Fellside Community Primary School

As part as our work on our exciting new topic 'The terrible Tudors' and 'Henry's Harem' we were joined in school by Matt from a company called 'Play in a day'.

Matt worked with our class to learn, practise and perform a whole play on life in Tudor England. Not only were the children able to practise and perfect their acting skills, but we also learnt lots of historical facts and has plenty of laughs along the way!

 At the end of the day, Parents were invited to watch our final performance, and it's safe to say they were as impressed as the staff at how professional the play was.

The hard work the children put in was evident in their confident performance. Year 5 loved their day of acting, and they are all very enthusiastic to learn more about the Tudors in the rest of our topic. As always we welcome your comments in the comments box below.

See you all next year, school opens Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

Welcome to our whole school Christmas Performance.

This year every Reception child had a line to say in our Nativity play, and with lots of enthusiasm and practice, they all performed exceptionally well and made all at Fellside very proud!

Again Key Stage 1 classes joined together to perform 'Christmas with the Aliens'. Most of Year 2 played aliens who were stranded on Earth and invited to learn about Christmas by the children from Fellside.

Year 3 & 4 joined together to perform 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'. The performance switched between a modern day Grandad's living room on Christmas Day and Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth. The performance had rock guitarists, a choir, some lovely singing and some superb acting! The Year 3 and 4 children showed great enthusiasm throughout the performances - a great success!

Year 5 performed a modern day 'Cinderella', the children practised incredibly hard to put on a very entertaining show, filled with beautiful singing, superb acting and a lot of laughs!

Year 6 continued the fairy tale theme and put on an excellent performance of 'Sleeping Beauty'. All the children embraced their roles with mountains of enthusiasm and put on a really spectacular show!

Hope you enjoy the Animoto...

As always we welcome your comments.

It all began when several children pledged to create a healthy tuck shop in their election speeches. Mrs Lamb thought this was an excellent idea so decided to help the children do something about it.
Mrs Lamb contacted 'Fruit to Suit', a company that specializes in healthy snacks for schools, and arranged for Lisa to come in and give us some training.

We thoroughly enjoyed our training day! The children were given jobs from marketing directors to finance managers. We learned how to check an invoice, stock take, make an order, balance a float and most importantly... we sampled the snacks and picked our favourites!
The children then worked very hard to promote the tuck shop. They made posters, wrote letters to the children's families and gave an assembly to all of Key Stage Two.
The big day finally arrived and the first tuck shop took place on Friday 2nd December. All the hard work and preparation paid off and the children are now eager to continue the hard work.
The tuck shop will be open every Wednesday playtime from now on, in the Key Stage Two yard. All snacks are 40p, contain no traces of nuts and are healthy too.

If you would like further information about the company please click on the following link Fruit to Suit

  Training Day.

Presenting our ideas to KS2 in our assembly.

 The big day! Our healthy tuck shop.

Victory!

Years 5 and 6 held a fabulous street party to celebrate VE day as part of their 'Bombs Away' topic. They invited grandparents to join them for an afternoon of singing, dancing, eating and memories. What a wonderful afternoon it was, the children learned a huge amount by listening to the many stories and tales of childhoods past and sampling the splendid rationing recipes kindly brought in by their families. Many thanks to everyone who came along from near and far!

Please post a comment below of your special memory!

Monday 31st October - Friday 4th November was Parliament Week. To celebrate Key Stage Two invited Dave Anderson the MP for Blaydon, into school to talk to us in assembly. Dave told us about his job as an MP (Member of Parliament) and told us what it was like to work in Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. The children listened incredibly well, asked Dave some excellent questions about being a politician, and we all learned a lot. Our School Council is feeling inspired to continue their great work on behalf of the pupils at Fellside after listening to Dave's experiences and advice.

Tracey from 'kids R fit' came to school today and each class took it in turn to have a hoopstar session. Everyone gave it their best shot (including members of staff) and they all had a fantastic time. It was amazing to see how many different activities and games the children could do with a hoop and good music! 

