Our News
Week Beginning 15th April
This week we wrote handwritten replies to the children in the Dundee School. We answered their questions and thought of more to ask them.
We are learning about telling the time in Maths and practising our tables. On Friday we went outside for some problem solving using Trial and Improvement or Guess and Check. For example, we had to find the highest even number under 100, not using any digit more than once. We had to write the answer using things found in nature.
In forest school, we are practising working as a team and remembering that it isn't about the winning, but how we include all the members of our team. We had to do camp tasks and then played Team Rock, Paper, Scissors. We also had a 5 minute team challenge of creating the tallest structure using only the willow sticks we were given.
We asked parents what their favourite toys were as a child and some brought in toys or looked them up online. We thought about the similarities and differences.
Week Beginning 25th March
This week we have been finishing off the story of Alice In Wonderland, ready for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and the Virtual Reality event in the hall during the Easter Holidays. We have enjoyed trying to predict the nonsense that might happen next at each stage of the story.Â
We have looked at what kind of toys Alice would have played with in 1865 and have found that quite a few of them we still have today, although they look different now.
We had an end of term online ceilidh with some Gaelic songs and Scottish music.Â
We have been looking at stories from Buddhism as part of our learning about stories from different religions.Â
In maths we have begun to look at Chance and Probability.
Happy Easter holidays everyone.Â
Week Beginning 18th March
This week we spent half a day with Shieldaig Primary, planting trees with the Woodland Trust, eating lunch at the primary school and spending a good playtime with them. It was a beautiful day and each of the six pairs planted between 4 and 7 trees. Some of the children played football and others chose to make new friends climbing over the heather bank.Â
On Tuesday, our p4 and 5 went over to Achmore for the Newton Science Day and learned about circuits, using fruit.Â
We continued Alice In Wonderland and have reached the end of chapter 7, which means we have a fair few chapters to finish next week before the Virtual Reality event at the Community Hall and the Mad Hatter's Tea Party during the Easter break. We have done some drama; created miniature doors with gardens behind them; discussed Alice's choices; thought about what might possibly happen next; tried to guess what the conversations actually mean and many more activities.Â
Week Beginning 11th March
This week we have been continung to look at nouns, adjectives and verbs. We have been taking photos of some verbs being acted out for our writing wall.
As part of focus on weather, we had a science/technology afternoon where we learned a bit about waterproofing, tested our own materials to see how waterproof they were and thought about fair tests.Â
We also made some linen waterproof by melting beeswax with an iron onto it.Â
In PE this week we did some yoga in one session and practised forward rolls, backward rolls, different balances, including The Crow and handstands.
Can you guess what these verbs are?
Week Beginning 4th March
What a glorious week to have our World Book Day in!! We have been outside digging and flattening the fenced off area in our Shieling, so that we can use it for something nice - we haven't decided yet and are thinking about it....
In maths we have looked at money and problem solving with coin collections. How many different ways can you make 20p? We haven't decided what the final answer is yet.
On World Book Day, the school was shut due to a planned power cut. We started off with a parade around the gym hall. We have been bringing in and reading parts of favourite books for a few weeks now. We spoke about the character we came as and thought about why we like that character.Â
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There were different tasks to do, including acting out words and designing a book cover. After a packed lunch outside, we went for a walk up to Torgarve and down through the beautiful, mossy Carnach woods and on the way, we stopped several times to answer questions 'in character' - Who would your character be most likely to meet in these woods? What would your character be most interested in looking at? What would your character find most difficult about this walk?
Weeks Beginning 19th and the 26th February
The first week back after the break was so short that we have joined it to the following one. On the Friday morning, the children had a meet up with a school in Dundee. We spoke to a primary two class who had lots of questions about the animals we see, the size of the school and also the single track roads. We asked lots of questions about their school and class. They have 30 children in the class!Â
Then we went to the hall for some Gaelic singing with Anne Martin, who was impressed with how well the children joined in and how well they sang. They really represented the school well and we are so proud of them.
After the soup and sandwich lunch, there were more songs, this time with the waulking, which the children were really interested in.Â
We have been looking at the water cycle in science and the children worked together to create mini versions to stick to the window to show evaporation, condensation and precipitation.
Week Beginning 12th February
This week we have been continuing to work on numberlines, taking off and counting on. We also did some maths in working out how many acorns we planted with Amy at the Community Gardens. The children also used their maths to weigh out the ingredients to make pancakes with.
In writing the children were using what they know about good adjectives and similes to retell the first bit of Alice In Wonderland. The older ones had to use paragraphs, speechmarks and commas if they could.Â
At the mammoth sowing session with Amy, the children calculated they had managed 320 acorns. After they had done even more planting, they found they had planted around 600 acorns. The children had a few games as well with Amy.
