Wow! We have reached the end of another busy and hard working half term! Children and staff are ready for a well-deserved break! Well done to all the children for all the hard work across the curriculum. Thank you to the School Council for further driving improvements with their Behaviour Assembly this half term. Raising awareness of our school 3Bs and behaviour protocol. Thank you to the Well Being Champs for leading an assembly raising awareness of Mental Health during Mental Health Awareness week. The Mini Vinnies have been busy sending thoughtful messages to our Parishioners. Well done to our sports teams, our girls' and boys' football team , the dodgeball competition team, tennis team and our 5 aside football team, who last night came first position. The first time in the tournament's 24 year history that St Augustine's has won! Well done to all our sport's teams!
A HUGE thank you to our Friends of St Augustine's for organising events this half term! The Valentine's Disco was a HUGE success and it was fantastic to finish the half term seeing the children enjoying themselves and having so much fun. Thank you to all the friends and family who made this possible. Children having fun and raising funds for the school, fantastic!
Thank you to all staff for your continued dedication, commitment and enthusiasm this half term. Thank you to family and friends for your continued support! We continue to keep Mrs Waite in our thoughts and prayers. We hope that you all have a restful and enjoyable half term break and we look forward to seeing you all back in school on Monday 27th February. Mrs Whitehead
Thank you to the group of Year 6 children who organised and led the fundraising event this afternoon in aid of the Earthquake appeal. What a success! Thank you to family and friends who supported us this afternoon and the worthy cause.
Any SENd messages please send through to our new email address at sta-sen@staugustines.bhcet.org.uk thank you!
Industrial Action Tuesday 28th February: School will remain open as usual on this day.
Reception - This half term, Reception have been very busy! We enjoyed having a celebration in R.E. We had some party snacks, special plates and even a game of pass the parcel! As part of our Winter topic, we have also enjoyed investigating ice and discussing how we could get it to melt. In Maths, we have enjoyed playing skittles to help us to recognise zero when we did not knock any over! We have had so much fun this half term discovering how to work together as a team to complete jigsaws, we loved the Winter jigsaw! Miss Barnard
Year 1 - We have had a busy but creative half term in Year 1. We have developed our skills with paper folding and decorating in our 'Paper Play' topic in Art and Design. We enjoyed sorting old and new toys by decades, including Victorian Era toys in our History studies. We have worked hard on understanding the number system and numbers within 20 this half term. We have been learning our number bonds to 10 and 20, comparing and ordering numbers and developing our addition and subtraction strategies including working with 10 frames and number lines. We also developed our descriptive writing skills in English based on the text 'The Lion Inside' by Rachel Bright. Mr. Kentfield-Wells
Year 2 - Year 2 have had a brilliant Spring half term, starting with discovering a clutch of dragon eggs in their classroom. We read the book, The Dragon Machine, to find out more and to explore our own ideas about story writing. Finally, we have finished our project by writing our own story about a machine that saves the day! We have also found out about explorers through history, including Christopher Columbus, Captain James Cook and even Neil Armstrong and his journey to the moon. The children have enjoyed finding out about how the explorers travelled and used maps to find out where they discovered. As artists, we have been finding ways to represent texture in our work, including drawing our own soft toys, and as scientists we have been learning about animals including humans. We have thought about animal classification and what we look for to identify animals. We have now completed our work on ‘Books’ in Religious Education after finding out about the Gospels and how readings are used in church. Year 2 will now learn about whether or not we should be grateful people, with a focus on the Last Supper. We have already looked closely at different art work including paintings by Da Vinci and stained glass at Durham Cathedral. Thank you for all of your support at home. It has been wonderful to see everyone’s self portraits, dances and map work from the half term hive homework. Have a wonderful break! Mrs Tucker and Miss Gibson
Year 3 - It has been another busy half term in Year 3. We have been working exceptionally hard in all of our learning! We have written our own stories based on the Stone Age in English. In Maths we have been working on measurements and perimeter. In History we have really enjoyed learning about the Stone Age and have even written some fantastic fact files and diary entries pretending we are living in the Stone Age. In RE we have been learning about the Eucharist and the importance of listening and sharing which the children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about. We have been busy in PE in both tennis and dance this half term which we have worked hard on improving our coordination and techniques. Well done for another fantastic half term Year 3! Miss Gilliland
