Staplegrove Church School

Congratulations to yellow house (EYFS and Key Stage 1) and green house (Key Stage 2) who were victorious at our sports day. Every child had success, whether it was joining in with the group activities or in the sprints and long-distance runs. Excellent displays of sportsmanship and teamwork!

Learning about, understanding and respecting other cultures and religions is a crucial part of becoming an active member of British society. Our Year 5 children certainly have a great understanding of Hinduism, which has been their RE focus this half term.

A lovely message to start the day in Year 2

After reading the story, The Bog Baby, some children in Reception class designed and made their very own Bog Babies. They had to design it, select felt, then apply sewing skills to join the material together.

Tuesday afternoons are a highlight of the week for Year 5 as they are really enjoying their ukulele lessons with Mr Clarke. The children can now play a range of chords and can play songs that require them to change between chords. They will soon be ready for their concert to the school!

Some more Year 6 residential photos...

On Monday a number of children from Years 5 and 6 took part in a local schools cross country event at Kings College.

There were a large number of children from local schools all across the area and the children from Staplegrove were not only successful in terms of doing extremely well in the races (our Year 6 boys came 2nd and 3rd out of over 100 runners) but also showed great sportsmanship and respect towards the other runners.

Beech class have been learning about wild plants in Science, and enjoyed being botanists for the day - going on a walk around the school to see how many wild plants they could find and identify.

Year 6 enjoyed their residential at PGL Torquay. Teamwork, climbing, zip-lining, canoeing, moo-offs (apparently a real thing!) and so much more. Our oldest children showed lots of courage and friendship - it was brilliant to see their strong relationships in a new setting!

Year 2 visited Exmouth and learned all about the important work of the RNLI, including how we know from the Lifeguard's flags whether it is safe to swim or not.

Well done to the children who were complimented by the volunteers for their great questions and good knowledge of water safety.

After learning about coastal erosion, the class had a great time building 3D sculptures on the beach - and the sun stayed out the whole day!

Year 4 have been very busy!

In DT we have been exploring simple machines invented by Ancient Sumerians and have progressed to designing and creating our own toys using the simple machines we have been investigating.

In Maths, the children have been learning about co-ordinates and translation and created their own maps, describing how to move from one space to another.

In Art, the children have been developing the skill of line drawing and creating their own statues and figures.

Elm class have been learning about the different tasks and responsibilities of nurses.

They were visited by Mrs Gillespie, who taught them about the
equipment nurses use in their role and showed them how to use some of them.

Rowan Class stepped back in time and experienced what life would have been like along the Somerset coastline in the 1800s.

We explored seaside artefacts, played traditional beach games, and learned about how the seaside has changed over time. This really helped to deepen understanding of change over time and chronology.

Children in Elm class invented a maths game with dominoes. They had to add the two sides of a domino together and then say the total.

"I know it's 10 because 6 add 4 is 10"

"Double 4 is 8"

Children needed to recall number bonds rapidly and laid them onto the number track they made.

In Design and Technology the Year 1 children are learning about how to prepare food. This week we looked at how to do this using these methods, chop, slice, mash, grate and tear. We enjoyed using a range of foods and once we had prepared them using these methods we tasted all the food, cheese, tomatoes, bananas, lettuce, spring onions and carrots.

Our budding actors in Year 5 learned about the plot of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' work with Shakespeare in Schools theatre company. They created their own drama pieces and clearly embraced their roles!

Year 5 enjoyed their first forest school lesson this week. The children explored the forest school area, spent time in their favourite areas of the forest school and learned to identify 10 different species of plants growing in the site.

They have also been working on logic and problem solving in maths. The children had to solve the problem in the least number of moves possible and were also tasked with recording their method.

Year 4 had a super 3 days at Kilve Court for their residential trip. Climbing, abseiling, crab hunting, archery, low ropes, den building and lots of walking - a great experience for everyone! Well done to all of the children for showing great courage to take part in all of the activities.

Well done to our Year 5 and 6 cricket team who are successfully through to the Taunton primary school finals - you did the school proud!

In Elm class, we used the story of Handa's Surprise to support our maths learning. We made fruit skewers with different fruits and spoke about 'parts' and 'whole'.

"Five is a part and two is a part and the whole is seven".
"Three apples, two grapes, plus three strawberries and the whole is eight".
Children learned to safely use knives and skewers to prepare their snack.

They planned what they would like to have and "the best part was eating them!"

The children in Year 6 have had the opportunity to attend a 'bikeability' course at school this week. This provides them with valuable lessons focussing on safety on a bike and equips them with vital life skills.

The children learn to respond to risks and develop increasing confidence on and around the roads. All of this alongside having lots of fun!

In art, Year 5 have been working on using different art media to create different effects.

Last week they started work on the final piece for this unit - a mixed media collage. Here are some fantastic examples of the first stages of their collages.

We have had some long-standing technical difficulties with our Facebook, however we are able to post again!

Here are our Year 1s who experienced Victorian School with the Museum of Somerset - clearly they didn't think they would have enjoyed it all the time! They also took part in our local sports festival – great sportsmanship shown by all!

Year 5's visit to Coombe Farm - learning about the seasonality of our food, how the best farms take care of their animals and what organic farming means. A great learning experience!

What living and non-living things can we find in a habitat and how do habitats help animals live? Our habitat experts in Year 2 will be able to tell you!

Year 3 scientists testing different rocks for their durability, porousness and buoyancy. We discovered some fascinating results!

Our Year 1 historians have been developing their understanding of chronology by learning about the stages of life. A highlight was looking at the teachers' childhood photos and working out who was who!

Our Year 5 class have been expert Geographers understanding different land uses and how they help us.

We are currently seeking a passionate Teaching Assistant to join our committed team. If you would like to play an important part in our children's development and education, we would love to hear from you. Please contact the school office for a tour of our fantastic school!

Teaching Assistant Staplegrove Church School Taunton Teaching Assistant 31.65 hours a week – Term time only Permanent position TA Salary: Grade 15 SCP 2 - 4 (£20,441 - £21,189 per annum pro rata) Actual salary £14,462 - £14,992 Are you an experienced teaching assistant Are you an aspiring teacher looking for experience in a school setting Do you...

A busy first couple of weeks of term at Staplegrove Church School. We have enjoyed learning and and then performing poetry to the rest of the school; toad hunting at lunchtime; developing an understanding of World War 1 and much more. An exciting start to the year!