@ The School Gate Inside this

issue:

Straw & Order 2

European Visitors 2

Make £5 Grow 3

Prickly Hay 3

Peter Pan 4

Mini Vinnies helping Others

4

Superstar

Gymnastics

5

Polar Express 5

Winter Gardens 6

Footballing Tales 6

Discovering and

Exploring

7

Telling Stories 7

Dates for your

Diary

8

Head Teacher's

Roll of Honour

8

Dear Parents & Carers What another very busy term! It doesn’t seem anytime at all since we opened our doors in September and welcomed a new cohort of children into our Reception class. I’m delighted at how well they have settled with Miss Duffield and Mrs O’Neill and I’m sure they’ve enjoyed all of the seasonal festivities this Advent. St Joseph’s has certainly been very Christmassy this past few weeks with Carol singing, a visit to the pantomime, family craft making, the elves’ Christmas trail at Gibside, a Christmas music workshop and our fabulous performances of ‘Prickly Hay’ and ‘Straw & Order’. You can read about some of these inside this newsletter as well as catching up with some of the other exciting

activities at school this term. There have been many sporting successes and children have enjoyed representing the school with pride. One of the many highlights was the Gymnastic display some of our older children performed at Gateshead Leisure Centre. They’ve written about it inside but if you haven’t seen the actual footage then have a look at the website; there is a link to it there and it is very impressive. Today is Mrs Glenton’s last day with us before she starts her maternity leave. We wish her well and can’t wait to meet the new baby early in the New Year. Mrs Reilly, will be covering her lunchtime supervisory role in January and we are looking forward to welcoming her to team. We are also looking forward to Miss Cohen coming to teach Y3. She is replacing Mr

Merry Christmas Hannah who is reducing his working commitment. We are lucky he will still be teaching computing and French across school so it’s not quite retirement however it is really important to recognise the dedication and care he shown generations of families here at St Joseph’s where he has worked since September 1990. I’d like to thank him for all he has done in his time here. I would also like to thank all of my staff for all that they do for your children. They work tirelessly and I am incredibly grateful. I know they are looking forward to their well deserved break; they deserve it. Finally may I wish you and your families a very happy and holy Christmas. God bless.

Mr A Ramanandi Head Teacher

Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle

us], a man sang some songs and West Lane. St Anne’s sang Little Donkey, O Holy night. West Lane sang Santa Claus is coming to town, and

In November, the choir went to the Winlaton Centre. We had to wait outside a while then we went inside and we got a free food and drink. We were on last out of everyone. The songs we sung were Jingle Bell Rock, When a child is born, Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Saviour’s Day, Silent Night and We wish you a Merry Christmas. There were 4 groups performing in total: they were St Anne’s Choir, St Joseph’s Choir [aka

lots of other songs. Then a man sang some songs. Then it was us. We were amazing!!!!!!!!! Then all the people who sang got up and sang We wish you a merry Christmas. At the end all of us got a treat. Mrs Cape said we were great!! We all loved the experience. We hope we do it so many times more. The best part

was …. all of it. Thank you Mrs Cape for coming and helping us for the event. Thank you loads.

By Gabriel Yr 5

St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

The Catholic Primary School serving the Parishes of St. Anne’s, Winlaton & St. Joseph’s, Blaydon

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Carol Singing In The Community

Volume 6, Issue 1 December 2017

Page 2 Volume 6, Issue 1

Straw & Order This year, the junior play was called ‘Straw & Order’. It was based on the cows and donkeys, from the stable where the birth of Jesus took place, fighting over ownership. The cows accused the donkeys of inviting unwanted guests and having parties, but the donkeys denied inviting anyone. They decided to take the case to court. The cows’ lawyer was Miss Correct and the donkeys’ lawyer was Mr Proper. The Judge handling this case was the Honourable Judge

Grumps. After hours of squabbling, something magical happens… The Judge gets whisked away with the narrators and transported all the way to Bethlehem to see what actually happened! There were many enchanting scenes full of magical acting from all the brilliant pupils of the juniors! Some scenes were filled with silly jokes

that didn’t fail to make the audience laugh (especially the wise men scene!) Overall the play went to plan and all the parents loved it. We were all

reminded of the magical events that took place, when Jesus was born, and the true meaning of Christmas summed up the performance. After all, all anybody needs to remember is love, peace, hope and harmony this Christmas.

