Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
READING FESTIVAL AND WORLD BOOK DAY
This week our library is open from 8.30am so that families can enjoy a book session together. Tuesday is timetabled for Yr 3, Wednesday Yr 4, Thursday Yr 5 and Friday Yr 6.
Here is the rest of our schedule for the week:
CLEAN FOR THE QUEEN
To celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday, we will be taking part in the Keep Britain Tidy campaign by cleaning the school grounds and cut behind Monkwearmouth. Sunderland Council are providing all the equipment and their support. Thank you Mr. Howe for organising this.
VANILLA VAN GHOST
We had 73 wonderful entries for this illustration competition so, before we sent the finalists down to Ivan Jones, there were serious decisions to be made. On receipt of the finalists, Ivan said that he and his wife Mal were "bowled over " by the quality of and thought put into the illustrations so found it incredibly difficult to decide on a winner. As yet we have not been told of their decision so fingers crossed everyone. Ivan has asked me to thank everyone who entered and, even if you are not winners this time, he appreciates your amazing ideas and asks you all to keep on drawing.
The winning entry will be announced at our Drop In on the afternoon of Friday 18th March.
With only 23 days in this half term, it's going to be an exciting and very full four weeks. With World Book Day and Shakespeare Week in the same half term, the children will be submerged in incredible literature and taking part in wonderful workshops. Keep checking the calendar and the website for further details.
COMPETITIONS CLOSING DATES
The entries began to pile up this morning as we all remember that the Vanilla Van Ghost illustration competition closes on Wednesday 24th February at 9.00am. We will be selecting the best entry from each class to post down to the poet Ivan Jones who will be selecting the overall winner, helped by his wife author Mal Lewis Jones.
We know that some of our children are wonderful writers so a little reminder that entries for the Chris Evans 500 words competition has to be submitted by Thursday 25th February at 7.00pm.
Good luck everyone!
SPELLING AWARDS
On Thursday this week children who have achieved an average of 80% in their weekly spelling test will receive a special certificate. Parents have been invited to the event so well done to all our splendid spellers.
Every School Day Really Does Count
As we are half way through the school year I have been monitoring attendance. Good attendance is absolutely essential if children are to make the best of all the learning opportunities in their primary years.
The Department for Education (DFE) expects schools to have an average of at least 96%. The DFE categorises anyone with attendance at under 90% as persistent absentees and periodically alerts the school with regards to these individual children.
The parents of all children who are currently considered to be "persistent absentees" or in danger of falling into that category, for whatever the reason, will receive a letter from Mrs Baker. This is for information only and does not require a response. However, it should help some families to make wiser decisions e.g when planning family holidays. Hopefully, by the end of the school year, both attendance and punctuality of individuals will improve to reduce absentee rates. Please note that school starts at 8.55am and children should not be late except in the most exceptional circumstances.
Karen Langtree Workshops
Years 5 and 6 had a very productive day working with the school's Patron of Reading Karen Langtree. Every time I wandered into the hall or their classrooms, the children were completely immersed in their work. Using her latest book as the inspiration for the day, the children created:
The day was jam packed with sparks coming from their pens as they jotted down all their wonderful ideas.
"I think our song was catchy and our day with Karen was fun doing the song. I enjoyed everything. I wish it could happen every day." Charlie Yr 5
"I enjoyed Karen's visit. I liked the games at the beginning and the song we did with her but my favourite bit was listening to her new book 'Knights of the Wobbly Table'." Adam Yr 5
World Book Day Link
There are some great ideas on worldbookday.com
Focus on History
On Monday 8th February I will be with Mr. Howe on a course looking at how we can make our learning in history even better. We hope to return to school with lots of exciting ideas.
Year 6 are at Beamish Museum on Wednesday studying life in Victorian times, particularly researching how poor people lived. The weather promises to be dry and chilly but it's always an idea to be prepared for all eventualities so wrap up to be warm and comfortable with sensible shoes. On arrival children will be given Victorian costume to wear so we cannot wait to see the photographs!
Children will need a packed lunch and no more than £5 may be taken for the gift shop.
Film Club- On Monday the children in Film Club will be enjoying the musical "Oliver". Parents should refer to Mrs Tough's letter for timings as it's an epic of a film but very, very good!
