Return to school 8th March 2021

2nd March 2021Miss K. Wilkinson

24.2.21

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are very happy to be able to welcome all the children back to school on Monday March 8th on a full-time basis. Unfortunately, we still have to adhere to the same restrictions that were in place previously in order to keep yourselves, children and staff safe and help to prevent the rise of infection from Covid -19. 

This does mean we will still have staggered start and end times, (unless you have siblings in school, on which case you bring all children at the start time of your earliest child and collect all children at the latest finish time so that no learning time is missed).

It is important that only one parent brings their child/children to school to reduce the amount of people coming to school. This will ensure we can keep to social distancing measures in place as best as possible. It is vital that parents do not congregate around school premises when dropping off or collecting children as doing so could potentially increase the risk of transmission of the virus. We are very grateful for your support and understanding.

Please see the table below for start and end times together with their entrance for your child’s year group. 

 

Start and End Times:

Year Groups

Start Times

End Times

Entrance

YR

9:00am

3:15pm

Main Gate

Y1+Y1/2

8:45am

3:00pm

Main Gate

Y2

8:45am

3:00pm

Lower side gate (burn)

Y3

9:00am

3:15pm

Upper side gate (road)

Y4

9:00am

3:15pm

Lower side gate (burn)

Y5

8:45am

3:00pm

Upper side gate (road)

Y6

9:15am

3:30pm

Main Gate

 

Further Information:

  • Children should attend school in correct school uniform, Children should bring 1 bag, 1 named water bottle, 1 coat.
  • PE kits can only be worn on PE days (KS2 only) – all other times children must attend in the correct uniform.
  • YET/KS1 children bring in PE kits to school to be left on pegs for half term
  • Communication with your child’s teacher can be done via dojo or telephone appointments 
  • Parents should only attend the school office if absolutely necessary and preferably by appointment
  • Children will be taught in their classes and have access to a full and varied curriculum
  • Children will be given their own equipment and desks will face forwards
  • Reception teaching will operate as normal with access to age-appropriate provision
  • Lunchtimes will be staggered and children will eat with their year group bubble
  • Enhanced cleaning will be carried out during the school day
  • Children will be encouraged to wash their hands on entry and continuously throughout the school day (They also have access to hand sanitisers in all classrooms and corridors)

We are all looking forward to the children returning to school and enjoying their lessons again alongside their teachers and friends.

Mrs Garr

Rev. Paul’s Christmas Q&A

21st December 2020Miss K. Wilkinson

Each year group posed a question to Rev. Paul relating to their current topic questions for R.E. Watch the video below to see his answers.

Look out for a special guest appearance from Maisie the dog too!

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Festive Advent Calendars

4th December 2020Miss K. Wilkinson

Today in R.E. Class 7 created their very own Christian Advent calendars. In R.E. lessons this half term we have been working towards answering the question: ‘How and why is Advent important to Christians?’

We discussed the meaning of Advent, and recapped the candles on the Advent wreath. Then the children created their own Advent Calendars for each week of Advent. Inside each door, they drew a picture of something related to Christmas and Christmastime. The end results are beautiful!

Class 7’s Marvellous Medicines!

26th November 2020Miss K. Wilkinson

Today, Year 3 made their very own ‘marvellous medicines’!

The children followed a set of instructions to make their very own concoctions. They used the ingredients water, mouthwash, glitter, sweets and food colouring, and mixed it all up before putting them in their own little jars.

Have a look at our creations below!

How did the Early Britons make shelters?

25th November 2020Miss K. Wilkinson

This half term the children in Year 3 have been answering the learning challenge question: ‘How did the Early Britons make shelters?’ as part of their DT work.

The children designed their own Stone Age shelter; either a Paleolithic cave or a Mesolithic tent-style home. To make their designs come to life, they molded clay and used sticks to hold them in place. Once the clay had dried, the children painted them in the colours they would have been back in the Stone Age.

Take a look at our fabulous Stone Age settlement!

What can rocks tell us about the way the Earth was formed?

