Christmas Message from Miss Purdy
Excited children are arriving in school today with their party plates and the stage is set for Wednesday's Christmas by Candlelight. It's the last week before the Christmas holidays so, by Friday, children's eyes will be sparkling with anticipation. This has to be the most wonderful week in the school calendar.
The term has truly flown past with so many highlights, successes and challenges. On Friday the Sports Award Gold for 2014/15 was delivered, so congratulations to Mr. Ashton for organising superb sporting opportunities and helping us to become the best we can possibly be in sport. I know that Mr. Ashton will be training a group of children for the Junior North Run after Christmas but he has bigger plans for the whole community for 2017. Watch this space!
There have been so many lovely comments about the children, their splendid behaviour and positive attitude from our visitors too. Following the Christmas lunch, many guests paid the children lovely compliments so, as parents, you must be bursting with pride.
Finally, may I wish you all a magical Christmas time and a very happy 2016. We'll look forward to seeing you all on our return to school on Monday 4th January 2016.
Tea Towels, Tinsel and Wise Men
Last week we had the joy of the Key Stage 1 production "The Daily Star" and it was gorgeous. With a mix of bouncy and sweet songs, many characters and the final Nativity scene, the play set the tone for Christmas in school. Well done to teachers and staff who helped to bring the play together in such a short time and thank you to everyone who turned up to watch this delightful production. It truly was standing room only!
Lingotots Spanish Club
Soon children in the Reception class, Years 1 and 2 will be hearing from Lingotots, an organisation that teaches foreign languages to young children. We are working together to offer Spanish lessons to our youngest children during the Spring term. Spanish was selected as it will be of use to many children who fly off to Spain, the Canaries and even Florida. We believe that by learning any language at a young age, children's confidence will be boosted to then excel in French and German when they are older. To read more about Lingotots click here.
The Red Carpet Awaits...by Mr. Howe
We have secured a fantastic opportunity for a group of children from Years 4 and 5 to direct, produce and even star in their own film next term.
Our school is working alongside the film and media department at Sunderland University to create a film with the working title: The Power of Yet – based on our Growth Mindset approach in school. The idea is that Yet is a word which suggests while we might not be able to do something now, we will in the future.
This week, course leaders from the University, will outline the project to our children. They are looking for ten pupils, available every Friday afternoon (during school time), to commit to the film over the Spring term. The children will work alongside students on the film, developing skills from storyboarding to producing and editing, using the university’s state-of-the-art media facilities.
With only ten places available, interested children should prepare their own ‘pitch’ on their idea for the film over the Christmas holidays. They will pitch to a panel from the university in January, either individually or in a pair and use whatever medium they want: from Powerpoint to drama and beyond. The chosen ten will go forward as our filmmaking team.
The film, furthermore, will be entered into a regional young person’s film festival – where our children will get a chance to experience a red carpet event and watch their creation on a big screen.
It’s an exciting opportunity to develop new skills and I am sure there will be some creative talent unearthed as a result of the challenge.
Good luck!