News

School Newsfeed

24 July

Welcome to the last school update of the Summer term!

More Able Art Workshop

Victoria Owen, a local Illustrator and artist has been in to school this week to work with a group of children on a very special art project based on the school values. The children worked on creating a mural design to go on a wall in the school, celebrating the school values. Victoria Owen will be creating the mural design over the Summer holidays from the children’s sketches.

Work Experience

Hollie Fewings, another former pupil has visited the school this week for a work experience placement. Hollie, who is in Year 10 spent time across the school supporting children in classes. Thank you to Hollie for her support and we wish her well as she continues her studies.

19 July

Wow! To think this is the last full week of the Summer term- it has been filled with warm weather and lovely end of term activities.

TEAM Science Events

There was another opportunity this week for a small group of Year 3/4 more able scientists to join a TEAM academy event. The children attended Umberleigh Primary to spend a morning with other TEAM school top scientists. With the benefit of using a TEAM vehicle to transport the children, they looked at natural habitats and carried out a pond dip.

12 July

Musical Performance

On Monday morning, the children went down to St James’ church for a music recital from the school. We were treated to a variety of performances from the choir along with musicians who are currently being taught by Mrs Nicholls and Mrs Buckley. The choir, involving children from year 1 to year 6 sang with gusto Shotgun by George Ezra, A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman and With a Little Help from My friends by The Beatles. Piano pieces were played by Alex S, Orla, Marla and Josh.  Alex W, Jess and Molly entertained us on the ukulele and Orla and Theo played the fife and flute. 

We are extending the provision of music at Swimbridge in September; Bonnie Brayley, Director of the proms show, will be joining Swimbridge as a whole class music teacher and choir lead. If you are interested in your child receiving instrument tuition please contact the school office for more information.

5 July

Bikeability

On Monday, a second group of Year 6 children took part in Bikeability. Congratulations to the group for achieving their Level 1 and Level 2 Bikeability certificates. The pupils learnt how to navigate roads, junctions and roundabouts and grow in confidence and ability to ride their bike safely and independently. Thank you to Mrs Jerrett for supporting the group whilst at Landkey school and Jase Tooley, the Bikeability instructor.

28 June

This week in collective worship we have been learning how kindness can be a superpower; we read a story book to help us understand this more. We discussed ways that we can be kind to others and show random acts of kindness to our friends, family and those people in our community that we meet. This shows our school values and helps us all live well together.

Bikeability

On Monday a group of Year 6 children completed their learning to ride and Level 1 certificate in Bikeability. This programme is designed to get children cycling; gaining key life skills and having the ability to navigate the streets and roads on two wheels. I was so pleased with the group of children, although initially nervous and unsure, completed the course and are now bike riders! A big thank you to the parents of the children who supported us with this event. Thank you also to Jase Tooley the Bikeability Instructor and Landkey school for hosting the event.

21 June

This has been a sunny and super sporty week at Swimbridge. It is great to offer opportunities within school and out at High Bickington Primary this week as part of the TEAM Academy trust to encourage and highlight the importance of living healthy lifestyles and keeping fit. North Devon Athletics Club runs junior sessions from Year 3 upwards for anyone interested in pursuing this interest as an afterschool club - we have many talented athletes at Swimbridge!

14 June

The TEAM multi academy Trust has arranged online e-safety training for parents from the exceptional 'Two Johns' on the 11th July at 8pm.  The Two Johns are both former police officers who now put their child protection knowledge into use by working with schools and communities to give practical advice and information about keeping your children safe online.

On the 11th July, they will also be running sessions for all year groups across the school as well as the session for parents in the evening. We are very excited to be able to invite you to engage with this - it will be online and parents' cameras will not be on during the session, so you will be able to access the training without being seen yourselves.

We do hope to get as many families to get this advice as possible - the links will come out shortly. You can learn more about the Two Johns here: https://esafetytraining.org

7 June

Friday 7th June 2024

Welcome back! We hope you enjoyed a lovely half term break. 