 

      

  Click on the following links to view short video clips of the children in action -

hula hoops 082.avi   hula hoops 086.avi    hula hoops 095.avi  

hula hoops 111.avi   hula hoops 131.avi   hula hoops 168.avi 

Hope you enjoyed the photographs and videos of the children 'hooping'. Tracey is going to view the pictures and videos. Would children from each class please leave a message for Tracey in the comments box below, to let her know which part of the 'hooping' experience you enjoyed the most and if you would like to do it again in the future.

 

  

Looks like Mrs Maitland will need to practise a bit more to catch up with one of the children in Year 6! He managed to twirl 4 hoops in one go! If you would like more information about 'kidzRfit'  you can click on the following link to visit the website - kidzrfit   

 

 

 

 

 

On Friday 23rd September, superb speeches were made by candidates from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 who wanted to to be part of our 2011-2012 School Council. It was a very difficult decision, however after careful consideration by the rest of the pupils... please meet our newly elected School Council.


They've made some excellent pledges and promise to be a fantastic and proactive council.

We wish them good luck in their important role. If you have any ideas or suggestions for them post them here- remember they're working for you! 

Please click on the following to access letters

Microsoft Word - Dr Bike 13th September 2011.pdf

Microsoft Word - Karate Class Sept 11 - Fell _2_.pdf

Thanks 

Just a reminder, children in Years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 start school Tuesday 6th September. For children in Reception and Nursery, please see packs given out at the induction meetings. Thank you.

Today we had a special playtime, we got together with our Fellside Families and our Year 6 family member taught us some playground games. We had a great time!

Please can we join in!

Some of our Key Stage 2 children recently participated in the Gateshead Athletics Festival at Gateshead International Stadium. The children competed in many different events, including sprinting, jumping, throwing and relays. They represented Fellside brilliantly with their behaviour and attitude and managed to win several medals! Well done to everyone who took part - it was a great day!

What a performance, what a show... the sound of sweet music drifted through the school. We had solo performances to an orchestral finale, with harmonious performances in between. Every child played and sang with ease and confidence to a delightful audience.

At times the concert brought a tear to the eye, especially when one of our Nursery children played the violin.

Thank you and well done to all who performed, and to all who came and supported.

Thankfully the weather was kinder this weekend than last and the Pedalling Picnic took place this morning. With about 60 riders in total, it was another super event, well done to all families who came along. It was wonderful to see children from Nursery to Year 6 cycling together. Thank you to Alan Barlow and Gary Haley for organising this event.

Alan Barlow our 'Bike It Officer' arranged for Ben Slinger & Danny Butler from the Mad Cycle Stunt Team to perform at our school. Enjoy the Animoto of the dedicated and talented twosome, as they perform their outstanding bike stunts.

What was your favourite stunt ? Leave a comment and let us know.

Year 6 reached their target. A huge thank you to everyone for their support.

On Friday 24th June, we discovered the nest had not changed from the previous day. The beasts had not returned and had fled elsewhere. Community Police Officer Toni arrived and in our assembly she wrote up the daily happenings at the nest site as evidence. Also the children were happy to assist her with her inquiries. She wore a crime scene suit as she took samples of the shell, skin, bones and an unhatched egg which she bagged and labelled ready to be taken to a science lab in Gateshead to be analysed,

 What a week it has been! Several children had over the last few days reported strange circumstances in their back gardens - loud flapping, heavy footprints and a child from Year 1 even reported he had seen glimpses of a dragon's tail!

What was the creature that had roamed Whickham and made temporary home in our school grounds?

Perhaps the Scientist will shed some light...

Leave a comment if you have any seen anything mysterious in the Fellside area!

Community police officer, Toni arrived with some serious and important information for the whole school. In morning assembly, we were told that after some disturbances were reported early in the morning and the police had arrived to investigate. They discovered an enormous nest with five huge eggs in the centre. We were informed that we must not touch the nest as the area might be contaminated. Toni asked if we could collect evidence and clues that might help her investigate the scene later in the week. Scientist had advised her to leave the nest intact until the identity of the mother had been found.

 
Each class went to the scene to take a look for themselves. The eggs were huge. Later in the day children reported that they has seen one of the eggs moving slightly? Who could have laid such enormous eggs?

