Newsletters

We believe that our children should have the aspiration and opportunity to ‘Live life in all its fullness’ and ‘Shine like stars in the sky’.

A Huge Thank You and Happy Easter! 🐣
As we reach the end of another incredibly busy and productive term, I wanted to send a quick note of thanks.
It was lovely to see so many of you at our Easter celebration! Your support makes these events special for the children and helps our school community thrive.
I also want to say a huge thank you to the children. They have worked exceptionally hard this term, and it has been a joy to see the enthusiasm they’ve brought to the classroom every day. They truly deserve this break!
I hope you all have a relaxing and restful Easter holiday, and I look forward to seeing everyone back, refreshed and ready for the summer term.
Mrs Taylor

Spotlights from Learning…
 
In Rocket Class this week, we have all enjoyed a visit from PCSOs Heather and Charlotte.  Sitting in the back the van and learning about the handcuffs and baton was a particular highlight!  Needless to say, our role play police station was very popular after this!
There are no reading books coming home over the Easter holiday but please encourage your child to read for pleasure: leaflets, signposts, magazines etc.  Thank you for your support with this.

In Comet Class, we welcomed lovely Mrs Marley on Tuesday who helped us to think about all the special skills and talents we have.  Some interesting questions arose eg are we born with our talents or do they develop later in life?  The older children also enjoyed a visit from PCSOs Heather and Charlotte who chatted to them about how to stay safe online.  In English, Miss Mandelson was super impressed that the children spotted some pathetic fallacy in their class text, were able to explain what this is and even use this writerly technique in their own writing.  I wonder if your grown-ups know what pathetic fallacy is?
 
This week in Asteroid Class, we have been working incredibly hard doing our assessments.  All my children should be very proud of their achievements, the Year 5s even had a go at SATs papers.  Well done to you all.   We really enjoyed meeting Douglas and Marek as well as Rubbish the dog on Wednesday afternoon.  The children asked some really super questions and Douglas passed on that their behaviour was "spot on!". Have a wonderful Easter.

WORLD AUTISM ACCEPTANCE MONTH
As April approaches, we have been getting ready to celebrate World Autism Acceptance Month with a focus on neurodivergence in our PSHE lessons.  Miss Mandelson would like to thank a very special adviser, who helped to put our lessons together and had some great recommendations for further reading on the subject.  The children were very engaged and had lots of great questions.  Some have even taken the time to give very positive feedback about how much they enjoyed the lesson!
With this in mind, our word of the week is:
RED NOSE DAY
Many thanks to the School Council for organising our events and fundraising for Comic Relief…and to everyone who took part.  We are pleased to let you know that between us we have raised £75. If you would still like to donate, you can do so online by using our JustGiving page here:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rnd26-st-nicholas-church-of-england-primary-school-west-tanfield
 
Reminders…
FOREST SCHOOL
There will be a Forest School session for Rocket Class (including Y2) TODAY.  Please can the children come to school wearing their FS kit ready to just add waterproofs and wellies.  Many thanks.

END OF TERM
Just a reminder that we break up for the Easter holidays today at the earlier time of 2pm.  Thank you.

Coming up…
SUMMER TERM
Just a reminder that Monday 13^th April is a teacher training day so school will be closed for children.  We reopen on Tuesday 14^th April.

SPORTS CREW
Sporting Influence will be doing some training for the Sports Crew on Monday 20^th and 27^th April in Years 5 and 6.  They will need their PE kit.  The session will run from 1 to 2.30pm.  There is a 3^rd session to still be arranged.
 
News from the wider community
MESSAGE FROM THE FRIENDS PTA GROUP
We would love to thank everyone who donated towards and those who attended the chocolate bingo. What a brilliant event it was for all ages! We are pleased to report that we raised just slightly over £100 which is fantastic.
Special mention must be given to Matt for being Mr Bingo caller and for three companies in particular that donated most of the prizes:
Tesco Ripon
Morrisons Ripon and Ballantyne’s chocolate shop Bedale
Have a lovely Easter
 
NEWS FROM THE BENEFICE
Many thanks to all the children who helped with last Sunday’s Service.  As ever, you all did a fantastic job!  
WEST TANFIELD MEMORIAL TENNIS CLUB…
…invites all children and their families to a special open day: