Staffing Changes
As we approach the end of the academic year, we have some staffing changes we need to inform you about. As many of you know, Mrs Pack will be retiring at the end of this year. She has worked at Regent Farm for many years and had a positive impact on the lives of so many children, and their families. We hope she enjoys a well-deserved, more relaxing, chapter of her life!
Mr Matthews has made a decision to leave the teaching profession, in order to pursue a career outside of teaching. We wish him all the very best for the future and thank him for his creative lessons, sense of humour and fabulous guitar playing! Miss Bartram will continue teaching his class for the rest of this year and will remain a full time teacher in September.
As a result of these teachers leaving Regent Farm, we have been recruiting some other new staff to begin in September. Many classes have had visiting teachers this week, and the children have been amazing at giving their feedback following every lesson - they were very articulate about their likes and dislikes. Following watching over twenty people teach lessons in school, the Governors interviewed some very strong candidates and I am pleased to say we have recruited some another new teacher to join the team, Miss Beale. The children will get a chance to meet their new teachers on July 2nd.
As you are all aware, we have a Twitter/X account which we have been using for many years. Through this account, we have been sharing school news and highlighting some of the fun and successes we have in school each day. We have enjoyed being able to share the life of the school in this way but we feel that it is now time for something different and that Twitter/X isn’t the platform it used to be. We have also noticed that the wider school community engagement with Twitter/X has declined and we have much smaller numbers of people interacting with us.
For these reasons, we have decided to use Instagram to celebrate and share the life of our school from September 2025. This platform will continue to serve as a window into events, activities, achievements and some special moments at Regent Farm First School.
Privacy and Consent
We take privacy and online safety very seriously however our posts will be visible to the public therefore. To ensure that all posts align with our values and policies:
- We will only share images of students with prior parental consent.
- Full names will never be used.
- Posts will be monitored by school staff to ensure that they comply to GDPR.
- We will not tag individual parents in posts to protect their privacy.
- People will not be able to comment on posts.
We cannot assume that you give consent for us to use your child's picture on Instagram because you previously gave permission for Twitter/X. Therefore if your child will still be at Regent Farm in September please complete the quick online form using the link below to indicate if you do or do not give permission for your child to be included in photographs. Our current year 4 parent's do not need to complete this since sadly your child will have left us in the summer.
We hope that this will be a popular and more enjoyable platform to use for our followers and we are looking forward to sharing our updates with you. Please follow us if you can! Our Instagram handle is regent.farm and we will begin posting in September. If you have any questions about our use of Instagram, please get in touch.
Sporting Achievements
Thank you to all our children who represent Regent Farm at sporting events; recently there have been some wonderful examples of these across our local area. Reception children have attended the Balance Bike Derby; Year 2 children have been at Zumba and basketball; and Year 3 and 4 children have attended cross country, archery, football and cricket festivals. All of our children attending these events embody our key values of curiosity, determination, respect and teamwork; as well as having fun and learning how to lead active and healthy lifestyles.
Another amazing sporting achievement this half term goes to Year 4 who took part in the Skipping Festival, where thirty of our children competed against other schools from the Gosforth Trust. Our children skipped their hearts out with many children winning gold, silver or bronze certificates for their individual events. We were so proud of how everyone worked together as a team and Regent Farm came second out in the whole event!
We also have a special thankyou from the charity Children's Cancer North, who organised last weekend's Cancer Run at the Racecourse. We’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone that came and took part in Sunday's charity event. More than 9,000 of you joined us at Newcastle Racecourse for the 42nd Children’s Cancer Run; helping to raise vital funds that will allow Children's Cancer North to continue supporting patients and families on wards 4 and 14 of the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. Thanks to all the entry fees and sponsorship raised so far, we are well on target to raising over a quarter of a million pounds to help children with cancer in our region! Your efforts and commitment play an important part in this.
Messages
- Please can I remind all parents dogs are not allowed on the school grounds at any time; this includes being carried.
- We are aware that may classes have set up WhatsApp groups to share messages. This can be a very useful way of ensuring dates and events aren't missed however please remember these are not set up and managed by school. Information about children and staff should never be shared on any form of group social media; if you have any questions or concerns please speak to a member of staff and we will do our best to help.
Curriculum Information
EYFS
Nursery have loved learning about all different types of transport during our topic of Up, Up and Away. They learnt how to become mechanics in the nursery garage; the children needed to be quick to help duck fix his tuck. They also flew all around the world with Emma Jane in her aeroplane, I think the highlight may have been tasting the delicious food in Paris and Venice! They then used their imagination to travel to different lands on the magic train ride; exploring the jungle, fairy land and even the land of the cakes!
This half term, the children in Reception have worked extremely hard in their 'Rockets, Robots and Reinventions' topic. They were introduced to the 'Wood Work Room' which appeared in the classroom, then carefully planned, designed and created fantastic models. The children were introduced to the different tools in the area and learnt how to use them safely. Reception also welcomed their adults into school for a workshop, where they were invited to come and create a wooden robot with their children. Your creations were very impressive! Another area which opened this half term was the Reception Invention Shed. Left by Izzy Gizmo, they were asked to look after the shed and use the junk modelling materials to create new inventions. The children did a fantastic job and we had jet-packs, dolls, boats and even umbrella hats!