Day Two

We were keen to discover what had happened overnight. Had the mother returned to visit her clutch of gigantic eggs? When we went to take a look at the nest, we discovered that one of the babies had hatched! A broken shell was left behind but whatever had come out of it was nowhere to be seen. Blue and green slime surrounded the egg shell.

Mrs. Maitland had arranged Kay, a zoologist, to bring in some of his pets so that we could find out more about animals that hatch out of eggs. Reptiles, birds, fish, insects and spiders, amphibians and just three mammals hatch out of eggs we discovered. A Bearded Crested Lizard, a Blue Tongued Skink, a Red Kneed Tarantula, a Meerkat, a Blue Frog and a Python were some of the amazing animlas we met, Jay also brought in the most adorable baby ferrets.

 
The large python was very long, heavy and friendly. She felt smooth to the touch.A snake skin is left behind when a snake grows. Snake skins have the most amazing patterns

Everyone in school is writing about the nest from children in Year One to pupils in Year Six.

We look forward to your comments about the nest!

Click on the following link to access information regarding the Pedalling Picnic

Pedalling_picnic_letters.pdf

Pedalling picnic 2011.pdf

Apologies, cancelled today, taking place Saturday 25th June.

Lenny, a local fireman, visited Year 5 on Monday 13th June to talk about Fire Safety. We learnt how best to protect our homes, including closing all doors at night and testing our smoke alarms regularly. We used all of the information to design posters highlighting the importance of preventing fires. Keep your eyes peeled for them around school to pick up some tips on how to stay safe.
We had a great time with Lenny, he even let us try on his uniform!

Please leave your comments about how you do your bit for fire safety and prevention.

Please click on the following link to access letter

  Fellside breakfast 17th June  

Please click on the following link to access letter

Family French Workshop

Year 6 are doing their Enterprise Project starting Monday 13th June - Friday 24rd June. Please click on the following link to see their Enterprise Project Newsletter -

Year 6 Enterprise.doc

is the target the children have set and they are working together in groups to try and raise the full amount. The list of activities are as follows- 

support Year 6. Help them reach their target, so they can achieve their dream, and have the best Year 6 school leaver's party ever!

Please click on the following to access summer fair letter.
Microsoft Word - Dear Parents Fair.pdf

     Throughout this term we are thinking carefully about rivers in our 'Amazing Amazon and Terrific Tyne' topic. As part of our research we had the opportunity to enjoy an educational cruise down the River Tyne.

   We braved the elements and stood out on deck to take in the impressive views, as a commentator talked us through features of rivers as well as the history of the area. We were even lucky enough to have the Millenium Bridge opened especially for us!

   Unfortunately, the clear skies didn't hold out on our return journey. As we turned around in Tynemouth to head back to the Quayside the heavens opened! We didn't mind as it allowed us to make the most of the cosy inside cabin. We didn't let the rain dampen our spirits, however, as we tested our knowledge with a Tyne quiz. Six lucky winners got to see inside the Captain's cabin and even had a go at driving the boat!

   We are all looking forward to putting our knowledge to good use in the rest of our topic work!
 

 Please leave a comment to let us know what you thought of our trip.

Please click on the following link to access

Cruise trip letter

In Year 5 this term we worked with local animator, Robin Webb, to plan and make an animation on our Ch ch changes topic. We learnt lots of new skills ...

Once we had finished our short films we decided to base our assembly on the movies that we had made and produced. We thought it would be fun to have it similar to the Oscars.

Welcome to our assembly : Fellside Academy of Film and Television Awards.

We all had great fun making the animations and an even better time when we performed our FAFTAS award ceremony!

Out came the red carpet, the stage awaits!

 Now on with the show...

Don't forget to make your nomination about your favourite part of the FAFTA's process by leaving a comment below.

