Wow! it is hard to bee-lieve the summer holidays are upon us after a very busy school year! As we end our year, we have been reflecting together on our successes, achievements and celebrations as a school.
We have continued to further develop our Curriculum provision across the school ensuring there is a progression of skills and knowledge in each subject area with clear end points of learning within each year group, ensuring the children are ready and prepared for the next stage of their learning.
This month we received our KS2 SATs results from the statutory national tests. As you will be aware from the media, the tests were very challenging. We are so proud of our Year 6 group with their hard work, resilience and determination. Our children in Year 6 achieved above the national average in Reading, Writing and Maths in their SATs this year, demonstrating that the children leave Year 6 being ready for their learning in secondary school. Well done to all of Year 6 (and staff) for achieving such impressive results.
Also in the news: 80% of our pupils in Reception achieved their Good Level of development and 80% of Year 1 pupils achieved the expected level in the Phonics screening check - well done Reception and Year 1!
We value many things here at St Augustine's, but not all are measurable - sporting, music, the arts and citizenship skills which are embedded in our curriculum and Personal development provision with acknowledgement celebrations for achievements both in and out of school.
We believe music has a very important role in the life of the pupils and the school. We love to sing at St Augustine's and this year we have loved hearing our fan-tas-tic choir, led by Mrs Tucker. Our choir have shared their voices during our Leavers' Mass, Prizegiving and made us all very proud as they sang at Carmel in the festival of Choirs. We have all enjoyed singing our own St Augustine's School song during liturgies and Masses. We have held a number of music concerts throughout the year where children have shared their talent playing the cello, violin and ukulele. We look forward to sharing our musical talent in the next academic year. Well done to all children who have undertaken music exams this year! We are very proud!
We have represented St Augustine's at a number of sporting events this year; ranging from Cross Country, basketball, tennis, dodgeball, netball, football and cricket. All the children displaying amazing teamwork, displaying superb qualities and being great ambassadors for the school. This year we celebrated the football team winning the annual Darlington 5 aside football competition - first time St Augustine's have won! We have also celebrated children's achievements including swimming, judo, ballet, gymnastics, Irish dancing, brownies, beavers, cubs. Such a talented group of children
We have enjoyed a number of open events for our school community throughout the year including Be Spirited during Advent, Lent and at Pentecost. Our Coronation Open afternoon, Sport's Day and Reading Cafe during our Reading week. Each class has enjoyed at least one school visit this year, to Bowes, Hardwick Park, Hancock Museum and Binchester Roman Fort and Wharton Park, with volunteers plentiful to assist us.
We have also extended our school day with an array of after school clubs to enrich and broaden opportunities for our children at St Augustine's.
Pupil Leadership has also been developed this year with our Headboy and Headgirl leading our School Council, our Well-Being Champs, Chaplaincy team, Mini Vinnies and Year 6 Buddies.
We have also welcomed Millie to St Augustine's. Millie has been a wonderful asset to St Augustine's supporting children on their learning journey coupled with the children's social, emotional, mental health and wellbeing at school.
Thank you to our Friends of St Augustine's for their tremendous fund raising and support this year for our children at St Augustine's. Thank you to you all in our school community for your continued support, it has been a real privilege working with you and your children this year.
Thank you to all the staff at St Augustine's it has been an extremely busy year but you have continued to be committed and dedicated to the children at St Augustine's. Working extremely hard, placing the children at the centre always with a smile! Thank you!
All the very best to those leaving us this year along with our fantastic Year 6 class. We wish you all the very best as your exciting, new adventure awaits.
From all of us we would like to say a HUGE thank you for all the kind messages and generous gifts. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to working together next year. Thank you from all of us to you for a fantastic year! From all the staff and Governors we wish you all a fun-filled Summer holidays. Rest, recharge and relax and we look forward to seeing you back on Tuesday 5th September. Take care and God bless, Mrs Whitehead
In the May half term the Pullen and Scarr family joined Middlesbrough Diocese on a visit to Lourdes. Thank you for taking our petitions to the Grotto.
Reception - It has been a very busy Half Term in Reception, working hard and creating lots of lovely memories. This half term, we have completed our first sports day, working well as a team and enjoying lots of races and fun activities. Alongside this, we have enjoyed a range of topics such as Traditional Tales, Dragons, Summer and Materials. Children had fun exploring these topics and doing some writing, crafting and group projects. We also explored the topic ‘Space’ and learnt all about the planets, rockets and some wonderful astronauts. Children enjoyed creating fact files about their favourite astronauts and designing a biscuit based on their favourite planet. The summer fair was another exciting event, in which children enjoyed making ‘seed bombs’ and biscuits to sell. Reception also went on their first school trip and made us feel very proud, with their wonderful behaviour and sensible attitude. We enjoyed searching for the dragon at Hardwick Park and thinking about how we can look after the environment. Children enjoyed going on a litter picking hunt and sorting the litter into categories of things we can recycle and reuse. It has been an absolute pleasure to teach you this year Reception, you have all worked very hard and should be proud of yourselves, as we are all very proud of you. Have a lovely summer. Miss Barnard
Year 1 - Year 1 have enjoyed developing a range of PE skills this term. Some for general fitness, some for building skills in team games and some for developing athletic abilities. We have lots of excellent sportspeople and future athletes in this class! Year 1 have also enjoyed making puppets following a design brief. It was very tricky cutting and joining the materials but we got there in the end. There has also been a lot of focus on being Y2 ready this term and Y1 have been working hard on developing their English, Maths, RE and Geography skills in preparation. Mr Kentfield-Wells
Year 2 - What a term we have had! Year 2 have amazed and surprised as always, making us all very proud. We have taken care of caterpillars in our classroom, watching them turn into beautiful butterflies which we released as part of our outdoor collective worship. We have been asking ourselves, ‘Is the World a Treasure?’ and exploring God’s gifts on Earth. That included making treasure chests and gems to put in them on which we wrote down our personal treasures such as family and friends. Mrs Tucker
Year 3 - It’s been a busy half term in Year 3! The children have worked incredibly hard in all areas of learning. In Maths we have focussed on shapes and statistics where the children enjoyed making their own 3D shapes using marshmallows and sticks! In English the children loved learning about Flat Stanley and even made their own flat person to take home with them for their own adventures during the summer. Year 3 have also been on a very exciting trip to Binchester Roman Fort where the children learnt all about Roman Britain and even made their own pinch pots! Well done year 3 for another fantastic half term.
Year 4 - Wow, I can’t believe we are at the end of the school year already. Year 4 have worked so hard this half term, right until the very end and have taken part in lots of different activities throughout. During English this half term, we have focused on our book ‘Blue John’ and looked at ways to write an explanatory letter based on the formation of Blue John stones. Within maths, we have worked exceptionally hard by focusing on angles, shapes and money. The children have thoroughly enjoyed maths this half term and engagement in lessons has been fantastic. In science, we have been focusing on sound by looking at how sound is created, how it reaches our ears and how different pitch it made. During RE, we have focused on world religion, by looking further at the importance of the Qur’an to Muslims and how it should be treated with respect. Along with this, we have looked at World Church, by focusing on the impact of CAFOD to the wider world and how we can all help spread God’s message throughout the world. We have also enjoyed our school trip to the Hancock Museum this half term, during which the children were impeccably behaved and also participated in our year 4 St. Augustine’s Cup, performing excellently and showcasing ourselves as great ambassadors for our school. It was also amazing to be a part of the children’s First Holy Communion. All of the children did amazingly throughout. Well done year 4 for an amazing year. I hope you all have a fantastic summer and I look forward to being your teacher once again next year. Mr. Cummins
Year 5 - Year 5 were delighted to be able to go on a school visit this half term, the children were wonderful ambassadors for our school and had a great time: building a beaver dam; making our own compost (which has been given to our very own gardening club); and learning about how climate change has affected our environment. This visit supported our learning in geography, science and RE while working through our universal world topic and how we need to look after God's creation. In our writing, we have written some wonderful poems and information texts based on 'The story of Jean-Michal Basquiat'. Our science topic has been interesting, and children have certainly learned alot about changes in our body and stages in life cycles. We have finished our art project- making prints -and designing what we might see in the future. And in computing, we completed; tested; and evaluated our own interactive quizzes using coding skills. Most children's favourite topic in our curriculum is PE and the children showed their talents and skills in our sports day which we were delighted families could join us for. Most recently we enjoyed performing our music to family and friends. It has been a wonderful half term in Year 5, they have grown a lot this year in maturity and attitude towards learning and I think they are ready for the next step in their learning... Year 6! Mrs Barr
Year 6 - We can’t quite believe how quickly this year has flown by. In Year Six we have managed to fill the year with lots of learning, fun and new experiences. The children have shown great determination and resilience and have not been afraid to face new challenges head on. The year has been filled with lots of memories that will last a lifetime for the children, beginning the year with our residential at Dukes house Wood, representing the school at various sporting events, cycling to Archer’s Ice Cream parlour, performing our show ‘The Pirates of the Curry Bean,’ and not forgetting our wonderful Family Picnic Day to name but a few. We must also not forget all the hard work that has taken place in class too, as well as completing our SATs assessments with maturity and confidence – Well done Year 6. As you move onto your new secondary schools, we wish you all well, we are so proud of you all. Miss White and Mrs Coates
Wraparound Care - Our before and after school club runs from 7.30am - 8.45am and 3.15pm-6.00pm. Breakfast club is £3.00 per child and after school club is charged at £8.00. Bookings can be made through MCAS. Children are offered a variety of games and activities in these clubs and we will always welcome and encourage new ideas! At morning club, breakfast is provided and after school club children will receive sandwiches and snacks. Breakfast Club and After School Club will recommence on Tuesday 5th September.
My Child At School (MCAS) - The last day for making payments on Scopay was midday on Thursday 20th July. All balances from Scopay will be transferred over to the new MCAS App. You can start making payments via the MCAS App from Monday 7th August. Please ensure that you are not carrying any debt over into the next academic year.
School Uniform is available to order directly through our supplier, Elizabeth's Embroidery. Just click on the link below to go to their website, this will take you straight through to the page to start the ordering process. https://elizabethsschoolwear.com/collections/st-augustine
Parking - Just a polite reminder that parents, carers and families are asked not to park in the school car park, use the car park to turn around or park in the resident permit parking spaces around the school. Only family and friends who have a parking permit are able to use our staff car park on drop off and collection.
School Lunch Menu - Autumn Term