Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Kindness, poetry, sausages

  Fri 28 Sep 2018 Mr J Howe

  One of our school vision values, the one we have been celebrated this month has been KINDNESS. The school has been awash with kind children and our Golden Book has been bursting full of names of children demonstrating this critical value.  Next month, we will be focusing on "RESPECT"-for ourselves, each other, property, different faiths and backgrounds, nature and animals.

   

  SCHOOL REWARDS

  We are extending our systems of rewards in school after a successful trial run last year. These include an extra 10 minutes play for the class who wins top attendance of the week. There will an end of year award in the form of a magical mystery day trip for exceptional children. The criteria for winning this award will be:

   

  • 96% attendance
  • green on reports for behaviour and uniform each half term
  • 2 Everybody, Every Night certificates
  • green in effort for 6 half terms

   

  On attendance, this means that, over the year, a child has to have no more than 7 days absent from school for any reason. So, if a few days are taken off for a holiday then there are a few days off for illness, your child's attendance target set by the Department for Education has not been met.  However, we have many children who easily meet their target every year so we are looking forward to the challenge of  qualifying for a free golden ticket for this adventure.

   

  EVERYBODY EVERY NIGHT 

  As a school we are very grateful to you to all: parents, grandparents and carers who insist on listening to children read every night. Our expectation is at least 6 signatures in the Reading Journal each week. Sometimes it's hard to get back into the routine but, by listening to children read whether they are in Year 1 or Year 6, makes an incredible difference as to how well they do in school. Believe me. Reading is fundamental to children understanding and accessing the curriculum. Each day I try to listen to a different group of children read. It is the one privilege of the job I have.

   

  THE AMAZING IVAN JONES POEM AWARD

  We have many aspiring poets in our school so I don't envy Ivan when he receives our entries for this year's competition. We have had a fantastic number of entries this year so have selected a few from each class for judging. The short listed poems will be on their way to Shropshire, next week. Year 2 popped into my office today to finish drafting their poems on kindness. It was fascinating eavesdropping on them as they compared notes on their work.

   

  AND FINALLY

  We have lots of creative children in our school, so inspired by MasterChef - I have challenged them to create their own, unique sausage. Yes, that's right. Invent a Sausage is a regional competition for primary school children to create a simple recipe for a new sausage, considering how ingredients combine. The winner receives £300 for their school, the winning sausage to be served as school dinner and 80 of their own sausages for home. Two other categories: healthiest sausage and funniest sausage will also win £100 for their school too. It's a chance to get in the kitchen, have a go, have fun - with instructions, measures - and build children's confidence too.

   

   

• Reading

  Fri 21 Sep 2018 Mr J Howe

  Books are pleasure, something to treasure. In between their pages, they can transport the reader to different parts of the world, teleport you to fantasy lands and different times, past and in the future. Books have the ability to make you laugh and cry. They teach you how the Pyramids were built, the difference between a mountain and a hill, how to handle social situations, how to become resilient.

   

  It is and has been our school policy that every child should read to an adult at home every single day, with our very youngest children sharing picture books with you. It is so important that every term we recognise those children whose reading records reflect this dedication to reading in our Everybody, Every Night awards.

   

  We know that many of our families are dedicated to supporting their children in becoming the best reader they can possibly be, listening to them each day and signing the Reading Log. However, there are still too many children who are not supported by their families and do not read regularly enough. If you find it difficult to make the time, try and make it part of your daily routine by sticking to the same time every evening e.g arrive home, have a glass of milk then read aloud.  If your child forgets their book bag it is best to hear them from another book or comic and then sign a piece of paper. Class teachers listen to children read and check their reading records as we - as a school - believe it is a fundamental skill which unlocks a world of learning.

   

  POETRY COMPETITIONS

  This weekend, I have asked children to spend time drafting their entry to The Ivan Jones Amazing Poem Award, before they are sent for judging by Ivan then and an overall winner announced on National Poetry Day (Thursday 4th October). The theme of the poems are: kindness, respect, determination or aspiration and children can create a poem, which needs to be given to me by next Friday.

   

  On National Poetry Day we will also be holding the school's annual poetry recital competition. This is its fourth year so we are expecting more entries than ever. The poems to learn have been circulated to classes. Last year Frances  (now in Year 6) won but she had some very close competition. Get learning everyone and good luck.

   

  SUMMER CHALLENGE COMPETITIONS

  Well done to all those children and their amazingly creative entries to our Seaburn Dene Summer Challenge - 30 activities to have a go at over the six weeks holiday from watching the sun go down to making a kite.

  Year 1 produced the best class entry with an astonishing array of scrap books, so I had a very difficult task of narrowing down the field to winners/highly commended.

  They are:

  Winners: Beau, Jacob (Y6), Skye, Ruby (Y4), William, Sophie (Y2),  Jessica and Sebastian (Y1).

  Highly commended: John (Y6), Liam (Y5), Zoe (Y4), Amelia, Rosie (Y2), Eleanor (Y1), Erin (R).

   

  POBBLE

  We are aiming for 5,000 views and 600 comments on our writing on www.pobble.com (just search for Seaburn Dene). This week we published the work of 18 more children. Please help us by helping your children view work of our prospective authors on the site.

   

   

• Candlelight vigil for shop assistant Joan Hoggett

  Sun 16 Sep 2018 S Baker
  Our local community has been shocked by the death of Joan Hoggett, shop assistant at One Stop shop on Sea Road on 5th September. As a mark of respect a candlight vigil has been organised for Wednesday 19th September, meeting at Fulwell Junior School at 6.30pm. All welcome.

