A Fond Farewell
Today we say goodbye to our Year Six class. They have been a fantastic group of children who we wish the very best for, as they make the transition to secondary school.
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July 20, 2007
July 17, 2007
SPORTS DAY!
We intend to go ahead with Sports Day this afternoon.
BBC weather for the North East indicates the possibility of "showers, heavy and thundery in places".
Postponement until tomorrow offers little advantage from available forecasts - more heavy showers.
Fingers crossed for this afternoon - an umbrella is probably sensible.
July 13, 2007
The Beach Comes To Fellside!
Everyone had a fantastic time when the beach was brought to school! Year Six and Year Four worked together to build, shape and even bury people in the sand!
July 11, 2007
This is your Wife
Year 5 have travelled back 500 years through the mists of time with their class assembly today. Their special guests, Henry VIII and his wives amongst other Tudor characters, appeared alongside Ant and Dec for this summer special edition of This is your Wife.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1..... Action! The cameras were rolling, Ant and Dec were poised at the ready and all that was left was to pluck our Tudor guests from over 500 years ago.
The class production was super fun and many thanks go to Mrs Potts for her hard work with Tudor costumes.
Feel free to browse photos from the production. The show's script and accompanying MS Powerpoint files are also available below.
Ant, Dec and King Henry
The Burly Bodyguards who kept the Studio Audience in check
The Whole Cast
Adventure Stories by Year Three
The children of Year Three are all huge fans of Doctor Who and in English one day we started to think about what it would be like to time travel in the Tardis. As the school had recently celebrated our 40th Birthday, we began to imagine what the school would be like forty years into the future...
Read our adventure stories to find out what we envisaged.
THE TARDIS
by Paul Brown
When our class was invited to the Hancock museum we were all excited. When we got there we saw the Doctor Who’s time machine. I said “Ben, Finlay and Joseph, I’ve found the Doctor Who’s machine!�
“Wow, is this the real thing?� they chorused.
I said “I don’t know. Do any of you want to do inside the box?�
Ben said “Yes it will be fun.�
I said, “Ok let’s go inside.�
We all pushed the battered blue door and there was a metallic clicking noise. Joseph tripped and fell on a lime green button on one of the flashing control panels and there was a loud whooshing noise, we were all stunned for a minute and stared at each other in silence. Then I looked out the time machine’s window then discovered to our horror that we were indeed in space. I was frightened I can tell you. Then we stopped with a bump and then we curiously opened the door and peered outside. It was amazing! All the buildings were very high, soaring into the clouds and instead of cars there were flying pods. We decided to look around the strange futuristic town then to our surprise we found a school called Fellside Primary. We realised we were in Whickham but not as we knew it. We ventured in, it was huge! When we were walking around we saw an assembly and discovered the school was 80 years old that day! We saw a big assembly was taking place. All the hall walls had pictures and drawings all over them. The head teacher opened a box in it was a new school uniform for the Fellside Primary. The children clapped in approval.
We looked outside there were hover bikes in the hover bike shed. There were different kinds of trees such as palm trees, orange gloves, banana trees and cacti. The climate was hot and tropical the result of global warming. We also saw the Tardis then we went back and went back to the past we told everyone of our adventure. Ben said in an excited whisper: “That was the best trip I’ve ever been on!� No body else believed it.
Tardis Discovery
by Bailey Charles-Jones
Click! The battered door opened. Emily, Annabel, Mia and I were curious to find out what was in the navy blue Tardis. We all stepped in determined to find out what was inside. You could see flashing lights everywhere. Mia found a lime green button and pressed it by accident. The others, who were at this point speechless, stared at each other in disbelief! The Tardis started to shake and soon it slowed down. Annabel, who was the bravest, opened the door. Creek!
