Children from Years 4 & 5 visited the CLC over 2 days. Year 5 worked on composing a sound track, selecting different sound effects to add to it, using a software programme called ‘Garage Band’. They went on to add their music to a short space film using the software programme 'I movie'. They also had the opportunity to use data loggers to collect and graph information about light, sound and temperature. Year 4 children had the challenge of helping Harry Potter rescue Professor Dumbledore. In their quest to help Harry they had the chance to fly on broomsticks, retrieve magic treasures and write their own spells, using the latest technology equipment. During the visits both classes had the chance to make their own short animation using a software programme called 2 Animate.
They are now looking forward to having a film premiere and watching all their work back at school!

Year 5 working together using data loggers to collect and graph information.

Children sharing their ideas to make their own short animation.

In their quest to help Harry Year 5 children flew on broomsticks!

Year 4 had a super time taking on the role of explorers at Sunderland Winter Gardens and Museum. First they were taught about the different plants that live in the tropical rainforests around the world. Then they set off on a mission to help Larry Lemur protect the forests from tree cutters.

What a great way to learn!

Year 4 and Year 6 children had the opportunity this week to take part in science workshops when they were visited by the Hancock Museum. The children had great fun looking at the different stuffed animals the museum had brought along with them. They worked together researching and investigating how these animals are adapted to survive and were encouraged to share their findings and document their discoveries.

Year 4 children researching and investigating.

Year 6 children having great fun looking at the different stuffed animals.

Y4 had a great time discovering how this landfill site works. They were met by Victoria the site manager who took them into the office and viewing point.
After completing a wordsearch, watching the huge 'compactor' and asking Victoria lots of questions the children met Chris the falconer. The birds were beautiful and a vital part of the team - making sure those pesky seagulls were scared away.
Finally the whole class went on the weighbridge.

Guess what they weighed over 1 tonne!

Year 4 visited Gateshead City Learning Centre on Tuesday 29th April where they had great fun learning all about podcasting using a recording software programme called Audacity. Using this software was great for practicing and developing the children's speaking and listening skills as well as learning some amazing new ICT skills. Podcasting was also a wonderful way of allowing the children to share their work and experiences.

Children from Year 4 enjoyed an exciting afternoon at Bill Quay Farm when they took part in an Easter Art Workshop. The children were asked to make a design for an egg they were going to decorate. They were then given a boiled egg each and lots of different materials for them to use to make their egg look fantastic!
After a fun afternoon the children had the opportunity to see the new arrivals at the farm, 2 piglets, only a day old.

Children having great fun decorating their eggs.

Year 4 visited Pelaw library to celebrate World Book Day in the Year of Reading. They listened to a Horrid Henry story and discussed the characters. After that they worked in groups to form special character 'gangs'.

Everyone had lots of fun!

Bill Quay pupils were visited by the 'Climate Dome' team on 28th February 2008 where they learnt about what the green house effect is and why it matters. They also looked at climate change and what effect it will have on the weather and us. As well as learning about the impact of melting ice caps on us all.

Children exploring the Climate Dome.

Y4 enjoyed their Viking Workshop from North East Museums. They learnt lots about everyday life and were able to handle genuine Viking artefacts! We hope parents liked the scented bags made with cotton, lavender and leather that were supposed to be a Viking medicine.

Children enjoying handling genuine Viking artefacts.

Year 4 had a fantastic time at the Life Centre this week! They learned about the properties of ice and fire and saw two shows by real scientists! There was also time to visit the Life Arcade which was excellent fun, and try out some cool puzzles and illusions. To end the day there was ice-skating and hot chocolate.

We would recommend a visit to anyone!

Children enjoying the show.

Year 4 children visited Heworth Grange Comprehensive School to take part in a Multi Skills Challenge on Friday 1st February. This involved competing against other schools in a variety of P.E activities such as throwing, catching, dribbling and balancing skills. Each activity had to be completed in a given length of time.

Congratulations to all the teams for completing the tasks and taking part in the games.

Well Done Everyone!!!!

Over the past 6 weeks Year 4 have been visiting Heworth Grange Comprehensive School where they have been given the opportunity to use top of the range equipment to incorporate ICT with Music. They have been shown how to play the keyboard on the computer and how to play musical games.

All the children have extremely enjoyed this experience.

Year 2/3 and Year 4 went to Caedmon Hall to see a production of Pinocchio. The set, costumes and acting were very good and the pupils were wowed with some of the props used. When Pinocchio was inside Monstro the whale the children helped to created an echo sound.
When asked about the performance Aaron and Imogen from Year 2/3 said "It was funny and colourful and the actor who was Pinocchio really looked like him."

Year 4 had a very special visitor on the 29th November she had travelled all the way from Tudor England! The children found out lots of new information about life in Tudor times and had the chance to handle artefacts. Lucy and Jack even got to dress up!

The children thoroughly enjoyed this experience it also allowed them the chance to ask lots of questions.

On Thursday 8th November Year 4 enjoyed their visit from visiting artist Pippa Bell. They had the opportunity to see images of sculpture throughout the years and found out how they were made and what materials were used.
Year 5 also enjoyed their visit from Pippa who came to talk to them about the Victorians. They looked at some pictures of Queen Victoria's Coronation and life in the Victorian times. They also saw pictures of famous Victorians, such as Florence Nightingale. "It was really fun, we learnt a lot" said Kate Hanlon. "My favourite part was learning about all the diseases and what doctors did in Victorian times" said Callum Doyle.
Year 6 children looked at paintings and photographs from the Second World War. Pippa showed them different techniques used in the paintings and explained how the colours helped to express feeling and emotions. The children also had the opportunity to discuss the different aspects of the war through the paintings.

