Reception's topic this half term was Our World. The children have been learning about their local and regional area and about other cultures from countries around the World.
As part of the topic, the children had a visit from musicians who performed a Music Workshop for the children to participate in and experience music and songs from other countries and cultures. They really enjoyed dressing up, singing, dancing and playing a range of musical instruments.
The children have learned a lot of new songs and love singing and performing them!
In addition to this, Nursery also held their Sports Stay and Play event in the Nursery Garden. Parents and carers were invited into nursery to engage in a range of activities designed to promote the children's physical development.
Mr Malik held a Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 assembly this week to give out certificates and prizes to our excellent handwriters. The awards were given for 'most improved handwriting' and 'neatest handwriting'.
Our school is really focusing on achievement in handwriting and Mr Malik was really proud to be able to hand out pens, pencils and rubbers to the children who had done really well. He said: 'It was a really hard decision to pick the winners because there were so many good writers and so many children had improved. Luckily, I will be giving some more awards for handwriting next half-term so lots of pupils will get the praise that they deserve.'
For photographs of all of the winners with their certificates, click on the link below:
The annual Easter Egg competition once again showed the artistic skills and creative ability of the children across our school which made the judging a very difficult task indeed.
However, after much deliberation, a winner and a runner up from each year group were selected with chocolate eggs presented as prizes during assembly.
On Friday 29th January, Wardley Primary School held a fundraising day to raise money for the Haiti appeal. As you will all be aware form the recent news coverage, Haiti has been devasted by an earthquake and this has left many people with a lack of shelter, food or health care.
The main event of the day was the Wardley's Got Talent show! Unfortunately Simon Cowell , Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan were not available to come and host the show but Mr Malik & Miss Gillie AKA Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden stepped in to host both the shows!There was a variety of acts from singing to the Cadburys advert.
The winners were as follows:
YEAR 3/4
1st Aaron Cook (Micheal Jackson)
2nd Laura Holden (dancing)
3rd Tamara Grey (singing)
YEAR 5/6
1st Lorielle Layson (piano)
2nd Lauren Richardson,Megan Burnett,Cydney Sloan,Courtney Cains,Paige Cowton (dance to JLS)
3rd Charlie Buckham (singing)
Early Years and Key Stage One held the second talent show and lots of children showcased their talents. Everyone was the winner.
Alongside the main show, a few other mini events were held, such as: a KS2 fair, making and selling biscuits and cakes and much more.
A special thank you to parents and carers who made very generous donations of homemade cakes and biscuits for us to sell at the Cake Stall after school. The stall proved to be very popular indeed!
Thank you to everyone for taking part and making the day a huge success. Wardley Primary School are proud to announce that £740.00 was made for the victims of the Haiti disaster.
The children at Wardley Primary School raised a massive £300 for Children in Need. They raised the money by paying 50p to wear non-uniform to school and by taking part in a coin toss event. The children had great fun trying to land 1p and 2p coins on Pudsey's spots in order to win a small prize.
With the support of our staff and other professionals, we have been able to timetable a wide variety of extra curricular activities for the autumn term.
We try to provide a range of clubs (arts, sporting, academic and creative) and cater for the needs and interests of all the children at Wardley Primary School.
Click below to view the details of the clubs we are currently providing for the next half term. Clubs AUTUMN 2.doc
We are always seeking to provide new clubs to add to our existing range of activities and these details will be updated as necessary, throughout the term.
As part of our charity support, we have once again supported Operation Christmas Child. The shoe boxes provided by our community will allow children who have very little, to experience the happiness and enjoyment that our children have at this special time of year.
After collecting an amazing 97 boxes last year, a very challenging target of 100 boxes was set.
Once we collected all the boxes into one place and had a couple of recounts, we found that the final total was ...
Over the half term, Mr Malik had the opportunity to visit Denmark, with a group of Gateshead teachers, in order to look at Danish schools and the way in which they educate their young people.
During the week, a number of schools (skole) were visited including nurseries (kindergarten), private schools and schools with a focus on forest learning. The experience was enjoyable, interesting and raised a number of aspects for the staff to talk about.