By Zak and Abigail Yr 6

European Visitors

project. Year 3 have designed re-useable shopping bags based on the theme of the North East. The mathematical games that Year 5 have completed using the Scratch Computer programme are being sent and used by children in other countries. We are looking forward to involving all the children in more international cooperation between our schools in the future.

Mr Hannah On the 16 November 2017, year 6 went to the Quayside with the European visitors. We were studying rivers and bridges.

Back in November visitors from all over Europe came to our school. The reasons why they came to our school was to see the British Educational system in action and to plan activities that all the schools could partake in, to enhance the education of the children within those schools. They visited every class and joined us in the hall for a musical extravaganza courtesy of the Gateshead Music Service. They also enjoyed a walk around Newcastle with the Year 6 children. At all times they were very impressed by our behaviour, our caring nature and our enthusiasm for learning new things. As a result of the planning meeting, Reception, Years 3 and 6 have sent Christmas cards to all the schools involved in the

Firstly, we got on the train to Newcastle Central station and walked to the castle (Castle Keep). After that, we walked down to

the Quayside and saw Mrs Geddes we were all shocked. Then we looked at the bridges all across Newcastle including the Tyne Bridge. Following this, we crossed the Millennium Bridge to get to the Baltic Centre to have our dinner. After dinner, we went to the viewing box to look at the bridges from up high. Finally, we got the bus to Newcastle station and got another bus back to school. The day was amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the bridges.

By Curtis and Jack Sh. Yr 6

Volume 6, Issue 1 Page 3

Make £5 Grow

In September, Mrs O’Connor, a staff member from Virgin Money came to visit Year 5 and told the class we would take part in a business project called, Make 5 pound grow. She told us a lot of information about owning a business. She told us lots of facts that really helped us with our business ideas.

After she left we got into groups, (5 groups with 6 people), thought of a name and a product to make. The teams are: Christmas Elves they are making up mix-ups, Get Christmalicious who are putting together Hot chocolate packets, Crazy Christmas Crafts and they are producing Chocolate Sleighs, Santa’s Little Helpers who are

making cupcakes and biscuits and finally Christmas Operation who are planning to sell Sweet jars and reindeer dust . Each person in a group had £5 to spend each for their group’s product. One group had an extra person so we shared out the money so everyone was equal. We had lots of lessons about how to make our product better and a fair price.

A few lessons later, we all went down to Blaydon to spend £31 to buy our products. We separated to go with 3 other teachers, 2 teams went with Mrs Douglas, and 2 teams went with Mrs Johnson and 1 team with Mrs Watson. After we got our supplies we went back to school to sort out our products.

A few days after, we bought our supplies we made 1 product to see how it would turn

out. Then we made as many products as we could. We soon recognised we were running out of supplies so one person had to go down to Blaydon to get them. We soon completed all of our products. On Thursday the 21st of December we are going to the Grainger market to sell our products. We are all so excited to go.

By Max and Niamh Yr 5

Post Script Hot off the Press

We had an amazing time selling our products. Everyone almost sold out. It was an amazing experience and we would love to do it again. (The visit to MacDonalds was really good!)

Prickly Hay Early Years and Key Stage 1 produced a fabulous play called ‘Prickly Hay’. It was a story about a group of friends who worked hard in the stable, making it nice and clean for the animals. They didn’t think that they had an important job to do. However soon they had some visitors – it was Mary and Joseph . Mary gave birth to baby Jesus who found the hay very prickly. The hay was

quickly swapped for the new born King. We sang some beautiful songs that all told the story of the birth of baby Jesus. We did actions to go with them. A big thank you to all who came to support us. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Reception, Y1 & Y2

Page 4 Volume 6, Issue 1

Peter Pan On Tuesday, the

whole

school went to Newcastle Theatre Royal to watch the pantomime. The story was Peter Pan and we in year 4 were especially excited because Ellie V was performing in it. After the coach dropped us off in Newcastle, we walked to the

theatre and found our seats. The pantomime was

hilarious! As the curtains opened on

stage, we saw Ellie dressed as a chimney sweep and watched her dance with the other cast members; she

was very good! Our favourite character was Peter Pan because he was really silly and

had lots of ‘accidents’. Our favourite part was when he answered every question with words to different songs. It was brilliant and we hope we get the opportunity to visit the pantomime next year!

