What a wonderful first month to the new academic year it has been! The children have been so engaged in their learning and have really settled into their new classes. It is a joy to see their smiling faces and hear all their exciting news as I walk around school. Can I also take this opportunity to welcome again all the new families we have at school this year; your children have started school so well and are a credit to you. We pride ourselves on strong working relationships between home and school, so please talk to a member of staff if we can do anything to help.
In this Issue
Our Theme Of The Year
Each year, we choose a special theme that runs through many of our lessons and activities. This year's theme is "Be the Reason Someone Smiles." We want children to discover how even the smallest actions can make a big difference. It could be something simple like holding the door open for someone or making their bed in the morning, or something more planned—like helping the environment or supporting someone in need. The goal is to help them see that kindness and positive choices, big or small, can truly brighten someone’s day.
Last year's theme 'Small Steps - Dream Big' will continue with a careers project over the year where we will be working with the children to help them meet a range of professions, opening their eyes to a range of jobs they might do in the future. We will also be revealing what jobs the teachers had before they started on their current career; I wonder if the children will guess who use to pick strawberries or who worked in a bank?!
New School Update
As many of you will know, we have been working with the Department of Education and the builders Bowmer and Kirkland for a few years now to design and build a new school on our site. Whilst this is a wonderful opportunity we share all your frustrations with the numerous delays; many of these have been to do with issues around planning and have required significant changes to the initial plans. We are very hopeful that these changes will meet planning requirements and permission might be granted in the next month. If so, work will is scheduled to begin on site in February. I will update parents as soon as I have a definite timescale. I have also asked the builders to provide me with up to date plans and visuals so I can share these with you all.
Curriculum Information and Homework
We will continue to send out curriculum information every half term - in electronic and paper format. Each year group also has a section on the school website where you can find copies of the curriculum overview, spellings, KIRFs and optional homework booklets. The optional homework booklets will be shared each half term with some fun tasks linked to the topic. These are usually screen/device-free and we encourage you to talk to your child about this learning. This accelerates language development which in turn accelerates progress in reading, writing and has a positive impact right across the curriculum.
Parents often ask us how they can give children support with learning at home. The best thing you can do is talk to them about their day and share a love of books. By this, we mean read to your children, read with them, encourage them to read, listen to them read and let them read whatever they want to read (as well as the books from school). All reading is good reading!
We will also continue to send out our KIRF documents (Key Instant Recall Facts) to support maths learning and retention. Please remember to record any maths work your child has done at home in their diary, this will help them earn maths stars and work towards our end of year award.
Photographs In School Performances
For many years, we have allowed parents and carers to take pictures and make recordings during our performances. We know that these give you precious memories to treasure. We always remind audiences that these pictures and recordings must never be shared on social media and are for families own personal use. We would like to continue doing this as much as possible. But, if for safeguarding reasons you cannot allow this to happen, then please let us know in advance so that we can ask visitors to refrain from taking pictures or making recordings before the event.
Reception and Middle School Applications
Reception September 2026 - The application process has opened for children who wish to join our reception classes next year. Applications cannot be made directly to school, but must go to through Newcastle City Council using the weblink below. The deadline for application is 15th January 2026. We are offering tours of our reception during the day and open evenings. If you would like to book onto a session please contact the school office. Please be aware if your child currently attends our nursery you will need to apply for reception - you are not automatically given a space.
Middle School September 2026 - If your child is currently in year 4, you will need to apply for a middle school place for September: your child does not automatically get offered a space. The deadline for applications is 31st October 2025 and you will find out which school you have been offered on 2nd March. We advise parents to use all four preferences to ensure you are allocated a place in a local school.
Important Messages
- Please can you remind your children they should not be riding their scooters or bikes on the school grounds. Can you please ensure your child dismounts and pushes their bike/scooter once they get to the gates to avoid any injuries, the yard and paths are very busy.
- Please remember that all children should be in school by 8:45am - anyone arriving after this time will be marked as late. Learning starts at 8:45am, if your child arrives after this time they are missing out on experiences in the classroom. Please ensure you leave home early enough to get to school on time. We will contact parents who are regularly late to see what we can do to help ensure your child arrives on time.
- We will be holding our traditional ‘Fancy Dress Spooky Disco’ this year on Thursday 23rd October. The children will go into the hall in year groups for their disco. Children can come into school dressed up and we hope they have lots of fun. If you do not wish your child to attend the disco please let your class teacher know.
- Please remember that we are no longer giving out items for birthdays which are brought in from home such as sweets, cakes or party bags. This will not only make food in school healthier but will also help those children who have dietary needs and avoid adding unnecessary costs to families. Birthdays will be celebrated in school in other ways such as with a card or song.