We stepped out with shock and trepidation, the atmosphere was misty and it was quite frosty on the leaf green field. We had landed in the grounds of Fellside School. We peered through the school window all the children were eating their lunches but not ordinary lunches like your crisps and sandwiches. Oh no! They had violet pills that they sucked with boredom. We decided to go in. The scarlet red walls were decorated with work done in ways that haven’t been invented before. A teacher was coming down the corridor. We hid behind a coat peg until we were safe. But we weren’t there was an army of children coming down the corridor. When they had gone we peeped in a classroom. Instead of writing books there were laptops with names on such as John and walls with more words and phrases on them. We took the next exit, it was all too much for us and we needed fresh air to calm our nerves. It took us to the play ground. It was dull and bare. Like a desert in fact, the result of global warming. No lush field was in sight. We decided to go home, we had seen enough for one day so we stepped inside and Mia pressed the same button. The Tardis did its job and we landed and Annabel opened the door but we weren’t at the museum Oh no!
My Adventure
by Emily Dodds
One day when my friends Bailey, Annabel and myself went to visit the Hancock Museum, there was a real Time Machine there! You see Dr. Who has this machine on his programme that he uses to travel in time and space. We thought it was just make believe but it turned out to be not the case. My friends and I went in and I accidentally pressed the flashing green button I saw on the control panel. I didn’t mean to do it but the button seemed to be begging me to press it. When I had pressed it and the Tradis started to move. Bailey, Annabel and I were feeling scared and frightened.
When the Tardis stopped are hearts stopped beating as fast as they were before and we started to feel nerves so Bailey said “Come on let’s go and explore and see where we are .So we had a little peep outside and there was no people in the place. There was just a yard with a big sign saying HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY so that’s when we realised we were at Fellside Community Primary school there were no children in the yard because they where all waiting to see what was the time capsule. When we entered the enormous hall which was clad in a white plastic coating with marvellous 3-D pictures obviously produced by the pupils, the teachers called for quiet. They were robots. You could tell by their metallic voices that echoed through the vast hall in monotone. The children had been cloned they all looked the same we did not want to disturb them so we crept out of the school and went back into the Tardis and I pressed the red flashing button, we zoomed off back to the museum found the class 3 and went back to school.
We never did tell of our adventures, but kept them a secret, until now.
A Trip in the Future
by Laura Wilkinson
With a sudden creak the Tardis door swept open and there, standing before us was a huge room. We couldn’t actually believe we were seeing the same thing, small on the outside but big on the inside- Wow! I asked my friends Rachel, Mia and Charlotte if they would like to come in with me, they of course said yes. As we walked in we saw a flashing lime green button, I told my friends we shouldn’t press it. So we tried not to. Then Rachel accidentally knocked Charlotte and she hit the button. All of a sudden it started rocking furiously and suddenly we zoomed up into the bright sunny sky. We were all shocked.
We whizzed through the sky and after five minutes of shock and excitement we landed. When we opened the door we saw a school. We looked at each other a couple of times and then we got out of the Tardis and saw that we were at Fellside Community Primary School and it was its eightieth birthday! Should we explore like we did in the Tardis or shouldn’t we? We didn’t know but eventually we decided that we would have a little explore since it was so quiet and the coast was clear.
First we saw the playground. It had perfectly wonderful palm trees because the leaves were bright green. There were cacti plants and orange trees that had really ripe oranges on. We really couldn’t believe we were in 2047 the year. It was wonderful. Next we explored in the school as it was so quiet. On the classroom walls were hologram pictures that moved when you walked past them. We felt so excited we were smiling all the time. The floors were made of orange rubber and nobody used books anymore instead they used there own personal computer. Would you like to use your own computer at school so you didn’t have to write with pencils? Then after walking round most of the school we eventually saw the children, they were in the hall looking through the time capsule. They were wearing uniform just as I designed with a little screen on your sleeve and a flip down screen on your cap. Hover shoes that turned into ‘Heelys’ and buttons on your dress to control the shoes.
Finally we went back outside and got back into the Tardis. We really needed to go back to the Hancock but we didn’t know which button to press. We decided to press the button we pressed to get here, so with a quick click I pressed the button. In about five minutes we landed with a thump on the ground. We opened the door and luckily we were at the Hancock were we started. “Phew what a journey,� we all said.
“Just what a shame we had to leave then.�
At that moment our teacher called us to leave. We were quite happy to go because we had the best time in the world.
