Lost property will be available to view in the main hall from 2pm today. Please feel free to come in and have a look.

The gardening club and Mrs Newlands celebrated their year of hard work with a small party . ‘Gardener of the Year was awarded to David Spencer. He is just about to leave P7 but has shown commitment to the Gardening Club at Applegrove for many years . Well deserved. Many thanks to Mrs Newlands who  puts in lots of hard work and effort throughout the year (and in her holidays!)

P7 put on a very humorous and moving assembly on Tuesday. Lots of laughs and teary eyes as they reflected on their seven years at Applegrove. Appropriately they sang their own version of ‘Seven Years’.

Moray Council is preparing a new transport strategy for Elgin.  To help with this, we want to know what the views of school staff and parents are on travelling to and within Elgin.

We want to find out why you travel to Elgin, what problems and issues you face and importantly what you think could be done  improve your journeys.

From Monday 20 June until Sunday 31 July 2016  we will be undertaking a survey.  To share your views and experiences with us please complete our  online survey which can be found at the bottom of this page.

If you don’t have access to a computer  you can get a paper version of the survey from:

• Elgin Council Access Points – and the council headquarters
• Elgin Library
• Moray Leisure Centre

We will also be holding open sessions in the town centre where you can come and find out more. We will be in the St Giles Centre, Elgin on Wednesday 22 June from 11.30 until 14.30,  Thursday 23 June from 11.30 until 16.00 and on Saturday 25 June from 11.00 until 16.00.

Your views matter and the information you provide will help us to develop the transport network in Elgin. If you want to get in touch with us then please email us at transport.develop@moray.gov.uk or ring the Council on 0300 123 4565.

Many thanks for your help with this study.

Click here to begin the survey

Well after last weeks disappointment of having to cancel Sports Day due to the weather, it was fingers crossed for today! And what a superb afternoon of events we had and the weather turned out not too bad either 🙂

Sports day got off to a great start with the Flat race with superb efforts and some great speed by many. Next up was the skipping with everyone trying their best – a multitude of styles was seen! The Tattie and Sppon race proved tricky with many loosing their tatties. Resilience shone through and everyone made it to the finish line with their tatties in tack. After that it was the sack race which everyone enjoyed, even those who managed to stumble along the way! Each year group also fielded relay teams which were cheered on by all.

After a great afternoon, it was time for the mums and dads races. There was a good turn out for both and they were closely fought battles but all in the spirit of good fun.

The classes then gathered round for the most important part of the day – the reults. It was a very close result with just 3 points separating 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Congratulations to ……. DOUGLAS.

The weather forecast is looking good for this afternoon so we are planning to go ahead with the P4 – 7 Sports.

They’ve helped millions of children to read, primary schools brim with them and parents either love them or hate them. They are Biff, Chip, Kipper… and Floppy.

While swathes of the population may be oblivious to these phonics heroes, to others they are their first encounter with the written word and, with their parents, have lived the gang’s adventures in the desert, have commiserated with Dad over his latest mishap and admired Gran’s new blue shoes – many times over.

Now, after more than 800 titles, becoming a mainstay of the curriculum to be used in 80% of the nation’s primary schools, they’re celebrating hitting 30.

The adventure began when Oxford Reading Tree’s publications kicked off with 24 stories in 1986, with the simple aim of teaching young children to read in carefully laid-out stages.

Author Roderick Hunt said he wanted to develop a reading programme based on “humour and fun and motivation” after becoming concerned about his own child’s progress.

Illustrated by Alex Brychta, the titles range from the eye-catching (The Bigfoot Mystery, Hairy-Scary Monster, Dragon Danger, Pirate Adventure, Superdog), to the everyday (A Day In London, At the Pool, Gran).

Mr Hunt said he was slow to start reading himself as a child, until a ticking off from a “formidable aunt” when he was six left him so embarrassed he said to himself: “I must crack reading.”

He said: “Good reading is so important to human development. So our vision was to get children reading, and get them off picture books and on to the world of print.”

Mr Brychta, who was born in what was then Czechoslovakia when it was under the control of the Soviet Union, said the books he was given at school were “absolutely horrible”.

“There was no humour at all, it was tedious. I wish I could have had books like the reading tree.”

The duo are still trying to keep their books relevant to modern children, with smartphones and digital technology now making appearances.

Matt Bibby from Abingdon thinks the books are “great”. He devoured them as a child and now reads them to his son Max.

He thinks their success is down to the “story of it all – it’s the magic of that magic key”.

Yvonne Kyriacou agrees. She’s deputy head at Rose Hill Primary in Oxford and has a long history with the books.

“I think back to when I was first teaching… and listening to all the stories about Floppy the dog, and the trouble he got into. I can remember those vividly.

“The longevity might be something to do with the characters and the fact that they often relate to children’s everyday lives.

“But then there’s that hint of magic in some of the books when the key turns up, and you and the children know that something different is going to happen.

“You might be under the sea, you might be in space, but I think they offer something amazing to children and adults.”

For her five-year-old pupil Eshaal, the books aren’t just about fun.

“I like it because you get to learn,” she says, thoughtfully. “Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it isn’t easy.”

However, not everyone’s a fan. Cast an eye over the forums of Mumsnet, and it’s clear not all parents are totally down with Biff and co.

“They get a bit monotonous and ergo annoying,” writes one. “I still don’t know who’s who apart from the dog?”, says another.

And on Facebook, Catherine, a mum of three from London, suggests the books should be taken into account when planning a family.

“I considered having another child, but the prospect of working my way through Biff, Chip and Kipper for the fourth time was too much,” she said.

And then there’s speculation on the biggest mystery of all – just what are Biff, Chip and Kipper’s real names?

“Elizabeth, David and Christopher,” says Mr Hunt.

Another mystery solved.

• Started in 1986
• Publications available in more than 130 countries
• Translated into more than 15 languages
• Read by 30 million children
• More than 800 titles released

Watch an interview with Roderick Hunt and Alex Brytcha

We have just had word from the Active School Coordinators to inform us that the P7 cycle run to Culbin is cancelled due to the bad weather.

Thank you very much to the PTA and Staff who helped with the two Discos last Thursday. The children had a super time and behaved very well and boogied the night away! We hope P7 enjoyed their last Disco at Applegrove. We will miss their enthusiastic dancing and good spirits. Mrs Maclennan took lots of photos of you (below)demonstrating your cool moves!

A huge thank you to the PTA for organising another successful Summer Fayre on Saturday. We could not run it without the staff, pupils and parents who volunteered to man the stalls.  The rain stayed off for the Fair and didn’t start until the Duck Race – but the ducks didn’t mind!

There were 123 balloons in the Fiat so well done to Hollie and Rosie Fraser who had the nearest guess. Well done to Tyler Frisken who won the sweets. There were 914 in the jar. The winner of the Duck Race was Hayden Sewell 1K who wins £150 , 2^nd Blair MacDonald 1K, who wins £100, 3^rd Isla Brain 7H who wins £50 – not forgetting Ruby and Hope McIntosh whose Grandad’s duck was the last home and wins £25. The winner of most ducks sold was, once again, Ben Ross 4FL who wins the £50 PINZ gift voucher. Thank you to everyone who bought ducks and helped the PTA raise lots of money.

Some photos of the ‘Fun at the Fayre’