Western Community Primary School

It's been a brilliantly busy half term here at Western; we can't wait for you to read all about our learning and adventures. We are proud of the super progress children are making across school. A huge well done must go to your amazing children for all of their hard work. They have impressed us all with their resilience, determination, care and kindness across the spring term. Our children have represented school exceptionally well in their sports, swimming, robotics and community events too - we are all very proud of them.

I'd like to thank staff for all of their hard work across the spring term. Their care for the children knows no bounds and their dedication and willingness to 'go the extra mile' is second to none.

Last but not least, we thank all of our families. We appreciate your support and positivity in our work together to ensure the best outcomes for children.

The staff, governors and I wish you all a very Happy Easter and hope you have the chance to enjoy some family time over the break. School reopens to children on Monday 17th April - we will be very excited to see you all and look forward to the summer term ahead.

We have been up to all sorts of fun this half term. We have explored the work of different artists and had a go at recreating some of their masterpieces. We have absolutely loved learning about the orchestra and different instruments that are played as part of this. It has been so much fun exploring instruments and even creating some of our own using our junk modelling. This half term we have celebrated World Book Day, Comic Relief, World Sleep Day and World Maths Day. We were lucky enough to get some snowfall and enjoy sledging on the school hill. In our final week we had an amazing time with our families completing Easter crafts and spending time doing all of the things we love.

We have enjoyed learning about plants and growth as part of our 'Food Glorious Food' topic. We explored plants and how they grow and have planted our own seedlings to grow our own food for the summer. We have also learnt about where different food comes from and some of the processes it has to go through before it makes it to our plates!

We enjoyed listening to stories in all areas of school during our World Book Day. We had stories around the campfire in our 'bed'; and we helped to act out a bible story in the amphitheatre with volunteers from Wallsend Methodist Church.

We also had lots of fun on World Maths Day. We completed different activities to explore denominations of coins and practised counting these out to make amounts. We then completed roles in different 'careers' - engineers, designers, waitresses, accountants - to earn money to spend in a fruit shop. This really was a lesson to some of us about working hard!

Red Nose Day

Year One had an amazing time finding out about all of the good work that Comic Relief does in the UK and around the world. We played games, did a red nose hunt and told our most hilarious jokes!

In class we have been learning about coding in computing and have begun to code using Indi - a very special coding car. He follows colours and each colour gives a direction or instruction. It has been tremendous fun and we are ready to move on to coding using an iPad programme.

Our Science has been focused on our senses, humans and animals. We have finished off with a round up of all we have learned by sharing our ideas and presenting them to the group.

Assembly

This half term we performed our year group assembly in front of our grown ups. It was tied in with our PSHE topic all about how we treat others. We talked about our differences, including different hairstyles, favourite colours, and our family dynamics, in order to help us understand how each of us is unique. At the end of the assembly, we sang a song called ‘Everyone Belongs’ as the lyrics are intrinsic to our Western family values.

Trinity Methodist Church

We have been lucky enough to have some visitors in during our phase assembly times on a Thursday afternoon. They are from the Trinity Methodist Church and have been acting out different stories from the Bible in order to help us understand our RE topics in an exciting way. Deacon Gail and her helpers have made their own props and we have been helping out by acting in different parts of the stories.

Literacy

We have been looking at poetry, particularly a poem called ‘If I Were in Charge of the World’ by Judith Viorst. During Literacy, we have been writing our own versions all about being in charge of 2LA or 2CW, and have included ludicrous changes such as pencils being made from strawberry laces and chairs being made from chocolate. It has been great fun!

Road Safety

In February, we had a brilliant visitor come to Year 3 to tell us all about road safety. We revisited the green cross code and also learnt new ways on how to stay safe when around roads. We were also given a booklet to complete to help us with our road safety.

Segedunum

Our community project this term involves working alongside Segedunum in Wallsend. First of all, two members of Segedunum came to school to tell us all about the Bronze Age. We dressed up as people from each time period and even got to handle some equipment from this period.

