Paired Reading

5th November 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

At West Boldon Primary, we absolutely LOVE reading!

We truly believe that reading is the most important thing a primary school can help children to develop — it opens doors to imagination, learning, and lifelong curiosity.

One of the ways we nurture this passion is through our Tuesday afternoon shared paired reading sessions, where children from different classes come together to share their favourite books. Older pupils read to younger ones, creating a wonderful buzz of storytelling and excitement around books.

These sessions don’t just build a love of reading — they also strengthen friendships across year groups and fill our school with smiles, laughter, and the joy of stories.

KS2 Halloween Disco

22nd October 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

Last night it was the turn of our Key Stage 2 children to enjoy their Halloween Disco — and what a night it was!

The children really went all out with their costumes and looked unbelievably good! There was plenty of dancing, a few fun games, and of course, some tasty hot dogs and crisps to keep the energy up!

We hope everyone had a fang-tastic evening — it’s certainly got us all in the mood for Halloween!

Spooky joke of the night:
Why didn’t the skeleton go to the party?
Because he had no body to go with!

Teamwork and Communication in Class 10!

15th October 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

Some outstanding teamwork and communication this week in our Commando Joe session.

We are currently on working through missions inspired by “Levison Wood” and this week we have been stranded in the Amazon rainforest without shelter, food, or water.

While we waited to be rescued we had to “make camp” and this week needed to find water to sustain us.

The children were given basic tools to transport water from the watering hole to their team water tank.

After some careful planning, discussion and problem solving, the children were able to come up with agreed plans. One key take away from this lesson was clear communication – with few agreed words – to help everyone know what was happening.

Well done Year 4!

Paired Reading

8th October 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

At West Boldon Primary, we believe that reading is the most important thing we can encourage our children to do — it’s the key to learning, imagination, and success!

Every day at 3 p.m., our classrooms come alive with story time, as pupils and teachers share their love of books together. But Tuesdays are extra special…

Each Tuesday, we take part in paired reading, where children from different year groups come together to share their favourite books. Older pupils read to younger ones, chat about their stories, and inspire one another to discover new adventures through reading.

It’s a wonderful way to foster a love of reading across the whole school and build friendships between year groups.

We absolutely love a Tuesday at West Boldon!

Harvest Donations – What a Result!

5th October 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

A huge thank you to our wonderfully kind families for their generosity this Harvest. We think this might be the biggest collection we’ve ever had — with groceries, tins, cereals and more, all ready to be shared with our local community over the coming weeks.

Our brilliant Team Communicators had a wonderful time sorting through all of the donations and creating a beautiful Harvest Festival table.

The children also loved celebrating with their non-uniform day today!

 

From Script to Sound: Class 10 Create Their Own Podcasts

1st October 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

Class 10 had a great day today, recording and editing their own podcasts.

The children have spent their literacy lessons this week planning and writing a script for their podcast to interview the witch from our class book, “The Lost Happy Endings”.

This morning they learnt how to record their interview, then this afternoon they learned how to edit, cut, and split, as well as add music and sound effects.

We can’t wait to share our finished podcasts.

You asked, we did!

28th September 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

Recently, our Team Communicators (School Council) asked their classes the question: “How could school make reading more fun?”

The children had lots of brilliant ideas, including:

  1. Holding a book exchange in school
  2. Inviting families into school to read together
  3. Having more audiobooks in class
  4. Having more comic or graphic books to take home
  5. kindles and e-readers

After counting votes across classes, the clear winner was… Inviting families into school to read together! 

We love how our children value reading as a shared experience. Keep an eye out for exciting opportunities coming soon where you’ll be able to join us in school and enjoy books together with your child.

 

We are GOLD!

26th September 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

We are thrilled to share that following a visit earlier this week, our school has been awarded the OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) Gold Award!

This award recognises our commitment to providing rich, inclusive, and high-quality opportunities for play and outdoor learning. It celebrates the creativity, energy, and joy our children bring to play every day, as well as the dedication of our staff in fostering an environment where children can thrive.

Earning Gold is a fantastic achievement, and it reflects the hard work of our whole school community – from the staff who make play a daily priority, to the children who embrace every opportunity, and of course, to you, our families, for your continued support.

We’re so proud of this recognition, and we look forward to building on this success as we continue to develop even more exciting outdoor opportunities for our children.

Thank you for being part of this journey with us!

Introducing Our New OPAL Ambassadors!

22nd September 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

This morning in assembly, we were very excited to announce our brand-new OPAL Ambassadors for the year! One child has been chosen from each class in Years 2 to 6, as well as from ARC 2, to take on this very special role.

Our OPAL Ambassadors will soon be proudly wearing their yellow caps and badges, making them easy to spot on the playground. Their job is an important one – they will:

  • Lead and join in with playground games

  • Make sure that everyone feels included in play

  • Be a friendly, approachable face for younger children who might need a helping hand

We are incredibly proud of all of the children chosen to take on this responsibility. Being an OPAL Ambassador means showing kindness, leadership, and teamwork – qualities we value highly here at West Boldon.

We can’t wait to see our Ambassadors in action, helping to make our playtimes even happier, more fun, and inclusive for everyone.

Well done to all of our new OPAL Ambassadors!

Year 4 visit to West Boldon Lodge

16th September 2025Miss K. Wilkinson

Class 10 had an amazing time at Boldon Lodge today for an immersive day based on our class text for this half term – The Lost Happy Endings.

We started the day making bunting inside the lodge before venturing out into the woodland to make our woodland homes for the main character -Jub.

Before lunch, the adults were given the task of thinking of some adjectives to describe a tree, which the children then used to create some lovely poems.

In the afternoon, we ventured into a different part of the woods for a campfire. We used a special kind of kindling to start the fire (witch hair!) after we had all had a go at using the flint and steel to create a spark.

We ended our day by creating witch faces from foraged items.