 

 

As part of our 'Ch Ch Changes' topic, year 5 visited The Centre for Life to learn all about changes of state and gases around us. We were able to put all of our scientific knowledge to good use in a lab session, where we watched multi coloured gases being made.
We had a chance to look around the centre, and even watched a show where we learnt about 'the dangers of ice'.
We kept this in mind when we all braved the ice rink to do some skating. We had a fantastic time on the ice, and all managed to stay on two feet (most of the time!)
Our day at the centre was rounded off by a thrilling ride on the motion ride! We all had a brilliant time!
Enjoy the video and please leave a message in post a comment box below, of your favourite part of the day.

Last week, our Year 5 basketball squad took part in a tournament at Whickham School & Sports College. We entered three teams who all represented Fellside brilliantly with their enthusiasm and determination! Well done to all of our Year 5 basketballers!

Just before Christmas, our year 5 and 6 classes visited Gateshead CLC to look at mechanical toys, here are some pictures of our toys that we made...

On Wenesday 1st December a music workshop came to school to perform " Music at the Movies" to Key Stage 2. The children listened to music from James Bond, Shrek, and many more. Some children took part in activities during the show, a super time was had by all.

Don't forget to leave a comment about your favourite part of the show.

  

                                

"Ways to Live Forever" & "Season of Secrets"

Sally spent time in Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 talking to the children and then answering their questions.
Before Sally left she did a book signing session with us.

We all had a fabulous time listening to Sally, we were also very grateful to her for the extra time she spent signing and stamping our books.

Please leave a comment if you enjoyed the visit from Sally, her books or you have looked on her website using the link below.

If you would like to know more about Sally click on the following link to her website   Sally Nicholls 

Didn't we have a lovely day the day we went to Beamish!

Year 5 had a typical Victorian lesson in the original school building, and were allowed  into the church. The children visited some of the miners' cottages in the pit village.

Thank goodness all of the children survived the trip down a coal mine. 

Ready for action !!

Do we look the part ?

Would you like to live in a house like this ?

The good old school days!

Hope you enjoyed the photographs of our trip. Please leave a comment to tell us what part of the day you enjoyed the most.

If you would like more information about the museum please click on the following link Beamish Open Air Museum

 Richard Stevenson from Gateshead Heritage Centre came into Year 5 to help the children carry out an investigation into the death of the coal miner Peter Barrett in 1893, at Felling Colliery.

How was he killed?   What dangers were there in the mine?

  We used census materials, grave rubbings, photographs and mining artefacts to explore the life of a Victorian miner in Gateshead and to solve the riddle of his death.

The children had a wondeful time solving the mystery and learnt a lot about working conditions in a Victorian mine.

Before the summer holidays children from Year 5 and Year 6 competed in a number of sporting events.
Click on the links below to see the photographs.

Well done to everyone who competed in the football, hockey and athletics.
A fantastic result in all events.

We would love you to leave a comment and congratulate them on their success.

On Thursday May 27th Joblina Begum came to our school to talk to Year 5 & Year 6 about Muslim culture. Jo also taught us how to dance.

On Thursday May 27th Joblina Begum came to our school to talk to Year 5 and Year 6 about Muslim culture. Jo taught us to write our names in Arabic. She also told us about her arranged marriage and how she had never met her future husband before the actual wedding.

After our chat Jo demonstrated a Bollywood dance for us, then she let us all try. We did really well and she was very impressed at our dancing skills.

Enjoy the photographs of our Bollywood dance experience.

On Tuesday May 25th Muhammad Kalam visited our school to speak to Year 5 and Year 6 about his culture and community. 

Muhammad is an Imam (prayer leader) from mosques in Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland, and he is from the Muslim community.

The children enjoyed listening to Muhammad talk about his community They  asked him many questions about his culture and religion and learned many interesting facts about the Muslim way of life.

Washington Old Hall Tudor day

To complete our work on the Tudors Year 5 performed an assembly about Henry VIII and his six wives to our families, friends and teachers.

We all felt a little bit nervous on Friday morning as we walked into the full hall, but we knew our lines and rose to the challenge to perform with confidence.

Our play not only helped us learn more about the Tudors, but through our assembly we were able to share our learning about all those marriages, the sinking of the Mary Rose, and the Tudor kings and queens that followed Henry with all the other children in our school. We also sang songs and our flute players performed 'Greensleeves'. It was great fun and a brilliant end to our topic. 

