In this Issue
- School Building Update
- Summer Event Plans
- Personal Development at Regent Farm
- Binky Brightwhiskers
- Curriculum Update - Early Years
- Curriculum Update - Key Stage 1
- Curriculum Update - Key Stage 2
- Diary Dates
Welcome back! We hope you all enjoyed a restful and happy holiday and are ready for an exciting new term ahead. This half-term, our learning will be inspired by our Gizmos and Gadgets topic, where curiosity, creativity and problem-solving will take centre stage. Through hands-on activities, investigations and design challenges, children will explore how everyday gadgets work, discover how technology shapes our lives, and even try their hand at inventing their own ingenious creations.
School Building Update
Work is progressing very well on the new school building, and you may have noticed a significant amount of activity this week as work began pouring the concrete foundations. Once this stage is complete, it should become much easier to see the overall shape and size of our new school. The builders are scheduled to start installing the wall panels mid‑May, beginning with the halls and gradually working their way through the building towards the main entrance. We are also pleased to welcome a new site manager, Chris Miller, who joined the project last week. Chris has recently completed the construction of a new primary school in Northumberland, and we are delighted to have his experience and expertise leading this phase of the build.
Summer Event Plans
Unfortunately we need to make some changes to our usual Summer Fayre this year due to the building work. When we plan big whole school events, such as the fayre, we carefully consider site access and safety. As you will have seen, we have less outdoor space than usual and have therefore taken the difficult decision to cancel this years after school fayre. However, we do not want the children to miss out on this experience so will be organising a 'Summer Fun Day' for all the children on Wednesday 15th July. We have booked a range of inflatable bouncy castles for the field and will be having games, discos and ice creams for everyone. We are also having to re plan our usual 'Family Fun Day' which takes in sports week. Instead of holding all events in one day, we are planning for each year group to hold a 'fun family mini Olympics' event at 2pm each day; we hope you will be able to join us for this.
Monday 22nd June 2pm: Year 4 Tuesday 23rd June 2pm: Year 3 Wednesday 24th June 2pm: Nursery and Reception Thursday 25th June 2pm: Year 2 Friday 26th June 2pm: Year 1
Personal Development at Regent Farm
At Regent Farm, personal development is considered one of the most important things we can develop in our children. By nurturing confidence and resilience, and giving life experiences, we help children develop the skills they need to thrive both in and beyond the classroom. Personal development enables children to understand themselves and others, build self‑belief, and make positive choices, which in turn strengthens their learning and wellbeing. In our latest parent survey comments some parents were unsure about how we support wider personal development and what trips are planned across a child's journey at Regent Farm. We have therefore produced two documents which can be found below should you wish to know a little more about these areas.
Binky Brightwhiskers
We are very excited to announce that our Peter Rabbit themed sculpture is now ready for the trail taking place this summer (15th July - 14th September). We don't yet know where our statue will be located but I will let you know as soon as I hear. The theme of our rabbit is reading and we are currently planning a sponsored read-a-thon to raise money for St Oswald's Hospice. We will write to you will full details about this very soon.
Our colourful, story‑loving rabbit has hopped straight from the pages of our children’s imagination to show us just how magical reading can be. Covered in bright books and our favourite characters, Binky Brightwhiskers encourages everyone to hop into a story, explore new worlds, and let their imagination grow. Our rabbit reminds us that every page is a doorway and every story is an adventure waiting to begin. So take a peek, turn a page… and let your imagination hop, skip, and jump into a brand‑new world!
Curriculum Information
This half term, our topic is Gizmos and Gadgets, where children are exploring the fascinating world of technology and inventions from the past, present and even into the future. Through hands-on activities and creative thinking, the children are developing an understanding of how inventions are created; how technology has changed over time; and how it supports our everyday lives. Now in our second week, the children have already made some exciting and thoughtful discoveries, showing great curiosity as they investigate how different gadgets work and why they are important. We are looking forward to building on this enthusiasm as the topic continues.
