Where did that half term go? We have come to the end of a very, very busy and hardworking half term. Our new Reception children have settled in superbly, it is hard to believe they have only been with us for 7 weeks. All children have risen to our high expectations and new routines and protocols that have been introduced. Well done to both staff and children and thank you for all your hard work!
Thank you to families who attended our Pastoral Consultation evenings, held last week. Our Phonics and Early Reading session and our Year 6 SATS session were well attended by our school community. Thank you for your continued support.
Thank you to our Friends of St Augustine’s for organising and running the Spooky Disco for us. Raising invaluable funds for the children here at St Augustine’s. Thank you to staff for their continued support with this event.
We have had numerous events over the half term where children have represented St Augustine’s, being great ambassadors and shining stars. Well Done! We are all very, very proud!
Have a happy and safe half term and we look forward to seeing you all when we return on Monday 30th October. Mrs Whitehead
Reception - We have been very busy in Reception this half term! We have settled into school life very well and have made lots of new friends. We have enjoyed starting our Phonics, learning to recognise and write some sounds. Alongside this, we enjoyed learning about our local area, painting and crafting some landmarks from Darlington. This half term, we were very lucky to be able to take part in some ‘Bikeability’ sessions, which were so much fun! Our drawing club lessons in English have been so exciting and the children have loved using their own ideas to go on an adventure. In Maths, we have enjoyed learning about matching, sorting, pattern and measure. This week, we have enjoyed an Autumn walk around the school grounds, in which we collected a range of Autumn items to investigate. We are so proud of the children for how well they have settled into our school community and for the wonderful start they have made to school life. Next term will be equally as exciting as we begin to learn about ‘People who help us’ and Winter. Have a lovely break. Miss Barnard
Year 1 - Year 1 have been super busy this half term and achieved so much! From sorting, describing and observing materials in Science, to experimenting with line, colour and shape in Art, not to mention all the practical work they have completed to understand Maths more deeply, they have worked so hard. They have written stories in English, studied the local area in Geography and even had their first official Mass at church as part of the school. What a first half term! Well done Year 1. Mr. Kentfield-Wells
Year 2 - What a fantastic first half term in year 2! We have worked very hard and made some amazing improvements in our work. We started the year focusing a lot on our presentation and WOW – what a difference already in just a half term! The children have really enjoyed our Music sessions and are growing in confidence as the weeks go by, learning about rhythm, pitch and tempo. This half term, the children also had the pleasure of attending the Multi Skills Event at Eastbourne and did St Augustine’s proud with their fantastic behaviour and sportsmanship. Everyone has enjoyed our start to our topics in History and Geography- Explorers and Antarctica, learning about the cold climate and explorers like Christopher Columbus. We are quite the artists too, experimenting with paint to create our vision of Antarctica’s landscape! Thank you to the children for their hard work especially in writing this half term, I have seen some fabulous and creative writing with description and great use of adjectives. I am looking forward to another great term! Miss Ford
Year 3 - We have been busy in Year 3 this half term! They have worked exceptionally hard this half term and settled in beautifully to KS2. We went to Darlington Library to take part in a workshop with Liz Million. The children absolutely loved doing this and seeing the new improvements in the library, we even had our own go at being illustrators! Year 3 have been busy in all areas of learning this half term. We have been using inverted commas and paragraphs in English. We have also focussed on creative writing where the children produced some lovely short stories about ‘An Atlas in Time’. We have been learning about place value and addition and subtraction in Maths, the children have done some amazing Maths work this half term and challenging themselves. In PE we have focussed on football and dance. The children have loved learning new football skills and about the importance of communication and working in a team. In Dance the children have loved creating their own dances using the title ‘A day at…’ the children produced some wonderful, creative dances! In RE our focus has been on what makes a house a home. The children had some wonderful responses on what family means to them and what they associate with their family. We have also learnt all about Judaism and explored the inside of a Synagogue. Art has been especially fun in Year 3. The children have learnt a range of new art skills such as rubbings on textures, line drawing and shading. The pieces of work thy have produced this half term have been exceptional. Well done Year 3 for a wonderful start to KS2, have a wonderful half term break! Miss Gilliland