On Friday the chidren enjoyed coming up with some interview questions for the children at a school in Dundee. We have been asked if we would meet up with them online to find out similarities and differences between living and going to school in Dundee and in APplecross. We will meet up with them next Friday.
The class have started word processing and had to write up about what Alice could see through the tiny door, in the garden that she was too big to go into (and which they had drawn in Art). They also typed up some Imbolc poems from last week.
On Thursday, we had our final online kodaly session with Catherine - she is hoping to come and visit us next term. The children have shown good progression in their singing and listening to instructions.
Finally, a good end to the week as we could see some real progress in gymnastics, with balancing, rolling and landing.Â
Week Beginning 5th February
This week we have been working out whether to take away by counting back or whether to use the counting on strategy, so we have been looking closely at numberlines.
In forest school the children were keen to practise their jumps and lands in order to look graceful and not to hurt themselves.
They tried a number of balances in gymnastics.
We read some of ALice In Wonderland, made some 'Don't do it, Alice!' posters and made a true size Alice after she had shrunk (2 rulers) and grown (9 rulers).
Week Beginning 29th January
This week we learned about Imbolc, and how some people celebrate it. We looked for signs that winter is going to come to an end and thought about the sheep, nearly ready for lambing.
We lit a candle, found out about Bridget and the symbols and colours of Imbolc. We made Bridget crosses and dolls.
In maths we are looking at subtraction and trying to get faster at numberbonds.
In reading and writing, we are looking at story writing, with an orientation, a complication and a resolution. We wrote down the second part of Tam O'Haggis and tried to spot similes.
The nursery joined us to learn about Imbolc.
 We made Bridget crosses using pipe cleaners.
Then some of us tried using straws.
The children are bringing in some of their favourite books.
We try to read the book if it is a short one, and if it is a long one, we try to read 5-10 minutes of it.
Not all books were in English!
Week Beginning 22nd January
This week the children learned some things about Robert Burns and had a group quiz on their learning at our Burns' afternoon on the 25th.
They continued with their Scottish dancing and on Friday afternoon finished with a final Virginia Reel, Flying Scotsman, a Gay Gordons and some Canadian Barn Dance. What improvements since the first dance session before Christmas!
To tie in with our mapping work, we have been plotting journeys on our islands (that we made last week) and describing and following journeys using the compass points, or using left/right/turn.
The children sang some Scottish songs and the nursery joined us on our Burns' Afternoon. We had also weaved some bagpipes to put up in the classroom.
The nursery had a wee visit to Shieldaig Nursery on Tuesday and enjoyed working and playing alongside other children.Â
We have started our theme of Stories with the chidren bringing in their favourites to have read in the class or for them to read to us.
Some of the children are in dress-down clothes for the last Friday of the month. They, and the staff, paid £1 to do so. We started thinking about charities and learned a bit about Horatios's Garden. We will look at other charities and decide which one we want to donate to in June.
Week Beginning 15th January
We had two snow days this week and three 10am starts. We continued to learn about fractions, with the older ones looking at equivalent fractions and building fraction walls.
We are looking at story writing and this week designed our own maps, using some map symbols. Then we created stories set on our islands.
Week Beginning 8th January
Happy New Year and welcome back everybody!
This week in maths, we started looking at fractions and went outside to show halves and quarters (some of us).
We are very happy to have been donated three ducks. They are all male ducks, so no eggs. However, Tony and Rosemary would like to donate eggs from Oscar and Mackie's hens, as they have too many. We will start to sell them with an honesty box. Meanwhile, we have to think of names for the three boys.
In writing, we have started narrative, or story, writing, which we will be learning about this term. We are going to have a look at Alice In Wonderland before the VR Alice In WOnderland workshop comes to the hall in April.
It has been a cold, crisp, sunny week and we enjoyed our first session back to Forest School, where we now spend 10-15 minutes each week all helping with Forest School work - carrying chopped wood closer to the firepit; cutting brash, lighting the fire.
We have put bright boundary markers around the boundaries and have practised our individual Forest School calls.
Great first week back.
Week Beginning 10th December and 17th December
Lots of practising and lots of chicken pox to end the year.Â
The children did so well learning their lines and by the time of the show, were all loud and clear. We were very sad that Innes, Eoghain and Grace-Anne could not attend the performance. However, there are many photos up in the dining room of all the events leading up to the performance - the rehearsal, making the scenery, making props, thinking about ideas. We are emphasising that the show would have been not anywhere near so good, had all the work not been done in the lead up to it.Â
We made a few Christmas decorations in the final two weeks and many of these had to be delivered to children's homes. The children who were able to make the last day of school before the holidays, made some willow stars and came in dressed up, as did their teacher.