As part of our Tudor topic Year 5 worked with artists Shirley Wells and Kim McDermottroe to create a willow  sculpture of Queen Elizabeth  I.

 We began by bending and moulding the willow to create a frame. 

Once we had created our willow frame of Queen Elizabeth she was ready to be dressed.

 We all work to make designs for her dress using pictures of Tudor fabrics.  

When we had covered the frame with papier mache she was ready to be painted.   

 Finally, Elizabeth I was finished and looking splendid! She now takes pride of place in our school hall.  

During our workshops we also made Tudor hats from foam. We really enjoyed wearing them and had had a fabulous time! 

Year 5 took part in a Tudor Music workshop on Thursday 14th January

Today we saw creativity at its best. In amongst the heaps of snow grew snow dragons, icicle sculptures, forts, volcanoes, The Angel of the North, snow tunnels, Buckingham Palace, snow crocodiles, the list is endless!

Years 5 and 6 became evacuees for the day when they visited Beamish Open Air Museum before the half term holiday. They learned what it was like to leave the city and work on a farm as some children might have done during the Second World War. They tried out many activities they have never done before for example they made cottage cheese, prepared for a blackout, stuffed mattresses and wrapped potatoes. Many thanks to everyone who helped them to find their fabulous costumes, they really did look authentic.

All aboard to Home Farm.

We were feeling both excited and a little bit apprehensive as we began our evacuation experiences. We could imagine how it would have felt for children in World War II.

We stuffed the mattress with straw and blacked out the windows.

                       We enjoyed making cottage cheese.                                        We enjoyed looking at real World War II artefacts. This school pinafore looked uncomfortable.  

At the end of our trip we loved our visit to the sweet shop!  

On Wednesday 23rd September, Year 5 took part in a sculpture day at Bill Quay Farm. We had lots of fun learning to use tools such as hammers, saws and vices. We were assisted by a selection of local artists who helped us create our fantastic wooden sculptures, inspired by the movies. These magnificent creations were displayed in Saltwell Park before being brought to Fellside, where they are now to be seen guarding the entrance to our school.

We learned to use a saw.                                

Look at our Buzz Lightyear!

Our Iron Man was as tall as a building.

Year 5 have been reading legends of Robin Hood, and have written their own endings to an exciting episode, in the style of the author.
Robin and Will were lured to the castle by the fiendish Nottingham, who had captured Marion as bait. The two outlaws thought they had outwitted the sheriff by sneaking into the castle through a secret hole, but little did they know that they were walking straight into the dungeon and had fallen prey to Nottingham's cunning plan.

We began our stories just as the sheriff crept up behind Robin, with a sword in hand, and gleefully announced that they were 'trapped'.

Have a look at just a few of the wonderful, gripping stories we wrote. 

  Annabel.doc  

  Anna.doc

  Ellen.doc

  Daniel.doc

Liberty.doc 

Year 5 have just finished learning all about the Tudors, and to celebrate we held a lavish Tudor banquet.

Year 5 will be performing their class assembly at 9:15am on Tuesday 25th of November. Family members of all the children in Year 5 are invited. Refreshments will be provided by Friends of Fellside.

Any help in providing 'Tudor' costumes will be much appreciated. I look forward to seeing you on the 25th!

Sally Moore

On Friday 12th September, twenty of our top cyclists accompanied by ten adults cycled to Gateshead's Baltic Square to watch 90 of the world's top cyclists finish stage 6 of the Tour of Britain.

Our children from Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 took part in the Athletics Festival at Gateshead Stadium on Friday 27th June. Girls and boys from the school claimed a bumper crop of medals, including five gold and four silver. A fantastic time was had by all and many thanks go to Mrs Bowren and Mrs Potts for all their support on the day.

Click to enlarge images from the event below:

Click below to see further images of the event.

The ICT Club have been using Microsoft Powerpoint for all sorts of fun activities including creating interactive quizzes, writing their very own adventure games and diaries of school trips. Click below to have a look at some of their work for yourself!

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.