Pippa working with Year 6.

On Tuesday 2nd October we were visited by Rebecca from the Hancock Museum. She came to teach us about bones in her Skeleton Workshop. First we had to stick name labels on Professor Bonio, Rebecca's skeleton friend. Then we did three activities looking at real skulls and skeletons. It was fascinating! We thought it was very funny measuring Mrs Lees' skull and humerus to compare to ours. Before she left Rebecca left us a box of bones for us to study in class.

Kieran meet Professor Bonio Rebecca's friend.

How big is Mrs Lees skull let's find out?

Year 4 had a fantastic morning at Gateshead International Stadium. Read their comments about what they have learned!

"It was built in 1950." Joseph C

"The electricity bill is very expensive so to save energy they turn half the lights off in the sports hall." Lucas

"There are 12,000 seats around the running track." Jessica

"Baseball players train in the sports science gym. They were very tall...." Phillippa "and had huge feet." Charlotte

"There are lots of different equipment you can use in the gym like the bike, the rower, the treadmill and weights." Jack T

"The track is 400 metres long." John

"People train there every day." Ellie

"There are seven or eight sports clubs train there. The most popular sport was football and the least popular was netball." Julian

"Anyone can go to the gym from 14 and over." Niamh

"Mr Howe, the manager of Gateshead Stadium and College was very intelligent." Jospeh C

"He was very nice because he gave us water bottles." Lucy F

"I'd like to go back and do some of the activities." Victoria

Our topic this term in Year 4 is 'Funny Bones' based on the book by Allan Ahlberg. We will learn all about moving and growning in science and will investigate ways of keeping healthy, we will then use ICT to make posters to inform others. In drama and dance we will recreate scenes from the story and try to compose our own musical accompaniment! History will focus on the Terrible Tudors and how their lives differ from ours.

Linked to their Literacy topic Years 4 & 5 visited the Theatre Royal in Newcastle to see Birmingham Stage Company’s adaptation of one of Roald Dahl’s most famous books ‘Danny Champion of the World’.
The children thoroughly enjoyed joining Danny and his dad on this magical and remarkable adventure with a touching moral.

Year 4, 5 & 6 had the chance to put rubbish to good use this week, linked to their 'Textiles' topic, when Mrs Dale visited the school and showed them how to use recycled material to weave small trays and baskets.

Children from Years 4, 5 & 6 visited the CLC over 2 days. Year 4 worked on composing a song track and they selected different sound effects to add to it, they also worked on a computer aided design programme producing a key ring. Year 5 also composed their own songs using a software programme called Garage Band. They went on to add their music to a comic strip using the software programme 'I movie'. Year 6 had the challenge of helping Harry Potter rescue Professor Dumbledore, in their quest to help Harry they had the chance to fly on broomsticks, retrieve magic treasures and watch Harry play Quidditch, using the latest technology equipment.

Children from Years 4, 5 and 6 visited the Winter Gardens in Sunderland to discover a new interactive way for pupils to explore and learn more about rainforests, linked to their humanities topic. Pupils were given Rainforest Explorers backpacks which contained ten numbered objects that matched ten numbered task cards hanging on the plants in the Winter Garden. The children were then given rainforest maps with the locations of the task cards shown, the children were then given the challenge to find the cards and read the information before, finding the object and completing the task.

Over the past few weeks Year 4 have been visiting Heworth Grange School where they have been given the opportunity to use top of the range equipment to incorporate ICT with Music. They have been shown how to play the keyboard on the computer and how to play musical games. All the children have extremely enjoyed this experience.

This term, our children in Year4/5 have been regular visitors to Pelaw Library. Earlier this term we met Jean, a local historian who has lived in Bill Quay all her life. She entertained children with tales of living in North Tyneside during the war. Children questioned her to find out about what life was like in school and how our local area has changed in her life time. On a return visit to the library we met Peter Hepplewhite from the archive service, who shared original photos, diaries, ration cards and much more memorabilia from World War II. The children are presently using all the information they have found out to write a WW II adventure story, set in our local area.

Year 4 visitied Bill Quay methodist church with Year 3 to interview Minister Farrah about the different services, clubs and activites that the church offers in the local community. They are going to create a leaflet, with information collected about the church, so that new residents moving to Bill Quay can read about what services the chuch provides.

Welcome to Year 4, we are a class of 22 children working with Mr Jones. In the afternoon we are joined by some Year 5 children to work on our exciting new local project 'Life along the Tyne'. Whenever possible we like to get out of the classroom to extend our learning in the wider community. Next week we are going on a ferry trip up the river Tyne and exploring architecture along Newcastle quayside. Just last week all children in Year 4 and 5 visited Whicken Thornes Outdoor Activity Centre to take part in climbing, sledging, orienteering and archery!
We will publish photographs of our visit to show you what an active bunch we are!

Year 4/5 pupils visited Hancock Museum to find out about the Ancient Egyptians ....

click the photos to enlarge