A Trip in the Tardis
by Liberty Caithness
Once, my friends and I were on a school trip, my friends were called Lucy, Abbi and Anna. The trip was to a museum to see the Dr. Who exhibition. We had five minutes to see each exhibit and finally we came to a last model but it didn’t look like a model, in fact, it looked very real. It was the Dr. Who’s Tardis! The four of us were very excited but we were even more thrilled when a man said that we could go inside. We all dashed inside it. Lucy said “It looks much bigger than on the outside of the Tardis.�
Then suddenly, Anna accidentally tripped on something and pressed an emerald green button and then the door slammed shut and everything started to shake! We bumped into walls and banged our heads on the sealing when it turned upside down but finally it had all stopped. Abbi nervously opened the door and we found ourselves in the year three classroom only it looked very different, the lights were off and no pupils were in it. The four of us walked along the quiet corridor and then we all realised that every class was in the hall wearing party clothes, dancing to music and singing their favourite songs but what was the most amazing was a huge pretend birthday cake with a massive 80 on it! It was when we had found out that we had travelled into the future. The flashing disco lights were floating in mid air and the pictures on the walls were dancing too! We all looked at each other, sparkles were surrounding our clothes and when the sparkles had gone we all realised that we were wearing party clothes as well. We all looked amazed at each other. We decided to join in the dancing and so we walked nervously through the corridor and stepped carefully onto the dance floor were everyone was sweating and going crazy. After five seconds, all four of us were dancing a little bit as well. We were having a whale of a time until the DJ said that it was the end of the disco. We all realised that our party clothes started to change back into normal clothes!
“Let’s get out of here!� yelled Abbi and we all ran for the exit.
“Phew, I’m hot enough to get in a cold bath!� said Lucy but there was no more time to talk, everyone was walking through the exit as well! We all ran for the Year Three classroom again. We all rushed into the Tardis and I pushed the emerald green button once more, the door slammed shut, the Tardis started to shake and we were off.
We bashed into walls and banged our heads on the ceiling when it turned upside down but it had all stopped eventually. We were so relieved. We walked cautiously out and discovered the rest of the class milling around the other exhibits. Time had stood still. No one had even missed us. We smiled secret smiles to one another and made a pact never to tell that we had been to the future!
Forward to the Future
by James Baister
I was walking around the museum all bored with my class because we had been there for some time. Suddenly Dan, Jack, and I, noticed a Tardis in the Dr. Who exhibition. We touched the door and to our surprise the dark blue, wooden door swung open!
I said,
“Why don’t we go in?�
So we did! We started to push each other in the gigantic space inside. Yes it was just like the Tardis we’d seen on the television – small on the outside and enormous on the inside. As we fooled around, I got pushed onto a lime green button near the control desk. The Tardis began to move!
“What is going on?� I said in great surprise.
“I do not know!� said Dan, looking both shocked and a little green.
We landed at school but only it was 40 years after, the date we left it. We knew because there was a sign that said ‘Fellside at eighty’ and this was projected on the hall wall. We got a shock when one of the paintings started to speak to us!
It said:
“What kind of uniform is that? Hey where is your hover board?�
The bike shelter had turned into a hover bord shelter we noticed these strange boards, all lined up and children arriving at the school on them. Things had certainly changed. We discovered that the teachers were robotic, the head teacher was a Darlek! It was too silly to be true, we ran back to the Tardis and pressed the sky blue button but arrived back on the museum just in time to join the class leaving to go home. We didn’t let on where we’d been, not to anyone, until now.
Beamish Museum Visit
On Tuesday 10th July Year One and Year Two spent a day visiting Beamish Museum. Year Two experienced what it must have been like to be a Victorian schoolchild. They took part in a lesson which covered handwriting, a recitation of a poem and learning times tables. We had great fun and the sun shone all day!
Persuasive writing
Y4 try to persuade Mrs Ducker not to give them homework!
Dear Mrs Ducker
I am writing to try and persuade you not to give Y4 homework ever again. There are a number of reasons why not to give us homework, here are some of them:
Firstly, there would be more time to play outside with your friends, which would help us to improve our fitness and social confidence. Lately in the newspaper there have been lots of articles about people being unhealthy and too over weight and you don't want that to happen to us, do you?