Miss Shepherdson

Mini Vinnies Helping Others children made over 67 shoeboxes and all of the parents and children that participated are highly thanked. People’s Kitchen In December, the children brought in tins of food. They collected over 4 huge boxes of food which have been donated to the Peoples’ Kitchen in Newcastle. All of the people that donated are thanked a lot. Now all the people who can’t afford food can have food on Christmas Day.

By Kennedy Yr 6

We have done a lot of fundraising this term! Spotacular On Friday 17th November we joined the nation

in fundraising for Children In Need by wearing non-uniform We raised £271.37. All of the money we raised went to Children In Need.

We are very thankful for the huge amount you donated, we are very proud to have raised so much money to help others. Thank you very much!

Operation Christmas Child In November 2017, the children of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School also brought in shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. All of the shoeboxes that children brought in would go to children in foreign countries. The

Volume 6, Issue 1 Page 5

Superstar Gymnasts

On December 5th 2017, 21 children went to represent our school at Gateshead Leisure Centre to do a gymnastics performance. In preparation for this, our P.E teacher (Mr Morris) came to help us create a fabulous routine. We needed to give up lots of our time in class to practise our routine, it took many hours; we were all exhausted. After many weeks of training, we were finally ready to perform our routine. On the day of the performance, we were all very excited to perform our

routine. When we arrived, there were lots of other schools waiting to show their routines. When almost all of the schools had performed,

we went into a different area to warm up. Finally it was our turn; we heard the announcer call our names and we went onto the mats. We sat in our starting positions, and the music started. All of a sudden, there were cartwheels, leaps,

diving forward rolls and much more coming from every direction. The music then started dying down and we all went in our ending partner balance. The music stopped and the crowd started clapping and cheering. We then came down from our balances and walked back to our seats. We had an amazing

day, and we all did our best. Well done St Joseph’s superstars !

By Millie and Annabelle Yr 6

with their special friends! The children came prepared in their cosy pyjamas and brought along their teddy bears from home. The school hall had been transformed into our very own Polar Express train and the children were each given a golden ticket which they used to board the Polar Express. We then travelled down our very own train tracks where we were greeted by our fantastic train conductor, Mrs Cavanagh, who stamped our tickets upon arrival. All aboard the Polar Express! The children then enjoyed decorating their Christmas envelopes with their special friends, they came up with some brilliant designs. Some of the children decided to make some Christmas cards for their family and friends. The children then enjoyed watching the Christmas film

whilst on board our very own train. Reception Class and Year 6 thoroughly enjoyed drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows and shared biscuits during the film. A wonderful time was had by all!

Miss Duffield

Reception Class have made a fantastic start to school, Miss Duffield and Mrs O’Neill are extremely proud of the progress all of the children have made during their first term at St. Joseph’s! Reception Class have been enjoying lots of new exciting activities this term, but we especially enjoyed taking part in our ‘Polar Express’ day recently. Reception Class were so excited to begin our festive activities and spend the day

Polar Express

Page 6 Volume 6, Issue 1

Winter Gardens On the 29th of November, Year 5 went to visit Sunderland Winter Gardens as part of their rainforest topic. They had a brilliant time and found out more information about this wonderful environment. We travelled by bus and we all were very excited. It took a long time, but we had a sing song. It took round about 30 – 45 minutes. When we got there, we were slightly over excited and then a lady told us to line up. Then she took us to a pottery room. We all sat on the floor and she talked about what layers are in the rainforest. After that, we got in 3 groups of 10 and she gave us a packet of different animals and fruits and then we got a sheet with the four different layers. We put one animal on that layer. Then we passed it around the table - some people got to do it twice because we had spare pictures. After that, we got into 2 groups called A and B. We had a look