Year 4 - What a fantastic half term year 4. I can’t believe our first half term together is over already. Thank you for all making me feel so welcome and I look forward to seeing what is in store for next half term. The children have worked so hard across all aspects of our curriculum. During our maths sessions we have been focusing primarily on place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division based on 4 digit numbers, which the children have taken in their strides. Within English, our focus has been primarily around the Romans, focusing at first on writing our own cinquain poem based on Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Roman Centurion Song’, along with writing our own exciting narrative based on ‘Escape from Pompeii’ by Christina Balit. RE has seen us learn more about our Parish Community and how everybody within our parish has a role to play in spreading the message of God. We have also began to look more in depth at the Eucharist and the gifts given to us by God. During science, the children have been carrying out investigations based on different states of matter and the properties of gas, liquids and solids. History has also been very exciting this half term too, as we have gained further insight into the Anglo-Saxons and how they shaped England with their culture, ingenuity, government and the key role they played in spreading Christianity across England. As well as our hard work in class this half term, year 4 have also had plenty of sporting success in both the tennis and dodgeball competitions. All in all, a fantastic half term. Well done year 4 and have a well-deserved half term break. Mr. Cummins
Year 5 - Year 5 have had a busy half term. Can you believe we are now half way through our academic year? We were very enthusiastic about our science topic 'Earth and Space' and have produced some fantastic work to demonstrate their understanding. In RE we have focussed on 'Missions in life' recognising that some people choose to live a life devoted to God while others commit themselves to a special person and celebrate the sacrament of Marriage. We have also begun our unit on Memorial Sacrifice and are making links and showing understanding of the Passover and the Eucharist. Maths has been a little challenging for many while developing understanding of fractions, written methods of multiplication and division; children showed perseverance and should be proud of their achievements. In English we have been excited to show our understanding of myths and legends and have worked really hard to develop our cohesion between paragraphs. Children have been engrossed in their history topic especially the lesson shedding light on children in the Victorian times. As usual PE, music and art have been fun filled learning and they have shown lovely progress in each session. Well done year 5! Mrs Barr
Year 6 - This half term has been non stop in Year 6, another amazing term of hard work and dedication from the children. They have been learning lots of new things. In Maths they have mastered fractions, as well as ratio and proportion which can prove to be tricky concepts but they tackled these challenges with determination and maturity. In History, they have looked at the Civilisation of the Ancient Maya, how they lived and what they achieved and in Art they produced some lovely pieces linked to what their Mayan Spirit would be. The children have been looking at how animals adapt to their habitats in Science and produced some lovely non chronological reports linked to Charles Darwin. What amazing role models they have proved to be too, because they helped their buddies in Reception learn to dance. Well done Year six They have been real gardening ambassadors too by leading gardening club on a Wednesday lunchtime and making great improvements to our quad through their hard work. Mrs White and Mrs Coates
Recycling Team - The recycling team has been busy! Last week they requested a textiles bin for people to recycle old clothes. Yesterday we had ours delivered from the Red Sky Charity! We have partnered up with the Red Sky charity, a local charity who raise money buy a variety of equipment and also provide facilities and after care at the Children’s Heart Unit at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, Sunderland Royal Hospital and the James Cook Hospital, Teesside. They are also committed to raising money for community defibrillators and educating people about healthy heart heath. More information can be found about them here: https://redskyfoundation.com This textiles bin will be here for the foreseeable so if anyone has any unwanted clothing\textiles please feel free to donate and the bin is located in the left corner of the car park near the gate.
Wraparound Care - Our before and after school club runs from 7.30am - 8.45am and 3.15pm-6.00pm. Breakfast club is £4.00 per child and after school club is charged at £8.00. Bookings can be made through Scopay - however if you have problems and it won't let you book due to being full, please contact the school office and we can confirm the booking for you. 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.
Parent Feedback - Wraparound Care
Scopay Accounts - Just a little reminder to please bring your Scopay accounts up to date for Wraparound Care and School Dinners. Accounts should ideally be in credit. Please contact the school office if you have any queries.
Diary dates - A reminder of upcoming dates for your diary for next half term;
Design a logo for the Friends of St Augustine's - Well done to the 59 children who entered the logo competition. The Friends of St Augustine's were so impressed with all the entries! Well done to the winning entries from each class - Peggy Hedley (Reception), Enzo Armitage (Y1), Sydney Miller (Y2), Isaac Slade (Y3), Sophia Taylor (Y4), Lawrie McKeown (Y5), Maggie Raper (Y6). A special well done to Isaac Slade in Year 3 who produced the final winning logo. Thank you to Father Tony who had the difficult decision of judging.
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. From January only family and friends who have a parking permit will be able to use our staff car park on drop off and collection.
Junior Bake Off - Applications are now open for the 9th series of Junior Bake Off , a Channel 4 Programme that celebrates the culinary talent and ambition of the younger generation in Britain. Junior Bake off are looking for budding bakers between 9-12 years old. Filming will take place from July 2023, but applications close on Sunday 12th March 2023. Interested bakers can apply online at - https://shortaudition.com/Junior-Bake-Off
School Lunch Menu - Below is the new Spring/Summer menu which will commence after the half term break