We have to thank Judy at the Inn for a donation to the School Fund raised in the run-up to Christmas, and for giving the children a tub of chocolates after the show.
Happy Christmas everybody.Â
Week Beginning 3rd December
On Monday we had a good rehearsal at the hall, with everyone knowing when to come in with their lines. We are still working on our lines and the children are pleased that they wrote them themselves. We made posters to advertise the show.
We read some letters from children at a rural school in America. The school is a similar size to ours. We will be replying to the letters next week.
In maths we have been working on doubles, times tables and symmetry. Some of us have been making up maths stories showing when we might use tables or doubles. We made symmetrical decorations for our winter display.
At Forest School we all worked hard on bringing wood for the woodstack. It is important that we all help in order that we have enough fuel. Everyone helped greatly! We also tried out our new safety system of answering to our individual calls, for when we might be just out of view, behind a tree or something. We also walked the boundary line, tying ribbons to trees to make it very clear where we can and cannot go.
Henry has made us tree hangers for our coats and hats.
We spent some time today learning about stars and constellations and movements of the earth and moon.
Week Beginning 28th November
This week we practised two Christmas songs to sing at the Christmas Lights turning on evening at the Inn. We also learned a Gaelic Jingle Bells and were lucky to have the Gaelic Medium children in Lochcarron teach us in two Google Meets.
We had a couple of sessions at the hall to walk through the whole show and sing the songs. The children have come up with so many good ideas about what the actions should be, where they should be on stage, what props might be needed. Not long to go now!
At Forest School we planned and then made miniature dens for our clay beings.
Week Beginning 21st November
This week we spent a lot of time working on songs, lines, scenery and props. The children have made up all their lines and now need to practise them. The first five songs are coming on nicely.Â
At Forest School the children sculpted forest beings from clay to leave in the woods near base camp. They used things they found around the forest and camp - bracken, rope, moss, sticks and bark.
Week Beginning 13th November
We have enjoyed another super week at Applecross Primary and Nursery. Timmy Cool came to visit on Tuesday; he told stories and we sang songs. We had lunch outside on a beautiful November day, and started to prepare compost from our wormery for the Christmas Fair. Â
We also took time preparing seed packets for home grown calendulas seeds for the Fair. We used these in our maths sessions where we were estimating the weight of seeds.
Week Beginning 2nd November 2023
Nursery and School News
This week the children were very pleased to watch a video from Oscar and Mackie. They decided what they would like to record to send back and show them in reply. They decided on talking about Dave, the new classroom layout, the dining room layout and singing a bit of one of the songs.
Forest School was inside due to many colds and wind and rain. The children built indoor dens instead, and we left them up until Friday. Many children chose to do their language and maths work inside their dens.
We finished a piece of Winter art, using pastels, paint, black paper for silhouettes and bits and pieces from fading plants outside.
We also started talking about our topic, Space, and thought about what we might want to find out about. We finished our willow lanterns to take on the Torgarve Woodland Walk and Shelter Warming evening this Saturday.
Week Beginning 30th October 2023
Nursery and School News
This week the children have been writing Halloween spells, doing Halloween maths and writing a recount about the wonderful party or the guising. It was great to hear that two of the children sung our Gaelic colours song to folk.
This was our final week of karate with Agnes and the children have enjoyed the sessions and made progress with listening and karate moves. Thank you very much Agnes!
Week Beginning 23rd October 2023
Nursery and School News
What a fantastic first week back! Â Lovely weather, outdoors for some learning every day this week, enthusiastic children and we have started thinking about our Christmas musical, Where The Wild Things Are.
On Monday we planted the seed-bombs we made last term as they had already started sprouting.
On Tuesday we all helped to cut down some willow that had become overgrown at the shieling (we have started making dream-catchers with some of it and will use much of it to weave into the existing willow hedge).
On Wednesday we had a visit from Gillian, who, in this picture, is teaching the children to recognise some of the the different types of Scottish traditional music.
Then at forest school, the children learned about compasses and the cardinal points, created 3D maps, and found treasure hidden using their 3D maps of the camp base.