Secondly, both classes visited Segedunum to create our very own Bronze Age pots. We used clay and tools to create magnificent designs on our pots.

PE

In PE, we have been working on our ball skills such as passing and receiving. We worked together as a team and used our resilience when the game did not go our way! We also made our games more difficult by increasing the speed of our passing.

Year 4 have had a fantastic half-term and have been super busy working very hard in all their lessons. We have enjoyed lots of creative learning that we have been excited to share with you.

In Literacy, we are learning all about the destination of Sicily as we prepare to write our own travel brochure. We had fantastic fun during our 'plane ride to Sicily' lesson and enjoyed sampling some authentic Italian foods such as mozzarella, ciabatta, salami and a dash of olive oil! We showed impressive respect and appreciation for different cultures throughout the lesson and have loved learning about the sights, sounds and weather on Sicily.

In PE, we have worked with the coaches and have really enjoyed improving our fitness levels. We also got to take part in the North Tyneside Skipping Festival and have spent time working on our skipping skills throughout the half term. Lots of us attended the festival at The Parks Leisure Centre and Western were represented in the best way with positivity, resilience and teamwork - we are super proud of all of our skippers and we celebrated by hosting a skipping festival for our entire year group back at school. We are sure you have heard all about it - the children had lots of fun and enjoyed the afternoon.

Finally, we have really been enjoying our Geography topic linked to our local area and have been working on developing our understanding of the changes that have occurred in Western and Wallsend. We have used aerial photographs to help us locate key changes, such as roads, playground markings and grass areas - and we even went on a tour of the school grounds to explore the changes with our own eyes! We also enjoyed discussing how satellite photographs can show us changes over a larger area and found it interesting to see natural events such as volcanic eruptions from space.

We hope you have enjoyed seeing our work on Seesaw as the children have been thrilled to share their fantastic work this half-term. From everyone in Year 4, we wish you a peaceful break and look forward to seeing you after the Easter holidays.

Year 5 have had a very active and fun half term! Both classes have made absolutely fantastic progress in the swimming pool over the past few weeks. We are incredibly proud of how they have built up their water stamina and worked hard to develop their swimming techniques using all four strokes. Elsewhere, they have been creating Greek pots linked to their recent history topic. Using paper-mache and paint, they have recreated their own versions of life-sized pottery inspired by actual designs from ancient Greece. In science, they have carried out a series of experiments and investigations focusing on reversible and irreversible changes and how to separate materials.

World Book Day

We loved World Book Day this year! We took part in a live lesson with lots of schools across the country and created our own short stories with the support of the renowned writer Michael Rosen. We enjoyed some hot chocolate and loved sharing our favourite books.

Easter RE learning

This half-term in Year 6 we have been re-exploring the Christian Easter story but have focused on the Crucifixion. Throughout this half-term we have considered how Jesus was viewed by different people, why Christians call the day of his crucifixion Good Friday and debated whether it was God's plan all along for Jesus to die. It was a lovely end to the unit to taste and enjoy hot cross buns while discussing their symbolism within the Christian religion.

Red Nose Day

We took part in a range of activities organised by the school Values Ambassadors. Our favourite was designing and making our own red noses with our Reception buddies and doing the Red Nose Hunt. We also entered the competition for the funniest class photo. Which is your favourite?

Revision

The children have had a fast-paced short half-term and we are so proud of them all! There has been a lot of new learning and revision and the children have shown resilience, reflection and reciprocity throughout all of their learning. They are all making progress and making connections with their existing knowledge and new learning. Well done and keep up the good work.

Visit to Hadrian Health Centre - 21/03/23

Four of our 2021-2022 values/wellbeing ambassadors were kindly invited to the new Hadrian Health Centre official opening ceremony on 21/03/23. The construction company (ESH) who built the health centre contacted school early in 2022 and asked for some of our pupils to create wellbeing stones for the centres wellbeing garden - this took place in July 2022 and the values/wellbeing ambassadors created some excellent art on the stones. In Nov 2022, we were then invited to place the stones in the garden - a lasting legacy for all visitors to see.