Year 4 - We have had a fantastic start to the year in Year 4! Some of our highlights include a fabulous visit to the library where we did some art work with Liz Million. She taught us how to draw faces and how we can use carrots to help us with faces!! We have been working exceptionally hard with presentation, impressing Mrs Coates and Miss White every single day. We've started our ukulele lessons and begun to play some tunes strumming each string separately. We've also had an excellent time out at the Y4 tag rugby skills festival where we developed our skills and played some games of tag rugby! We picked up the rules very quickly and had a brilliant time. The half term has finished with us dressing in our spookiest costumes ready for our disco later. Mrs. Coates and Miss White
Year 5 - I can’t believe we are at the end of the first half term already. We have worked so hard in year 5 and have really hit the ground running. The children have really taken to the work in year 5 and have worked so hard in terms of their presentation and content within work. From learning about Annie Edson Taylor, the daredevil who went over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel in 1901, to learning about the Industrial Revolution and the impact it had on Britain, the focus and drive has been amazing. We have also been lucky enough to have a coach from the Newcastle Thunder and Catterick Crusaders come into school to deliver rugby sessions, which the children have thoroughly enjoyed. We have also had some fantastic sporting successes in the cross country, football and tag rugby competitions throughout this half term too. Along with celebrating Black History Month, Dyslexia Awareness and Mental Health week, we have had a half term full of exciting learning. It is fantastic that we have been able to end our half term with this evening’s Spooky Disco and I must say, the costumes on display are amazing. I hope you all have a fantastic half term and I will see you all soon. Mr. Cummins
Year 6 - Year 6 have hit the ground running this year, starting off with a fantastic residential trip to Dukeshouse Wood. Many of us managed to overcome our fears and proved to ourselves that we are often capable of more than we first think! Challenges included the Nightline, 3G swing and zip line as well as making our own beds…
In school, we have been lucky enough to have been coached in Tag Rugby, during which we showed our sporting talent and teamwork. We have also completed our course in swimming, including whilst wearing pyjamas. Our English, History and Geography have neatly combined to help us to find out more about Black History and how Black people in different times would have migrated around the world for differing reasons. These include those taken from Africa as slaves and, more recently, the Windrush Generation. The children have been very thoughtful and considerate when discussing this topic and they have produced some excellent work to show their beliefs and feelings. We have enjoyed reading extracts from Floella Benjamin and Benjamin Zephania’s work. In science, we have found out about Linnaeus and the classification system. We have also looked at the positive and negative effects of microorganisms. Religious Education has shown us that God’s love is unconditional, as shown in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We have also explored the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, considering how the new year can represent a time to repent in preparation for a fresh start. This half term has flown by, packed with many fantastic experiences which the children have loved. What a brilliant start to the year! Mrs. Tucker
Wraparound Care - Our before and after school club runs from 7.30am - 8.45am and 3.15pm-6.00pm. Breakfast club is £4.00 per child and after school club is charged at £8.00. Bookings can be made through your MCAS account. Children are offered a variety of games and activities in these clubs and we will always welcome and encourage new ideas! At morning club, breakfast is provided and after school club children will receive sandwiches and snacks.
MCAS - Thank you for your patience with the roll out of the new My Child at School app. Hopefully all the teething problems have now been resolved, however if you are continuing to have problems please let the office know.
School Uniform is available to order directly through our supplier, Elizabeth's Embroidery. Just click on the link below to go to their website, this will take you straight through to the page to start the ordering process. https://elizabethsschoolwear.com/collections/st-augustine
Parking - Just a polite reminder that parents, carers and families are asked not to park in the school car park, use the car park to turn around or park in the resident permit parking spaces around the school. Only family and friends who have a parking permit will be able to use our staff car park on drop off and collection.
Nut Free School - another polite reminder that we are a nut free school. No items containing any kind of nuts should be brought into school - thank you for your continued support with this.
School Lunch Menu - Below is the new Autumn menu which will commence after the half term break. If you require the Halal option, could you please let the school office know in advance.