The flu vaccination programme will commence in the Autumn term for children in Reception up to and including Year 6.   The health team will be visiting school to carry out the immunisations on the 3rd December 2024.   To ensure your child receives their flu jab please go to the link below where you will be prompted to enter your email address and will need to enter the school code below to register your child:- https://www.northumbriaimmunisations.co.uk/Forms/Flu   Please note for your information the school code is: NB108503                       If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact the school office on 0191 274 7463.

It has been wonderful to welcome our children back to school this week. They have settled into their new classes extremely well and we are all looking forward to an exciting and fun-filled year ahead. Miss Elliott & SLT

Please see message from Northumbria Police, sent to all primary schools: WhatsApp group encouraging self-harm in young people: CNTW NHS Trust has made us aware of a WhatsApp group called “everyone you know x” which is circulating in North Tyneside. It is aimed at Y6 students. There are currently 500 members, and the group encourages members to self-harm. Three young people (two from Gateshead and one from Northumberland) are in hospital following overdose and they have disclosed that there is a social media trend whereby young people are being encouraged to take overdoses on a points scoring system eg, if admitted to hospital, if a liver specialist has been contacted etc. As these young people are not from the North Tyneside area, and there is potential for this to affect other year groups, we are making all schools in our force area aware. Please consider making your students’ parent/carers aware of this group/trend and follow your school’s safeguarding protocols should you be concerned about individual students. The NSPCC website has information about helping children who may have been affected by such content Content promoting self-harm, suicide and eating disorders | NSPCC

Our U11's team started off this year's league games, in great form. The team had to battle with poor weather conditions as they played three league games. The first game, a very close encounter ended up in a 1-0 loss. However, the team showed great character and resilience winning the next two games 4-0 and 5-0! Some great individual performances but above all a great team effort.

We welcomed Ruth and her team into school for her annual  pruning and weaving of our KS2 willow tunnel. This was much needed after a warm and sunny summer, followed by a very wet autumn! The willow had grown very high and needed a lot of expert care. Luckily, the team were able to quickly get the structure looking great, again. Our year 3 pupils, learned about how to look after and maintain the willow as well as being able to work with Ruth, to create some willow shapes and structures. Have a look at what we were able to create , in the pictures below.

We welcomed Ross and the team from Durham University into school, for a special assembly. Children from years 4, 5 and 6 were able to find out about the historic University at Durham but also what studying at any university might be like. The children asked some fantastic questions about what it might be like to study for a degree. They were surprised at how many different options there are to study different subjects. The children were excited to find out that you can live at the university - at Durham you can even live in a castle! We were able to see what a lecture looks like, find out about the different jobs at universities as well as what careers a degree could lead to. Children commented: I loved the assembly, I didn't know there were so many subjects to study! It really made me want to go to university, it would be so exciting to study and live with others in the halls. I would love to go and study one subject so I become an expert. I think university would be amazing and I really hope to go and study when I am older. Our Year 6 pupils will soon take part in a visit to Durham University and work with the Education team - they will take part in a University experience day which has been specifically planned for our pupils. They will take part in a lecture, visit the halls of residence, the university library and even find out what happens at a graduation ceremony.

In our monthly school Mass, we welcomed Fr. Mariadass into the school Hall to celebrate Holy Mass. Pupils from KS2 and some parishioners joined together for a lovely mass where we remembered those who have passed away as well as all of the Holy Souls. We reflected upon the examples some of the saints had given us as well as loved ones in our own families who are no longer with us - but who have taught us many important lessons and have shaped our lives. There was some beautiful singing and our readers helped lead us in prayer and reflection.

Our Catholic social teaching theme this year is 'Young people demand change'. This Harvest Festival week we have supported CAFOD by joining other schools around the country to brighten up, dressing in bright colours and collecting food donations. We have collected food for Joe's place this year, a local charity who helps to feed the homeless. Over the week the children have focused on the key message that 'working together and starting small, we can make a difference and help create a world where everyone's rights are respected, and everyone can live life to the full. Once again, we would like to thank all of our families for your kindness, generosity and support.

At the end of October term 1A, some of our Year 6 pupils took part in an adventurous activity residential in the heart of the Lake District. Our pupils spent 2 nights at the YHA, in Borrowdale which was a fantastic base, surrounded by the beautiful views and nature of the Lake District. We worked with Live4Adventure who are experts in delivering adventurous activities for groups. Our pupils took part in rock climbing, Ghill Scrambling and Canoeing. They even all managed to climb Castle Crag which is one of the famous Wainwright hikes in the lake District. Pupils commented how amazing the experience was - trying new things, working together to complete challenges and feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment in what they had done. New friendships were formed and it was amazing to see how much support and encouragement was given to help each other achieve! We are sure that as well as some fantastic memories, there were so many experiences and skills learned that can be used and will stay with the pupils in the future.

Our Year 6 Girls were invited to attended a special event at the Nissan Skills Foundation. The Nissan Skills foundation aims to raise interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in schools. This was an opportunity for the girls to take part in the ‘Girl Powered’ workshop – The initiative aims to create a more inclusive environment for all students within the robotics and engineering community. As well as raising the aspirations of local youngsters to show that social issues, economic background and gender are not barriers to a potential career in Engineering and Mathematics The workshop included: A hands-on robotics challenge 2 STEM team activities The chance to take the Girl Powered pledge Inspirational female keynote speaker The workshop was a great hands-on experience and a wonderful opportunity to ask questions and find out about a career in STEM.

The Britain get talking campaign has led to over 100 million new or meaningful conversations since its launch. However, it has been reported that mental health has declined for almost 40% of British school children. This is a worrying statistic. As part of our work, linking to World Mental Health day (October 10th), Mrs Dowling led us in very informative assembly to talk about the Britain Get Talking campaign and how we can help each other by offering to be there for each other, and not be afraid to speak up when things are not going well. This year, the campaign continues toto focus on young people, as simply asking a child what's on their mind can be key to them opening up and easing their worries. We were also joined, virtually by Ant and Dec who explained more about the importance of looking after our mental health and talking to others about our feelings. They set us a special homework task to get us all talking - even the adults! "Talking isn’t the whole solution, but it can help us feel more able to cope and encourage us to seek support if we need to. And we know that the earlier a person can get support for their mental health, the more effective it’s likely to be.” Dr Sarah Hughes, CEO of Mind For more information, go to https://www.itv.com/britaingettalking/

Year 6 produced a 'Play in a Day' based on Macbeth. The children all worked really hard throughout the day and were able share a short performance which was was dramatic, fun and contained every key plot point. "Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and cauldron bubble…" A potted production of Shakespeare's tale of murder and the supernatural. Scotland is facing a rebellion which the King's greatest General, Macbeth, crushes. After the battle he meets three witches who predict his rise to the throne... but following their predictions leads to his own downfall.