News
Newsletter for the week ending Friday 5th December
Thank you to FOAS (Friends of Appledore School) for organising the discos last week that were a success and for your support. Lots of imaginative Christmas costumes were on display.
The sound of Christmas is heard throughout the school and beyond, from rehearsals in school to the choir travelling to sing to members of community. Please read Around the Classes to find out more. And if you get a chance, please come and take a look at our Christmas hoops in the main corridor.
Please see here for details about our Christmas Fair.
Dates for the diary
- Turtles and Dolphins nativity, 2pm, Tuesday 9th December @2pm
- Years 1& 2 nativity performances are 2pm Wednesday 10th December and 9.30am Thursday 11th December
- Christmas fair Friday 12th December 3-5pm
- Christmas dinner for pupils and wear your Christmas jumper day Wednesday 17th December
- Years 3-6 Christmas celebration at St Mary’s church, Appledore, 2pm Friday 19th December
- Please ensure you are parking responsibly on the roads around school and not on the private road Kingsley Avenue. If you require a parking permit for the Oden Road car park, please contact the school.
- Have a good weekend everybody
From Jeremy Cooper and all the children and staff
AROUND THE CLASSES
This week in Turtles and Dolphins we have been reading the story ‘Stick Man.’ We talked about the things that Stick Man became in the story and then we thought about other things that Stick Man could become. On Wednesday we to the woods to make Stick Man and his family. We have created pictures of Stick Man and we loved having a go at painting with sticks. Today, we walked to the Library to change our library books.
In Year 1 this week we have been enjoying our new book, The Three Little Pigs. We’ve talked a lot about fairy tales and read a few fairytales that not many children had heard before. We made a story map for the Three Little Pigs story and then compared two different versions. We found lots of similarities and differences. In Art we have been looking at abstract art by Kandinsky and then had a go at making our own. We drew shapes in pen first and then painted them using lots of different colours. We really enjoyed mixing the paints to create our favourite colours.
Year 2 enjoyed a Christmas service with singing and acting at the Baptist church on Thursday morning with the rest of the school. They have been busy putting the finishing touches to their Christmas Nativity ready to show you all next week. In Maths, they have been learning about 2D shapes: naming them and identifying their properties. In English, they have started a new unit of work based on a Christmas advert from a few years ago. They discussed the feelings of the characters and there were some really thoughtful ideas. In their History learning, they have continued to learn about Christopher Columbus and put the events of his life in order. They are looking forward to an outdoor learning session on Friday, where they will be looking at map skills.
Year 3 have begun to look at the new text , The First Drawing, with a focus on using modal verbs and identifying regular and irregular plurals. We have completed all the end of term assessments for both maths and reading. It was lovely to see how much progress has been made this term. These results are being shared with the children so they can see all their hard work is clear to see. In our history we looked at Stonehenge and why monuments, like this, would have been built in the past and are still there today. The class enjoyed their end of term, open the book assembly, which took place down in the Baptist Church.
In Year 4 this week, the children have been publishing their writing “A Walk around a Roman Villa” which will be displayed in the corridor when it’s finished for you all to see. In Maths, we have been focusing on what multiply means and applying this understanding to learning different multiplication facts. In Computing, we looked at using the repeat command to program a screen turtle and they will move on to designing their very own program which is to create a Roman mosaic. In History, we have been learning about the Roman legacy and what they left behind in Britain that we still use today. In PE, we focused on the shooting technique. In Science, the children have been learning about the different teeth we have and we had a dentist visit us to discuss how to look after our teeth.
On Monday, Year 5 braved the rain for a fascinating history walk with local historian Terry Bailey to support our study of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons. We also discovered lots of interesting facts about Appledore’s history along the way. Thank you to the parent volunteers who helped on the walk with us – it is much appreciated. In maths, we have been working on division and learning how to work with remainders. In literacy, the children have been finishing their stories, creating front covers, and writing their blurbs – these wonderful pieces of work will be displayed in the corridor very soon! In PE, the children rehearsed and performed their group dances based on a recycling theme, and they were brilliant. In science, we learned about boiling and condensing, and some of the children even carried out their own condensation investigations at home, which they proudly shared with the class. In grammar, we explored conjunctions, and the children wrote some fantastic sentences using them.
Year 6 have been comparing and ordering fractions using the denominator and numerator this week. In Literacy, they have found out about Harry Clement, an evacuee who was sent to Clovelly and started planning a biography about him. In Science we looked at the digestive system and how nutrients are absorbed into the body. This also included healthy food choices! It’s been a sporty week with the Multi-skills festival at ARC and with some children going to Shebbear for a hockey festival too – all very enjoyable. They have also enjoyed performing in the Open the Book Christmas Assembly at the church.
