Year 2 recently began their ocean curriculum unit of learning, "what lives in a rockpool by the sea?" by going on a rockpool ramble! We learnt about what lives in this habitat through some fieldwork which included careful handling, collecting and observing of different creatures and plants.
Year 2 have also been exploring microhabitats in nearby Torre Abbey Gardens. We are very fortunate to have these beautiful grounds just a few minute's walk from the school.
Year 6 have been studying World War Two, and as part of the topic they spent the day immersing themselves into the era. The pupils enjoyed a range of activities such as afternoon tea, baking, sewing and singing along to wartime songs.
Year 6 have also been busy fundraising for their leaver's celebrations and our linked school in Ethiopia by taking part in the Mile-a-Morning challenge. The children have the option to run or walk for 1 mile around the Torre Valley North playing field track, promoting our Aspirational Annie school value. Great effort Year 6! If you would like to support our fundraising, please visit our Just Giving page. Thank you.
Huge congratulations to our football teams who performed amazingly last week, reaching the finals at the local School’s Football Night. We are extremely proud to announce that our Year 5/6 girls won their match to bring home the trophy! A fantastic achievement and demonstration of our Collaborative Carmen school value.
Eden Park Primary & Nursery School
We are always proud to share pupil achievements, both in and out of school. Well done to Albie in Year 5 who has become our latest history graduate, delivering a fascinating presentation about the progression of evolution through different civilisations. You can learn more about our Graduate Scheme over on the Eden Park Primary & Nursery School website. We are also thrilled to share the impressive achievement of one of our Frogs Nursery pupils, who at age 4, has read a staggering 250 books so far this year as part of the school’s Book Quest! Well done, Percy!
We are passionate about reading at Eden Park, and Year 2 and Year 6 have recently had the opportunity to visit Brixham Library and explore all that the library has to offer. Both year groups took part in a range of activities which promote the love of reading, and the librarians explained how to sign up for a library card. All the children showed terrific Roger Respect superhero value during their visits.
As part of our weekly enrichment offerings, the children in Key Stage 1 have been participating in clay sculpting, using natural objects found around the school. Our Crystal Creativity superhero values encourage pupils to express themselves through art, and we have been so impressed with their clay pieces. We look forward to sharing more of these creative projects with you in the future.
The children in Reception were very lucky to receive a special visit recently from Mrs McCrum’s pet tortoise, Hermy! The pupils loved taking turns to hold, feed and clean Hermy, wonderfully demonstrating our Roger Respect superhero value.
Anwen from the Children’s Society came in to talk to children about safe and happy relationships. As part of our RSE and PSHE curriculum, the children learn how to recognise if relationships and friendships are making them feel unhappy or unsafe, and are taught how to seek help or advice from others if needed.
Eggbuckland Vale Primary School
We are very proud to announce that Eggbuckland Vale Primary School were winners of one of the coveted Silver Awards from the The Pearson National Teaching Awards. We now go forward for the finals in November. Only 8 schools won Silver from over 1000 entries so it really is a massive achievement for the Early Years Foundation Stage team. The judges were especially interested in their proactive approach, 'can do' attitude and inclusivity across the team. Headteacher Susie Carroll, Early Years Leader Ros Owen and Chair of the Board of Trustees, Christian Jenkins, are pictured above.
Year 5 had a fantastic time this week on their Escot residential trip. We look forward to sharing more about the trip in the next blog.
Year 6 have been exploring historical sources on 'The Blitz.' The children have been able to mark on a map the key cities which were targeted during WW2 and have considered what the objects in the sources may have been used for during the time. They then matched captions to the images to see if their predictions about the objects were correct. Great use of investigation skills, Year 6!
We had a great afternoon over at Leigham Primary School taking part in New Age Kurling. A group of our KS2 services children had a brilliant time learning the skills and tactics of the sport and had plenty of time to practice playing the game with each other and children from Leigham. The children were excellent representatives of the school. Well done!
Well done to all the children who participated in Sports Day and thank you to the families and friends who came along to support the pupils. The winning house was Christie!
Leigham Primary School
Well done to our recent Endeavour Award Certificate winners, Reading Champions and the children who managed to move on to the next ‘Beat Your Score’ sheets.
Year 1 have recently visited the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth. They learnt about a variety of sea creatures on our tour and had the opportunity to become marine biologists. The children carried out experiments to see what happens to an egg in water when salt is added and they explored how different sea creatures eat plankton. It was very pleasing to hear our children's prior knowledge due to our ocean curriculum coverage this year. Well done, Year 1!
Year 2 visited the residents of Pattison Court to share the diary entries they had written in English about their trip to Plymbridge. The children thoroughly enjoyed sharing their writing with an audience and the residents were very impressed with the writing and oracy skills they demonstrated. Well done, Year 2!
Our boys football team played exceptionally well against a well-trained Bickleigh team made up of national champions. Our children really showed what teamwork, hard work and determination looks like on the football pitch! We may have lost, but Mr Wren went away feeling so proud of what the boys achieved. The girls football team have also played in a quarter final match, which ended with a nervous win on penalties! Our girls were fantastic representatives for the school and showed how great teamwork, concentration and determination can bring great success. They now go through to the semi-finals at Manadon in a couple of weeks! Let’s go, Leigham!