Some amazing facts to get you started:
- Children can start school at 6.30am and finish at 5.00pm
- They must go outside for up to two hours at a time, in all weathers
- Knives are used when children are learning in the forest
- There is no uniform in Danish schools
- Teachers are called by their first names
To see more photos and find out about the schools in Denmark, please click the link below where you can read the daily weblog that was kept.
Maths Family Learning course for Year 5 parents and carers
On Thursday 19th November until Thursday 10th December, Wardley Primary School will be delivering an exciting and new Maths Family Learning course to parents, carers, grandparents or any other family members of children in Year 5.
It is a highly recommended course for Year 5 parents as it will help you and your child prepare for the SAT's next year.
The course has a variety of aims, including: developing parents/ carers knowledge and understanding of how and what their children will be learning at school, learning how to understand and complete tricky calculations and strategies to help your child at home. There will be opportunities for you to make your own fun resources to use with your child to help further their learning. The course also enables parents/carers to brush up on their own skills in a friendly and relaxed environment. If you wish, there is also the option to carry on the course longer and gain your own qualification.
The course begins on Thursday 19th November and runs from 2-4pm at Wardley Primary School. After school, your child will come along and join in the learning and it is a chance for you to share the new resources you have made with them.
Everyone is welcome - parents, carers, grandparents and other family members! Please click on the link below for further information or see Miss Gillie. Wardley maths flyer 11.09.doc
The school dinner menu will change after half term and had been designed around the colder weather. You can download the menu by clicking on the link below.
If your child is having packed lunch, please remember to provide a healthy balanced meal containing fruit and vegetables as well as meat or fish, carbohydrates (bread, rice, pasta) and dairy. Healthy drinks would be water, fruit juice or milk.
Children should be discouraged from having sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks.
A warm welcome to all children, parents and carers to the beginning of an exciting new school year. We hope you have had an enjoyable break, despite the weather, and have had a chance to relax and recharge.
Last term saw Mr Scott (promotion to a new school) and Mrs Dixon (family commitments) leave our school. Both members of staff were extremely popular and will be missed by staff, parents/carers and children alike.
We have recently appointed two new members of staff who have already settled well and are excited at the challenge of working to the high expectations set at Wardley. Miss McLachlan will teach in Y6 whilst Miss Murphy will teach Y5.
At the end of June, the school was inspected under the new OFSTED framework which was recently receiving so much media attention. The new format was to raise the bar on expectations of schools in order to support them to achieve even more success.
Although the process was challenging on all staff, it went extremely well and resulted in Wardley being described as a "good" school overall but with "outstanding" features.
The inspectors were highly impressed with the behaviour and attitude of all the children which was a testament to the partnership between school and home.
School Council attend the Gateshead Junior Community Network Conference
Wardley Primary School Council have recently become part of the Gateshead Junior Community Network and, along with several other Gateshead schools, attended the conference at The Swallow Hotel last week.
The schools were asked to deliver a three minute presentation on something that they were proud to have achieved this year. We delivered ours based on our Charity work and in particular, the School Council wanted to focus on the success of Comic Relief Day 2009.
The children really enjoyed delivering the presentation- they showed a powerpoint, sang, danced and even wore their pyjamas and the best part- they even got to use a microphone!
Wardley School Council were very proud to come 2nd place for our presentation and were even more pleased with their prize- a big bag of sweets to share!
Recently the School Council have joined the Gateshead Junior Community Network. This involves Wardley Primary working in partnership with several other Gateshead schools to promote Community Cohesion.
The School Council were very lucky to have Julie and Annie come into school to help them to learn about what community cohesion is and what it means in terms of the local area in Wardley and in Gateshead. They did some discussion work based around belonging to various groups both inside and outside of school and the advantages and disadvantages of being in a group. The council then plotted on a map of the local area where they belong in their different groups and they were surprised to see how vast an area the different groups they belong to covered!
