Keystage 1 children took part in a Water Safety Assembly. John came into school to talk to the children about how to stay safe near water. The children learnt the top 10 reasons people have accidents e.g: - diving in shallow water, being silly and thinking you are abetter swimmer than you actually are.
Rebecca from Nexus spoke to Keystage1 children about the dangers of playing near the metro and how to be safe when using the metro.
Owen said he would remember some of the rules to help keep him safe.
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Year 2 have been working with specialist teacher Tom Mullholland in Science and Design Technology. They investigated the properties and the strength of materials linked to their topic 'forces'.
They had great fun constructing their own vehicles.
Year 2 went to Customs House and watched Kung Fu Panda 2 as a treat for their fantastic attendance this spring. A good time was had by all!
On Wednesday 22nd June Year 5 had a visit from a marine biologist who brought in a variety of sea creatures. The children were able to hold all of the sea creatures which included star fish, crabs and lobsters.
The whole class really enjoyed the hands on experience.
Annie and Stewart from the Marine Biology Centre also brought along their interesting creatures to see year 2.
Year 6 had a fantastic day out on Friday when they visited the CLC at Heworth to further develop their understanding and skill in control technology. Mr Jeeves began the morning session with an introduction to control technology using Junior Control Insight software. Using the latest touch screen computers the children had hands-on experience of controlling both on-screen simulations and physical models such as clowns and traffic lights. Later, the children were challenged to complete other tasks with simulations of a 'dream bedroom'. They had great fun in the afternoon when they were shown how to use Photoshop software and the distortion tools to create comical versions of their very own photograph.
Year 2 also visited the CLC and went 'Fishing for Treasure' during their visit. They used 3D Amazing Interactive to draw and create stories. They programmed Beebots to follow paths and instructions to find the treasure.
Year 2 visited the Discovery Museum in Newcastle to take part in Flapjacks Building Challenge. They had a great time carrying out investigations to see which materials would be the best for building a bridge, to help Pirate Flapjack across the river.
Children having fun investigating different materials.
Children making a bridge
Children from Year 5 visited the CLC at Gateshead, where they were shown how to use a software program called Comic Life. Children had great fun making their own comic linked to work they have been studying on the sinking of the Titanic. They added images, clip art, stills from QuickTime movies and drawings. They also added captions, word balloons, lettering and text.
Year 2 visited the CLC and used a software program called Super Story. They had great fun making their own stories using text and moving graphics based on the Sheyped characters from the Shayped series of books.
Year 1 and Year 2 took part in Multiskills Competitions at Heworth Grange School. Year 1 enjoyed competing in the competition against Wardley School. The children all tried very hard, although Wardley did manage to beat them in the competition this time! Year 2 were split into 3 teams and enjoyed taking part in all the sports challenges along with 2 other schools. One of our groups came 2nd!!
Everyone had a great time.
Year 2 have been working alongside specialist teacher Tom Mullholland in Science and Design Technology. They have designed and made their own vehicles linked to their topic 'forces' experimenting with the strength of the materials used.
They also had great fun building bridges using rolled up paper.
Year 2 went to St. Mary's Heritage Centre to learn about the Great Fire of Gateshead. There topic this term has been the Great Fire of London so they compared the two. Richard took them around the Quayside and showed themwhere the fire happened and how it crossed the river and very importantly, how it was put out!
Everyone enjoyed the day.
Year 2 had an exciting day out at Alnwick Castle on Monday. They visited the Knight's Quest in the castle grounds where they stepped back through the ages to experience the world of a medieval knight. They learnt all about the life of the medieval knights and how the castle served as a Knight School! They became school trainees and dressed up as a knight or a princess. They learnt how a knight would start their life in a castle as a page and then move up to the role of a squire. It was the duty of a knight to learn how to fight and so serve their lord according to the Code of Chivalry. They meet the Dragon Master to learn all about dragons and master the sword. They also got the opportunity to make their own amulets of clay to wear around their neck before going into battle. After their training session they entered the Dragon's lair which was a dark and mysterious place, they make their way past the ghouls and ghosts, through the hall of mirrors and finally came face to face with Northumberland's fiersome dragon!!!
Children dressed as a knight or a princess.
Children as school trainees mastering the sword!!
Year 2 visited the Marine Biology Centre at Tynemouth one sunny Tuesday, where they handled different seashore creatures such as crabs, prawns and starfish. Afterwards, they had great fun exploring the rock pools.
Children looking at seashore creatures.
Children having great fun exploring the rock pools!
Throughout the week children from Bill Quay have had the opportunity to visit the CLC at Gateshead to take part in various ICT workshops. Year 4 and 5 got the opportunity to explore digital music by using Sony Jam Trax software, to record their voices and compose their own music. Mike showed them how to choose different electronic instruments to create layers of music. Everybody's final track was super and we can't wait to receive the CD! They also had great fun playing on the Wii and recording their achievements. The children will use the data collected to create tables and graphs.
Year 2 had great fun using ShayPeds toys to explore 2D and 3D geometric shapes. They also used a software program called Photo Shoot as well as the SheyPeds, to create a short film.
