Two teams were taken to Whickham School to participate in a hockey festival against several other schools.
Both teams were excellent and really competitive, demonstrating their skills brilliantly. By the end of the day the Year 4 team had won the bronze medal, whilst the Year 3 team put in a tremendous effort and won the gold medal.
A great day was had by all pupils.

On Monday 20th June children from year 3 and 4 went on a visit to Hebburn Independent Methodist Church to learn about the Old Testament. They saw the main events of the Old Testament illustrated on picture boards which stood all aound the room. A narrator explained the stories and during the course of the session biblical characters stood up and explained what happened to them.

The characters included Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, King David, Esther and Mary Mother of Jesus.

The children then had to complete a quiz, after which their efforts were rewarded with a drink of juice and a biscuit. The session ended with the children singing a song called Lovely Jubbly which is all about the creation. A good day was had by all.

Year 4 visited Heworth City Learning Centre to look at abstract art. They were able to use a range of software to cut an image of themselves onto the body of an animal. Some of the results were extremely funny!

Year four children had a very exciting day. All of the year four children had a very good day learning to cook Indian food and showing their parents all about their Indian experiences. The school hall was set out so the parents could speak to all of the children about the different artistic and educational activities which they have done over this term. We included areas such as guessing the spices and even provided a sample of our own Indian vegetable curry. Our final act was the performance of our own Indian dance, which included Mr Collinson.

Children and parents had a fabulous afternoon.

Year 3 and Year 4 visited the City Learning Centre at Heworth, to take part in ICT workshops. Pupils in Year 3 used a programme called "Jungle Jingle Jangle" to create their own musical piece. They then leaned how to send and receive emails to each other and created a comic strip using "Comic Life." Year 4 used a programme to design their own mazes. They had to design a maze and then control a line through. In the afternoon they used the Kar2ouche to create and print out their own Viking sagas and stories.

Ethan working hard to design his maze.

Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5 visited Hebburn Independent Methodist Church on Monday where they took part in the 'Bible Comes Alive' workshop. They learnt all about the Acts of the Apostles through role play and oral storytelling from members of the church. The children took part in a quiz at the end of the workshop to reinforce what they had learnt. They also got the opportunity to sing along with the church members.

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.

During Science week this term, children in Key Stage 2 got the opportunity to watch an amazing Science Magic Show. They were totally enthralled with this visual and interactive show which included lots of fantastic liquid nitrogen demonstrations as well as tricks using sodium polyacrylate to absorb water.

It was truly a learning experience for us all especially Mr Collinson!

Children from Year 4, 5 & 6 visited Dance City in Newcastle to watch Tees Valley Dance perform Kick Off. Using football as its inspiration Kick off was a light-hearted piece about exploring the games played by two friends. Injuries, arguments, winners, losers, rules and tactics were all incorporated within the dance performance. After the show the children took part in a workshop with the choreographer of the show and members of the dance group. They got the opportunity to perform dance routines from the show and ask lots of questions about the performance.

The children are really looking forward to working with Tees Valley Dance again when they visit school at the end of the month.

Pupils in Key Stage 2 took part in the Fab Food Funhouse Roadshow to raise awareness of healthy eating. The children were spit into teams and completed physical activity challenges, took part in various games and answered questions about healthy food choices to score points for their team.

A fun afternoon was had by all!!!

Year 4, 5 and 6 visited the Great North Museum to look closely at the Ancient Egyptian Exhibits housed within the museum. They studied the different art work and sketched the designs which they found interesting. These sketches were then used to create an Ancient Egyptian wall art.

Children sketching their designs.

Year 4 children visited Heworth Grange Comprehensive School to take part in a Multi Skills Challenge on Tuesday 26th February. This involved competing against other schools in a variety of P.E activities such as throwing, catching, dribbling and balancing skills. Well done everyone for completing the tasks and taking part in the games.

Children taking part in the tasks!

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 4 pupils have been working with artist Susan Warlock to create some wonderful 2D canvas paintings based on the topic of space. Pupils drew what they imagined they could see outside of a spaceship. These drawings were then transferred to canvas and pupils used acrylic, 'glow in the dark' and glitter paints. Andrew Adams said, "We learnt how to mix paints and create nice colours."

Children using acrylic, 'glow in the dark' and glitter paints!

Every year Film Education organises a nationwide film festival called National Schools Film Week (NSFW) which takes place this year on 19th-23rd October. National Schools Film Week is the biggest event of its kind in the world for young people, it is a unique festival which provides schools across the UK with free trips to the cinema with the aim of exposing children to a wide range of films. This years theme is Creativity and Diversity and our Key Stage 2 children have had the opportunity to take part. They have visited Sunderland Empire Cinema and The Customs House, South Shields where they have enjoyed watching a film.