Week Beginning 2nd October 2023
Nursery and School News
On Tuesday, Jenny, the Countryside Ranger, came to help us continue to develop our wildflower patch. We started by thinking why wildflowers are good to have. Then we set off collecting our own seeds from the shieling. Once we had a good amount, the children began making seed bombs with clay, soil, seeds and water. When they dry, we can plant them.Â
On Wednesday at Forest School, we walked round some of our important places in Forest School, naming them and then making a 3D map of them. We will be doing more mapwork next term. Also very exciting on Wednesday was a new classroom rug. Calmer and no more toys lost on it. Some of the children chose to spend the entire break on the Magical Marvellous Massage Mat. (We have been looking at alliteration)
On Thursday we had a really good end to the term - a lovely open afternoon for the children to show their work and the classroom to their parents. There was a lovely busy buzz about the place and lots of focused children.Â
Today we had a wonderful special guest which had been stomped on by a sheep. Lovely to see an adder, which is one of our Lost Words. Finally, there have been mysterious notes left in the classroom for people, which has prompted more mystery note writing!
Have a happy two weeks off!
Use the arrows at the side to have a look through our pictures of the day...
Week Beginning 25th September 2023
Nursery and School News
We were off for three days this week as schools across Highland were closed for striking. We had new experiences using our IT skills to learn online.
Week Beginning 18th September
Nursery and School News
This week we have been continuing to look at The Lost Words, clapping out the syllables and stretching the words. We have looked at animals which don't use their eyes to see the world and we have tried dying water with different plants. We have also looked at evidence of the plants taking water, using food dyes and watching the petals change colour.
We are learning The Rattlin'Bog and are very pleased that the nursery come and join us.
Pondering the world... or just wondering where the other welly went...!Â
Problem solving task - 18 wheels. Some of the children had to work out how many limousines (6 wheels) and how many motorbikes 18 wheels were. (And how many possible solutions there were.)
Checking our petals and dye.
We have been painting starlings for a collaborative murmuration collage.
Week Beginning 11th September 2023
Nursery and School News
On Wednesday we travelled over to Lochcarron Primary to join them for an outdoor learning day. The focus was literacy... and fun! Here is what we got up to.
Writing:Â Number Poems
We explored alliteration by describing natural objects, recognised and used nouns and adjectives, and effectively used rhythms and patterns in poetry.
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READING: Word Twister
We used movement to read unfamiliar words and stretch them out by segmenting them into their sounds.
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TALKING & LISTENING: Nightline
We learned to talk clearly and actively listen whilst guiding our partner blindfolded and being blindfolded through a series of outdoor obstacles.Â
Use the arrows at the side to have a look through our picures of the day...
Week Beginning 4th September 2023
This wonderful weather has continued all week and we have been outside for a fair amount of it - walking to the Strupag on Monday, Forest School on Woodland Wednesday, walking to PE on Fitness Friday and many times in between. It is lovely that the nursery joined us on all of these visits.
The children had their lunch at the Strupag, sang their two songs and raised ÂŁ121 for the school selling cakes, biscuits, soap, home-made soap dishes, bookmarks and other things. There have been many comments from people saying how wonderful it was to see them and to hear them singing too. Thank you for the many donations of things to sell.
Our topic this term is looking at the Lost Words book and learning about some of the things in there. The children had a treasure hunt on their walk to the Forest School and found many things on their lists - hazel, acorn, dandelion, rowan, fern, bracken....
Have a great weekend!
Week Beginning 28th August
What a lovely few days of weather we have had. The children have been out in the Shieling area, enjoying the warm sunshine. Mrs Gillies has been teaching the children songs to sing and encouraging the use of Gaelic every morning.
The children have been looking at textures and colours in art and have been developing their language wall for use in their writing. They've also been working hard in numeracy, working with tens and units, (see picture).
They are really looking forward to Monday, when they will be going to the Strupag at the hall - if you have any donations of baking or local produce we can sell, please bring it to the school on Monday morning. Have a great weekend!
Nursery
The nursery children picked their own vegetables then made soup. Here we are trying our very own 'home-grown' soup!
Week Beginning 21st August
The children have had a super week this week. We went to Lochcarron where we had a visit from Andy McKechnie from 'Jammin Fitness', who did workshops with all the children on Wednesday the 23rd. It was great to meet up with the other children and take part in the activities.
Have a look at what we have been up to below!
Whole School 'Jammin Fitness!'
On Wednesday we were very excited to go to Jammin Fitness, we learned dances from all around the world.Â
We have been matching letter sounds...
...and thinking about our class charter through drama.
First Week Back!
We have had a super first week back at Applecross Primary. Mrs Gillies has worked really hard in the classroom over the summer, making the room feel calm and bright. We also have a new class pet 'Dave' the goldfish. We are all taking turns to feed him and make sure he is comfortable.
On Wednesday we went up to Carnach Woods to enjoy some outdoor learning. Have a look at our photos!
