“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at”
Stephen Hawking
Message From Mr Sutherland
Message From Mr SutherlandWelcome to our first newsletter of the Spring Term and I’m sure it’s not my imagination but I’m certain that the mornings and evenings are a little lighter now, at least they are until we move the clocks around again next month! The weather can’t seem to make up its mind either and we seemed to experience four seasons in one day earlier in the week, including a smattering of snow. Our aim is always to embrace the weather as much as we can and so we will be active outside, either on our field, in the MUGA, in Forest School or on the yard whenever it is appropriate and safe to do so.
I was talking to the children in our Celebration Assembly the other day about the opportunities we try to give them as a school – either during the school day or at a Club. We talked about the importance of giving something a try, even if it is not something you end up particularly liking. You never know and you certainly don’t know until you try, but it may be the best thing you have ever done – and even change your life! We now have a special display area in our school especially to celebrate children’s achievements that may not be academic. It may be something they have achieved at a Club or outside school. The display is filling up fast and it is so lovely to see children and visitors to our school stopping to look at it. We have dancers, lifeguards, footballers, swimmers, jazz performers…..you name it! I am so proud of all our children and their achievements and we will continue to do what we can to promote opportunity and choice in our school.
Thank you to all the parents and carers who have engaged with us this week through our Parent Consultations, whether in person or via a phone call. It really is so important for the ongoing development of your child and really helps to build positive, productive relationships. Your engagement is really appreciated.
Whilst writing this newsletter I would like to wish Mrs Osborne and her family the best of luck as she heads off to begin her maternity leave tomorrow. We cannot wait to meet Baby Osborne and are all very excited for her and her family. Can I also extend a warm welcome to Miss Hutchins into the Early Years team who will be our Nursery teacher until Mrs Osborne’s return and we wish her lots of luck in her new role.
Please keep checking in on our Facebook page for all our latest activities almost as they happen and have a good look through our newsletter for upcoming events.
Have a happy and safe half-term break.
Whole School Information
Children’s Mental Health Week
We all enjoyed celebrating Children’s Mental Health Week this half-term, looking at the theme of ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself’. Year 3 enjoyed sharing the story ‘The River’ where they linked the changes in the river to their own emotions while in KS1, the children completed a ‘Greenhouse of Growth’. Inside each part of the greenhouse, they added pictures of what would help them grow into their best selves. Down in Reception, the children took part in a range of activities which helped them to identify their feelings and what they could do if they felt a certain way.
World Book Day
Wow! What an amazing creative morning we have planned for this year’s World Book Day! The children will take part in two workshops, which they have signed up for, with friends across the school.
The children’s choices will be on our Facebook page on Monday 3 March via video!
This will give them the opportunity to listen to a new story and then create something linked to the text. Last year, we had clay cats, elastic band cars and magic tricks! Our Nursery and Reception children will complete a similar alternative morning in their Early Years setting.
We love being creative and reading at Dunston Hill!
A special World Book Day lunch will be served on Thursday 6 March, menu will be emailed to parents on Friday 21 February.
Your child will bring home their £1 World Book Day voucher on Thursday 6 March. This voucher allows them £1 off any children’s book at participating stores or can be used to purchase one of the special World Book Day books (shops which are participating include: Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Works, WH Smith and Waterstones).
Comic Relief
Red Nose Day is back – Friday 21 March.
It’s nearly that time of year when we can be incredible joke-makers, t-shirt wearers, Red Nose buyers and laugh till we cry. So, get ready to join the party and do something funny for money. Children can come to school with a funny, funky hairstyle and non-uniform for a voluntary donation of £1.
Easter Egg Competition
Dunston Hill Easter Egg Competition is back! This year, we are eggtastic about our Easter Egg Competition, with the theme of ‘Love where you live’. So, let’s get creative!
Entry options:
Child only.
Parent/carer only.
Deadline: Thursday 10 April when Mr Sutherland and Miss Tuart will select our eggscellent winners!
Comic Relief
It’s nearly that time of year when we can be incredible joke-makers, t-shirt wearers, Red Nose buyers and laugh till we cry. So, get ready to join the party and do something funny for money. Children can come to school with a funny, funky hairstyle and non-uniform for a voluntary donation of £1.
Family Learning
A big thank you to all families who participated in this half-term’s Family Learning. The parents/carers and children had a fantastic time.
Spring Saver – If you would be interested in ‘Spring Savings’, next half-term, why not sign up for our new Family Learning course each Tuesday afternoon 11 March-8 April, 1.45-3.10 pm. Spring Saver will encourage you to be more resourceful and creative at home. We will cover a range of tips and tricks for saving for the Spring half-term and help you to have fun on a budget!
Easter Crafts – Come and join our Easter themed sessions, where we will be creating a range of different crafts. You can learn lots of new skills with your children, such as sewing, felting, and paper crafting. This will run each Friday starting 7 March for 5 weeks, 9.00-10.30 am.
Toddlers – This will continue from Wednesday 5 March: every Wednesday 8.50am-9.45am. We would love to see you there.
Attendance
School attendance is essential. If your child has attendance less than 90%, they are classed as persistent absentees and their attendance in school is monitored and targets set. Children with 100% attendance will receive a certificate on the last day of term. School attendance is so important, and Mrs Cox, our Family Support Worker, is always ready and willing to help any families that need additional support. If you have concerns re: attendance, please get in touch with her.
A REMINDER holidays taken during term time are not permitted and will be unauthorised.
School Lunch
The menu for the week commencing Monday 3 March 2025 is Week 2. School lunch cost £2.80 per day payable in advance using the school app Schoolgateway.