This week, we had two amazing Sports Days at Leigham Primary. Thank you to the family members who came to support the children, to the staff for all their hard work and most importantly, to the children for showing great determination and sportsmanship all day!
Manadon Vale Primary School
The Foundation Stage enjoyed dressing in rainbow colours in exchange for donations of items to sell at our Summer Fayre.
As part of their 'Drop in the Ocean' topic, Year 1 have been working collaboratively to create their own rockpools.
Year 6 enjoyed a recent visit to Torr Residential Home. We got to meet some of the residents, sing them our leavers songs, ask them questions and show off some dance moves. They provided us with juice and doughnuts, and it really cheered up the residents. The children were praised for their politeness.
As part of the science curriculum, Year 6 have been learning about electricity and light. Miss York and Miss Harris stated, "light travels in straight lines." We proved they were correct!
A huge well done to our amazing football team, ranging from Year 2 to Year 6, who won the annual Connect Academy Trust football tournament last week, for the second year running! Here they are proudly showing off their trophy.
Preston Primary School
Year 6 had a fabulous time away in Bideford for their residential. They took part in lots of different activities including high ropes, archery, orienteering and surfing! The instructors commented on the pupil’s determination and manners during their stay, demonstrating all our school values. Well done Year 6! We would also like to thank our PTA (FOPPS) who provided this years leaver's hoodies. The children were thrilled to receive them in time to take away on the residential.
Foundation Stage have been caring for and observing caterpillars. The children have been recording changes on a timeline and counting number of days. The caterpillars started crawling up to the top of their pots and each began to build a chrysalis. The butterflies finally emerged a few days later! We have discovered that butterflies like to eat sweet fruit to get some energy, so we gave them a delicious snack of banana and oranges. We released the butterflies that were ready to find a new habitat and continue the life cycle. We will continue to look after the other chrysalises.
The Unit 2 children had a fantastic time at South Devon College in the Computer and Technology Department. During the day, they used their collaboration and creativity skills to work as a team to design an idea for a new game. They had to work to a specific criteria, and then present their ideas to the rest of their class. The children used their knowledge of algorithms and coding to program a moving vehicle to follow the track. They all thoroughly enjoyed investigating the gaming room. It was a pleasure to watch them playing games together and helping each other to use the different technology. The adults from the college were very impressed by the children's behaviour; they were polite, keen to ask questions, and impeccably behaved all day.
Unit 3 were visited by Alex Mack from Resource Futures. Alex is an Education Team Leader and spoke to the children about composting, renewable energy, and small changes we can make to our lives to support the environment around us. The children enjoyed investigating the mini-beasts in compost and using a key to identify them, and planting a seed of their own and learning how to care for it. They showed a great amount of respect for the environment and our visitor. Well done everyone! We look forward to hearing about how your plants are growing. Our school Eco-committee also met with Alex to create an action plan, including reducing waste and recycling in school. The children were all inspired and excited! Alex was incredibly impressed with the Eco-committee's keenness to improve our school environment.
Thornbury Primary School
We are delighted to announce that Thornbury Primary School recently won a national award for 'Pupil Mental Health Initiative of the Year', beating seven other finalists from around the country. Three of Thornbury’s teaching staff were there to pick up their trophy – Headteacher Claire Hardisty, Assistant Headteacher Heidi Turner and Emma Mantell, Key Stage 1 Leader. You can read more about this fantastic achievement on the Plymouth Chronicle website. Well done, Thornbury Primary School!
Foundation Stage pupils had an amazing time at Dartmoor Zoo. The children were greeted by one of the zookeepers who was holding a baby bat, then they had their Close Encounters Workshop, where they were able to hold lots of interesting items and stroke a Papua New Guinea stick insect, an African land snail and a blue tongued skink. The children then got to explore the zoo and got to see so many different animals, including a lioness, a cheetah, a jaguar, otters, monkeys, wolves and many more! Well done Foundation for being Curious Cats!
Year 1 have been reading 'Sally and the Limpet', by the famous author Simon James. They have used their senses to describe treasures from the beach to help improve their writing. We were also lucky to have received a visit from Mr James! He was wonderfully engaging, and the children thoroughly enjoyed him speaking to them.
Year 1 have also been busy hosting their open morning. Thank you to the adults who took the time to come in and join us. The children thoroughly enjoyed making nature art with their families.
Widey Court Primary School
As part of Health and Wellbeing Week, a group of Year 5 pupils visited Deer Park Farm. They participated in class games and mindfulness activities, and even helped out with tending to the animals!
Another group of Year 5 pupils have been enjoying a week’s stay at Nethercott House Farm. They have had a fantastic time exploring the farm and surrounding village, feeding the animals and beekeeping. Some super team work skills shown!
Congratulations to the Widey Court Junior Field Gun Crew who competed today on Plymouth Hoe as part of Armed Forces Day and won! They won fastest time, aggregate time and on overall points. We are so proud of all the children and everyone involved in this incredible achievement!