Key Stage 1
Year 1 have been thinking all about how steam power has changed the world. They have explored how Stephenson's invention of the steam locomotive revolutionised travel and transport; making it easier, faster and more efficient. To consolidate our learning, the children visited the Discovery Museum where they had the opportunity to see real-life examples of steam engines and learn all about the Rainhill Trials. It was a fantastic trip which brought the topic to life and sparked great curiosity and discussion back in the classroom.
Year 2 have had a wonderful half term looking at how shipbuilding has been such an influential part of Newcastle's past. They have loved looking at the different ships that were built in Newcastle including the Carpathia, the boat that rescued the survivors from the Titanic. In English they have been inspired by the Titanic, writing persuasive adverts to come aboard and explore what it was like to stay in First Class. During their trip to the Discovery Museum, the children loved seeing all the different ships and creating their own boats, deciding carefully which materials to choose to ensure their boat would float. In D.T they have been building on their woodwork skills from last year, measuring and cutting wood to make their own truss bridge. What a wonderful half term it's been.
Key Stage 2
This half term the children in Year 3 have thoroughly enjoyed the Gizmo and Gadget topic. As part of the topic the children have taken part in a STEM Lego robotics workshop. They've had the opportunity to design, build and evaluate their products - they also understood the importance of failure when creating and designing new products! In History, the children have been learning about the Tudors. The children have particularly found the life and wives of Henry VIII interesting!
In Science, year 3 have been investigating friction and magnetic force. They have carried out several investigations but their favourite was definitely testing friction using the cars. In English, the children have been immersed in the story of the Iron Man by Ted Hughes and they loved reading this story in class. They have produced some fantastic written work and have used elements of this story to write their own sci-fi narratives. As part of their DT, the children had great fun designing robotic arms which they will make out of wood to replicate the Iron Man. The children have also used the iPads to make super Iron Man movie trailers. We are very proud of you all.
Year 4 have had a fantastic term. In History the children have been focusing on the Victorian era, particularly looking at coalmining in the area. They had a great visit from 'That History Bloke' who taught them all about the dangers of coalmining in the past and brought in some fantastic artefacts for the children to have a look at. They are looking forward to their trip to Woodhorn Colliery next term to complete their work on this topic. To link in with the History topic, they have been learning about Victorian cookery in DT and enjoyed tasting some food recreated from Victorian recipes. In Science the children have been learning all about teeth and how to look after them. They particularly enjoyed recreating 'plaque' with yeast and sugar and the children all assured staff they wouldn't argue about brushing their teeth any more! They have also finished reading The Wild Robot in guided reading and the children enjoyed this book so much they asked to get the next two books for their book corner!
Year 4 also had their activity week this half term; some of our children went to Robinwood for three days to complete a range of activities such as raft building, canoeing, zip wire, archery and a crate challenge. Those children who stayed in school also had an amazing time completing some forest activities, art and enjoyed a trip to crazy golf!
Dates for Half Term
- Monday 2nd June School Closed – Teacher Training Day
- Tuesday 3rd June Year 3 History Workshop with 'That History Bloke'
- Wednesday 4th June Year 4 Woodhorn Colliery Trip
- Wednesday 4th June ‘Bug Man’ visiting Nursery
- Monday 9th June Class Photo Day
- Wednesday 11th June Angles of the North Y4 Choir Concert
- Thursday 12th June Year 2 Trip Alnwick Gardens
- Week Commencing 16th June Healthy Inside and Out Week Children need to wear suitable sports clothing and trainers every day this week.
- Thursday 19th June Reception Visit to Broxfield Farm
- Friday 20th June Family Fun Sports Day:
- Nursery and Reception 9:15 – 10:00
- Year 1 10:15 – 11:00
- Year 2 11:15 – 12:00
- Year 3 1:30 – 2:15
- Year 4 2:15 – 3:00
- Tuesday 24th June Year 1 trip to Winter Gardens
- Tuesday 1st July Year 3 Greek Play to Parents 9:15am performance for 3GM Families and 2:45pm performance for 3SP Families Each child can bring a maximum of 2 adults to watch the play.
- Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd July Year 4 Transition Visits to Middle School Children will need to be dropped off and collected at their new Middle School by parents.
- Wednesday 2nd July Nursery trip to Kirkley Hall
- Wednesday 2nd July Meet New Class Day All children from our current Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 will meet their new teacher. If your child is moving from our nursery to our reception next year we will invite you to a ‘Stay and Play Session’ shortly.
- Thursday 3rd July End of Year School Report will be sent home
- Wednesday 9th July After School Summer Fayre
- Wednesday 16th July Nursery Garden Party 2:00pm
- Thursday 17th July Year 4 Graduation Event 4:30pm
School Breaks up for Summer on Friday 18th July at 3:15pm
The children return on Tuesday 2nd September 2025 (Monday 1st September is a Teacher Training Day)