In their role as Mini Police, 12 of our junior pupils attended Durham Lumiere on Saturday night. They had the opportunity to explore some of the light displays before supporting the police in handing out wristbands to parents bringing young children into Durham. Supported by Miss Edmunds, Mrs Crawford and Mrs Clasper, they did a wonderful job mixing with, and helping, some of the police officers on duty. They weren’t daunted by the large crowds and were great ambassadors for Ebchester School and the Mini Police. Well done to everyone involved!
Another busy week…
We are racing towards Christmas and the weeks are filling up with new and exciting activities. Over the last two weeks we’ve been very busy:
Beamish Museum Trip
Class One visited Beamish Museum to find out about the experiences evacuees got during World War 2. During the day the children took part in a range of activities covering topics such as the black out, rationing, dig for victory, the black market, war time cookery and the Home Guard. Everyone had a great day and found out lots of useful information about their topic.
Durham Cathedral Trip – Class Two
Class 2 went on a trip to Durham Cathedral to learn all about the Northern Saints. They had a tour around the cathedral and while they were told stories about the saints they were able to dress up as them and carry around their important symbols. After lunch Class Two went to one of the outdoor classrooms and the children worked in groups to create representations of the symbols using natural materials. They had lots of fun!
Year 6 – Safety Carousel
The Year 6 pupils visited the Fire Brigade Safety Carousel this week. It was a really informative day with workshops being led by the Fire Service, Northern Power Grid, the Police and the RNLI.
Year 3 Recorders
Our Year 3 musicians performed three songs in our Celebration assembly this week. It is amazing how talented our pupils are! They’ve only been playing since September and managed every note perfectly.
Children in Need
Our school council asked if we could support Children in Need again this year by having a non-uniform day – of course we said yes! We also had a Children in Need themed lunch – what a great day.
Dinosaur Egg Found!
On Monday morning, Class Four went outside to do a Science lesson and we were shocked to discover a dinosaur egg on our school field! We had a close look at it and wondered where it could have come from. We abandoned our Science lesson and decided to learn about the egg instead. All week, Year Ones have been writing stories about the egg and learning about dinosaur eggs. The Reception children wanted to bring the egg into the classroom to keep it warm and they thought it would be thoughtful to make cards welcoming the new dinosaur into our class (when it hatches). We will have to see next week if it has hatched…
Sponsored Walk
We visited Chopwell Woods for our annual sponsored event. The weather was kind to us and everyone had a great time following the different trails. Everyone’s behaviour was excellent but we were particularly proud of our Reception pupils who were taking their first ever school trip.
We were lucky enough to have plenty of parent and governor helpers who also had a great time!
Week Two
We’ve had a busy week this week as we begin all of our after school clubs and get back into the swing of maths and English. This year we plan to offer as many after school clubs as we can. We’ve kept some old favourites like board games and computer club but we’ve added some new ones. Archery and new age kurling have been extremely popular!
A full list of after school clubs and the their timings can be found on our most recent newsletter and in the ‘Pupil’ section of the website.
The School Council have had their first meeting too. Everyone had their photos taken for the School Council display board and we discussed what an important role it was. The first decision has been made – the members have decided that our Harvest donation will go the People’s Kitchen in Newcastle.
At last, our new school library opened this week. Thanks to Mrs Crawford and our amazing librarians, it looks amazing. I’m sure everyone will enjoy reading all of the new books we have on offer.
First Day Back
It doesn’t take long for everyone to get back into the swing of school life. All of the pupils have settled into their new year groups well and, as the photographs show, have had a great day!
The work of the mini police doesn’t stop. Three of our Y6 mini police were invited to the handing over of the brand new minibus. As always, they are great ambassadors for the mini police and for Ebchester School.
Durham Brass Festival
As part of Durham Brass Festival, Ooz Band visited our school to give us a taste of their own unique style of brass music. We loved every muinute of it!
Seaside Fun!
The children from Classes Three and Four enjoyed a day at South Shields this week. Luckily, the rain stayed away and the children enjoyed ice-creams, rides on the mini railway train and, of course, time on the beach.
Enjoy looking through some of the pictures.
Water Safety Launch
We were lucky enough to be selected to launch the Mini Police Water Safety initiative. Our Mini Police presented an information packed assembly to guests from the RNLI, RLSS, the Police Crime Comissioner and the High Sheriff of Durham, Mrs Peacock. The fire brigade and police also attended.
Pupils were given the opportunity to explore the fire engine, police van and lifeguard vehicle once the presentation had ended.
Of course, we were lucky enough to have ITV Tyne Tees record the presentation and interview some of our pupils. It really was an amazing morning and everyone agreed that our pupils are great ambassador for Ebchester School and the Mini Police.
Enjoy the slideshow showing some of the events which took place –
Week 2
We’ve had another busy week this week.
We started on Monday 12th July with Messy Church. Everyone who attended had a great time and completed a range of craft activities before sharing worship with Father David. Of course there was something tasty to tuck into after all of that hard work!
Class One took part in sessions 2 and 3 of the John Muir Award this week. Working in our very own woodland and also in Ebchester Woods, the class had the opportunity to create ‘smelly cocktails’, have a mini-beast hunt, build journey sticks and also go pond dipping. Great fun! The pupils have now had the opportunity to discover and explore their local environments. I wonder what they will be doing in the next session?
Sophie and Eve have also written a poem about John Muir and their experiences when working towards the award.
Today we did the John Muir Award,
We discovered, explored, conserve and share,
Right now we’re in Ebchester Woods,
Out in the fresh air.
John Muir was a crazy guy,
He like to look after nature,
But every now and then,
He like to go on an adventure!
He made a getting out of bed machine,
He tied himself to a tree,
He looked after the habitats,
And inspired you and me.
That’s why we do the John Muir Award,
Doing everything we could,
To help protect the area,
And wildlife as we should.
To earn this award was lots of fun,
This award is for everyone!
Tuesday 13th June
Linked to the topic of the Romans, the Year 5 and 6 pupils visited VIndolanda and the Roman Army Museum. Luckily, the weather was kind and the class had a great time. They found out all about what Roman forts looked like and chatted to an archaeologist who let them handle artefacts which had been found that day.
Wednesday 14th June
Our Kwik Cricket team played their first two matches this week (after being rained off last week).
Congratulations are in order as they won both matches! Everyone is looking forward to next week and the next 2 matches!
Friday 16th June
The Ebchester Mini- Police visited Moorside Primary School to see the police helicopter. What an amazing experience. Not only did the class get to see the helicopter land, they also managed to sit inside the helicopter and ask the pilot questions.
Summer Term
Tuesday 6th June
Today the Year six pupils began their ‘leavers’ events.
They travelled to Durham Cathedral to take part in the Durham Leavers’ Service. As part of the service they were given the opportunity to reflect on their experiences of Primary School – the friends they have made and the people who have helped them. It was a wonderful morning of activities in a beautiful setting.
Wednesday 7th June
This week Class One began working on the John Muir Award: an environmental award scheme which is non-competitive, inclusive and accessible. Over 6 sessions, the pupils will complete 4 challenges – discover a wild place, explore it, conserve it and the share their experiences. The first session was great fun!
Thursday 8th June
The Infants had great fun at the Science after- school club. This week they had the opportunity to explore magnets and how they work. The happy faces show how much fun they had!
Friday 9th June
Today we decided to make the most of the nice weather after so many days of rain. The Reception children worked on their gardening skills with Mrs Dixon. It was amazing how many worms they found while preparing the raised beds!
Some of the older children worked on their weaving skills when fixing our willow hut. Although they explained that it was really hard work, it looked like great fun!