Secondly, children could use the extra hour a week they would have from not doing homework, to do something else educational e.g. learn a musical instrument, play scrabble, use computer programmes such as "Typing Pal" to improve I.T. skills or" Maths Blaster" to improve maths skills.
Thirdly, if you didn't give us homework we would promise to work harder and talk less when we are at school. It would also make your job much easier and mean we would do more work. In addition homework is not fair on parents because they have to spend their time helping us to do it, instead of relaxing after a hard week's work.
Finally, it would save your time as you wouldn't have to plan it all and you wouldn't have to mark it.
So there are the reasons why you shouldn't give us homework ever again!
Yours Sincerely
Elizabeth Spencer
Dear Mrs Ducker,
How wonderful it is to have you back in the classroom with us, and lovely to know you are recovering well and feeling so much better. The class have been working extremely hard whilst you have been away, so hard in fact that we are feeling incredibly tired.
I came up with a fantastic idea over the weekend. I realise that when children leave school at 3.15 your working day continues. The children really want to make your job as easy and stress free as possible.
Mrs Stroud and Miss Gough have done an excellent job in your absence, but we really missed you and want you here in the classroom with us where you belong. We really don't mind if you don't give us homework, imagine how much time you will save without any homework to set and you won't have to take all the books home with you to mark. Instead you will be able to sit at home with your feet up and rest. The class will promise to keep working hard in the classroom and perhaps Mr Doran won't notice that you haven't given us homework when he sees the fantastic test results we produce at the end of term.
Of course, working so hard in class makes us children tired too, and we would have so much more time in the evenings. In the summer we'd really much more enjoy playing with our friends after school instead of sitting in our bedrooms doing homework. Fresh air and excercise is very good for us too. So you see, Mrs Ducker, this will benefit both children and teacher, and we promise not to tell Mr. Doran!
Yours Sincerely
Adam Sewell
WHAT DO YOU THINK MRS. DUCKER IS GOING TO DO, AFTER ALL THIS FLATTERY AND PERSUASION?
Dear Mrs Ducker,
I am writing to tell you why I think you shouldn't give Y4 any more homework this year.
We go to school five days a week and work very hard so we shouldn't be taking up the rest of our time on doing work at home!
Here are my reasons why we shouldn't do homework:
- On the two days that we get off at weekends we should be having fun.
- We should spend time doing sports activities like tennis and swimming which are very
important as they keep us fit and healthy.
- We need to spend time going out for the day with our families to places of interest such as
Gibside Chapel or Alnwick Gardens.
- We need time to catch up with relatives we don't see during the week.
- The only time we should have homework is if we don't finish work in class.
- At weekends we might be going on a day trip and learn something new that we can use
in school.
- At Fellside we work very hard and could do with a reward of time to ourselves.
I hope you accept the reasons I have given and do the right thing.
Yours Sincerely
Mollie Pugmire
Dear Mrs Ducker,
I am writing to tell you that we should not get homework for lots of different reasons as I will write later on in this letter. But firstly I would like to say how lovely it is
having you back.
The reasons why we should not get homework are:
On Saturday I have trampoline lessons and do not have much time to do homework. I cannot do it on Friday because I go swimming and have my tea when I get back, and on Sunday I go to church and I often go to my Aunty's house.
So you see there is really no time left over for homework.
Yours Faithfully,
Charlotte Dibley
OH DEAR ! ALL OF THESE REASONS. IS MRS DUCKER BEING PERSUADED YET?
Dear Mrs Ducker,
I am writing to ask you not to give us any more homework. Why? Because homework gives me no time to do my favourite sports which help me learn not to be a sore loser and also team work. They obviously also keep me fit and healthy.
Homework gives me no time to do the things I've planned for the weekend like football, golf, T.V., cricket, films, playing computer games, playing out with my friends and reading. I am trying to read a book called James Bond Silverfin by Charlie Higson which I think is much more exciting than school books.
Finally, I can't do my homework because I am also playing football for Blaydon Youth Club.
So now you know why you shouldn't give us homework.
Yours Sincerely
Luke Rogers
Dear Mrs Ducker
I'm really pleased you're recovered from your operation. It's great to see you back at school.