Finally, on 21/03/23 the official grand opening ceremony took place with our four VIP pupils officially declaring the Centre open! A massive thank you to the ESH construction, Northumbria Healthcare trust and all the staff at Hadrian Health Centre for their invite and hospitality. Truly a memorable experience for our pupils.

Wellbeing Ambassadors

Our wellbeing ambassadors have also been creating their own wellbeing stones that will be placed in our school forest before the end of term. Here are some of our wellbeing ambassadors hard work creating ‘positivity stones’.

Debt Awareness week

Run by the debt charity StepChange, is an annual campaign that aims to put problem debt and free advice on the agenda. This year’s Debt Awareness Week is 20th – 26th March 2023 and the focus is on how debt can happen to anyone. You are not alone.

For further information and advice on all money and debt issues, please see below website links:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/

https://capuk.org/get-help/cap-debt-help

https://www.stepchange.org/debt-awareness-week.aspx

Children across North Tyneside are invited to take advantage of a free programme of activities, created to help them be healthy and active while off school. ‘ease INTO’ is a programme that’s been created as part of the Holiday Activities and Food programme backed by the Department for Education.

More than 7,000 children who are eligible for income based free school meals can access the wide range of activities, all of which include a meal.

It’s the perfect opportunity for children to try new activities and find new hobbies and interests, as well as explore new flavours and foods with healthy meals and snacks; so parents can buy with confidence in future knowing the smaller members of the family are on board!

'ease INTO' supports families during the school holidays when keeping children and young people entertained, getting them moving, and planning three meals a day can bring added pressure, financially and otherwise. The activities will engage, entertain, and enrich young people’s lives during their time off school, encouraging them to develop a lasting interest in new sports and activities, and supporting a nutritionally balanced diet.

Why are activities only free for children on income based free school meals?

Activities included in the 'ease INTO' schedule are funded by the Holiday Activity and Food programme, via the Department of Education, specifically to bridge the gap in physical activity and nutrition provision for children on income based free school meals during the school holidays. This funding is ringfenced to secure spaces for children on income based free school meals on the various activities available. Children not in receipt of income based free school meals can attend activities where paid for places are available.

For further information on this excellent opportunity please follow the link below:

https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/1553/book-ease-activities

Fit Mind Boxing Warriors

Venue: Howdon Community Hub

Time: 3:45pm - 6:45pm

Cost: No Cost

Type: Face to Face

Fit Mind Boxing Warriors is a free 6-week course ran by Dropzone Elite Fitness. The course teaches young people aged 7-16 the basics of boxing, discipline and increased confidence. After the initial 6 Weeks, graduates can move into the weekly boxing club to learn more advanced techniques at a cost of £2 per week.

All classes run on Wednesdays:

Ages 7-11: 3:45pm - 4:30pm

Ages 12-16: 4:45pm - 5:30pm

Fit Mind Boxing Club: 5:45pm - 6:45pm

Booking is available via: info@dropzoneelitefitness.co.uk

Premier League Kicks @ Howdon Community Hub

Venue: Howdon Community Hub

Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Type: Face to Face

Premier League Kicks is a free weekly football session for ages 8-18, ran by Newcastle United Foundation.

Parents must attend the first session with the young person. Signing up can be done on the day or in advance with this form: https://www.livingwellnorthtyneside.co.uk/activities/183

No Limits Activity Club

'No Limits' is an after-school programme, offering free activities to children and young people aged 8 to 13 during term time.

With options to take part in multi-sport activities in sports halls to splashing in the pool, it's a great way to keep kids active after school. Please note, children require a valid easecard to access the programmme. Email: active@northtyneside.gov.uk for further info.

YouTube

YouTube have begun rolling out a new livestreaming feature called ‘Go Live Together’. This guide to YouTube Go Live Together outlines what the feature is, what the risks are, and some top tips to help the children and young people in your care stay safer if they choose to livestream on YouTube.