• Kindness, poetry, Pobble and Meccano

  Fri 14 Sep 2018 Mr J Howe

  This month our focus for rewards is KINDNESS. This is a key part of our school values and was initially put forward by our School Council last year. Every child in school has been challenged to create a #kindnessrocks - a little rock to bring into school, painted complete with a kind and inspiring message to dot around our school grounds.

   

  The Ivan Jones Amazing Poem Award

  We are already gearing up for our Poetry Recital Competition, and Ivan Jones Amazing Poem writing competition All poems are to be brought into school by Friday, September 28, so they can be prepared to be sent off to Ivan for judging. The theme for the competition are one of our school values: Kindness, Respect, Determination and Aspiration.

   

  As ever, we are looking forward to our poetry recital. Frances Hutcheon was our winner last year, following in the footsteps of Sarah Crossley. Each child has a booklet of poems to pick from. Finalists can use props, powerpoints, drama, music or costume to gain those extra valuable points. And, if your child wishes to enter but is finding the poem difficult to learn, why not learn part of the poem well? Class poems have been carefully chosen to challenge and allow the children to be as creative as ever.

   

  The best "summer" homework ever challenge

  Well done to everyone who took on board the Pobble 30 things to do challenge over the Summer holiday. There were some really fantastic efforts, which I will be judging this weekend. We will announce the winners next week.

   

   

  School Priorities in 18-19

  Each Summer we analyse children's attainment and progress across the whole school to decide upon our priorities for development and training. Here is what we decided to improve:

  1.  Maths:  To continue to raise standards in basic mathematical knowledge, while including challenge for all children.

  2. Writing: to improve outcomes for the more able children in EYFS and End of KS1 in writing, ensuring a high level of challenge and expectation

  3. Reading: Establish consistency of reading evidence for assessment. 

  4. Assessment: implement complete assessment approach for foundation subjects. To develop a whole school system for tracking group and whole school progress, taking into account pupils’ starting points.

  5. Curriculum: Music - to enable every child increased opportunities to perform musically - either singing or in learning a musical instrument as part of an enriched Creative Arts education for all pupils and to embed Music into the wider Arts and National Curriculum based topics. To embed an integrated PHSE curriculum, underpinned by social and emotional learning principles.

  6. Lunch & Break times: develop a whole school approach to the provision of outdoor play:  improving opportunities, choice and engagement in play.

   

  Finally, it was fantastic to see some of our after school starts get into the swing of things this week, particularly Y5 attempting their entries in Meccano for the Great Engineering Challenge and - of course - Street Dance. Watch this space for an exciting new development around music and the creative arts.

   

  

• End of our first week

  Fri 07 Sep 2018 Mr J Howe

  WOW what a week and it was only three days. At the end of our first week back and the start of the academic year 2018/9 it is worth reflecting on what a whirlwind it has all been.

   

  We are very conscious - as a staff - as to what makes our school special, what our ethos is - we walk past it every day in the school's front office/reception. Seaburn Dene celebrates the inspirational impact of the creative arts, we recognise, as a Platinum School Games Award winning school, the fundamental importance of physical education. Science and technology are vital to the future aspirations of our children, while community links are something we intend to build on as our community is important to us.

   

  Well our first week has really underlined our ethos. Our Year 5/6 children have been at the Great Exhibition of the North - exploring music, soundscapes and the artwork of flags. Musical Mates have been in school to promote our instrument tuition in a special assembly to inspire our children and we have discussed future projects. Visitors from our community have been into Seaburn Dene to explore community partnerships, while we launched today our Poetry Recital Competition 2018. 

   

  Around school, children have been donning their new Seaburn Dene Primary School PE hoodies for outside games, our youngest and newest pupils have been learning about first sounds, how to make friends and where to find things to help them around the classroom.  

   

  Please note, we try and discourage children from bringing too many chocolate type snacks into school as part of their packed lunch. We try and monitor what our children are eating and hope you would support  Also please do not bring any nuts onto school property as many children suffer from nut allergies. 

   

  Have a fantastic weekend.

   

   

• New Beginnings

  Wed 05 Sep 2018 Mr J Howe

  Welcome back to the start of another new school year. I hope that you had a lovely relaxing summer and are now ready for the term ahead. I would like to say a huge welcome to our new starters and their parents/carers. We are delighted that your child/children have joined the Seaburn Dene Primary School "family" and we look forward to getting to know you all in the next few weeks. The children have settled extremely well into class this morning and have made a fabulous start.
  I also wanted to say a very big ‘thank you’ for all the fabulous effort which has gone into the new school uniform for the start of term- all of the children really do look wonderful! Unfortunately, we ended up with a huge amount of lost property at the end of last year, so could you please ensure that all clothing is clearly labelled with your child’s name. Many thanks for your support with this. 
  We have a very busy term ahead and class newsletter will be sent out next week which details forthcoming key dates and events. The main events taking place are our Poetry Recital Day and Steam Engineering Car Challenge 
  We are currently working on finalising our key school improvement plan priorities for the year ahead and I will inform you of the precise details of these once they have been approved by governors. Key curriculum areas which we will be working on this year will include: 
   Developing depth in writing for some of our youngest children in FSU and KS1 Extending the rapid recall of number facts throughout school  Continue to raise the profile of science and technology  Further enhance provision for music and the creative arts.

  As the new term begins, could I also remind parents that the school bell goes at 8.55am and the register is taken as soon as the children are in school.  We greatly encourage all children to arrive before bell time please, so that they can settle into class and start morning learning. Any child arriving after registration will be given a late mark, which is then closely monitored. Your support with getting your child/children to school on time is greatly appreciated as it impacts greatly on the start of lesson times.  PE is continuing this week and, like uniform, full PE kit is expected so children can get the most out of attending a School Games Platinum Award winning school. Thank you - as ever -  for your support.

  Mr Howe