Cycling in Yr 5
Mark O'Keefe, known in school as Dr. Bike, will be working with Year 5 on Monday 8th February. The coaching sessions, sponsored by Sustrans, will hopefully lead to a much longer bike ride later in the year.
Special Awards Evening
We are all looking forward to our Special Awards Evening on Thursday. With fascinating speakers, family activities delicious little snacks and the children themselves, it promises to be a very entertaining event.
Many of you remember our wonderful, young and vivacious singing teacher, Ian Bianchi. With his colleague Laura he will be leading a week's Summer School here at Seaburn Dene. CASA Performing Arts already work in two Sunderland schools during the holidays and weekends and we have invited them into Seaburn Dene to work with all our talented performers. Anyone in the area between the ages of 8 to 13 is welcome to join the Summer School so we hope to welcome back some of our former Drama Club members.
The week begins 22nd August (just as children are getting bored) and children will be busy at the Summer School from 9.00am to 3.00pm. On Friday, the last day, parents of these children will be invited in to see a performance so it's all go from the offset. The cost is £50 for the week and children of other local schools are invited too.
What a wonderful month or two we have planned. This week our Patron of Reading, Karen Langtree will be leading workshops with Years 5 and 6. Karen is currently writing a musical based on a forthcoming novel "Knights of the Wobbly Table" and the workshops will be based on these. It will involve children both writing and composing so should be enormous fun yet with tight deadlines and demands.
Vanilla Van Ghost Competition
For all artists out there, tomorrow we are launching an illustration competition. Vanilla Van Ghost, a wonderful poem, is by one of my favourite authors, Ivan Jones. Ivan Jones wrote "The Ghost Hunter", televised by the BBC some years ago. Children will be given an A4 copy of the poem to illustrate with their own imaginings inspired by the poem. The closing date is Wednesday 24th February at 9.15am. The overall winner will receive a very special prize and the winner of every class will have his/her illustration sent to Ivan Jones to be signed. Good luck everyone-we cannot wait to see your interpretations of this magical poem.
Vanilla Van Ghost
The Path to the house was darkened
As shadows fell here and there.
An owl was blindly hooting
And the moon had a wild-eyed stare.
Over the roof-tops hurtled -
As I walked to my door -
The shape of a ghostly ice-cream van
Which chilled me to the core.
It flew right down beside me,
As soft as a giant bat.
The window opened silently
And an ice-cream landed - SPLAT!
In fear I turned and stumbled
Headlong towards my door
But the ghostly van pursued me
And a demon voice cried - MORE!
A rain of frozen lollies
Came showering on my head
In a range of creepy colours-
Spooky white to Vampire Red!
I leaped through the open door
And shut it with a SNICK!
But a choc-ice whizzed through the letter box
And the demon voice yelled - LICK!
Thank goodness when I woke
I found it was just a dream -
A dream of Vanilla Van Ghost
The demon seller of ice-cream!
Ivan Jones
Sporting Activities
Last week our swimming team enjoyed the gala at the Aquatic Centre. Although they did not move into the next round, the team felt they had worked hard, shown a competitive edge and enjoyed the experience.
This week ten Year 5 children are training to be Young Leaders in Sport.
Church Visit
Also this week Year 2 will be visiting a local church so, as the weather is unpredictable, wrap up well for the short walk.
Year 6 Parents Maths Workshop
On Tuesday after school Mr. Smith will be leading a workshop for the parents of Year 6 pupils to help them to support their children at home. During the past 15 months, the way in which we teach certain aspects of maths changed again so these workshops are by popular request.
Ashing on Ash Wednesday
Our good friend Revd Child has offered to lead an Ash Wednesday assembly at 2.45 next Wednesday (10th). He will invite volunteers to be ashed. If you do not wish your child to take part please let us know well in advance of the assembly. Adults are invited to attend the assembly and come forward too.
Staff Book Club
With all the demands that comes with being a teacher, sometimes the fundamentals are pushed to one side. As a classteacher I was an avid reader of children's fiction, but I am the first to admit that I am not keeping up with contemporary works. Like preparing for a marathon, the best way to achieve your goals is with support and encouragement from likeminded people so we have created a staff book club. Everyone working permanently in a classroom is a member and our first book was given out yesterday. It is "Street Child" by Berlie Doherty. Set in London in the 1860s it features Jim Jarvis who escapes from the workhouse and fits in very nicely with our Dickensian theme. Watch out for reviews appearing in the library in the months to come.