We've spent all day working really hard and I think it would be a very kind gesture of yours to stop giving us homework every week.
As you know, summer is on its way and so we would like to play out after school.
So please no more homework!
Yours Sincerely
Corey
MRS DUCKER IS DEFINITELY WEAKENING!
Dear Mrs Ducker,
Homework is a waste of time because I think we do enough work at school and at home already. It can also get in the way of important activities like going on walks and even going to parties!
Children can sometimes forget how to set things out when they do their homework. If the teacher isn't there to remind them, children can get confused and upset.
Parents don't always know how to do the homework. If children need help, parents might show them the wrong way to do it.
Homework not only stops us from relaxing and having a break, but also could mean that you have a lot of books to mark and that could make you very tired for the next day.
Homework can cause big arguments with children and parents, if children don;t want to do their homework!
I think all the other kids in the class would agree with me.
Please make your mind up NOW!
Yours Sincerely
Rachel Balkwill
Dear Mrs Ducker,
I am writing to you to explain to you whywe shouldn't get homework from school.
We have better things to do, like ride our bikes, play football, go to our friend's houses and play and also play board games. Anyway, we spend five, six hour long days a week working hard at school so when we get home for the weekend we will want to play. Instead we have to do homework for part of that time. Especially when it's a hot summer's day everybody's playing out and it is absolutely boiling but you're stuck in a hot, stuffy room doing homework.
So that's why I think we shouldn't get homework from school anymore.
Yours Sincerely
Matthew
ALRIGHT, I'M PERSUADED! THERE'LL BE NO HOMEWORK THIS WEEK!
Year Two - Arts Week Activity
Year Two made Victorian samplers for their Arts Week activity. Nature was this year's theme so we included ladybirds, snails, butterflies and flowers in our designs. We had lots of help from our relatives and friends. Thank you!
Y4 sing at the Sage
On Thursday 21st June Y4 were given the wonderful opportunity of singing at the Sage Gateshead. .
The event was called Blow the Wind Southerly and involved many young musicians from Gateshead. We sang songs from Tyneside including Cushie Butterfield and Water of Tyne.
There were two songs especially written for the event about the Olympics to be held next year in Bejing. We learnt to sing the chorus of Welcome to China in Chinese. Wow!
It was a long but very enjoyable evening and no one could fail to be impressed with the array of talent on display.
Y4 were brilliant, they sang and behaved like angels! Well Done Y4.
Nursery Children On Sandcastle Day
Fun in the sand.
We love to dig in the wet and dry sand in nursery.
The children are digging with trowels to find hidden vegetables in the sand.
It's fun to find and match the plant pot with the same picture as the vegetable.
In the Outdoor Learning Area of nursery we have a very big sand pit. It is so big that children can even stand inside it to dig. The children have been filling buckets to make sandcastles.
Lots of sand was delivered by a lorry and dumped onto the school field. Everyone had to bring a bucket and spade from home.
The children took off their socks and shoes before jumping into the sand.
All the childen had fun making sandcastles with their friends.
Time to wash our feet before putting on our socks and shoes.
Everyone in nursery had enjoyed Sandcastle Day.
Year One Time Capsule
For our 40th birthday celebrations we decided to visit our favourite places at school. We took lots of photographs. Come and have a look at them!
For in the time capsule we all described our favourite places at school. You will have to wait until 2047 to find out what we think !
But here is a sneak preview of the photographs.
Here we are in our fantastic new ICT suite.
I wonder who is going to score the first goal!
We all love our shelter on the Key Stage Two field. Don't the Kites look great?
We come to school on our bicycles as much as we can. There are so many of them that we have had to build another bike shed to keep them all in !
There were lots of tadpoles in the pond in springtime. We might be able to see some frogs
soon!
All aboard !!!
We play ball against our fantastic, painted wall in the Key Stage One yard.
We love to play in our new Tree House at playtime.
We like to creep into our forest hideout at playtime too.
Here we are on our brand new Key Stage One Log Trail.
Our trays are very brightly coloured and we like storing all of our things in them.
