Issue 4 ǀ December 2019

Issue 5 ǀ January 2020

We welcome Year 7 back to school after a well-deserved Christmas break. The weather may be turning

colder but that doesn’t hinder the fantastic work ethic our students have. In this newsletter you can see

some of the amazing high-quality work that our Year 7 students are doing in lessons at the moment.

Don’t forget that you can find a copy of this newsletter-and the previous editions-on our school website

www.ponthigh.org.uk/transition. For regular updates on transition and our Year 7 achievements and

successes, follow us on twitter @Y7PontHigh.

Our Year 7 curriculum is exciting and

challenging and here is just a selection of

what the learners have been doing this

term: in English, students have been

exploring the genre of dystopian fiction and

reading Orwell’s novel ‘Animal Farm’ and in

Music, they have been studying Igor

Stravinsky’s ballet and orchestral concert

work ‘The Rite of Spring’. In Art, learners

have been inspired by the work of Len

Tabner and David Hockney and have created

some amazing visual representations on the

theme of ‘waves’ (pictured).

Year 7 Learning at Ponteland High

Issue 4 ǀ December 2019

Issue 5 ǀ January 2020

Malamander Thomas Taylor Nobody visits Eerie-on-Sea in the winter. Especially not when darkness falls and the wind howls around Maw Rocks and the wreck of the battleship Leviathan, where even now some swear they have seen the unctuous Malamander creep... Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, knows that returning lost things to their rightful owners is not easy - especially when the lost thing is not a thing at all, but a girl. No one knows what happened to Violet Parma's parents twelve years ago, and when she engages Herbie to help her find them, the pair discover that their disappearance might have something to do with the legendary sea-monster, the Malamander. Eerie-on-Sea has always been a mysteriously chilling place, where strange stories seem to wash up. And it just got stranger...

Year 6 students will be

visiting the High School for

taster sessions over the

next two weeks…look out

for the highlights of their

visits in the February

newsletter!

The Cross-Country Championships took place at Temple Park in South Shields on the 21st January and eight of our Year 7 athletes were competing: Erin Blight, Louisa Hamilton, Zoe Fielding, Jessica Robinson, Molly Johnson, Aaron Hayes, Adam Jeavans and Jack Storey. Louisa and Erin qualified for the Inter County Cross Country which takes place in February at Lowther Castle Estate, near Penrith.

Meanwhile, on the 14th January, our Y7

girls took part in a rugby tournament with

Ms Cowell. Well done Cara, Sophy, Ruby

V, Zoe, Emelia, Daisy, Katie, Erin, Georgia,

Eva, Molly and Ruby R!

Congratulations to Tilly and Niamh, both in

7PJO, for their musical achievements this

term. Niamh was awarded Grade 3 in violin

and Tilly was awarded Grade 4 in violin by

‘The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of

Music’. Tilly, who also plays the piano and

the Northumbrian Pipes, said: “I have been

playing the violin for three and a half years

and I am on Grade 5. Practising for my

Grade 4 exam was very hard and took lots of

work but it was all worth it in the end

because I got a merit which I was very

pleased about. Doing grades on the violin is

hard because you have three pieces and lots

of scales and arpeggios along with sight

reading and aural tests. When I was about to

go into the exam, I felt so scared but once I

started playing, all my nerves went away and

I played the best I could. I would love to carry

on learning music for the rest of my life

because it makes me really happy.”

Musical Achievements Meet the stars of the ‘Y7

Transition Experiences’

video which you can find

on our school website:

https://ponthigh.org.uk/t

ransition/

Articulate and assured,

Vanessa, Hannah, James

and Isla (pictured right)

talk about their

experiences, fears and

the reality of moving

from Year 6 to High

School.

Sporting News

Coming Up…

Film Stars!

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