The School Council really enjoyed the session and learned a lot about their local community. They were delighted to receive free Gateshead Community Network mugs, chocolate and pens as a reward for their hard work at the end!
With the support of our staff, we have been able to timetable a variety of extra curricular activities for the next half term.
We try to provide a range of clubs (arts, sporting, academic and creative) and cater for the needs and interests of all the children at Wardley Primary School.
Click below to view the details of the clubs we are currently providing for the next half term. clubs excel summer 1.xls
We are always seeking to provide new clubs to add to our existing range of activities and these details will be updated as necessary, throughout the half term.
On the Friday before the Easter break, Mr Malik held an assembly to give out the prizes for our annual egg decorating competition. There was a winner and runner up for each year group and Mr Malik explained that it was eggtremely hard to choose the winners. "It was very clear that all of the children had tried their very best and this year the eggs were very creative and imaginative." he said.
Just a quick reminder about the initiative to improve attendance and give the oppurtunity to reward a family with a break to Disneyland Paris donated by Hays Travel.
The qualifying period for the competition started 20th April and is running to 10th July.
Pupils across participating schools with 100% attendance and punctuality are eligible to go into the draw.
We will inform you of the winner in July but remember "YOU'VE GOT TO BE IN IT TO WIN IT!"
Parents and carers of pupils at Wardley Primary School have recently completed their French-tastic family learning course.
They have learned all about what their children will be covering in their french lessons and have had a go at learning the language for themselves. They have been involved with learning numbers, colours and how to have a basic conversation in french. They have really enjoyed attending the sessions themselves and then having their children join them after school to carry on the learning journey together. Lots of resources were made by the parents and the children to take home and use to further support their learning.
The next Family Learning course is a Literacy based course called Playing with Words. It begins on Thursday 23rd April 2-4pm. This is suitable for parents/ grandparents/ carers across the whole school. If you would like to take part in this course, please see Miss Gillie.
The nursery children who will be beginning Reception in September had a very special visitor and delivery this week!
The Bookstart Treasure Chests arrived at Nursery and inside the children received two reading books, a colouring book, colouring pencils, a pencil sharpener and some information about books for parents to read. The librarian from Pelaw Library came into nursery to read us a lovely story called: How do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? This was very exciting for some of our nursery children as they are very interested in dinosaurs. Parents and carers were also invited in to share the story session and information about the Bookstart Treasure Chests with their children.
Words are Child's Play! A great new Family Learning Course
After the Easter holidays, we are beginning a new Family Learning course called Words are Child's Play.
It is a literacy based course for parents/carers of children throughout the primary age range and aims to develop parents/carers knowledge and understanding of how and what their children will be learning in Literacy at school. There will be opportunities for you to make your own fun resources to use with your child to help further their learning. The course also enables parents/carers to brush up on their own skills too in a friendly and relaxed environment.
The course begins on Thursday 23rd April and runs from 2-4pm at Wardley Primary School. After school, your child will come along and join in the learning and it is a chance for you to share the new resources you have made with them.
Everyone is welcome - parents, carers, grandparents and other family members! Please click on the link below for further information or see Miss Gillie. Wardley Flyer Lit 3.09.doc
From Thursday 26th March to Sunday 29th March, Sunderland Tennis Centre at Silksworth, is hosting a world class event.
Some of the top players in wheelchair tennis will be competing in the four day event including Paralympic Gold Medalist and World No. 1 Quad player, Peter Norfolk and Britain's No. 1 female player, Lucy Shuker (pictured below).
There is no charge for spectating, you just have to turn up on the date(s) of your choice, with matches starting at 9.30am each day.
So, if you want to see some amazing world class sports men and women (for free!), get yourself down to the Tennis Centre this week.
Yesterday, a Year 3 team competed in the Tony Blair Tennis Challenge at Heworth Grange. There were five teams altogether who played matches and a variety of skills activities.
It was an extremely competitive event with all children wanting to win whilst having a great deal of fun. At the end of the afternoon, Wardley ...
Wardley Primary had a Silly Day on Friday 13th March to raise as much money as we could for Comic Relief.