YouTube Go Live Together is a new feature from the video streaming platform that allows users to become a ‘host’ and invite another user as a ‘guest’ to join their livestream.

Previously, YouTube only allowed their users to ‘Go Live’ on their own, with the only interaction with others available through live chat (or if the person was accompanied by someone else in the video itself). Go Live Together is currently only available on the mobile YouTube app, but plans to expand the feature to desktop webcam users are in progress.

Top Tips for Parent and Carers:

Start the conversation with the child or young person in your care about livestreaming.

Ask if they watch any livestreams and if so, who do they enjoy watching and what do they like about them. Then ask if they ever livestream themselves. Remember not to overreact – any sense of panic or overreaction could shut the conversation down.

Talk about safe sharing.

Get involved.

Discuss online pressure.

Learn about YouTube’s safety settings together: https://oursafetycentre.co.uk/?s=youtube&post_type%5B%5D=any&search_limit_to_post_titles=0&fs=1

ROBLOX - Depression rooms

Several of these depression room games on Roblox have up to 5.6 million visits and are advertised as being appropriate for ‘all ages’. Despite being explicitly against the platform’s Terms of Service, Roblox have failed to remove most of these harmful games from the platform at this time. As of 2023, Roblox has over 50 million daily users across the world. 67% of these users are registered as under 16, with 29% of that number being between 9-12 and 25% being under 9.

While the children and young people in your care may not have played Roblox or be seeking out this content on the platform themselves, there is another avenue that is becoming almost as popular as the platform itself – streamers. There are hundreds of streamers who record themselves playing games on Roblox and share these videos on platforms such as Twitch, Discord, and YouTube. They rate and review games, let viewers know tips and tricks, and promote popular players and creators.

Practical Tips and Guidance

Stay calm and check the facts.

Educate yourself on Roblox and how it can be used.

Talk to the child in your care about Roblox.

Employ safety settings.

Be aware of the signs.

Encourage them to speak to a trusted adult.

For further information about Roblox see: https://ineqe.com/2021/09/03/roblox-what-you-need-to-know/

Neurodiversity Celebration Week

Neurodiversity Celebration Week is about celebrating the strengths and talents of people with learning differences. It is a worldwide initiative that challenges stereotypes and misconceptions. Approximately 15-20% of the population has a neurological difference.

The celebration week is designed to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences and aims to transform how neurodivergent individuals are perceived and supported by communities and society.

Neurodiversity is used by some as an umbrella term to include Dyslexia, DCD (Dyspraxia), Dyscalculia, Autism and ADHD. When it comes to inclusion, neurodiversity refers to a world where neurological differences are recognised and respected as all other human variations.

Depending on how our brains are wired we think, move, process information and communicate different ways. Many people in our community use neurodiversity as an umbrella term used to describe alternative thinking styles such as Dyslexia, DCD (Dyspraxia), Dyscalculia, Autism and ADHD. But regardless of labels, neurodiversity is about recognising those who think differently.

Approximately 15-20% of population has a neurological difference. Instead of labelling people with deficits or disorders, when we use the term neurodiversity, we take a balanced view of an individual’s unique strengths and challenges.

Many ‘challenges’ neurodivergent people face are more to do with the environment and systems they are placed in, often designed by a majority population.

For further information see:

https://www.neurodiversityweek.com/events

Children Are

Amazing, acknowledge them.
Believable, trust them.
Childlike, allow them.
Divine, honor them.
Energetic, nourish them.
Fallible, embrace them.
Gifts, treasure them.
Here Now, be with them.
Innocent, delight with them.
Joyful, appreciate them.
Kindhearted, learn from them.
Lovable, cherish them.
Magical, fly with them.
Noble, esteem them.
Open minded, respect them.
Precious, value them.
Questioners, encourage them.
Resourceful, support them.
Spontaneous, enjoy them.
Talented, believe in them.
Unique, affirm them.
Vulnerable, protect them.
Whole, recognize them.
Xtraspecial, celebrate them.
Yearning, notice them.
Zany, laugh with them.

Author: Meiji Stewart