Dunston News – 11.12.25

Dec 12, 2025Dunston News

“At Christmas everybody invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather. I was snowed up at a friend’s house once for a week. Nothing could be pleasanter.”

Jane Austen

Message From Mr Sutherland

We now have just over a week left of the Autumn term and Christmas festivities are very much in full swing with even more excitement to come!

Dunston Hill has been full to the brim with festive cheer for the past few weeks and I hope that the children have had a wonderful time.  Next week will be time for parties, singing and more tinsel – if that’s even possible!  From our magical Reception Nativity, to our Festive Family sessions with each year group, we have tried to embrace the magic of this time of year for all our children and families.  You will also know that every class has had a visit to our Winter Wonderland Experience and even, I hear, had a visit from Father Christmas himself!

Earlier today we laid on a very special Christmas Dinner for our children from right across the school.  Miss Tuart and I played a very small part in this by helping to serve our children in the Hall but my sincere thanks go to Linda our Cook, her wonderful team and our amazing Midday Supervisors for ensuring that the children had a fantastic experience – the Hall looked magical.  Needless to say our children were extremely polite and well mannered at the serving hatch and their tables.  On Tuesday 16th December we will be taking the whole school, (Reception to Year 6), to St. Nicholas’ Church for some wonderful singing, (please note this is for children only), and then on Thursday 18th December, I look forward to joining our choir at the Community Church Service at 6.00pm.  I hope to see lots of you there – it is always such a joyous and inspirational occasion.

Can I also take this opportunity to thank you all for supporting our Christmas Market last Friday afternoon.  It was really well attended and, thanks to you, we raised an absolutely amazing total of £1652.80, which is even more than last year!  The stalls were wonderful and everyone worked so hard to make it a success.  We are so grateful for your engagement with this and all our Christmas events, even more so as we know how tough things are financially for parents and carers, (as well as schools!), and I can assure you that every penny you have contributed will go directly towards improving resources and experiences for your children at Dunston Hill.

With a few events still to go I would encourage you to double-check the email we sent you a few weeks ago or look at the updated calendar on our website to make sure you don’t miss a thing and have it all noted in your diaries.

I also wanted to say that I hope that everyone who has been poorly or unwell recently is beginning to feel better.  I know a lot of our children have been understandably absent through illness and that this has also affected parents, carers and of course, our own staff.  It clearly is not confined to our school as the news updates report significant issues right across the country.  I do hope that perhaps we are through the worst of it now and that you are able to enjoy the last few days of term and into the Christmas holiday.

That just leaves me to thank all the wonderful staff here at Dunston Hill for helping to make Christmas so special for all our families, on top of everything else they do day-to-day, particularly as many have been poorly too.  I know you will appreciate that a huge amount of work goes into making our school the very best it can be for everyone and they have my gratitude and admiration.

May I wish all our children and families a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year and we will see you again when school opens to children for Spring Term on Tuesday January 6th, 2026.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Whole School Information

Children In Need

We raised an incredible £277.75. Thank you for your generous donations. The children looked fantastically spotty and Pudsey themed!

Remembrance

This half-term, our children took part in a whole-school Remembrance project titled, ‘A Walk of Remembrance’. Through thoughtful discussions, poetry, artwork, and creative responses, the children explored the meaning of Remembrance Day and reflected on the bravery and sacrifices made by others.

Each year group contributed a unique piece to our school display, from beautifully illustrated poppies to silhouette soldiers and heartfelt messages of gratitude. Walking through the displays has offered a powerful reminder of the compassion, maturity, and empathy shown by our children as they engaged with this important part of our shared history.

We are incredibly proud of the respect and understanding demonstrated by all of our children. Their work highlights not only their creativity but also their growing awareness of peace, hope, and the importance of remembering.

Lest We Forget.

Family Learning

Family Learning this half-term has been very well-attended. Lots of Christmas-themed products have been made – a very festive time had by all.
Next half-term’s Family Learning theme is Mindfulness Crafts. This is a 5-week course for families with children of any age. A lovely way to bond, unwind and bring more calm into family life. The first session starts Friday 16 January 2026 at 9am.
All you have to do is sign up via Arbor from 8pm on Monday 15 December.

 

Family Forest

Our families have had a fantastic time at Family Forest School this half-term. We made lots of Christmas-themed crafts from natural materials, finished with a festive picnic and an elf scavenger hunt at Whickham Thorns.
Family Forest will start back in the second half of Spring term.

 

Toddlers

Join our Toddlers Group every Wednesday morning, 8.50am to 9.45am in the School Hall. We would love to see you there.

 

Extra-Curricular Activities for Spring Term 1

Information regarding our Extra-Curricular Activities will be sent by email on Monday 15 December 2025. Bookings using Arbor will open at 8pm on Monday 15 December, and close at 9am on Friday 19 December 2025.

School Lunch

The menu for the week commencing Monday 15 December 2025 is Week 3.  School lunch cost £2.80 per day payable in advance using the school app Arbor.

As part of our Healthy Schools programme, we ask that children not bring crisps, chocolate or fizzy drinks in their packed lunches.

Due to allergies, please ensure that no peanuts or items containing nuts are brought into school, including in the form of Snickers, chocolate spread or peanut butter sandwiches.  This is especially important to remember for children bringing in packed lunches or snacks.

UNIVERSAL INFANT FREE SCHOOL MEALS (UIFSM) are applicable for all children in reception and years 1 and 2 (KS1).  However for pupils currently in year 2, in order for the free school meal to continue when they commence year 3 in September 2024, parents will need to apply to the means-tested scheme and can do so via Gateshead Council’s website at Free school meals – Gateshead Council , by telephoning 0191 4333729 or by completing the free school meals application form.