We all came to school in our pyjamas and tried hard not to fall asleep! There was no time for sleeping though, there was so much fun to be had! Read on to find out more about our silly day...
The Dog Warden came to visit Wardley Primary pupils to deliver a special assembly to the children in the school.
He told the children all about the role of a dog warden and how we should look after and take care of dogs. The dog warden brought his own cuddly dog Archie to show us how to care for dogs. He also explained to us what we should do if we ever see a stray dog in the local community.
The dog warden told us a very important massage to pass on to all parents and carers- if you live in Gateshead and have a dog over six months old, you can have them tagged for free. Just click on the Gateshead Council website for more details.
Goodies in the Community- Police and Fire-Fighters in EYFS!
During our recent topic of Goodies and Baddies, we found out about Goodies in the community and learned about the fantastic work that Police Officers and Fire-Fighters do. To end the topic, the children really enjoyed having a visit from the local Police Community Officer. They learned all about what a Police Officer does and about keeping safe from strangers in the holidays. The children did some colouring work with the Police Officer and tried on some of the uniform too!
The children had a great time dressing up in our own Police and Fire-fighters costumes and role-playing the jobs. They even made a fantastic fire-engine to get to the emergency quicker and used old pipes as fire hoses!
A fantastic topic that was enjoyed by all of the children and lots of valuable information was learned.
Reception's Animals topic- Information for parents and carers
This half term the children in the Early Years will be learning about Animals.
Click on the link below to find out some of the key questions we shall be trying to answer with the children and how you can help to support your child at home. Spring_2_'animals'_Parent_info.doc
As part of our "Twitchers" topic we are learning about how people look after their birds with care and sensitivity. Becky a local falconer came to visit us with her Harris Hawk Mort. She explained to us about birds of prey and how she looks after Mort. She told us that Mort needs daily exercise and about what he eats, he even had his tea before he left - a chick! We were able to get up close and touch Mort and some of us who answered Becky's quiz questions correctly held him, but only after wearing a special falconer's glove to protect our hands from Mort's talons.
To start our new 'Twitchers' topic, the children took part in a school bird watch to see which types of birds are located in the school grounds. Mr Evans' Dad, a keen bird spotter, came to school to demonstrate to the children how to be a good 'Twitcher'. The children had to guess what 'old' Mr Evans carried with him when he went bird spotting. Using a bird guide, binoculars and the help of both Mr Evans, the children identified the different types of birds. We had a very exciting afternoon as some the children saw a sparrow hawk fighting with a woodpigeon for some food.
Over the two hours we spotted lots of different birds. Click below to see the findings of our birdwatch. Wardley Birdwatch Results
Over the next few weeks, the children will learn how we can encourage different species of birds to visit the Wardley grounds. Check out the website to see what we find!
The children in reception made the most out of the recent snowy weather.
They made sure that they were dressed for the snow and put on their coats, hat, scarf, gloves and of course, wellies!
They did snow dances; made snow angels on the ground by lying down and flapping their arms and legs; did snowy art work on the ground exploring the ways that they could use their hands, fingers and feet to create pictures in the snow; they made marks in the snow and wrote their name and other messages for each other; they went into role pretending to be ice skaters; and they enjoyed sticking their tongues out to taste the snow- the children described it as: "icy cold", "freezing", "melty" and "tickly". The children had a fantastic time in the snow.
The children in nursery have been very busy learning about sounds.
They have been learning to use their ears and listen very carefully to sounds in the environment. We went on a sound walk and took photos of all the different sounds that we could hear. We then played a very exciting game called drum outdoors where we explored all the different sounds we could make with a drum beater outside. It was very noisy! We have been learning the names of musical instruments and experimenting with the different ways they can be played and the sounds that they can make. We have discovering lots of new sounds we can make and we have been learning lots of new words related to sounds too.
Wardley Primary Early Years children had a very exciting visit from a puppet character who told them all about the NSPCC charity and how they could raise some money to help children in danger. The children listened very carefully and took some little jobs home to do with their parents and carers in order to raise money for the charity.
