Mrs Fraser’s last day at Applegrove was on Thursday and we would like to thank her for all her hard work over the 23 years  she has been working at Applegrove. she has been teaching in Moray for a total of 37 years and  we wish her a long and happy retirement. She is looking forward to spending time getting to know her new grandaughter. We welcome Mr Crammond as our new ASfL (Additional Support for Learning) teacher who will replace Mrs Fraser.

Well done to the P7 team who took part in the Hiighland Games at Gordonstoun on Saturday 26th April who showed great sportsmanship and teamwork throughout the day. It was clear that they were  putting the team moral befrore personal achievement to make sure everyone had a chance to take part in an event.

The team took part in haggis hurling (Caitlin Grant) caber tossing ( Josh Smith) hammer throwing (Cody Dunbar) and Slippery Pole (Kaylin Phimister)

Christina Owen, Charlotte Allan, Logan Stalker, Shay Ewing and Alexandra Maclean took take part in cross country running, tug o’ war and the final obstacle course challenge. Logan had an excellent run, coming in 15th overall in the cross country with Shay not far behind coming in 22nd overall. Charlotte was 27th and the 5th girl to complete the course. Alexandra also had a good run and thank you to Christina for kindly offering to sit out to give others a chance.

Mrs Maclennan was very proud of you all for keeping up your spirits throughout a long (and very cold!) day. You definitely showed Respect, Resourcefulness and Resilience through your attitude at the event. many Thanks to the teachers and parents who came along to support the children.

We are absolutely delighted that Applegrove has been awarded its fifth Eco flag. An assessor visited the school before Easter and was hosted by our Eco Committee. He checked that we are still meeting all the requirements of Eco School status and  informed us of  the good news just before the holidays. We are now the first school in Moray to have gained five Eco Flags and are very proud of our School’s commitment to  sustainability education and  caring for the environment. A special thank you goes to Mrs Newlands, The Eco committee, Mrs McGregor and the Gardening Club for all their hard work to help us to retain this award. Well done

                                                                                                      Mrs Newlands and the Eco Committee proudly show off our Fantastic Five Flags!

We are very proud of all our runners who took part in the Scottish Schools Cross Country Championships in Kirkcaldy on Saturday 18th April. Around 100 runners took part in each race so our results were excellent. Girls: Luci Murdoch 9^th, Charlotte Allan 51^st and Summer Teasdale 57^th. Boys: Ben Cameron 2^nd, Carey Flavell 13^th , Scott Perry 42^nd , David Spencer 61^st and Alex Grant 75^th. The girls’ team came 8^th overall and the boys’ team 3^rd. These are fantastic results for Applegrove in a National Competition. Well done to you all and a huge thank you to all who have supported  the runners. Photos to follow

Wow! Look at the amazing photos taken by Mrs Newlands of the Solar Eclipse from the Playground. Some classes used their pinhole cameras. The pupils were very excited about it getting darker and we got a glimpse of the eclipse through the cloud. The sun did come out for a second or two so we were careful not to look at it directly.

As you probably know, on Friday a Solar Eclipse is due to happen . This is such a rare event that we feel we would like the children to feel part of the experience. We have told them that if they have special glasses or equipment at home which they wish to bring, they can . It may be too cloudy to see but we think it will be interesting to let the children notice what happens around them as it gets darker. Some classes are making pinpoint cameras to look at an image of the Sun. The children will be clearly instructed not to look directly at the Sun and teachers will be watching them closely to make sure they do not this. They will be encouraged to look and listen to the changes. We feel it is too good an opportunity to miss!

Well done to the Euro Quiz Team (Max Carty, Andrew McRitchie, Joe Jones and Alice Reynolds) who took part in the Moray Heats of the Euro Quiz, which is organised by the Scottish European Educational Trust. They did very well and  were in the lead at one point but were pipped at the post. In the languages round they got full marks and the highest score  out of all the schools – très bon!

Applegrove is really developing excellence in the standard of the Cross Country running. This is due to the resilience and motivation of the pupils as well as help form Mrs Wright, Mrs Sircus and Mrs Newlands who continue to give up their own time to support and encourage our runners of all abilities.

Recent results have shown the how all the hard work and  commitment is paying off.

Grant Park Primary Schools Cross Country 7th March

• Congratulations to all 35 pupils who took part in the Cross Country at Grant  – an amazing representation from Applegrove. Special congratulations to Luci Murdoch who came 1^st in the P6/7 girls’ race and to Ben Cameron 1^st, Carey Flavell 2^nd , Scott Perry 3^rd in the boys race. For P4/5 well done to Roslyn McRitchie 1^st , Talia Pearson 2^nd in the girls’ race and Bruce Evans who came 1^st for the boys with Luca Abatte 2^nd. Applegrove retain the title for the 3^rd year in a row! We are very proud!

North of Scotland Primary Schools Cross Country 14th March

• Well done to all the pupils who took part in the North of Scotland Primary Schools Cross Country Country at Alness on Saturday. Applegrove Boys’ team won the Silver trophy and the Girls’ team won Bronze. A great effort by you all. Ben Cameron came 1^st in the boys’ race with Carey Flavell 4th, Alistair Clark 13^th and Alex Grant 24^th. Great runs also from Bruce Evans, Luca Abatte, David Spencer and Lewis Dey. In the girls’ race, Luci Murdoch came 2^nd with Charlotte Allan 16^th , Ashley Donald 17^th and Summer Teasdale 24th. Good runs from Alexandra Maclean, Jessica Nicol, Roslyn McRitchie and Talia Pearson.

The Pupils have been given their annual reports today –  12.03.15. Please make sure you take these out of school bags. Your appointment time for Parents evening  is also in the same envelope with an accompanying letter. Please return the signed report  so that that it can be discussed at Parents evenings. Many thanks for your support with this.