at the model rainforest. It was

beautiful and interesting and there was this giant object in the middle of the rainforest. It was a waterfall pouring down right from the top of the building to the bottom of the building. We looked at the top floor and we filled in the answers to questions in a booklet and we looked at the bottom floor. We had a look at the massive goldfish and koi and all the other displays. Then it was lunch time. We all sat next to each other and ate all of our pack lunches on a table. We were all having fun and having a laugh and all of

our packed lunches were scrumptious. After lunch, we all got back to our groups and one group went to the top floor and the other group went on the bottom floor. On the top floor there was wild animals including Tarantulas, Piranhas etc. Meanwhile, the other group were looking at all the other animals and exhibit. They were all interested at the realistic waterfall that really looked real. Then we swapped over. After that, we all got together and looked at all the exhibits and we looked at the poetry and textiles. All of the class enjoyed it. After, we looked at the dressing history - we all had some fun. Then Mrs Douglas told us to go to the next exhibit. After, we got on the bus and had another sing song and got back to school. We all enjoyed it and we had a really good experience.

By Brianna and Harry Yr 5

Footballing Tales It felt like we couldn’t win that day because we drew again 3-3. Jayden scored 1 goal and Jack 2 goals. In our final and 4th game, we lost a very entertaining game. It had a lot of action. Logan scored, but sadly it wasn’t enough. This was our first tournament, and we sadly couldn’t qualify. Our next tournament was at Winlaton West Lane. We had been practicing for this tournament, and were hoping we could win our first game. Our first game was a great success! We won 2-1. Matthew and Logan scored 1. We then won

This year, the year 5&6 football team has had a good start. We’ve won 5, drew 3 and lost 2. The people on the football team are: Jack Sc,

Logan, Jayden, Daniel, Zak, Bailey, Matthew, Rhys, Ezra and Harrison. Our first game (at Lobley Hill ) was very tough. This was our first match, and we hadn’t played together before. We did very well as we drew 1-1. Jack scored a fabulous header. We were happy that we drew, but we could’ve won with our opportunities. In the next match, we were also unlucky as we drew 2-2. Logan and Jack provided the excellent goals.

another game 1-0. Jack scored this time. We then sadly lost 4-0 against

Parkhead. After this, we came back very determined and won 1-0. Harrison scored a very crucial goal. Our next game was against West Lane. We won 2-1. Logan and Jack provided the goals this time. Then it was our final game. It was against Rowlands Gill. We won 3-0. Jack scored an amazing hat trick. We are currently second in the league table. In the spring term we will play more matches so wish us luck!

By Jack and Jayden Yr 6

Volume 6, Issue 1 Page 7

Discovering and Exploring underneath the Tyne Bridge which is very close to where the fire started. We then went across the Swing Bridge to Newcastle and saw how far the fire spread. It was very interesting. In the afternoon we visited Swalwell Fire Station. The fire people showed us a fire engine and the equipment that is used when fighting fires and rescuing people. We were allowed to climb up into the engine and try on their helmets. It was lots of fun. Just as we were doing this, suddenly their alarms sounded and all of the fire people had to move very quickly as there was a real emergency. We

were very sensible and all had to stand against the wall to enable them to leave quickly and safely. Soon the fire engine returned and we were very excited to be able to have a go at squirting the water out of the hose. The fireman even squirted us!

Year 2

On Wednesday 29th November Year 2 enjoyed a trip to St Mary’s Heritage Centre on Gateshead Quayside. We met a man called Simon who works for Gateshead Council. He told us lots of information about the Great Fire of Gateshead which started in 1854. He took us for a walk

Telling Stories of different illustrations and even got to try on some costumes. The staff were amazed at how many stories we have read at school with bears in and we enjoyed telling them all about them. After our workshop we had some lunch and got ready for the farm. When we arrived at Ouseburn Farm we had a petting session with some of the smaller animals and learnt all about them. We held rabbits, rats, lizards, tortoises and even a snake! Then it was time to help feed some of the larger farm animals. Our favourite part of

the day was helping the staff herd the sheep and lambs from the fields back into the farm. The children were extremely excited to join hands and

create a human fence to help direct the sheep. We managed to do a fabulous job and no sheep escaped. Finally it was time to go home, everybody was exhausted but we had a fantastic day.