To end the 'Land Ahoy' Pirate topic, the children raced their pirate ships they had built during their design and technology lessons. After many qualifying races, each class had a grand final to see which Pirate was the fastest to sail the seven seas.
Here are the designers of the winning ships.
As part of the children's trip to Gateshead City Learning Centre, the children have dressed up as pirates. The children had to give themselves a nickname. To see the children's costumes and nicknames, click on the photograph above.
To find out and see what the children did at the Gateshead City Learning Centre click on the link below
Year 1 and 2 Become Firefighters for the Afternoon
Two members of the firefighters from our local community and their fire engine visited Year 1 and 2 for their annual fire safety talk. The children watched a video about the importance of not playing with matches. The children then had the opportunity to try on a firefighter's uniform and see what different equipment a fire engine has on board. The safety session ended with the children having a turn on the hose. Some of the chlidren expressed a desire to be firefighters when they grow up.
Last year the children from Key Stage One and Key Stage Two were asked to take part in a competition to compose a short poem for three stone seats that were to be made and put into Wardley Park for the community to use.
The Music Workshop teachers from Gateshead LEA invade Wardley for the afternoon. They came singing sea shanties, capturing pirates and telling tales of treasure. They taught the children all about keeping a steady beat and gaining a sense of melody. The children had a fantastic time. The Key Stage 1 teachers would like to thank the LEA music teachers as they prepared the 'Pirate' themed workshop especially for the beginning of our new topic.
This week, the Early Years children have had their Christmas Parties.
We played lots of fun games and won lots of prizes. We did some excellent dancing. Callum from nursery even decided to try break dancing! We had a delicious party tea and then came the best part... we sang Jingle Bells and Santa came! He said we had been very good boys and girls and we got a brilliant present to take home.
This year's raffle, in aid of St. Oswald's Hospice, has been fantastically successful. In total, £305 has been raised which will go towards the charity helping to support families living with terminal cancer.
Read on to find out who the winners of the prizes were.
Since the school was painted in the summer holidays the early years staff and children have been working very hard to turn our classrooms back into stimulating learning environments. Here is an example of some of the display work that has been created.
We are always changing our displays and we will post more on the website soon.
On Monday 15th December, the Nursery children put on their Christmas Performance to the parents. This consisted of a selection of nursery rhymes the children have been learning since beginning Nursery and a few Christmas songs. A super performance. Well done to children and staff!
Bob Tweddell visited Year One and Two to discuss what it was like in Wardley in the past. Mr Tweddell, local resident and Grandparent to a child in the school, brought in a time line to demonstrate the changes to the local area over the last 200 years. He also answered some key questions about the history of Wardley and also how his childhood was very different to the children's at our school today.
Walking Through Wardley!
The Key Stage One children have been busy writing a song all about Wardley. Using places and things seen on their walk around the local area as their inspiration, the children produced their own song. Walking Through Wardley Song
Over the last week, the nursery children have been engaged with a number of exciting Christmas activities. This included a Santa's Workshop, where the children were involved with making lists of toys, designing, making and delivering the presents on Santa's sleigh.
On Friday 12th December, the Reception children performed a play called The Nursery Rhyme Nativity. This was a traditional nativity accompanied by a selection of christmas songs with nursery rhyme tunes. The children put on an excellent performance despite over half of Miss Gillie and Mrs Atkinson's class being absent due to chicken pox!
Well done to all the children and staff. A fabulous time was had by all!
On Thursday 11th December, Key Stage One performed a Christmas Play called Donkey For Sale. The children performed magnificently in front of their family members. The teachers were delighted with the children as they all used clear and loud voices so that all the audience could easily follow the Christmas story.
On Thursday we brought our warm clothes, wellies and sledges to school so that we could have some snowy fun at playtime. Most people played on the field with their sledges but others helped to build numerous snowmen and some Year Six children created a fun new game - snow basketball. Everyone was very cold and wet afterwards but it was definitely worth it.