This week, in school, we have been learning about World Ocean Day in our collective worship time; learning about our responsibility to look after the world we live in. During our ‘Fruitful Lives’ session we studied the impact of Surfers Against Sewage and read the ‘The Adventures of Scout’ story about a girl who wants to help look after the coastline where she lives. 

At Swimbridge, the children are encouraged to be courageous advocates, we have challenged each child to ‘have a go’ at a 5 minute beach clean when they visit the beach this Summer. The next organised beach clean by Plastic Free North Devon is June 29th at Croyde beach for families who are interested. 

24 May

Welcome to half term! It has been a short but busy and vibrant half term filled with trips, experiences and fantastic learning opportunities, this all started with the positive Ofsted visit straight after Easter.

Cricket Festival

This week, children in the Explorers class and Inventors class took part in a Cricket Festival on Wednesday morning, in school, competing in teams against each other. Jemma Sloman, one of the Primary Sports external coaches we use to support our teaching of PE at Swimbridge led the tournament. 

The children developed new skills and understanding about how competitive cricket works and really enjoyed a sporty morning in the sunshine!

17 May

SATS

This week, the Year 6s have taken their SATS papers and they have done so well in how they have approached them and managed the week. Well done to them all. They have celebrated the end of the tests with a ‘party in the park’ today to let them know how proud we are of them! We were also really pleased with the way the rest of the school supported the Year 6s, remaining quiet and calm whilst the papers were being completed so the Year 6s were able to fully focus with no distractions, so well done everyone.

Explorers Sleeping with Sharks residential

Our Explorers have returned to school today after their brilliant one night trip to the National Marine Aquarium where they were able to explore the aquarium at night and see the amazing creatures up close before sleeping in front of the Eddystone reef tank that contains fantastic local species such as sharks, crabs, lobsters and eels!

10 May

Ofsted Update

We are delighted to share with you our report from the recent inspection from Ofsted. We feel the report has captured Swimbridge well and we recognise the strengths of the school reflected in the passages.

The inspectors wrote that reading is central to school life and that the teaching of reading is highly effective. We were pleased this was recognised as the school has worked hard to have reading as a golden thread through all our learning and that our influence was welcomed by children. We were also pleased to see the acknowledgement that the Chittlehampton half term had no impact on the progress of our children or our ambition for what they can achieve.

Ofsted’s latest framework, changed from our last inspection, is very demanding - especially for smaller schools. We are proud of this judgement, which is such a positive and complimentary summary of the days the inspectors spent with us. 

We were especially proud that the inspectors found that children left as successful learners and that this work started in reception. The school’s values are rightly highlighted in the opening to the report. It was celebrated that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain and that children learned a well-led and ambitious curriculum.

We want to thank you for your support, especially your positive words directly to Ofsted themselves. We are grateful to work with such an engaged and positive community - this good outcome is a reflection of our work as a partnership of families, staff, governance and trust. Please find the report attached to this School Update.

3 May

Daily Mile

This week, in school, we started the daily mile. All of the children, between rain showers, have either walked, jogged or run around the daily mile course. We have noticed a greater participation in jogging throughout the week with children managing more laps each session. One child remarked it is now their favourite part of the day!

Lifeguard Visit

On Monday, we arranged for the RNLI Beach Lifeguards to visit the school and teach the children how to stay safe on the beaches this Summer. The Lifeguards shared information about beach flags; which to swim and surf between alongside information about how to stay safe in and around the sea.

26 April

Daily Mile

Next week we will be starting the Daily Mile initiative at school where children from Year 3,4,5 and 6 will be taking part in a 15 minute social and physical activity in the fresh air. Children will need to have trainers in school to use during this session. Children will be encouraged to jog or run during the time focusing on boosting health and fitness.

Forest school

The Forest School sessions at Swimbridge will be starting next week with some children accessing this on a weekly basis to support wellbeing time. All classes will have sessions running throughout the Summer term. Please ensure your child has a pair of wellington boots in school and a waterproof jacket to access these sessions. Mrs Nickels, who is a forest school trained leader, will be running these sessions in small groups. 