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 3 March
Children should come to school dressed in clothing suitable to the weather, a warm coat, gloves and a hat when cold. On their bottom half, they should wear black trousers 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.
Monday – Reception
Thursday – Year 2
PE from 3 March
Children should come to school dressed in their PE kit; school hoodie, white t-shirt, navy or black shorts/tracksuit joggers and trainers for the full day.
Monday – Year 2 and Year 6
Tuesday – Year 1, Year 3 and Year 4
Wednesday – Year 2, Year 3 and Year 6
Thursday – Year 1 and Year 5
Friday – Year 4
Swimming
Year 5 children will re-commence swimming from Monday 3 March 2025 until we break up for the Easter holidays.
Year 4 children will no longer swim on Monday.
Upcoming events in school…
World Book Day – Thursday, 6 March (no fancy dress).
British Science Week – week commencing 10 March.
Nursery parent/carer Stay and Easter Craft sessions – Tuesday 2 April and Wednesday 3 April.
Reception parent/carer Stay and Easter Craft session – Friday 4 April.
World Art Day – Friday 11 April.
Staff Vacancy
We have a staff vacancy for a full-time Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA). More information can be found on our school website www.dunstonhillcps.com.
Early Years News
Early Years have continued to have fun whilst learning lots! We have enjoyed some wonderful sessions with parents/carers at our ‘Stay and Count’ session in Reception and ‘Stay and Story’ sessions in Nursery. We would like to thank all of our parents/carers for your support and engagement in these events, as they have been a great success. A partnership between home and school is so important to your child’s learning and development, and these events have really helped us to strengthen that bond. Please look out for more events that will be coming up.
We have had a successful start to Nursery for our January starters, with lots of great learning opportunities and friendships already being built. The children have learned our routines, and established themselves very well in Nursery.
Our Reception children have continued to work incredibly hard, with some fantastic progress being made in Read Write Inc, which is having a great impact on the children’s reading and writing skills. We are seeing a real increase in their confidence and independence in these areas at the moment. We are very proud of the hard work from the children, but would like to thank families for their support at home in these areas too.
In Reception, we have had a successful start to our Mystery Reader sessions, where a range of parents/carers and members of staff arrive on a Thursday afternoon to read one of their favourite stories to the children. It has been exciting and engaging for the children and promotes the love of reading.
Key Stage One News
What a great start to the new year our Key Stage 1 children have had!
Year 1 have thoroughly enjoyed their History unit of work where they studied toys from the past. We had a ‘Box of Delights’ full of old toys from Meccano trucks to kaleidoscopes, which we loved playing with. Our children were excellent at explaining differences and similarities between toys from the past and present-day toys. We look forward to extending our knowledge when we visit Beamish in April.
Year 2 have also enjoyed their History lessons. They have been learning all about Florence Nightingale and how she made a difference to the soldiers in the Crimean war. In Computing, they had great fun exploring online safety, particularly the live lesson with many other primary schools across the country.
Times Tables
A big thank you to all of the parents and carers who joined our multiplication workshop in Year 4. We know our children really enjoyed inviting you into school and it was lovely to hear them chatting about the games they played with their grown ups. We hope you found the sessions informative. Look out for further workshops throughout the remainder of the year.
Our Times Table tournaments on Times Table Rock Stars are continuing to excite and motive our children in learning their times table facts. Please continue to encourage your child to access the games and challenge themselves to increase their knowledge and speed. If you are using a device, please ensure it is the most up to date version as there are some exciting changes for your children to engage with.
Climate Crew
Our wonderful Climate Crew are doing a brilliant job in helping everyone across our school in using our Travel Tracker to record our journeys to school. It has been fantastic to see the children at Dunston Hill take pride in their efforts to reduce our carbon footprint by walking to school wherever possible. The Crew have reminded children that they can record a journey as ‘park and stride’ if they have walked from Whickham Thorns, Monument or Dunston Pool. As always, we have plenty more on the agenda and our action plan is jam-packed! Well done Climate Crew!
Sports News
Swimming Gala
This week, our swim team headed to the Swimming Gala over at Dunston Leisure Centre. Each member of the team swam their best and Miss Conway was extremely proud of their performance! We walked away with a 1st place medal in the Girl’s Front Crawl race and a 3rd place medal in the Boy’s Front Crawl race.
Year 5 and 6 Netball
After our success in the first round, our netball team were invited along to the Gateshead Finals earlier this month. Yet again, the team showed excellent teamwork skills and played some great netball! Mrs Cox and Mrs Harm are really proud of the team and would like to thank them for their passion and dedication, which they showed during every practice.
KS1 Cricket Festival
Recently, some of our Year 2 children attended the KS1 Cricket Festival over at Gateshead Stadium. The children worked with some of the staff from Durham Cricket Foundation and they practised their throwing and batting skills. This sport was new to some of our children and will be a great head start for when they go into KS2. The children had a great afternoon and each of them left with a wristband and certificate to celebrate their hard work!
EYFS Multi-Sports Festival
Earlier this half-term, some of our Reception children headed over to Gateshead Stadium for an EYFS Multi-sport Festival. The children completed lots of different circus themed activities, which helped them to practice their throwing, jumping, balancing and running skills. We are so proud of the children who all represented themselves and Dunston Hill brilliantly!
Year 4 Basketball
Some of our Year 4 children attended a basketball competition organised by Gateshead School Sports Partnership. They had a great afternoon, showing some of the skills which they have learned during their PE lessons, whilst enjoying playing against children from other schools.
SEND/Nurture
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