25th November 2020Miss K. Wilkinson

This week in Science Year 3 have been investigating how rocks change over time as part of their Learning Challenge Question: What can rocks tell us about the way the Earth was formed?

They agreed that rocks don’t change massively to the naked eye, however we know that they must change over time somehow!

We worked in small groups to conduct an experiment. We chose a rock, and placed it inside a jar with 100ml of water. We shook the jar to the count of 100, then filtered out the water through filter paper to see what was left behind.

Once all of the water filtered through we noticed there was some debris left in the filter paper. Some of us said that this looked like sand! It was clear that the rocks knocking together had made small fragments break off.

Super work, Year 3!

 

Anti Bullying Week 2020

20th November 2020Miss K. Wilkinson

This week to recognise Anti-Bullying Week at West Boldon we had an Odd Socks Day!

It was a great way to celebrate what makes us all different and to encourage people to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes us all unique! Here are some colourful socks worn by our Year 2 children.

Years 2, 3 and 4 also participated in an online workshop offered by staff at the OpenZone. The children learned what cyber-bullying is, when it occurs, how to reduce their risk of being bullied online and how to support others who have been or are being subjected to cyber-bullying.

“It taught me to be kind online” – Kaiden

“It taught me that playing games that are too old for me because I will be playing with adults and might be more at risk of cyber-bullying” – Codey

“If I was cyber-bullied it would make me feel sad” – Megan

“I can show people respect online by understanding they have different ideas” – Bubacarr

Further up the school in Year 6, Class 12 took part in activities to understand Anti-Bullying Week 2020. They had great discussions about bullying, the victim and perpetrator and empathy. Here is some of their fantastic work:

World Science Day 2020

10th November 2020Miss K. Wilkinson

On Tuesday 10th November we celebrated World Science Day at West Boldon! Every class looked at a famous scientist linked to their topic.

Year 1 looked at the scientist James Dewar (inventor of the flask) as well as insulation.

Their experiment was to put Vaseline on one of their fingers and dip one finger with Vaseline and one finger without into cold water and describe the different feelings. We found that the finger without Vaseline felt cold in the water whereas the one with felt warmer and a bit different. We talked about the meaning of insulation, looked at James’ invention, described these feelings in our books and draw pictures of what the experiment looked like. They really enjoyed it.
Year 2 celebrated World Science Day with a tribute to a very famous, Victorian scientist.
Florence, as a child, followed her determination to become a nurse. She trained other nurses to go to the Crimean war and make the hospital clean, and care for wounded soldiers.
Florence worked long hours and would tend to the injured soldiers at night holding her lamp. She became known as The Lady with the Lamp. Florence wrote books on Nursing and  is also credited for helping to popularise the pie chart.
Her revolutionary nursing earned her an award from Queen Victoria and her legacy serves to show much of what we now know about clean, organised hospital conditions today and is thanks to her hard work and research.
Florence Nightingale changed nursing forever. She is the real hero of Victorian science!

Year 3 looked at palaeontologist Mary Anning and her work on fossils.

They created a fossil jar whereby jelly represented the soil and sweets represented the animal remains. Each day this week they will add a new layer of jelly to the jar representing how soil layers occur over time. They talked about how these fossils form and also made a zigzag book!

Year 4 looked at Micheal Faraday today for their Science Day project.

They quizzed and found out about some famous scientists and inventors. Then they completed a treasure hunt fact finding mission to answer questions about Faraday’s life and inventions. The children worked in pairs to move around the 2 classrooms looking for the answers and then presented it beautifully.

Year 6 looked at Charles Darwin to link to their topic on Evolution. They all created a factfile about him explaining why he is so important in his field.

What wonderful scientists we have at West Boldon!

A Stone Age feast around the fire pit!

7th November 2020Miss K. Wilkinson

Mr McCormack’s class had a great morning around our school fire pit area being transported back to the Stone Age to try and recreate what it must have felt like.

They tasted similar food and imagined what it would be like back then. This was then used in a writing lesson where children wrote their own Stone Age setting description.

As they had the fire going they then got to have some very un-Stone age marshmallows melted over the fire too! 🔥