It was Christmas Jumper Day today and we celebrated with a Christmas Dinner.  Thank you for a lovely meal, kitchen staff!

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We’re very sad to see Mrs Marshall leave us today.  She will be a huge miss to both the staff and the children.  She has helped so many children in the 9 years she has been here and we would like to say a massive thank you to her for all her hard work in and around school and whilst being breakfast supervisor.

Goodbye and good luck, Mrs Marshall in your new job!

It was lovely to be back in after-school clubs this week and Key Stage 1 children spent their time in Story-craft Club. This week they enjoyed listening to the story of the Gossipy Parrot and then used a range of materials to create their own gossipy parrot stick puppet so they could re-tell the story at home.

This week, our children went on their annual Autumn walk.  Each year group took to the beautiful Wolsingham countryside paths to enjoy the onset of Autumn.  On their way, they got to go over the stepping stones, do some impromptu sheep herding and go conker finding.  It was enjoyed by all even though the rain paid a little visit too!

Check out your child’s class learning page for photographs from the walks.

Today, we managed to gather on the field for our End of Year assembly.  Children were presented for the greatest achievement and most progress made in each year group before we said goodbye to our Year 6 children.  We wish them all the best as they move on to secondary school.

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Durham Music joined forces with Make Music Day UK again this year. The ‘Big Play’ is all about celebrating everyday music making – in the classroom, playground, practice room, at home, live or virtually! In 2019, nearly 18,000 young people from Durham and Darlington made music for Make Music Day and this year has been amazing too.  

All of Year 4 took part and recorded three of their favourite songs that they have been learning on the recorder all year. Robyn from year 4 and Anna, Benny and Eilidh from Year 6 also recorded their favourite violin pieces to share, joining schools from all over the world in the first ever Make Music Day Global Big Sing! 

Please look out for these over the next week, as we will be posting them on the school website too. 

KS2 were invited to take part in a mini-Olympic carousel at Parkside Academy. The children took part in throwing, running and jumping events. The event was brilliantly run by the Year 9 sports leaders and Mrs Inglis, a huge thank you to them. The children thoroughly enjoyed being at their first event outside of school this year!

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This week swimming lessons will resume for Year 5 and 6 children. Year 6 children will swim on Wednesday afternoons (apart from Wednesday 16th June when they will swim in the morning so that they are able to attend the Mini-Olympics afternoon at Parkside Academy) and Year 5 children will swim on Friday mornings. Please ensure that your child comes to school on those days with their swimming kit including a swimming hat.

Before half term, our Nursery and Reception children took part in a sponsored Welly Walk to raise funds to support resources to enhance provision across the Early Years. The children (and parents!) have completely amazed us by raising a massive £1127.50! A huge thank you to everyone who helped with sponsorship and walked in their wellies!

Captain Tom Moore was a former British Army officer known for his efforts to raise money for the NHS in the run-up to his 100th birthday during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. The 30^th April would have seen Captain Tom celebrate his 101^st birthday therefore in school we wanted to do something in recognition for what he did for the NHS and to celebrate his life.  Each class were given a Challenge 100 task to complete throughout the day which encouraged them to work together and use their Maths skills. Have a look on the class pages to see if what some of the classes did.