Curriculum Update - Early Years
Nursery have had a wonderful first month of school, settling into life at Regent Farm. Our topic has been traditional tales - we have chased the Gingerbread Man; stopped the Big Bad Wolf eating Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood, built our own houses that even the Big Bad Wolf can't blow down and now we continue to see what adventures will continue with Jack and The Beanstalk!
In Reception the superheroes arrived; Superheroes of all different kinds! The children have had fun at Superhero school after reading 'There's a Superhero in your book'. Reception spent time learning skills like “super strength”, “super speed” and “super flying” and were able to help out the callers who rang Superhero HQ in need of assistance. Next week we have visits from some real life heroes including a vet, police officers, supermarket workers and even a dentist. We hope reception will realise that superheroes are living amongst us - helping the people around them stay safe and well. The children might even think about a job they would like in the future!
Curriculum Update - Key Stage 1
Year 1 have been thinking about the question, 'How can we make the world a better place for all?' Through their books of the week they have been exploring issues like plastic in the oceans and deforestation. They have begun to think about Reusing and Recycling, turning 'trash' into 'treasure'. They have loved the opportunity to show off their creativity through junk modelling and this has become inspiration for their writing. In Art they have been thinking about the artist Antony Gormley and the sculptures he creates, lots of the children recognised the Angel of the North but were amazed that he made one of his pieces entirely from bread!!
The children in Year 2 have had an excellent first half term. They've read some great stories about sea creatures and the children have created some lovely pieces of writing. In Science, they have been learning about animal needs for survival; looking at mammals, birds and fish. If you look around our school, you might spot some of our bird feeders and animal feeding stations. In Geography, the children have created their own ariel maps of the school grounds as well as exploring countries within the United Kingdom such as England and Scotland.
In PE, the children created penguin dances after reading the story Penguin Small by Mick Inkpen; they thought about the characters emotions and sequenced some fantastic actions/moves which they've performed to music. This half term in Art, year 2 are using different grade pencils to draw and create patterns on different types of paper. They've looked at the artist Zachary Bennet Brook and created patterns using his style of lines and dots.
Curriculum Update-Key Stage 2
Year 3 have settled in well to Key Stage 2 and have made a great start to the term. The children are really enjoying our whole school topic of ‘Global Warriors’ and the children had an amazing day at St Mary's lighthouse. The staff praised the children for their knowledge and help towards spreading the important environmental message about plastic pollution; we are one of the few schools who take part in a litter picking survey at St Mary's lighthouse. The children had lots of fun exploring the coastline and it enabled them to see first hand the types and amount of litter polluting our coasts. In class the children collated the information and discussed their findings. They then used the information to create tally charts and bar charts. In our topic, the children are exploring the enquiry question ‘Is it too late to save our oceans?’ To help them with this, the children will be watching the thought-provoking video ‘Catch a Lot’ which will enable them to understand the consequences of our actions, and how these impact the wider world.
What an amazing month it’s been in Year 4! Our brilliant learners have dived into their studies with enthusiasm, curiosity, and plenty of fun. In maths, the children have been sharpening their place value skills through exciting, hands-on games. From wielding broomsticks and wands to tackle place value challenges maths has truly come alive! In computing, our new Lego coding block has been a highlight! The children have been building different creations designed to help their characters solve problems, blending creativity with programming fundamentals.
In English, we’ve been practicing the art of persuasion. The children have been writing heartfelt letters to persuade their grown-ups to help them adopt a leopard, honing their skills in crafting convincing arguments and using emotive language. This half term's guided reading book, Charlotte’s Web, has sparked wonderful conversations, encouraging reflection on friendship, kindness, and courage. Year 4's science lessons have focused on the fascinating world of animals, exploring the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates. The children have engaged enthusiastically in class discussions and activities, developing a deeper understanding of animal classification and characteristics.
Dates for Next Half Term
- Monday 29rd September European Day of Languages Children can come to school in red and yellow to celebrate all thing Spanish!
- Wednesday 1st October Deadline for returning Christmas Card
- Thursday 2nd October School Council Elections
- Wednesday 8th October Year 4 Visiting Gosforth Junior High
- Monday 13th October Year 1 Visit to St Hugh’s Church
- Wednesday 15th October Year 1 Walk Around Local Area
- Thursday 16th October Year 4 Trip to the Mosque
- Monday 20th October Year 2 Trip to Northumberland Zoo
- Wednesday 22nd October Year 1 Environment Day
- Wednesday 22nd October Harvest Collection for People’s Kitchen
- Thursday 23rd October Fancy Dress Day and Spooky Disco
Friday 24th October Training Day School Closed to Pupils
Half Term w/c 27th October
Monday 3rd November School reopens to pupils