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’.
 
WELLBEING AMBASSADORS
Having received two excellent applications on Monday, we are pleased to announce that Joey and Evie will be our new Wellbeing Ambassadors.  It was clear that they had each spent a considerable amount of time thinking about what they could offer to the position and a lot of effort had gone into their letters of application.  Well done to you both.
 
ROYAL BRITISH LEGION POPPY APPEAL
The School Council have been visiting each class each morning to provide the children with the opportunity to give a donation for a poppy or other item to commemorate Remembrance Day.  They will continue to do so on Monday and Tuesday if anyone else would like to purchase a poppy.  There are also ‘snap-band’ rulers, wristbands and keyrings.
 
WORD OF THE WEEK
To help children develop their vocabulary and a love of words, a focus ‘word of the week’ is introduced each week for the children to investigate.  This week’s word is: The children are encouraged to find out what the word means and perhaps use it in a sentence or explore its etymology.  Their efforts are then displayed in the hall.  Although aimed more at the KS2 children, everyone is welcome to join in.
 
Coming Up…
 
CHILDREN IN NEED

This year BBC Children in Need is back. They’re asking us to get involved with…

Challenge Yourself to 25!

To mark 2025, we want you to get sponsored to do 25 of anything!

The School Council has been busy consulting the children and thinking up ideas.  They invite everyone to come to school next Friday in ‘sports gear’ ready to take part in some special fitness challenges put together by Joe Wicks.  We also invite those who would like to donate/sponsor to bring in some loose change which we can use to create a huge 25 from coins!
 
FOREST SCHOOL
Today Asteroids (Y3-6) will be taking part in an additional Forest School session to celebrate this half-term’s golden thread:  Get Creative.  It will be the turn of Rocket Class (YN-Y2) to have their one-off session next Friday 14^th.  As this coincides with Children in Need, please remember layers to add over sports gear to keep warm and dry.
 
THEATRE VISITS 
We have been lucky enough to reserve seats for a theatre trip for all children in school. We would like to take:
 
Reception, Year One and Year Two children to see ‘Stickman’ at Leeds Playhouse on Friday 12th December during the afternoon, arriving back to school at around 4pm.
The cost of the trip is £16.00 per child and we ask parents to support us by making a voluntary contribution of this amount.
 
Year Three, Four, Five and Six children to see ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Leeds Playhouse on Wednesday 7th January 2026 for an evening performance we will leave school at 3pm arriving back to school around 9.20pm.
The cost of the trip is also £16.00 per child and we ask parents to support us by making a voluntary contribution of this amount.
We are really grateful to the Friends PTA group whose fundraising efforts are subsidising the cost of both trips. This is an exciting opportunity for our children and supports our enrichment curriculum offer as well as enhancing our learning within school.
Details about what to wear, picnic lunch/tea etc will follow nearer to the time.
 
Whilst these payments are voluntary, parents should be aware that due to the school budget, this trip will only go ahead if we receive enough payments to cover the cost of the trip. We thank you for your support in helping us to ensure we can keep our curriculum as hands on and exciting as possible.

If you consent to your child attending the trip, please click and respond to the email sent separately no later than Monday 17th November.  Payments will be loaded on parent pay accounts shortly.
 
SAVE THE DATE!
Mrs Harris would like to invite parents to come and join us for a Musical Showcase on Friday November 21st, 2.45-3.15pm. Children learning instruments in school will have a chance to perform and the whole school will sing some of the songs we've been enjoying in our singing assembly time. 
 
News from the wider community
Message from the Friends PTA group 
The Friends of St Nicholas will be meeting at 19:30 on Thursday 13th November at The Bruce Arms to discuss plans for this half term's fundraising activities and to make further plans for 2026. Please feel free to join the meeting if you'd like to get involved - new members are always welcome.
 
If you can't join the meeting but would like to help at future events, please contact the Friends secretary Laura Wildwood at friendsofstnicholaswt@gmail.com to register your interest. 
 
Many thanks in advance!
 
Gallone Ices will be in West Tanfield on Monday 10th November at 3.30pm in the Memorial Hall car park.  Free ice creams in return for a donation for Children in Need – see below:  
Message from North Yorkshire Admissions
See below for a letter containing information for parents with children born between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022 about applications for entry into Reception in September 2026.
Safeguarding, Health and Wellbeing Updates
MY FAMILY’S DIGITAL TOOLKIT
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