Forest School from Tuesday 6 January 2026

Children should come to school dressed in clothing suitable for the weather, including a warm coat, gloves, and a hat when it is cold.  On their bottom half, they should wear black trousers, which you are happy for them to get dirty in, a school hoodie and a white T-shirt. They should bring their wellies to leave in a plastic carrier bag.

Reception – Monday

Year 3 – Wednesday

 

PE from Tuesday 6 January 2026

Children should come to school dressed in their PE kit; a school hoodie, a white t-shirt, navy or black shorts/tracksuit joggers and trainers for the whole day.

Reception – No PE kit required, when children take part in physical exercise, they will remove socks and shoes
Year 1 – Tuesday and Wednesday
Year 2 – Tuesday and Wednesday
Year 3 – Thursday and Friday
Year 4 – Thursday and Friday
Year 5 – Tuesday 
Year 6 –Monday and Wednesday

 

Swimming from Monday 12 January 2026

Year 5 will continue to swim on Mondays.

 

Events to look forward to

Monday 26 January 2026, 5-6pm – Year 6 SATs information evening

Wednesday 28 January 2026, 2.30-3pm – Year 2 Handwriting workshop for parents/carers

Week commencing 2 February 2026 – Year 1 Phonics workshop for parents/carers

Week commencing 2 February 2026 – Year 4 Multiplication Check workshop for parents/carers

Week commencing 9 February – Safer Internet Week with Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 10 February

Wednesday 11 February 2026, 10.45-11.30am – Nursery Stay and Count session for parents/carers (half of Nursery)

Thursday 12 February 2026, 10.45-11.30am – Nursery Stay and Count session for parents/carers (half of Nursery)

Friday 13 February 2026, 8.45-9.30am – Reception Stay and Count session for parents/carers 

Week commencing 16 February 2026 – Parent/Carer Consultations

 

 

 

Lower Key Stage Two News

This term, our Year 3 children have thoroughly enjoyed their unit of work linked to volcanoes. They have found out about where in the world volcanoes can be found, linking this to their knowledge of tectonic plates. They were amazed to find out that some volcanoes are extinct whilst others are dormant or active! English lessons have immersed our children in the story of the Iron Man! The children loved looking at the range of pictures from the story illustrated by Chris Mould before then writing their own version of the incoming threat! They thought carefully about their vocabulary to show the vast size of this metal monster! In Design Technology, the children were extremely excited to build their own castles complete with turrets, drawbridges and battlements! We’re already looking forward to the new term which will see us being immersed in the time of Ancient Egypt!
This half term, Year 4 have enjoyed learning about new events in History. We have looked at the Romans and their lifestyles (such as the jobs they would have had and how they acquired such a successful empire). We have also loved designing and making our book jackets in DT. We made creative, standout designs and looked at different stitching methods to sturdily assemble the jackets. We’ve worked super hard in Science this half term, focusing on our new topic, ‘States of matter’. We completed multiple experiments too! Finally, Year 4 have enjoyed our new RE topic of Christianity. We have looked at the nativity story as well as making our own Christingles!

Upper Key Stage Two News

Year 5 and 6 have loved getting into the festive spirit in the latter part of this half-term. We have attended a magical Winter Wonderland and had our photographs taken with Santa whilst sipping delicious hot chocolate and shared Christmas with our nearest and dearest as part of our Family Christmas Workshops. I know you will love the Christmas cards that the children are busy working on too!
Across the curriculum this half-term, our Year 6 children have been working hard to develop their knowledge and understanding of The Victorian period – they loved exploring the artifacts which we loaned from the Discovery Museum. Writing and oracy has been very successful as the children have explored World War Two from the perspective of the Jewish people and written formal Bravery Award speeches using their new found knowledge.
In Year 5, the children have been exploring forces in Science, the Alps in Geography and the Moon landings in English – it has been a very busy half-term with lots to look forward to in the New Year.

 

Times Tables

Our children in Years 3-6 were certainly ready to rock during the recent ‘England Rocks’ competition hosted by Times Table Rock Stars! We put up a great fight, coming 808 out of 4356 schools! 6R were our top scorers! There was a great buzz across school so please keep encouraging your children to complete at least 3o minutes of Rock Stars each week. Knowing table facts to 12 x 12 is a great building block to so many areas of the maths curriculum.

 

Climate Crew

Our Climate Crew is now in full-swing with regular meetings and some fantastic ideas for improving sustainability in school. The children hosted Alex from Northern Gas Networks who worked across school to raise awareness of COP30 this year via some fantastic workshops to help children to understand climate issues. In addition, our Climate  Crew worked with Lydia from Groundworks to suggest ideas around making recycled crafts for sale at our Christmas Market. There were some amazing creations and the children were delighted to have been able to make an impact whilst raising money for our school. Well done Climate Crew!

Play Leaders

Our Play Leaders are in full swing, doing an incredible job promoting Ready, Respect and Kind at lunchtimes. 

 

Sports News

This half-term, children across school have continued to access sporting opportunities at extra-curricular clubs and external events.  Some of which have included: Durham County Girl’s Football and Years 5 and 6 Athletics Finals.
 
We are delighted to have been awarded a trophy and certificate from the Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnership for last academic year. The Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnership’s aim is for all girls to have equal access to football in Schools by 2028. Well done to everyone involved with this last year!
We are excited for more sporting events next term.

SEND/Nurture 

Watch out for some parent/carer SEND coffee mornings/drop-ins early in the Spring term.

Don’t forget you can reach out to Miss Tuart (SENDCo/Deputy Headteacher) should you wish to discuss your child’s needs and/or provision: sendco@dunstonhillschool.co.uk.

You can also reach out to Mrs Cox (Family Support Worker): fsw@dunstonhillschool.co.uk