As well as visiting Gateshead CLC, children from Bill Quay have also had the opportunity to visit the CLC at Heworth this week. Year 4 and 5 had great fun using Kar2ouche to write a story about George and the Dragon, adding characters and background to their storyboards. They also used the software program 2animate to created their own animation being creative and hands-on learning, the children had great fun and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Year 2 had a fun packed day when they visited the CLC. To start the day off, they popped on 3D glasses and watched a short 3D interactive film 'Under the Sea'. They then listened to a story about the King of Spain who entrusted his treasure chest to Sailor Sam whose ship went missing in the open sea, with the treasure onboard. Using 2simple 2draw software, the children drew their own pictures of the treasure chest under the sea. After lunch the children wrote their own story ending of what happened to the Kings treasure using 2create software. They also got the opportunity to program and control a Bee Bot, to find missing treasure on a treasure map. The Bee Bot is a small dome shaped portable controlled technology robot, which provided an ideal entry path for the children to the world of robotics. The children had a fantastic time using lots of new software and technology!
Year 2 children programming and controling a Bee Bot in order to find missing treasure on a treasure map.
After a great day out at the Dryden Centre on Tuesday Lucy, Caleb, Matthew, Beth and Willow, from Year 2, thought it couldn't get any better. However, on Friday they got the opportunity to go along for a celebratory screening of their stop motion animation on the big screen in the new Odeon at the Metro Centre. They also got another chance to meet Oscar Springer animator and filmmaker; maybe they will be joining him on set in the future!!
Children in the new Odeon going in to see their animation.
Lucy, Caleb, Matthew, Beth and Willow from Year 2, had a great day out when they took part in 'Let's Create and Animate' at the Dryden Centre. They had the opportunity to work alongside Oscar Stringer animator and filmmaker. The children shared their ideas and worked together to plan for their own stop motion animation. They created models, using simple bold designs, with large features making it easier for them to animate. Using software program 'I Can Animate' and a web cam, the children created their own animation. Oscar encouraged the children to preview their animation and evaluate their work as they went along. After they had created their animation they added sound using software program 'Movie Maker' bringing their animation to life. Being creative and hands-on learning, the children had great fun and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Children working together creatng their own animation.
Children working together to add sound to their animation.
Year 2 went to Dryden to attend a Music Celebration Day. They played a variety of Gamelan instruments including a giant going. Holly said 'The going was very loud.' Children experimented with stringed instruments, Rio played the Double Bass! Finally we learned all about pitch, pulse, rhythm, chords and how to identify musical scores.
Children from Year 2 visited the Life Centre to take part in a Materials Workshop. They carried out practical investigations to test the hardness of materials and to sort materials according to their properties. Renee said 'I loved doing the experiments'.
Children carrying out practical investigations!
This week our pupils have been performing their Christmas Shows and they have all been a great success.
There are certainly some budding stars in the making!
Reception Class performed 'Jesus in a Manger' a traditional nativity play, their acting and singing was tremendous!
Year 1 and Year 2 performed 'A Creepy Crawly Christmas' a thoroughly entertaining show along with brilliant acting and singing from all of the children!
Year 3 performed 'A Tale of two Birthdays'. This tale had action, adventure, magical characters, lots of laughs along with a superb performance from all the children!
Year 4 & 5 performed 'Dick Whittington and his Cat' a popular and well-loved story about Dick, who was down on his luck and decided to head for the city of London to see if the streets were really paved with gold. The show had catchy songs, lots of laughs and of course a 'happy ever after' ending. Providing a great recipe for a thoroughly entertaining show along with fantastic acting and singing from all of the children.
Year 6 performed 'Hansel and Gretal an adaptation of the popular fairytale. Hansel was imprisoned while Gretal 'force fed' him in order to, as the old witch put it 'fatten him up for the Christmas pot! It was great fun to watch with its witty script, catchy songs and some real 'character acting' from the children.
Children rehearsing for their shows!
This term, Year 2 pupils were treated to an alternative Nativity when Zoo Lab visited school! Pupils were given the opportunity to hold some of the animals which may have been in the stable in Bethlehem, but are often forgotten. These included: cockroaches, snakes and rabbits! Lucy Strophair said, "It was really good, because the man brought in some creepy animals. We got to hold a few and learnt about the story of Jesus. My favourite animal was the bunny rabbit, but I was scared of the tarantula!"
Year 2 pupils getting the opportunity to hold some of the animals.
Year 1 were also treated to a visit from Zoo Lab, they learnt in a fun way about the animals that live on the forest floor in the Rainforest.
The children enjoyed touching and holding everything from millipedes to snakes!!!
Year 2 visited Heworth Grange and completed a number of PE activies with the help of Heworth's Year 9 pupils. Our Year 2 children enjoyed the obstacle activity the best!
On Friday 23rd October, Year 2 visited the Heritage Centre at St. Mary's Church in Gateshead, where the children had the opportunity to learn lots of interesting facts about the Great Fire of Gateshead. They also enjoyed the role play and dressing up in clothes belonging to 1854!
A great day was had by all.