As part of our committment to supporting charities, we took part in the Shoe Box appeal, which looks to provide gifts at Christmas for children across the world who otherwise would have nothing.
We set a target to collect 75 boxes in total with bronze, silver and gold certificates going to each class depending on the number of boxes collected.
On Friday 3rd October the community police officer, Stuart came to visit us. He talked to us about how to keep safe on Bonfire Night.
We found out that SPARKLERS and not rockets are the most dangerous fireworks for children as these are the ones we touch. They can burn our faces and hands so we MUST wear gloves and keep them well away from anyones faces.
We also found out where to put them when they go out. They should go in a bucket of WATER or SAND as putting them in the bin when they haven't cooled could cause a fire. Also DON'T EVER pick them up from the floor as you never know when they went out.
If you play with fireworks this could happen!!!
There is an organised display on at Oliver Henderson Park and Saltwell Park. Check out Gatesheads website http://www.gatesheadcouncil.org for more details and remember to STAY SAFE!
We were lucky to have a super story teller visit school who is also a Christian. He is called Ian Cambell from South Shields and he makes assemblies Great!
We are extremely proud to announce that the school has achieved the Artsmark Silver award for our high level of provision to the arts. By gaining the Artsmark Silver award, the school has shown it's commitment to the wider development of pupils and teachers and to raising the profile of it's arts provision both within the school and the local community.
The arts cover the four artforms of art, drama, dance and music. Over the last couple of years, we have been developing and increasing the provision we offer to the children through organising a range of activities to enrich and broaden the curriculum, such as visits to arts organisations, artists coming in to school, various competitions, and events within school.
The awards ceremony was held at the Northern Stage in Newcastle and it was a fun filled event, with music and dance performances from various schools around the North East. Heather Seymour and Adam McIntyre accompanied Miss Gillie and Mr Malik to collect the award and to celebrate the achievement.
Thank you to all of the staff and pupils at Wardley for their hard work and dedication to the arts.
Over the summer holidays, there is a huge amount of work going on within school. The replacement of windows and panels continues in the KS2 building along with internal and external painting across the whole school. However, amongst this, we have managed to squeeze in the Active Kidz summer play scheme for 5-7 year olds.
For those parents and carers looking for activities that children can be involved in over the long summer, Gateshead's programme is designed to give competitively priced options. Please see the attached form which gives all the information necessary.
During our Be Healthy week, Stephen Turnbell, a professional footballer from Hartlepool United, came into Year One and Two to discuss with the children the importance of a healthy diet and doing plenty of exercise. He also delivered some coaching, wowed the children and staff with his tricks and skills, and refereed some 7 a side matches. The children had a great afternoon and discovered how much hard work and dedication it takes to be an elite athlete.
Fruity Friday is a charity fundraiser created by Cancer Research to raise the awareness of how vital fruit is in our diet as a strategy to fight against cancer.
Back in February, the School Council decided they wanted to raise money for a worthwhile cause and as cancer is something that appears to be a disease that can always be linked to someone you know, they decided this was a good cause.
A letter was sent out asking for a donation and School promised to make the afternoon all about fruit. The kitchen bought star fruit as a special fruity lunchtime treat and across each phase, a variety of different activities were completed. Furthermore, all classes entered the Fruity Superhero Competition. Have a look below at the class winners who have been entered into the national competition as well as some of the fruity fun we got up to!
We managed to raise £184.00, so thank you to all those who contributed!
The number of children in the United Kingdom travelling to and from school by car is steadily increasing. In 2005, National Statistics suggested that 43% of primary school children are being driven to and from school.
At Wardley Primary School, we would like to see this number decrease. To do this, we have developed a school travel plan, which involved consultation with children, staff, school governors and parents.
The travel plan shows Wardley Primary School’s commitment to working with the community to:
*Improve the environment.
*Reduce car traffic to and from school.
*Encourage cycling to school as an alternative to the car to save energy, minimise air pollution and increase pupil fitness.
*Develop the social skills of all pupils through their active involvement in the development, implementation and evaluation of this plan.
