Head Teacher's Blog 10.06.24
9th June 2024
We love to welcome visitors into school and last week, some great visitors joined us to give the children new and memorable experiences.
On Wednesday, we welcomed Stephen from Newcastle Falcons to deliver some tag rugby sessions to our Y3, 5 and 6 children. These sessions were organised following a request from Shona in Y5 for more rugby in school, especially for girls. Thank you to Mrs Murdy and Mrs Chambers for getting onto this straight away and creating an opportunity for so many children to enjoy! There was a real buzz in each session as the children took on the challenge of the games and activities that Stephen introduced. We hope that this will be the start of more rugby opportunities in the future, including information about how to get involved in rugby within our community.
Then on Friday, The Alnwick Playhouse Concert Band joined us, giving two wonderful performances to both our older and younger children. Not only did we get to hear some great music - The Harry Potter theme, music from How To Train Your Dragon and the Liberty Bell march, just to name a few, we were also introduced to the different instrument families within the band. In addition to this , the children got a proper giggle when Miss Back and Mr Johnson joined the band in the percussion section. They both learnt about the importance of watching the conductor!
Of course, in other ‘big news’ from last week, our Y4 children headed off to Ford castle on Wednesday. I’m delighted to say that all children approached their residential with such positivity, ready to take on all of the challenges that were to come their way. I was delighted to hear from staff that the children were a real pleasure to spend time with. That said, I think there would have been some very tired children wheeling their cases home on Friday afternoon after two nights spent away with friends! My huge thanks go to Claire Wallwork, Ewelina Sapor, Lisa Pickard, Amy Smith and Craig Warburton for taking the children away, looking after them so brilliantly and supporting them to succeed.
http://www.swansfield.northumberland.sch.uk/website/year_4_residential_2024/615700
If you haven’t already seen them, head over to the school website via the link above to see photos of the children’s time away.
Y3 had a wonderful time at the Countryside Day on Thursday - thankfully the weather was mostly kind, apart from a very sharp shower at lunchtime. Super to hear tales of farming, food production, falconry and traditional crafts just to name a few.
Let’s take a look at the week ahead:
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Teacher led clubs begin again on Monday and Thursday afternoons this week for a 5 week run
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Willow class return to swimming lessons again on Tuesday, alongside Chestnut. Maple class will have NUF sports sessions in school
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It’s Oak class family lunch on Wednesday. Please book your place by Monday if you haven’t already done so and we look forward to welcoming you at 11.45. Please come to the main entrance
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We will be welcoming Susie Cochrane and Cheryl Stewart into school on Friday afternoon to work with our Y3 children as part of The Air We Breathe for The Wonderful World Festival. A reminder to Y3 families that children will only get to participate in the subsequent sessions at Alnwick Playhouse if they have confirmed that they can perform at Alnwick Playhouse on Friday 28th June. If you haven’t responded to the Google form, please can we ask that you do this
Sycamore class were our top attenders last week with 97.3%. Our whole school attendance was 94.4%. It would be super if we could get this up to 95% next week!
We have some fabulous stars of the week to let you know about. A huge well done goes to: Tommy Tafel, Isaac McNeill, Myles Pearse, Zach Archer, Penny Tate, Willow Ostle, Henry McArdle, Rudy Mather, Shona Gordon, Niamh Claxton and Marshall Duffill. Well done, we are very proud of you all!
As we approach the start of The Euros, here’s another piece of music from the host nation, Germany. Let’s hear from German born composer Hanns Zimmer and his music for the Madagascar films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ADpYiDG1s
See you in the week,
Mrs G