Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been another busy week for the children, with some great learning taking place in all classes. It was beautiful to see the collaborative work going on in Class One on Wednesday afternoon. All of the children were busy outside, working together to create a 'Bug Hotel'. Some children were collecting materials; others were sorting and some were carefully arranging the cones, bark, feathers etc inside the blocks that formed the structure. The talk and negotiation that was happening was just brilliant! Well done Class One ... I think you are going to have some happy bugs in your outside area!

Harvest Collective Worship

The children have been busy learning songs, practicing plays and preparing other bits for our Harvest CW next Wednesday (14th). We would love children to bring in non-perishable food items in tins or packets so that we can donate these on to the food bank in Barnstaple - all donations would be gratefully received on Wednesday morning. Of course, all parents and carers are very welcome to join us in the church for our worship at 2:45pm.

Online Safety

Please find information attached with this letter regarding online safety and AI. This is something that we teach the children about in school, but it is also becoming more of an important factor outside school too.

Mrs Charlotte Barber

We are very pleased to have appointed Charlotte Barber to work one half day per week to cover Miss Trofa's SENDCo work whilst she is off on maternity leave. Mrs Barber is very experienced in the field of SEND provision and currently works with the SENDCo across Pilton Infants' and Pilton Bluecoat in TEAM MAT. She and Miss Trofa have already met to ensure a seamless handover of information and I have no doubt that the high quality assessment and early intervention that Miss Trofa provides, will be maintained in her absence by this appointment. A warm welcome Mrs Barber and hope that she will have a rewarding time working with us at HB.

Mrs Helen Rowden

We are also very pleased to announce that Miss Trofa's teaching days will be covered by Mrs Rowden. She is a qualified teacher with much experience in the primary sector who already teaches Science to Class Three. She knows the children well and they all know her. Mrs Rowden's appointment will ensure a good deal of continuity across the week for Y3 and Y4 whilst Miss Trofa is away.

Class Trips and Visitors

As part of their coast project, Class Two children were visited by the RNLI on Monday to learn about the important work of this organisation. On Wednesday, they enjoyed a trip to Westward Ho! and Northam Burrows to see first hand some of the physical and human features of this part of the north Devon coastline. Despite the wind, they had a brilliant time and were able to cement their learning so far. This afternoon, they have enjoyed a drama workshop based on the story, 'Thumbelina'. There will be more on that next week.

On Tuesday, KS2 children had the opportunity to travel to West Point near Exeter for the long-awaited 'Farmwise' event. There was lots to see and learn about in what was a packed day with over 1500 students attending. Mrs Kennard let me know that the people running one stand approached her after some of the children from Class Four had been with them for a while. Mrs Kennard was informed that those children asked the most insightful questions out of anyone there: great to hear, Class Fourers!

A big thank you to PTA who subsidise so many of our curriculum enrichment events and of course to you parents and carers for funding your children to take part in these incredibly worthwhile activities.

TTRS

With this letter is some information about Time Table Rock Stars. This is the online platform that we use to support the teaching of multiplication facts. Children are familiar with this site and all have a login, so that they can practice learning / revising and rehearsing facts at home too. 

Have a lovely weekend,

Rob Norton

Head of School