Appleton Academy
Primary Newsletter
Autumn 1 2024
Together with our community, we can achieve extraordinary things.
Welcome
Dear Parents and Carers,
As we reach the end of this half term, I want to take a moment to reflect on what has been a fantastic few weeks here at school.
The children have worked incredibly hard, and it’s been wonderful to see their enthusiasm for learning grow day by day.
I’d also like to extend my thanks to you, our parents and carers, for your continued support. Whether through attending performances, assemblies, or simply ensuring your children come to school each day ready to learn, your involvement plays a crucial role in their success. We value the partnership we share with you in supporting your child’s journey.
As we head into the half-term break, I hope you all have the chance to enjoy some well-deserved rest and quality family time. Please remind the children to stay safe, have fun, and perhaps even dive into a good book or two! We look forward to welcoming them back, refreshed and ready for the exciting learning experiences the next half term will bring.
Wishing you all a restful and happy half-term break.
Miss Clayton
Attendance
Attending school every day helps your child to stay on track with their learning, build strong relationships with their teachers and classmates, and develop good habits that will benefit them throughout life. Each day at school, your child is exposed to new concepts, ideas, and skills that are essential for their growth. Missing even a few days can create gaps in their learning that may be challenging to catch up on.
Research shows that consistent attendance leads to better academic outcomes, while frequent absences can negatively impact a child’s progress. It also helps your child feel more connected to the school community boosting their confidence and enthusiasm for learning.
We understand that there are times when absences cannot be avoided, such as for illness or emergencies. However, we encourage you to make school attendance a priority whenever possible.
The children in Early Years have settled into our school very quickly. They have been learning all about themselves and their families. They have enjoyed two art sessions with Chris Mould creating 2D and 3D self-portraits.
As part of their My Happy Mind sessions, Early Years have been learning all about their brains and how to keep them healthy. Early Years made Brain Hats to wear to remind them to look after their brains!
Year 1
Over the past half term, Year 1 have settled into their new classes very quickly. In history, we made timelines of our lives and looked at some baby photos of our classmates.
As part of our art learning, Year 1 made sculptures taking inspiration from Andy Goldsworthy. We used natural materials; pebbles, sticks and leaves.
The children worked hard practising all term and had a blast performing their Goldilocks and the Three Bears production for a live audience.
Year 2
This half term Year 2 have been using the story of The Three Little Pigs as a stimulus for writing. We changed the characters to our own ideas and learned how to use adjectives and different conjunctions to add more detail to our writing.
In DT we have been learning about puppets and designing our own based around fairytale characters. We had to concentrate hard to sew the pieces together!
We all enjoyed our performances of The Three Little Pigs. We created and performed a retell of the story with songs and created our own rap.
Year 3
Over the past half term, Year 3 have been learning all about Spain. We celebrated this with a Spanish Day where we explored the different cuisines in Spain, we learnt some Flamenco Dancing and we were introduced to the Spanish language. We were also inspired by the famous artist Picasso and did some artwork around cubism.
We have also been learning about forces and magnets. During this half term we have completed lots of different investigations.
Year 4
Our topic this term has been World War Two, the children have loved this topic and all the activities we have completed in relation to this!
We went on a very exciting trip to Eden Camp where World War Two was brough to life.
In drama, we performed a show about being a child in World War Two to a packed audience of parents. In DT, we also created some yummy nutritious soup!
Year 5
Year 5 had a fantastic trip to Saltaire to research and observe the river
Aire for our geography field work. We also learnt a lot about Sir Titus Salt, the founder of Saltaire.
In science, we created parachutes to use in our experiment about the effects of air resistance. To keep it a fair test, we measured the parachutes accurately before timing how long they took to fall to the floor.
This half term has been very busy with the start of our outdoor education in 5DF and the start of our swimming in 5JM. In 5DF, we have been bike riding and doing some team building exercises.
Year 6
As part of our English and history unit, we have been looking at Ancient Greece and myths and legends. We wrote a 13th labour for Hercules to complete.
In science, we also had the opportunity to investigate how the brightness of bulbs are affected by the amount of voltage in the circuit.
As part of our DT and science work we have created fairgrounds using an electrical circuit to make them move.
Our artist in residence, Chris Mould has been busy working on portraits with our Early Years children.
We took part in an exciting book launch with Chris Mould where he showed us how to draw images from his latest book, War of the Worlds.
Nik Perring has begun his latest writing residence with year 6 who have been writing notes to people from history.
Our Year 6 children worked with Chris and Nik designing headstones and creating affirmations in response to the George Layton story 'The Long Walk'.
Community Events
My name is Emily Chesterman and I am the Parental Involvement Officer at Appleton Academy. I would like to welcome everyone back to school and also welcome our new families. Please continue to encourage your children to read at home, even if it is 10 minutes while you are cooking your evening meal or before bed. Please continue to work hard to attend school every day and arrive on time as learning begins straight away. There are lots of rewards for your children so keep up the great work.
Emily.chesterman@appletonacademy.co.uk
Donations
I am currently taking donations in school with Christmas quickly approaching. If you have any of the following items that you would kindly donate, please can they be brought to main reception at school
Soft toys/Teddy bears
Unwanted gift items
Coats (children's and adults)
Childrens wellies
Useful information
Is your child struggling due to feelings of worry or stress? Sessions are delivered by the Educational Psychology Team within a safe space. This is based at Reevy Family Hub BD6 3ST from Thursday 14 November to Thursday 5 December 1.00-230pm. You need to be available to attend all 4 sessions. To book please call 01274 439444 or email EBSA@bradford.gov.uk
Restore Recovery College - Call 07538 218 491 to book
Creative Writing for Mental Wellbeing Monday 9 December 1.30-3.30pm. Crime Prevention and Safety – Monday 9 December 10.00-11.00am Tools for Managing Stress and Anxiety Tuesday 10 December 12.30-2.30pm Winter Mindfulness Walk Monday 16 December 10.00-12.00pm Men's Group- Every Monday 10.00-12.00pm Arts & Crafts- Every Wednesday 10.30-12.30pm
Warm Welcome Space – Every Wednesday 2.00-4.00pm
Coffee Mornings
Please come along to our coffee mornings for a chat , warm drink and a little treat on Wednesday 13 November 8.30-9.30am & Thursday 5 December 8.30-9.30am