19 April

As you are aware, the school has undergone an Ofsted inspection this week. I’d like to thank you for giving your feedback to the inspectors through the Parent View survey as this is a really important aspect of the inspection. We were proud of the children who managed the two day process well.

I’d also like to thank the Swimbridge staff team and our Governors who managed the inspection process so positively. The lead inspector remarked on how welcome she was made to feel and how everyone was open, honest and fully co-operative.

We will receive a draft report in just under three weeks and once we receive the final report, we will send it out to you.

28 March

This has been a short half term leading up to the Easter break but an action packed one with trips, visitors and performances! This week in school has been vibrant with lots of opportunities for the children to showcase their learning to Parents. At Swimbridge the curriculum is designed around an Engage, Develop, Innovate and Express cycle of learning. The Express element was a focus this week with classes across the school presenting and reflecting on their learning and celebrating their achievements with others.

22 March

The week started with the fantastic night of the proms on Monday afternoon and evening at the Queen’s Theatre. Pilton Bluecoats school invited Swimbridge to take part in their school showcase event. 

The children performed as part of their class and /or choir in the Key Stage 2 production. Theo and Blythe also performed solo performances. Jessica and Albi were part of the narration team that conducted the show. 

All of the children performed brilliantly, sharing and shining as Swimbridge pupils. It was a valuable experience to be part of performing on a big stage with other children in the TEAM academy trust.

15 March

We have been celebrating British Science Week in school this week with a focus on the theme ‘Time’. 

The Adventurers explored the outdoors and noticed and identified the changes that have taken place.

The Discoverers explored evolution by natural selection and how adaptations can happen within our lifetimes with some evolution that creates entirely new species that takes millions of years!

The Explorers measured the weather over time and created their own weather forecast flip books. They observed the temperature and weather conditions throughout the week.

The Inventors got to experiment with making and testing jelly recipes. Jelly sets over time, but can different methods for preparing it slow that process down? 

8 March

We had a wonderful World Book Day celebration on Thursday. The children across the school had an opportunity to gather together in family groups and share their favourite books, authors and wonderful costumes.

Our World Book Day experiences included:

Discoverers- Got inspired with a workshop from Axel Scheffler, the awesome Illustrator of the Julia Donaldson books. 

Explorers- Designed their own comic strip characters and created a comic strip storyboard inspired by the ‘Go Sketch Club’

Inventors- Explored a workshop with Terry Deary and the ‘Horrible Histories’ series focussing on the Romans and Doodling fun with Liz Pichon (Tom Gates author/illustrator).

1 March

This week, Parent Consultations have taken place in school. If you have not managed to meet your child’s class teacher and have a current update about their progress in school please contact your child’s class teacher on Class Dojo to book an appointment. 

23 February

Happy Friday everyone! It was lovely to welcome all of the children back after half term keen and ready for the rest of the Spring term at Swimbridge. This week, in whole school collective worship, we have been focussing  on the school value of Dignity and Respect. Learning about being a trustworthy friend, exploring the life and achievements of Zaha Hadid in our fruitful life session as the first Arab woman Architect and learning about the achievements of women in science.

9 February

Today, the children learnt about Safer Internet Day with a focus on being safe online and our own online reputation. The school uses a scheme of learning throughout the whole school called Project Evolve which starts each Computing unit each half term with a different online safety focus. Please see the online safety section of the website for more information.

2 February

The long and seemingly never ending January is finally behind us and we can now look forward to an exciting February!

Next week, the Inventors are off on their two night residential to Heatree where they will be taking part in a number of outdoor adventure activities. Parents have been sent a letter with all the last minute reminders, if you could all please check you’ve received it and read it through.

We also have some more trips planned this month with the rearranged dates for the KS2 cross country and a visit to Westward Ho! and Northam Burrows at the end of the month for the Discoverers - more information will follow on this.