Our classroom displays show everyone some of the hard work that we have been doing this term.
The soft play area is great fun and we all love bouncing around.
Our book train in the Year One classroom has so many great books on board that we love to find a quiet time to sit and read.
The outdoor learning area has a super new climbing wall.
Fellside Nursery Matters Edition 34
Next week we say goodbye to our Year Six children and around half of our nursery children. Whether they’ve been with us one year or, as for may of our Year Six children, eight years we thank them for their contribution to our school and wish them the very best for the future.
The exemplary attitude to learning of our current Year Six has been evident as they’ve moved through the school. This attitude and their ability when combined with high quality teaching and learning opportunities with a number of teachers has enabled these children to record the school’s best ever SATs performance—surpassing last year—with 100% reaching the government target of Level 4 in all three subjects and stunning results at level 5 (the highest level) English 70%, Maths 93% and Science 100%. Wow! As ever what is important is that children fulfil their potential whatever their ability.
Maximising potential is a central value to us. Job done again by all concerned—not just on the academic front but also the lighter side of school.
For the second year we’ve run a business enterprise project in Year Six. With a loan of £3.00 per child, Year Six pupils have operated a number of small business schemes this half term—the advertising directory accompanying this newsletter is one example.
They’ve repaid the loan of £90.00 and made a clear profit of £458 for their leaver’s party—a disco and buffet at Blaydon Rugby Club with transport to the venue by stretched limo!
Great attitude, tons of hard work, astonishing results, lots of laughs. Enjoy the party—you deserve it.
Children return to school on Tuesday 4th September (Nursery and Reception have their own induction arrangements). Fellside Funclub, our new childcare facility has an open evening for interested parents and children on Monday 3rd September from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm.
It remains for me to wish everyone an enjoyable, well deserved summer holiday.
Fellside Matters Issue 51
Next week we say goodbye to our Year Six children and around half of our nursery children. Whether they’ve been with us one year or, as for may of our Year Six children, eight years we thank them for their contribution to our school and wish them the very best for the future.
The exemplary attitude to learning of our current Year Six has been evident as they’ve moved through the school. This attitude and their ability when combined with high quality teaching and learning opportunities with a number of teachers has enabled these children to record the school’s best ever SATs performance—surpassing last year—with 100% reaching the government target of Level 4 in all three subjects and stunning results at level 5 (the highest level) English 70%, Maths 93% and Science 100%. Wow! As ever what is important is that children fulfil their potential whatever their ability.
Maximising potential is a central value to us. Job done again by all concerned—not just on the academic front but also the lighter side of school.
For the second year we’ve run a business enterprise project in Year Six. With a loan of £3.00 per child, Year Six pupils have operated a number of small business schemes this half term—the advertising directory accompanying this newsletter is one example.
They’ve repaid the loan of £90.00 and made a clear profit of £458 for their leaver’s party—a disco and buffet at Blaydon Rugby Club with transport to the venue by stretched limo!
Great attitude, tons of hard work, astonishing results, lots of laughs. Enjoy the party—you deserve it.
Children return to school on Tuesday 4th September (Nursery and Reception have their own induction arrangements). Fellside Funclub, our new childcare facility has an open evening for interested parents and children on Monday 3rd September from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm.
It remains for me to wish everyone an enjoyable, well deserved summer holiday.
Athletics Festival
On Friday 22nd June children from Years 3 to 6 travelled to Gateshead International Stadium to take part in this years Gateshead Primary Schools Athletics Festival.
Everyone competed brilliantly and a good day was had by all, the journey home was accompanied by the tinkling of the various medals won, from bronze through to gold.
July 9, 2007
Moving On
Today Year Six visited Whickham Secondary School to try out a couple of science lessons. They had the opportunity to learn how to use a microscope and prepare a slide, as well as learning how to use the bunsen burners!
July 5, 2007
Mini Games at Whickham School
Year Six visited Whickham School last week to take part in the Mini Games Tournament. We were given the Netherlands as the country to represent and there was a parade to begin the afternoon's activities. The children then took part in a variety of sporting activities and had to gain as many points as they could for their team. Well done to one of our teams who came second out of all the teams who took part.