Year 1

During the autumn term, Year 1 was lucky enough to go on a very exciting trip to Seven Stories and Ouseburn Farm. Our visit to Seven Stories was part of our cross curricular topic about toys from the past and present. We were particularly focusing on teddy bears. The exhibition was all about bears in stories and we were shown lots

All are welcome in St. Joseph’s

where everyone is special, cared for

and challenged to be the best they can be

in our safe and happy school.

We strive to

love justice, show mercy and

walk wisely and humbly with God.

We will love one another in Christ

knowing that Jesus loves us very much.

Roll of Honour

All of the above children have received a Head Teacher's

Award since the last newsletter. Well done!

Croftdale Road Blaydon

Tyne and Wear NE21 4BG

Telephone: 0191 414 3108 Fax: 0191 414 2138

blaydonstjosephscatholicprimaryschool@gateshead.gov.uk www.stjosephscatholicprimaryschool.com

Contact us

Diary Time

NNoottii eebbooaarrdd YYoouurr SScchhooooll

£271.37 raise

d for

Children In

Need.

Thank You!

PTA The Friends of St. Joseph’s, our Parent Teacher Association, wish to thank everyone for their

support this term. The children enjoyed their Tinsel Disco and cinema nights earlier in the term. The Friends of St Joseph’s give generously to the school to subsidise class trips and buy resources for the school. This term they helped fund the pantomime trip and provided treats for all the children while they were at the Theatre Royal.

Christmas Carol Service

10:30 am at St Joseph’s Church on Friday 22nd December 2017

End of Term School closes Friday 22nd December 2017.

Vigil Mass proceeded by Carols

Sunday 24th December at 6:00 pm at St Anne’s Church.

Christmas Day Mass Monday 25th December at 10:00 am at St Joseph’s Church.

Start of Lenten Term

School opens to pupils on Tuesday 9th January 2018.

Reception Class 2018—Closing Date for Applications

Monday 15th January 2018

Half Term Holiday

Monday 12th February 2018 - Friday 16th February 2018 inclusive

End of Lenten Term School closes Thursday 29th March 2018

Urgent Deadline 15.1.18

Parents of children due to start school (Reception Class) for the first time in

September 2018 who have not already applied need to apply now for the schools of

their choice.

Apply online at: www.gateshead.gov.uk/schooladmissions

If you are unable to apply online you can obtain a paper application from The

School Admissions Team at Gateshead Civic Centre on 0191 433 2757 or 0191 433

2756 or 0191 433 2775.

Please make sure you submit your completed form by the closing date of

Sunday 15 January 2018.

Monty Yr1 Archie Yr2 Lacey-Mae Yr3

Owen Yr4 HarrisonYr5 Curtis Yr6

Louie Rec Alexander Yr1 Charlie Yr2

Joe Yr3 Jay Yr4 Thomas Yr5 Logan Yr6 Alfie Rec Lexie Yr1

Odhran Yr2 Alex Yr3 Jamie Yr4

Caitlyn Yr5 Annabelle Yr6 John Rec

Max Yr1 Arwen Yr2 Jacob Yr3

Holly Yr4 Ezra Yr5 Harry Yr6

Grace Rec Archie Yr1 Gracie Yr2

Charlie Yr3 Archie Yr4 Ethan Yr5

Leah Yr6 Daniel Rec Caolin Yr1

Sophie Yr2 Olivia Yr3 Lily Yr4

Dylan Yr5 Ashleigh Yr6 Lacey Rec

Megan Yr1 Zach Yr2 Ellie Yr3

Ashton Yr4 Lucy Yr5 Aimee Yr6

Jayden Rec Chloe Yr1 Alex Yr2

Nye Yr3 Bethany Yr4 Jack Yr5

Jayden Yr6 Charlie Rec Nathan Yr1

Henry Yr2 Dylan Yr3 Amelia Yr4

Max Yr5 Chloe Yr6 Deacon Rec

Ava Yr1 Ayden Yr2 Laurence Yr3

Dylan Yr4 Rhys Yr5 Demi-Leigh Yr6

Rocco Rec Erin Yr1 Faye Yr2

Thomas Yr3 Libby Yr4 Caitlyn Yr5

Abigail Yr6