Curriculum events

See below for details of our latest events in school linked to our curriculum.

Viking Curriculum Day at Skern Lodge

Class 3 took part in some prior learning ahead of their History topic in the Autumn term with a visit to Appledore and Skern Lodge.  They traced the path of an ancient Viking battle, learnt about Hubba the Dane and practised their skills as archers in the afternoon, finishing off with a team challenge on the assault course.

World Book Day

This day is always widely anticipated in school, and this year's costumes did not disappoint! From Gangsta Granny to sporting superstars, everyone made such an effort - thank you as always to parents for making this happen.  Enjoy collecting your free World Book Day book with your book token.

Inspire mornings

Our classes have been busy hosting 'Inspire' mornings this term, where the parents are invited in to spend the morning alongside their children.  Class 2 designed and made their 'That's not my...' books, Class 4 made their own solar system and Class 5 co-planned and wrote stories with their parents.  It was lovely to see parents, carers and grandparents getting stuck in and having an insight into their child's learning, thanks to all who came.

Multiskills festival

Class 4 enjoyed a morning of multiskills at Atlantic Racquet Centre with a number of other local schools.

Burton Art Gallery 

Class 3 took a trip to the Burton Art Gallery in Bideford, learning more about the process of printing alongside their Art unit.  Whilst there they also took the time to walk around the gallery and reflect on the exhibitions, showing thoughtful observations and consideration over the artwork on display.

Asda man

Pete, the Asda man, paid Class 1 and 2 a visit this term to talk to them about healthy eating following our Food focus in D and T in the Autumn Term.  He brought lots of different fruits for them to try and all the children showed commitment and positivity in trying new foods.

Music Assembly

We held a celebration of all things musical in February, showcasing to other classes the music skills we had been learning throughout the year.  A wide variety of instruments were played, and the assembly even included a rap from Class 2 of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air! 

Author visits

As part of the Appledore Book Festival we welcome authors into our school every year to inspire the children in their reading, writing and illustrating.  This year we are very grateful that both Ross Welford and Gill Lewis made visits to the school to talk about their writing process and their latest books.

Multiskills events

Many of our pupils have had the opportunity to attend a sporting event this year.  Some of our Year 6 class were invited to a School Games Multiskills festival at Kinglsey School; other classes have attended events held at Atlantic Racquet Centre (ARC) in Bideford as part of the Atlantic Coast Cooperative Trust (ACCT). 

Drumming demo

In February we hosted James Manders for a drumming demonstration.  He explained about the different elements of a drum kit, gave the children a showcase of skills and one lucky pupil even had a go at keeping the beat using the bass drum.  More information on James and his drumming lessons can be found at www.drumsinschools.co.uk. 

Football matches

We have been lucky enough to secure fixtures with many local schools this year, both at home and away.  Our latest match saw our Year 6 girls competing in a tournament at Kingsley School.  The girls played well and showed great teamwork in what was their first match of the year - as you can see by the smiles they had a great day!

Christmas Craft morning

The whole school got crafty this week, making Christmas crafts to sell at the Christmas Bazaar.  This was a great opportunity for younger pupils to mix with older ones and get to know other children and members of staff.

Christmas Play 

2 sell-out performances were held in our final week of term.  Thank you to all who came to watch, all who helped in school and most importantly to all the children for their excellent acting, singing and dancing - all your hard work really paid off.

Preschool and Class 1 Christmas Bonanza!

Our youngest children put on a show for their parents before Christmas with an afternoon of singing followed by crafts and biscuit decorating.  For some children it was their first time performing in front of an audience and it was fantastic to see them as such confident performers.

Summer Music Concert

We finished the school year on a high with a Music Concert in celebration of our pupils who take part in music lessons or choir club after school.  It was clear to see the dedication, commitment and enjoyment these students have to their music in their performances, well done to all those who took part, we are already looking forward to next years.

Year 5/6 Skern Lodge residential

A fantastic time was had by all at the annual outdoor residential.  They had a real mix of weathers, from torrential rain to incredible sunshine, but even the rain wasn't enough to dampen spirits and their teamwork and resilience when taking on new challenges was a delight to watch.  A highlight of the weekend was the Conga line at the disco!

Interschool football matches

Across the Summer term we have played in an inter-school football league, kindly made possible using transport from our partner ACCT schools.  Our Year 5/6 football have had great success in these matches, winning all of them and more importantly showing great sportsmanship to other teams and being respectful hosts.

