March 2024 - Last week Y5 learnt a lot about the Easter story by taking part in 'Easter in a Box' at All Saints church. They worked through different activities to learn more about each part of the story, in role as film directors. They then got to take home their Easter box. A huge thanks to the staff and volunteers at All Saints.

February 2024 - Y6 visited the Centre For Life as part of their science studies.  They did lots of fun things and took part in a workshop where they got to see the heart and lungs.  They even got to dissect a heart to see inside it.  It was really interesting!

February 2024 - All of the children in Year 4 were lucky enough to spend an afternoon at the Victoria Healer Art studio in Birtley as part of their Sculpture topic in Art. They were shown a range of techniques for working with clay and were able to design and make their own sculpture. They were also given the opportunity to try their hand at using the potters' wheel. Not only did they have great fun, but they all experienced success in creating their own piece of art. 

January 2024 - Year 3 had a fantastic time visiting the Oriental Museum. They enjoyed handling artefacts - some of which were over 2000 years old! The children had the chance to explore the Museum and found out lots of interesting facts to help us in our History lessons. They can't wait to learn more about Ancient Egyptians.

October 2023 -Year 4 had an amazing visit to the Sikh Gurdwara in Newcastle. They learnt lots about the Sikh religion, listened to music and took part in meditation. They also enjoyed eating lunch in the Langar, the Sikh community kitchen.

October 2023 - Year 5 visited Ushaw Historic House for their Pugin's Pupils workshop. We found out all about the history of Ushaw, the architecture of Pugin and even made our own tiles to print - all in one day!

October 2023 - Year 4 had a brilliant day learning at Binchester Roman Fort finding out more about why the Roman army marched through County Durham. We did a variety of activities throughout the day: firstly we found out why the fort was there, then we had a guided tour of the commander's bath house, after that a session based on a live archaeological dig, then the opportunity to try out a variety of Roman activities, and finally we made our own clay pots inspired by the Roman pottery found on the site.

October 2023 - Play in a Day - 6L performed Robert Louis Stevenson's masterpiece Treasure Island. After only a few hours of improvisation and rehearsal the children put on a show. They developed speaking and drama skills and worked hard as a team. It was great fun. 

October 2023 - Year 6 attended God and the Big Bang at Newcastle Cathedral. We had the opportunity to discover, discuss and debate the compatibility of science and faith. The three workshops encouraged us  to form opinions and engage in rational, well-reasoned and thought-provoking discussion about the place for science in God’s world. The cathedral was a stunning setting for the event.

October 2023 - Year 3 and Year 4 took part in a ' Colour The Castle' Lumiere workshop, delivered by Maeve. The children had a great morning creatively re-inventing Durham castle as their own piece of art, using bold and bright colours.

October 2023 - In Geography, Year 3 is learning about the United Kingdom. We visited a local feature called Rainton Meadows. It is a site dedicated to protecting wildlife. We found out it was created by the restoration of the Rye Hill Opencast coal mine. What a transformation! We followed a walking trail using a map and took part in a mini beast hunt and a pond dipping session. The sun shone, there were lots of conkers and it was fun to be outside.

September 2023 - We hosted a Tri-Golf festival which had been organised by Durham and Chester le Street School Sports Partnership. Some of our fabulous year 6 pupils were given training on how to lead the activities which they then delivered to over 250 children, including all of our year 3 and 4 pupils! It was a fantastic opportunity for the year 6 pupils to develop leadership skills whilst our younger pupils had great fun learning some golf skills. 

September 2023 - Year 5 had an amazing morning with author Adam Bushnell! He helped us act out the story of Beowulf, which we will be working on later in the Autumn term. We then enjoyed exploring lots of Anglo Saxon artefacts, even trying some on! We finished the morning by thinking of interesting vocabulary with Adam and writing an exciting description of Grendel the monster.

September 2023 - 3W loved participating in an art workshop with our visiting artist, Laura Brenchley. They started their new topic off by learning how to observe and sketch natural objects and create illustrations in the style of Angie Lewin.

September 2023 - Our Year 6 children had an exciting week on their visit to Lockerbie Manor. The focus for the week was making new friends, being courageous, building resilience and having lots of fun! Everyone enjoyed trying new activities and all accomplished something to be proud of. They were all absolutely amazing and a credit to the school. Lena from Year 6 said “I really enjoyed the residential because every activity was different and fun. Everybody tried something new (and got wet in the lake!) It was amazing fun and the meals were spectacular, really wholesome and filling. Even though it was raining during the Manor Olympics, it was a great way to end an awesome trip!” Anya from Year 6 said “The stand-up paddle boarding was amazing because I learnt how to use a paddle while standing up and we got to do challenges and jump in! One of the challenges was to do a roly-poly – it was really funny watching everybody try to do it. We did so many fun activities; everyone of them was great!”

