday we made apple crumble.
We are so proud of our Year 1 class of Sea Lions and how resilient they have been this week! The children have been learning all about why full stops are so important in our writing. We have been practising using them in pieces of writing with more than one sentence and checking that our writing makes sense. We have also had lots of fun learning about Harvest and why we celebrate it. We were super excited to perform at our Harvest Festival and loved learning all of the songs! In maths this week, we have been adding and subtracting one and have started writing these as number sentences.
We hope you all have a lovely half term break and enjoy a well-earned rest! Well done, Sea Lions!
Year 2 have worked hard this week to write their instructions based on How to wash a wolly mammoth. We had some entertaining instructions for how to wash ants, dragons, dragonflies and unicorns – well done everyone. In Maths, they have been adding ones and then adding 3 small numbers using tens frames. They finished their Geography work by looking at maps of Appledore and looking at the different features. Thank you for coming to our Harvest Festival – the children really enjoyed learning and performing the songs. We wish you a relaxing half term break.
Year 3 looked at how we can “live lightly” in order to protect God’s beautiful creation. They will make pledges for things they can do to help the planet. Year 4 looked at Mosques around the world and then designed their own. They also looked at why Muslims fast during Ramadan. Year 5 looked at an example of a Hindu whose religious beliefs were exemplified by his life – Mohandas Gandhi. Year 6 tasted some of the food on a Seder plate and considered why these foods help Jews celebrate Passover.
Year 3 have completed their second literacy unit based on interviews with animals. This week the class has researched an animal of interest and then written questions they would like to ask it during an interview. They also thought about the responses that would have been given if they were the animal. We have continued with addition and subtraction, using a column method, and applying these skills to word problems. We finished off work in science and geography, ready to start the new units after half term. Have a restful week and we look forward to seeing what next half term brings!
Wow – I can’t believe it is already the final week of the half term! This week, Year 4 have planned and drafted our independent write in English and will take some time after half term to publish them for the writing display. In maths, we have looked at perimeter and finding the perimeter of rectilinear shapes. In Science, we have planned an experiment that focuses on the rate of evaporation and after half term will use the data from this to draw up our own line graphs. We really enjoyed our trip to the Energy from Waste centre in Exeter. This included three activities: a tour, a chance at using a simulation crane and a kahoot quiz. It was really fun and the children were keen to show off their learning about sustainability this half term. In PE, we finished cricket with a mini game. In computing, we looked at who owns content on the internet and what we have permission to share and use. Values looked at how ‘we’ can be responsible and make positive changes. We awarded our values cup to a member of the class who the class explained to always think about what she is doing – and this is always the right choice. She is responsible because she makes sure she does what she says she is going to do.
In year 5 this week, we have been learning about biographies. The children have identified key features and structures of a biography by reading about the life of inspirational women in science. They will be researching inspirational people and making notes (a homework task) ready to write their own biographies after half term. They have also been publishing their final short stories inspired by The Tear Thief book. In maths, we started our unit on addition and subtraction and the children showed good skills using column addition and subtraction. In geography, we explored the topic of Fairtrade. The children compared the life of Joseph Melvin, a banana farmer from St Lucia, and discussed the challenges he faces, compared to farmers who were fair trade certified. Year 5 impressed me with the vector drawings they produced in our computing lesson being able to group and duplicate objects to create detailed images.
Year 6 have been busy publishing their stories based on The Princess’ Blankets. In maths, they have been exploring the rules of divisibility and discovering how to apply their knowledge. In science, they have been experimenting: they have had a yeast race to see whether sugar increased the speed of dough rising and have been investigating with bread – to see where mould grows best. In maths, they have been exploring the rules of divisibility and discovering how to apply their knowledge. In PE, they worked really hard completing a circuit of exercises – they had great determination. It’s been a busy half-term and they have all worked hard! We hope you enjoy the half-term holiday.
