Some fantastic news on the sporting front. A massive congratulations to Year 5. Yesterday they took part in the Sunderland Hoops 4 Health basketball tournament, led by the Newcastle Eagles and have made it through to the grand finals on February 8th in front of the Eagles' home crowd, after going unbeaten at Sunderland University. Behind-the-scenes there is an awfully lot of hard work by both the staff and children for an event like this. This morning, Mr Traves was speaking to our colleagues at Monkwearmouth Academy to use their gym for after-school practices, on top of lunch time sessions with the team. It's all in the preparation. Thank you to both Mr Ashton for his enthusiasm, and Mr Traves for his dedication and both for giving up their time to train the team. It shows in their fantastic performances.

Hockey for Year 3 and 4 begins in earnest next week. This year we will be entering the Y4 hockey tournament as, by then, we will have honed our skills to a high standard. Sports Premium funding from the Government has enabled us to deliver these sports and children's skills are deepening with our year-on-year commitment.

Assembly

The theme for school assemblies this week has been honesty and the values which underpin our school vision. I introduced it by sharing Aesop's Fable: The Boy Who Cried Wolf, while on Thursday we looked at our school vision statement: "A great place to explore, discover and learn." Focusing on exploration, I shared the little-known but inspirational story of the first man to walk in space, Alexey Leonov, in 1965. His story is one of lurching from one near-disaster to another, but we tried to bring it back to our willingness to explore new ideas, new opportunities, new experiences in our school and the challenges we face when these don't go - quite - according to plan.

Cold Snap

Despite the brief flurry of snow on Thursday, there seems no significant snow forecast by the Met Office for the North East coast for the next 5 days, despite temperatures hovering around zero.  We are not expecting extreme weather, but the temperature dip is a constant reminder of the need to wrap up warm and particularly wear the appropriate footwear.  As in years past, if - over the winter months - we have significant snow fall, we do everything we can to keep the school open while others around us close. Listen to local radio stations for information and, once they are up and running again, keep an eye on text and email messages. If you don't hear from us assume everything is running as normal. Staff travelling a distance may be late but there are sufficient staff who live locally who will keep the school open until everyone arrives safely.

A reminder-the school colours are navy blue and grey.