June 2023 - The children had an exciting week on their visit to Newby Wiske. They all had lots of fun! The children took part in lots of activities. Everyone enjoyed trying new activities and all accomplished something to be proud of. They were all absolutely amazing and a credit to the school. Lydia and Lucy from Year 6 said “The residential was an amazing opportunity for all of Year 6 to face their fears and push themselves to the limit! The food was amazing and everyone had something they loved! The staff at PGL were positive and full of energy – even on the rainiest of days. The activities were exhilarating and everyone loved swimming in the lake! The quick jump was the highest and made you feel very proud! On the evening we got to play ultimate frisbee and balloon splash which was so much fun!”

June 2023 - 5M had an exciting visit from Megan who works at the historic Ushaw College. First, we had a very interesting history lesson all about King Louis XIV (1638-1715) and the grand Palace of Versailles. Then, our challenge was to replicate printmaking techniques which were famously used at the time to show off the Palace. Our artwork was taken back to Ushaw College and will eventually be part of a gigantic piece of collaborative art which other local schools have also contributed to - we can't wait to see the results!

May 2023 - The Fire Service came to visit Year 6. The crew explained the types of rescue they do, as well as showing us the engine and the specialist equipment for putting out fires and rescuing people from vehicles. One of the crew demonstrated and put on all the protective clothing and breathing apparatus that keeps them safe when entering a burning building. The children had the chance to ask questions and all had a go at spraying water from the hose! 

March 2023 - Year 4 had a fantastic time visiting Arbeia Roman Fort to support their learning of the Romans in Britain. The day started by meeting with Maximus, a Roman Legionary, who showed Year 4 what it was like to be in the Roman army living in Arbeia. They learnt how to march, how to dress and even learnt some Latin commands. We then entered the museum where we handled ancient Roman artefacts from the site and discussed how historians have learnt about the people who lived in Arbeia. We created some pastel drawings of some of the museum's artefacts which we’ve brought home as a frieze. After lunch, we were able to explore the reconstruction of the west gate house which gave us a birds eye view of the whole site. Finally, we explored the site further, finding out all we could about the excavations.

February 2023 - Year 5 visited Durham University for the afternoon to work with the university’s student-led orchestra. They had an amazing experience learning all about every section of the orchestra and had the opportunity to work in small groups with an expert in whatever instrument they chose. The children spent some time rehearsing a piece of music in groups and then were taught how to conduct the orchestra - some of us even helped conduct the students playing! The afternoon ended with a performance, with some children performing in the orchestra and others conducting the players. What an exciting afternoon!

January 2023 - 17 children represented the school at the Durham and Chester le Street Swimming Gala, organised by the School Sports Partnership. For some it was the first time they'd taken part in a swimming gala whilst others are like seasoned professionals!  There were a few nerves at the start but the team spirit they showed and the support the children gave each other was absolutely fantastic! The children all did themselves proud and finished 3rd out of the Durham Schools participating. It was a great event and a lovely opportunity for the children to compete against others. 

January 2023 - Class 4SH went to a team building workshop in the afternoon. They worked really well together and were great ambassadors for our school with a stand out positive attitude towards the volunteers and work. Some of the activities involved them using their bodies to hold item off the ground. They also had to pull string together to lift and move a bucket full of balls then at the end of the area tip the balls into another bucket. Well done 4SH!

December 2022 - Year 6 visited Nissan for an Eco School day. We learnt about fossil fuels, renewable energy, electrical flow, recycling and global warming. We carried out some fun and messy experiments. There were prizes for designing a new paintwork for the Nissan Leaf electric car and creating a working wind turbine. Everyone got a Nissan goody bag. It was a great trip.

November 2022 - Class 6L visited Newton Hall Library for a workshop with the illustrator and author Liz Million. As a reward for their effort with reading this term, the children enjoyed watching Liz draw imaginative and crazy characters. Everyone had a go at sketching with brilliant results. Liz was great fun and told us lots of funny anecdotes.

October 2022 - Year 6 girls attended a 'GirlPowered' event at Nissan. The girls learned all about engineering and STEM careers. They were encouraged to think about all the possibilities that are out there for them. They worked together to build a robot following instructions in a given time; to code a robot to drive to a specific point and stop before hitting an object at the end; to work in a team to build a free-standing tower; and build an unpowered vehicle. 

September 2022 - Year 6 attended Monozukuri Caravan at Nissan. The children learned all about Nissan. They had the chance to build a 'Nissan Buddy' out of Lego on a production line and work to improve their skills each time they built another car. To end the day, all children worked in 'hands-on' stations to see if they could complete challenges in a given time.

June 2022 - Year 4 attended a Vex Competition where they were able to show off their robot building and coding skills. The children were fantastic ambassadors for the school and enjoyed working with other schools during the day.

June 2022 - Our Year 6 children enjoyed 5 days in Lockerbie at their residential trip. They were brave and tried new things. They made new friends and learned about independence and resilience before moving on to their next step of comprehensive school.

June 2022 - Our Year 3 children visited Seven Stories in Newcastle. They had an amazing time engaging in a range of books and participating in a workshop all about reading and the spectacular world of books.

March 2022 - Year 6 were invited to visit our local comprehensive school and watch a theatre production of Matilda. They had a great time and enjoyed seeing old friends on the stage.

October 2021 - Class 3S went to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art as part of their DT project in BCU to look at structures.