Athletics 'Quadkids' 

A team of children from across Key Stage 2 competed at the annual Quadkids event run by Atlantic Coast Co-operative Trust.  They particpated in running, jumping and throwing events against 7 other local schools.  Scores were so close they had to be second checked, and we're proud that our team came a very close 2nd.  Well done to all those involved.

Tennis at Atlantic Racquet Centre (ARC)

Well done to our team of Year 1/2 tennis players who came runners up in a closely contested competition at ARC.  They showed off the tennis skills they have learning in their PE curriculum time and their sportsmanship, with one of our team members winning 'Fair Player' as well.  Congratulations.

Swimming Gala

Children in Key Stage 2 enjoyed success in their first Swimming Gala, kindly hosted by Torridge Swimming Pool.  3 children came away with individual medals, a fantastic achievement in a field of over 30 swimmers in some races!

Key Stage 1 and 2 Singing Festival

Years 1, 2, 6 and our choir greatly enjoyed the opportunity to perform with hundreds of other young people at the Big Sheep as part of the annual Singing Festival, organised by the Devon and Torbay Music Education Hub.  They performed several numbers together and also sang an individual song to an extremely large audience of very proud adults.  

ARC Tennis Tournament

Members of Year 3 and 4 participated in this tournament kindly hosted by Atlantic Racquet Centre.  They showed off the tennis skills they have been learning in their PE lessons and we were very proud for them to represent the school so well.

Red Herring 'Flights of Fancy' project

Class 4 and 5 have teamed up with Red Herring productions and AONB to carry out the Flights of Fancy project.  They started the project by walking from Hartland Abbey to Brownsham Mill to investigate the flora and fauna in our local area, and followed this up with art workshops in school, designing mood boards and making costumes.  The project culminated in a dramatic production to parents in the school grounds.

Arts at Appledore

Class 3 attended the Art Studio at Appledore Primary, one of our partner schools in the Atlantic Coast Co-Operative Trust.  They took the opportunity to use the great facilities onsite, including their kiln, sculpting oil lamps as part of their work on the Romans.

AONB Bioblitz

Class 5 attended the AONB Bioblitz at Northam Burrows.  Alongside other local schools they helped the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team to collect data about the wildlife in the surrounding habitat, and carry out a beach clean to prevent pollution.

Tree Planting

As part of looking after our environment some of Class 5 helped to plant some trees in the community.  They had a busy, but fun, day, and managed to find time for a hot chocolate stop! 

Hana Tooke author visit

We were lucky to receive a workshop for Class 4 and 5 from Hana Tooke to publicise her latest novel, 'The Midnighters'.  Hana is a children's author with local links, who's first book, 'The Unadoptables', was widely enjoyed by our Key Stage 2 children.  Hana brought her very own puppet theatre with her to show us how she plans her characters and plots and spoke with the classes about 

Sports for Champions

Bex Rayner, a professional footballer who plays for Sheffield United, visited the school as part of Sports for Champions.  Children who fundraised above £35 were able to meet the her and have a photograph, then the whole school took part in an inspirational assembly and completed the circuits they had been sponsored for.  Thank you to all who sponsored, this event raised a grand total of £235 for the school and gave the children a fantastic opportunity to meet an ambitious role model who showed them that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

AONB Hedgehog tunnels

As part of the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty project 'Finding Nature's Footprints' we have housed six hedgehog tunnels around the school grounds.  Gaye from Project Prickles talked to us about how she looks after hedgehogs and Joe showed us how to assembly and monitor the tunnels.  The cameras set up caught some hedgehog action overnight and we found some footprints of hedgehogs, and other animals trying to take some food as well!  The tunnels have then been sent out into the community with families to map the movement of hedgehogs in the area, and our older pupils are putting together a 'How to' video to accompany the equipment to their next location.

Women in Innovation award

We were privileged to have former pupil Sophie Walker attend an assembly and receive her Purple Plaque for winning the 'Women in Innovation' award.  Sophie has chosen school as the place she wishes her plaque to be displayed, and she inspired all the children by explaining what she has achieved.  The event was covered by the North Devon Journal, Devon Live https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/gallery/purple-plaque-hartland-primary-school-8251794 and the North Devon Gazette https://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/hartland-primary-school-reveals-purple-plaque-to-celebrate-sophie-walker/