News Update!

A nailbiting final saw Seaburn Dene retain their Hoops 4 Health title as the top four schools in Sunderland took the Eagles Community Arena by storm.

Twenty-four teams from seven primaries tipped off at Sunderland University the previous week in a bid to make this season’s semi-finals.

And 2019 winners Seaburn Dene Primary were joined by Farringdon Academy Primary, Richard Avenue Primary and St Cuthberts RCVA in the Final Fours.

“It was clear that our players were a little nervous at the start of the night,” admitted Seaburn Dene’s Year Five teacher Abbie Houston.

“I don’t think they had fully prepared themselves for playing in front of a big crowd at the ECA and the semi-final was tense to say the least!”

Seaburn Dene came up against a fired-up Farringdon in the first of two eye-catching semi-finals played prior to Newcastle Eagles’ BBL clash against Cheshire Phoenix. 

 

And with a capacity crowd pouring into the ECA a tight affair went down to the wire.

Seaburn finally sealed a 4-0 win but the second semi was even closer – St Cuthberts edging past Richard Avenue after sinking the only basket of the match.

The two finalists had time to regroup as they watched the first half of the Eagles’ Championship showdown with Cheshire.

But both teams were back on court during the half-time break to decide the winner of the 2020 Sunderland Hoops 4 Health tournament – with a place in the regional finals up for grabs.

“We looked a lot more settled in the final,” added Mrs Houston. “But it was still too close for comfort!”

Seaburn took an early 2-0 lead but had to wait until the final 30 seconds before doubling their advantage and all but sealing the win.

St Cuthberts had a number of fast break opportunities to level the scores before the reigning champions finally showed their class.

“This is our fourth year playing in the Hoops 4 Health tournament and the children love it,” added Seaburn Dene coach and Year Four teacher James Ashton.

“I’ve been watching Newcastle Eagles for years and as soon as I found out about Hoops 4 Health it was obvious we had to get involved.

“The children play basketball in PE and practice at lunchtime. I think they would play more if they could!”

Mrs Houston added: “What’s great about being involved with Hoops 4 Health is the contribution the Eagles make every year.

“The children love meeting the Newcastle players and it’s wonderful to see them playing on the same court on a match night.”

Barnes Junior School, East Herrington Primary and Wessington Primary joined the four semi-finalists in the qualifying tournament.

 And Taylor Rendles, of the Eagles Community Foundation, added: “I’d like to congratulate all of the teams that took part in Sunderland Hoops 4 Health this year.

“There were 60 round robin games during an amazing day of basketball action and we’d like to thank Sunderland University for continuing to support the event.”

The Lake Poets help Y5 write their own song about living in Sunderland

Our Year five pupils have worked for 10 weeks in music sessions with Marty Longstaff, otherwise known as The Lake Poets, and his fellow musician Beccy Young. The pair were approached for the project, organised by We Make Culture, by teacher Mrs Houston.

Over the weeks they got to know the nine and ten year-olds. They found out what was special to them and put their thoughts and feelings into a song called Wear All Together, which could become the school’s anthem.

The beautiful song contains poignant lines, such as: “Making coal and ships and glass, memories of the past; that helped to build our city by the sea.”

It has already been a hit when it was performed before the rest of the school in assembly.

Marty said: “Beccy and I have been part of this project since September. We were given a brief by Mrs Houston, the Year five teacher, to write the school a song to do with being from Seaburn.

“It’s mainly been about sharing skills about how to write a song.

“We’ve written a lot of songs over the years and played in various bands together. So it was great to share our skills with the young ones. They took to it brilliantly.

We used their inspiration; what they love and what they think about being from Wearside to write the song. It’s about living in Seaburn and being near the beach.”

Beccy added: “It’s been really fun. I’ve never worked in a school before, so it’s been a new experience for me. The kids have been great.”

George, 10, who was part of the project said: “It’s been really good learning the song. I did a song to help practise writing, ready to do the main song for the school. It’s really good.

"We wrote about things in our local area, Seaburn, the Bridges and the Stadium of Light.”

School Opens on Thursday, 5th September 

 

We are looking forward to welcoming children back to school on Thursday, 5th September, from 8.45am. School will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday for staff  training. I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer. Look forward to welcoming you and the children back on Thursday.

Free Online Safety Course for Parents and Carers

 

As part of working towards becoming an National Online Safety certified school, we are pleased to be able to offer parents and carers the opportunity to take part in a free online course. 

 

We have listened to what our school community has being saying and the increased concerns about keeping our children safe online when outside of school. We understand that this is a matter of importance due to  children being exposed to more and more technology 24 hours a day. Due to this we are please to be able to offer this free training which intends to equip adults with knowledge and stategies to keep children safe online outside of school.

