Archive of Latest News
Latest news is now shared via our Head Teacher blog which is published in the Parents section of the website. Please also visit our Twitter feed for a window into our curriculum offer and to see the purposeful and memorable learning experiences in each year group. Our Twitter feed can be accessed on the Home page of our website or by clicking on the Twitter icon in the top left corner of this page.
Please find below an archive of the news stories that we published before we started to use Twitter.
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Year 2 at Washington Wetlands Centre
Fri 28 Jun 2019As part of their Habitats topic, our Year 2 classes visited Washington Wetlands Centre. The children toured the park to meet all of the different birds who live at the centre. They then went pond-dipping to learn about all of the animals and insects which live in the water. Finally they went on a mini-beast hunt to learn about the animals and insects which live in the woods. Ask your child to tell you about all the habitats that they have seen on their trip! -
International Link to Brainstone School in Kenya
Fri 28 Jun 2019This half term, the whole school has been building a friendship with Brainstone School in Kenya, Africa. After receiving letters and photographs from our friends in Africa, it was clear that they were keen to know all about what life is like in the UK. In classes, children researched and worked on a particular topic about England (travel, clothing, education, weather, the royal family, the government, London, Newcastle, food, farming, currency and religion/beliefs). They then created a range of posters, fact files and letters to help show and explain. The children gained an understanding of other cultures, how other parts of the world live and discussed the many ways in which people can help less fortunate countries. The package is being sent to Kenya this weekend and we can't wait for our international friends at Brainstone School to respond!
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Health & Well Being Week
Fri 28 Jun 2019We have had an amazing Health & Wellbeing Week with special events happening in all classes across the school. Several groups have been to Benfield School to take part in Schools 500 sports competitions. We made the best of Sports Day, despite the wet weather, and the children enjoyed a morning of fun activities out on the back yard. We welcomed some of the local sports teams in for an information fair so that our families could find out how children can attend cricket, street dancing and football training near to Throckley. Chartwells sponsored some healthy eating workshops which included sessions on Healthy Snacks for Reception and Year 1 and a smoothie bike for children in KS2. Finally, we ended the week with a showcase of our WOW (Walk to School Once per Week) work for parents and carers. Please ask your children to tell you about all of the learning that they have done this week about keeping themselves fit and healthy. -
Year 6 Ice Cream Van Visit
Fri 21 Jun 2019Thank you to Vision for Education, one of our supply agencies, for providing a special summer treat for our Year 6 children. This treat is part of the end of year celebrations for Year 6 as they get ready to transition to Secondary School. -
Acorns & Rising 3's at Newburn Leisure Centre
Fri 21 Jun 2019Children in our two youngest year groups took part in a trip to Newburn Leisure Centre which allowed them to celebrate all of their learning from this year in the three Prime Areas of Early Years. They used their physical skills while climbing and balancing on the equipment; their PSHE skills when playing games, sharing and taking turns and their communication and language skills when socialising with their friends. -
Y1 Roy Lichtenstein Pop Art Workshop
Fri 21 Jun 2019Jamie form the Hatton Gallery visited year 1 this week to run a workshop about Roy Lichtenstein. He introduced the children to pop art and showed them a range of artwork that Lichtenstein has produced. The children learned that Lichtenstein used ‘Ben Day’ dots to create shading and secondary colours in his art. The children then created their own comic books using characters and objects from modern culture. -
NSPCC PSHE Assemblies
Fri 21 Jun 2019The NSPCC is committed to helping schools to keep children safe through their ‘Speak Out. Stay Safe.’ programme of assemblies. Children in KS1 and KS2 attended separate, age appropriate, interactive assemblies designed to empower children to keep themselves safe from abuse.
KS1 children learned about their right to speak out and be heard, their right to be safe, and their right to get help when they need it.
KS2 children took part in an exercise where they were asked to think of the types of things that might make a child feel sad, worried or unsafe. They then learned about different types of abuse and about Bullying /Cyber Bullying. Finally they talked about the trusted adults who could help them if they are ever sad, worried or feel unsafe.
All of the children learned about Childline and how they can ring for help 24/7, 365 days a year.
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OWL Trust Y6 Transition Trip to Gibside
Fri 14 Jun 2019Last Friday, our Y6 children attended a fantastic ‘transition to secondary school’ event at Gibside. The event was organised by the OWL Trust and provided the children with a fun way to meet friends from other primary schools in the local area. Gibside is a beautiful location and their staff led some challenging outdoor adventure activities, including a wildlife walk, art in nature and orienteering. The children had a wonderful time and we thank the OWL Trust for giving our children this opportunity. -
British Council eTwinning Project
Fri 14 Jun 2019Last week, Miss Sewell was selected by the British Council to represent the United Kingdom in a prestigious eTwinning project with over 200 delegates from across Europe. There were a huge number of applicants and she was one of only four teachers selected to participate from the UK. Throughout this project, Miss Sewell formed partnerships with schools in Norway and Sweden and developed an ongoing project that she is going to implement in our school. eTwinning involves learning how to use a safe, online platform to share projects and this fits closely with our focus on internet safety. At the end of the conference, Miss Sewell and her team had to present their project in front of all of the delegates from various European countries and had to have this approved by the British, Czech, Norwegian and Bulgarian council. She was successful so we are officially an eTwinning school and are so excited to get started with our first project! -
Art Week 2019
Fri 14 Jun 2019Art Week – Duh Huynh’s and his painting ‘Strung Together’
Acorns - recreated the painting using handprints. They explored how the paint felt on their hands and the marks it made when they touched the paper.
Rising 3s - recreated the painting by using sponges to paint the background and by using the wheel marks from cars to paint the tree branches. They then practised their scissor skills by cutting out pictures of instruments for making a collage.
Nursery - used the title of the painting ‘Strung Together’ to explore the theme of how we are all linked together and they each created a string bracelet to represent the theme.
Reception - Created a giant mural in the style of the painting with the children as the roots to symbolise that they are what makes their amazing learning grow and flourish.
Year 1 - Linked to their penny whistle music topic by exploring the instruments in the picture. Then, they took inspiration from another of Duy Huynh's images and created a collage of their hopes and dreams.
Year 2 - explored Joan Miró, another surrealist artist. They then used a surrealist generator to create an artwork out of oil pastels which was inspired by the work of Miró.
Year 3 - linked surrealist images to creative writing passages using figurative language such as similes, metaphors and personification. They also explored idioms and how they can be linked. They used watercolour to create images of what they love in order to make the roots of their class tree and created individual designs about their hobbies.
Year 4 - linked their learning to computing by using the app 'pic collage' to mix together a range of images surrounding their interests. Then, they had an idea to recreate Duy Huynh's image by blowing paint to make spiky branches and roots before finally adding images of their interests, tangled in the roots.
Year 5 - took inspiration from Duy Huynh's abstract style to explore the works of Piet Mondrain, linked to their angles topic in maths. They added words that inspired them to their creations.
Year 6 - In English, Year 6 made links to their class book by exploring how the artist was presenting himself through his paintings. They then thought ahead to leaving Y6 and used paint to create colourful images featuring their aspirations for the future.
We hope you were able to join us to see all of this amazing work in the showcase this afternoon.