Grange First Weekly News

Year 2’s Musical Adventure at Newcastle Cathedral

Year 2 also enjoyed an exciting trip last week when they visited Newcastle Cathedral as part of their music curriculum. Each week, a singing teacher from the Cathedral Choir visits Grange to work with the children, and on Wednesday they had the chance to perform alongside pupils from six other schools. Well done to all of them for representing Grange so confidently!

Kindness Club

Our KS2 Kindness Club has been hard at work creating a set of wonderfully unique sewn owls, which have now been added to tote bags. Each design is completely individual and took time, patience and teamwork to complete. These lovely bags have been donated to St. Oswald’s Hospice to support their Nature Trail- what a thoughtful way for our children to make a difference.

The Easter Bunny Bounce

A HUGE thank you to our PTFA for another brilliant Bunny Bounce this year. It becomes more competitive every year and the enthusiasm from the children is always infectious. It’s astonishing how many bounces can be packed into a single minute!

Thank you to all families who sponsored the event.

Spring Fun Day Success

Saturday brought sunshine, smiles, and our annual Spring Fun Day. Over 100 children and their families joined in the Spring Hunt and enjoyed a wide range of activities. The tombola was bustling as always and the samosa stall was a particular hit! Thank you to everyone who came along to support the event. We’re delighted to share that it raised over £900 for the school.

STEM Week at Grange

This week has been STEM Week. Each class has taken part in a hands-on science investigation inspired by a book, linking perfectly to our Year of Reading. In maths, the children tackled challenges based on the book 365 Penguins, and Julian Hughes visited to lead engaging computing workshops for Reception through to Year 4. A huge thank you to: Mrs Gardner – Computing Lead, Mrs Dixon – Maths Lead, Mrs Wilkinson – Science Lead for their hard work and creativity in organising such a brilliant week.

Easter

In assembly, we explored the story of Easter together, thinking carefully about the parts that are happy and those that are sad. We also discussed some of the ways people celebrate today, such as with hot cross buns and Easter eggs, and what these traditions symbolise. Thank you to everyone who brought chocolate eggs in to school for the appeal Chloe organised. We collected 50 eggs which will donated to Kenton Foodbank today.

Newcastle Dance Festival

Mrs Stubbs has been working with 25 very excited Year 1 children over the past few weeks in preparation for Newcastle City Dance Festival. She chose an absolute classic for the children to dance to- Grease Lightening! I was so impressed and proud when I watched their dress rehearsal. The pink ladies in their pink heart shaped glasses and the boys in their white t-shirts and cool shades! They totally rocked it! Well done to all of you! Mrs Stubbs said they lit up the Whitley Bay Playhouse as they performed in front of 12 other schools. A big thank you to Mrs Stubbs for all her hard work.

Gosforth Trust Cross Country

Mr MacDermott organised a cross country event for all the schools in the Gosforth Trust this week. Schools selected teams of Year 3 and Year 4 children who then raced each other around two laps of Gosforth Academy field. The children were fabulous and demonstrated great determination and resilience!

Thank you to our PTFA

The PTFA has been incredibly busy recently with multiple fundraising events, and they now have a well-earned break before the Summer Fair in July. We are so grateful for everything they do. Every penny raised goes directly into enriching the curriculum for our children. A special acknowledgement goes to the PTFA’s support for our Year 4 leavers. They significantly subsidise the cost of the children’s leaving events and contribute generously towards the leavers’ hoodies. This year, children will bring their hoodies home on the last day of term, and they may wear them in place of their school sweatshirt or cardigan throughout the whole summer term. PLEASE ensure your child’s name is clearly labelled inside their hoodie. They are impossible to distinguish if unnamed, and we will not be able to replace lost hoodies.

Goodbye and Goodluck!

On Tuesday, we said goodbye and an enormous thank you to Mr Purdham and Miss Taylor, who joined Grange First School as apprentice learning support assistants 20 months ago. They have worked across every part of the school, including TreeTops after-school club, and have supported so many of our children with kindness, patience and enthusiasm. Both have now fully qualified as LSAs and are ready for the next exciting stage in their careers: Mr Purdham will begin teacher training in September and Miss Taylor will continue as an LSA before she starts to train as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant We would like to thank them for everything they have contributed to the Grange community and wish them all the very best for the future.

OPAL