VE Day 80: A Celebration to Remember

9th May 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

What an incredible day we’ve had at West Boldon Primary, coming together to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day!

Our celebrations began with a special whole-school assembly where pupils learned all about Victory in Europe Day and its importance in marking the end of World War II in Europe. Together, we reflected on the sacrifices made, the resilience of those on the home front, and the joy and relief felt across the nation on that historic day in 1945.

Back in the classrooms, the learning continued in creative and meaningful ways. Children took part in a wide range of engaging activities – from designing their own commemorative bunting and making wartime-inspired crafts, to handling historical sources and writing thoughtful diary entries and reports as if they were children living through that momentous time in history. Their work was not only imaginative but showed a real depth of understanding.

The fun didn’t stop there! We had wartime music playing throughout the day, and the children enjoyed learning some traditional dances – bringing a little of the 1940s. Our school was filled with laughter and music as everyone joined in with the festivities.

Of course, no celebration would be complete without food, and we were treated to a fantastic VE Day-themed picnic lunch, full of delicious treats prepared by our amazing catering team. From traditional sandwiches to beautifully baked cakes, the lunch was a real highlight and a lovely way to bring everyone together.

It’s been a day filled with learning, joy, community spirit, and heartfelt remembrance. A huge thank you to all the staff, pupils, and families who helped make today so special.

Happy VE Day from all of us at West Boldon Primary!

Fascinating Fossils in Year 1/2

7th May 2025Fiona Goodwin

Last week, we had an amazing visit from Ivan at the Education Group who came to talk to us all about fossils!

We explored a fantastic collection and learned how different types of fossils are formed – from imprints to preserved bones and even fossilised poo! The children were completely fascinated and asked so many brilliant questions.

But the highlight of the day had to be our special guest…Bella the Baby Dinosaur! She stomped into our classroom and completely stole the show. The excitement was off the scale!

A huge thank you to Ivan for such an engaging, hands-on session. It’s safe to say we have some future palaeontologists in the making!

Can you crack the code?

9th May 2024Miss K. Wilkinson

As part of Year 1/2’s latest Dimensions theme Dancing Spy, the children imagined that they were spies just like Josephine Baker working for the French Resistance.

They worked together, using a secret code to crack some messages, just like they would have done in World War II!

Well done Year 1/2!

Year 1/2 visit to Beamish

1st March 2024Miss K. Wilkinson

Year 1/2 had the most wonderful, fun-filled day at Beamish today.

As part of their Royal Patrons topic they visited the 1950s town where they took part in a toys workshop and had the chance to play with lots of toys from that era.

They also enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch before a little visit to the old school, where they had a go at using slates to write followed by a quick play of hoop rolling on the yard!

They were also very lucky to be able to ride the tram!

Mary Anning and the Ithyosaur!

3rd May 2023Miss K. Wilkinson

Class 4are learning about the famous palaeontologist Mary Anning this term in history. Today they recreated one of her famous fossil finds – the ithyosaur. The children estimated how long 5.2metres was and then used a trundle wheel to measure the distance out. They then used the Kapla blocks to build the likeness of the ithyosaur.

Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter!

26th April 2023Miss K. Wilkinson

Today Class 3 were fossil hunters, just like Mary Anning! The children have been learning about Mary Anning’s life and her discoveries. Today we found our own real fossils in the sand, we looked carefully at them and used adjectives to describe them. The children were amazed to find real fossilised shark teeth and poo!!

Jurassic Hunter

24th April 2023Miss K. Wilkinson

Class 3 have been learning about the palaeontologist Mary Anning as part of our topic ‘Jurassic Hunter’. We found out about the 5.2m long fossil that she discovered and estimated how long we thought that would be, then checked the length using a metre ruler and compared our estimates. We had great fun finding out how many of us it would take to make up the length of the fossil!

Year 1’s trip to Boldon Heritage Group

19th April 2023Miss K. Wilkinson

As part of our topic Unity in the Community, Year One had a lovely morning, meeting with members of the Boldon Heritage Group on Monday. The children found out about the mining history of Boldon and listened to some lovely first hand stories about working in the coal mines and other tales of how life was different in the past in homes and at school. We also learnt about the groups project to develop a permanent memorial in our town to commemorate soldiers and miners. The children asked lots of questions and were super representatives of our school. Our thanks to Boldon Heritage group and in particular Sean, Pam, Mick, Brenda and Gavin.

Inuit Throat Singing in Year 1

14th December 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

In our “Come Fly With Me…to the Arctic” we have been learning about some of the traditional customs of the Inuit people who live within the Arctic Circle.

Today we learnt about the custom of Inuit Throat singing. A custom the woman would have taken part in while the men were away hunting. Standing very close to each other the ladies would replicate noises with their own voices that they would hear in nature. The partners would sing rhythmically but try to be the individual that could sing the longest.

Our ultimate class Throat singer was able to keep singing without stopping for breath or laughing against everyone including the teachers!

Arts Week 2022

26th May 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

In school this week we have been celebrating Arts Week alongside the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! The children have learnt all about Queen Elizabeth II while finessing their artistic skills and talents.

Here’s what each year group has gotten up to…

 

Year 2

Year 2 were busy making crowns fit for a Queen… or King!

After designing their brief, their first task was to practise stitching buttons and sequins onto a sample material. As you can see, they had lots of fun perfecting their skills for the real thing! Well done Year 2.

 

 Year 3

In Year 3 the children focussed on Pop Art. The children looked at the Andy Warhol image ‘Reigning Queens’ identifying who the different monarchs were with a focus on Queen Elizabeth. They discussed the different colours used, then they looked at traditional Andy Warhol artwork where the same image is repeated in different colours. On the chromebooks, children were given an image of the queen which they then had to copy, paste and arrange into a 2×2 grid and change the colours.

Pop Art Queens by Year 3

Year 3 also learned about the Superbloom project where over 20 million seeds from 29 flower species have been planted in the Tower of London moat to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen.

They focussed on the flax flower, the national flower of Northern Ireland. They sketched their own flax flowers following a simple tutorial, then painted their creations using water colours. The results were incredible and it was particularly lovely to see them altogether, and see that every single painting was different!

 

Year 5

To celebrate the Queen’s 70th jubilee Year 5 were tasked with making a union jack themed bunting for a school display. Using fabric pens, paints and a few British themed templates, each pupil created their own contribution to the Year 5 piece.

Year 5 completing their Queens Jubilee art work