Early Years
Nursery have had an exciting start to our transport topic. They began with the story Cars, Cars, Cars, exploring their new garage, becoming mechanics and even making their own cars. The children then moved onto the story Duck in the Truck. Everyone has helped duck get his truck unstuck using the forces push and pull. They can't wait to travel the World next week when they learn about aeroplanes. In reception, the half term began with a new area in the classroom opening, 'The Woodwork Shop'. The children were introduced to all of the tools and taught how to use them safely. They have practiced their sawing, hammering, drilling, and measuring skills as well as creating designs for future woodwork projects. The book of the week 'Once upon a Big Idea' led the children to plan, design and create their very own inventions in our 'Invention Shed'. They have had flying cars, robots, and rockets: there has been no limit to the children's imagination, we wonder what they will invent next.
Key Stage 1
Year 1 have had a fantastic start to the summer term as they explore the big question: How did steam power change the world? The children have been introduced to what an inventor is, and they’ve even become inventors themselves - designing clever creations to solve real problems around our school. Their imagination and problem solving skills have been brilliant. In Maths, they’ve begun counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, and have been working hard to understand equal and unequal groups. The children are showing great confidence as they build these early multiplication skills. In Science, they are beginning to think about the different ways we can care for our planet. The children have started a compost investigation and are excited to see how their predictions turn out over the next few weeks. Year 1's History learning has taken them back to the age of steam, where they’ve been finding out all about George Stephenson. The children are eager to discover why he is such a significant figure and how his inventions helped shape the world we live in today. Year 2 have been thoroughly enjoying the start of their Titanic topic, exploring life in different classes and writing persuasive pieces about the ship. The children will be learning about ship building in Newcastle and how the famous Titanic has links to our region. In Maths, they’ve been working hard on halves, thirds and quarters, showing great determination. In DT, the children have started designing wooden truss bridges, ready for some hands-on building and in Science they’ve been learning about food chains.
Key Stage 2
Year 3 have been thoroughly enjoying their class text The Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura. The story has sparked lots of thoughtful discussion, and the children have loved using it as a window into life during the Stone Age. In History, the classes has been learning about the role of archaeologists and how we uncover information about the past. They have explored the Palaeolithic Era and are very excited for their upcoming visit to Rising Sun Country Park, where they will step back in time by exploring a Neolithic house, making bread, and cooking it over a campfire. In Design Technology, they have begun investigating linkages and levers, exploring how these mechanisms are used in everyday objects. Year 4 have had a fantastic start to the summer term. In Science, they have started their topic on the digestive system by looking at different types of teeth and sorting animal skulls according to what they eat. In History they have started thinking about the Victorians and coalmining, learning all about the tools needed in a mine. The children's DT topic this term is Victorian cookery; they have explored different types of Victorian food including kedgeree, gruel, brown bread, ice cream and a classic Victoria sponge: can you guess what their favourite was?!
Dates for Half Term
- Friday 1st May Year 2 Gosforth Nature Reserve
- Monday 4th May School Closed Bank Holiday Wednesday
- 6th May - Friday 8th May Year 4 Robinwood Residential (Children who are remaining in school will visit Mr Mullligan’s Crazy Golf, have a fire pit, cookery lessons and have a visit from Animal Antics)
- Thursday 7th May Year 3 Rising Sun Country Park
- Friday 8th May Year 3 Junior STEM Event
- Tuesday 12th May Year 1 Discovery Museum (possible date, reserve date 22nd May)
- Wednesday 13th May Reception Wood Workshop with parents - Staff have handed out a slip to you with the time for your child's session; either be 9:15am or 2:15pm. Please check with your teacher if needed.
- Sunday 17th May Children's Cancer Run
- Wednesday 20th May GEM Education working with Y1
- Friday 22nd May School Council – Scotswood Gardens Trip (am)
- Friday 22nd May Year 4 Skipping Festival (pm)
School Breaks Up for Half Term – Friday 22nd May at 3:15pm
Monday 1st June - School Closed for Training Day