 

To access the course please click on the following hyper link https://onlinesafetyworld.com/products/onlinesafety-course-for- parents   and when asked quote the code SEABURN .

Sport Platinum Award

 

 

WE have done it! Seaburn Dene Primary has become one of the first North East schools to win the National School Games Platinum Award.

Following quickly on the heels of their recently awarded fifth consecutive School Games Gold award, we have become one an elite group of schools in England to win a new national award for making a commitment to develop its young people to be the best they can be in competitive school sport.

Seaburn Dene provides sports as diverse as gymnastics and street dance to hockey and basketball, also excelling in football, rugby and athletics.

The special School Games Platinum Award is part of the School Games Mark, a government led awards scheme launched in 2012 and administered by national charity the Youth Sport Trust. Its aim is to reward schools for a commitment to the development of competition across schools and into the community.

Participating in this process allows schools to evaluate their PE provision, grading them either bronze, silver or gold, and assists schools in developing an action plan for future progress. The Platinum Award is the new fourth level of the award scheme, introduced earlier this year to celebrate schools who had shown consistently high-levels of enthusiasm and commitment to school sport. Nominations are only open to those schools who achieved five successive gold awards.

To achieve the gold award a school must meet a certain set of criteria, which includes engaging a high percentage of young people in both curricular and extracurricular activities, participating in a minimum number of competitions across different sports, and reaching out to target groups including young leaders, volunteers, and those previously identified as the school’s least-active pupils.

Ali Oliver, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “We are pleased to introduce the new Platinum Award this year to give these exemplary schools the recognition which they deserve. We are extremely proud of all our award winners for the passion which they have shown towards the School Games and their dedication to providing opportunities for all young people to take part in competitive school sport.

Maxine Purdy, retiring headteacher at Seaburn Dene, said: “This new, higher level Platinum award is further national recognition of excellent teamwork and our continued commitment to high quality PE and School Sport at Seaburn Dene. Learning in, and through, the physical is crucial to the development of our children and to be awarded Platinum emphasises our consistency of purpose in developing the whole child.”

Be amazed with photographs of some of the bridge building entrants. Follow the link by clicking here

Well done to everyone who made it to school this morning. The children look really colourful with their sweaters and hoodies so we hope to have lots of fun learning today. I would particularly like to thank staff for coming into school early from Durham and beyond, Gateshead, Newcastle and Seaham armed with snow shovels and spades. Along with our parent volunteers, they've made safe routes all around school and now we're in our warm and cosy classrooms ready for the day ahead. 

Thursday 5.30pm

We are working hard to get school open tomorrow. Unfortunately, with only two caretakers between two schools, the task is immense so we are asking for your help to clear pathways into school. If you have time, a snow shovel or spade please meet us in Torver Crescent to help us to make pathways safe. Children should come wearing jeans and hoodies or sweaters tomorrow with appropriate footwear so that we can enjoy the snow at some point during the day. We have a whole field to explore!! Mr. Howe and Miss Purdy cannot wait to see you all having fun.

Thursday morning

Due to adverse weather conditions and health and safety reasons: school is CLOSED today. Updates will be given via the school website, Sun FM and school comms. Thank you.

AUTUMN NEWSLETTER

 

Our latest newsletter - hot off the press.

COMMUNICATION ALERT!

 

We have just sent out an email to the whole school, via our School Communication Systems, regarding upcoming Non Uniform Days for our Christmas Fayre. As part of a system check, can we please ask you to check your emails and if you have not received this communication can you please contact the school office ASAP.  Thank you!

 

Mrs Baker, Systems Manager

Congratulations to Max in Year 5 for winning the Douglas Dobbing Memorial Award presented by Brian Franklin of the Rotary Club of Seaburn. Max lost his great grandma to cancer so decided to take on a charity challenge mountain climb. He raised £700 by climbing Helvellyn in the Lake District. Well done Max for raising so much money for a superb charity, Cancer Research UK.

BOOK FAIR - TUESDAY 6TH TO FRIDAY 9TH JUNE 2017

 

We are pleased to have The Travelling Book Company back into our school, offering a wide selection of books to buy for all age ranges.  The Book Fair is set up in the Main Hall and can be accessed via the main entrance or the fire exit doors from the big yard 8.30am to 9am every morning or 3.20pm to 4pm every afternoon.

 

Teachers will give children the opportunity to have a look at the books during school time, hopefully making the selection of their favourite books a little easier! There is also a special offer running this year - 3 books for the price of 2! We accept cash, cheques and there is also a phone payment option. 

 

Come along to the Book Fair and earn FREE BOOKS for our school!

 

Happy reading!

SCHOOL COMMUNICATIONS

Please see the letter detailing the new system for texting and emailing.  The letter can be found under the Parents tab in the Downloads and Letters Section / Whole School Events.  On this occasion a hard copy of the letter is also being sent out.