Newsletters

Our Vision

We believe that our children should have the aspiration and opportunity to ‘Live life in all its fullness’ and ‘Shine like stars in the sky’.

New this week…
 
CHILDREN IN NEED FUN RUN
Our new wellbeing ambassadors have got straight down to business to research and plan for next Friday’s ‘BBC Children in Need’ day.  They invite the children to come dressed for a sporty day on Friday 13^th and take part in a Fun Run challenge.  An optional additional idea is to customise an old T-shirt in a CIN theme to wear for the occasion.  As we challenge ourselves to take part, we invite parents to sign up on our school landing page: https://www.runpudsey.co.uk/school/st-nicholas-church-of-england-primary-school-west-tanfield
Our school code is: CFE7
Signing up will enable your child to receive a medal for their efforts.
Friends and family can also donate using the link below:
Donate to BBC Children in Need Coming up…
 
CRUCIAL CREW
The Y6 children will be attending this important session on the afternoon of Thursday 12^th November.  Please click below for information about what this entails:
Crucial Crew | North Yorkshire Police
The children will be leaving school at 12:00 and are due to return to school at around 16:00. Please be aware due to traffic conditions the bus may arrive slightly later.
The Y6 children will need to arrive on the day in school uniform with suitable footwear for walking around the outdoor learning area, as one of the workshops is outside e.g. trainers.  They will also need a warm waterproof coat and a backpack containing: a packed lunch and a water bottle. We will be having an early lunch at 11:30 so we are ready to leave school at 11:50. If your child is entitled to a free school meal, please email the admin to request this by Tuesday 10^th November.  Please confirm consent by Tuesday 10^th November by clicking on the respond button in the email sent earlier this week.
 
FLU IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME
The NHS vaccination team will be in school on Wednesday 18 November for Reception - Year 6 pupils. Parents of nursery age children will need to contact their GP Practice to arrange an appointment for the flu immunisation.
 
SAVE THE DATE
Mrs Harris is hoping that many friends and family will be free to join us for a Musical Showcase in the school hall on Friday 27^th November at 2.30pm.  Please do come along if you can to enjoy some very special performances.

Spotlights from Learning…

Rocket Class has had a fabulously busy first week back! We have also been learning about celebrations happening around the world at this time of year. As part of our Bonfire Night learning, we painted firework pictures, enjoyed firework-themed poems and created junk-model rocket fireworks. We have also started learning about Diwali by listening to stories about the festival, creating Rangoli patterns and decorating our home corner.

In Comets, we have made an amazing start to our independent diary writing task in role as Guy Fawkes as he prepares to carry out the Gunpowder Plot.  We are looking forward to sharing the finished pieces with you very soon.
In Maths, we have been practising positioning numbers on a number line using our knowledge of the number system and great estimating skills.  We have linked what we have learned when looking closely at a metre ruler.  Can you tell your grown ups how many centimetres are in a metre?  How many lengths of 10cm make up a metre?
 
Asteroid class had a fabulous start to our half term with an arts day focused on our class book ‘The Rooftoppers’ by Katherine Rundell. We had lots of ‘book talk’ and the children have clearly engaged with the text. Thank you for sending in cereal boxes from home. These were used as a base for us to decoupage cello templates with music scores then we added our thoughts on the quote ‘never ignore a possible’ from the book. We also used mixed media to create a Paris rooftops landscape and hope to finish these next week to display in school.  We have almost finished writing our stories based on ‘The Iron Man’, perhaps you could ask your child to retell their story to you.
 
Reminders…
POPPY APPEAL
We shall continue to sell poppies to raise money for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal Monday-Wednesday next week.  If you would like to make a small donation for a standard paper poppy or stiker, we shall be calling into your classroom each morning with the collecting tin.  For larger items such as wristbands, pencils, keyrings, etc, we suggest a donation of £1 or more.
Maisie and Ada
School Councillors FOREST SCHOOL
This term’s Forest School sessions will take place on Wednesday afternoons, alternating between Asteroid and Rocket classes.  The next session will be for Rockets (including Y2) next Wednesday (11^th Nov).  Many thanks to our regular parent helper who has given up so much of her time to support so far this term.  Moving forward, if any other parent or carer would like to take a turn to help, please let us know.

Safeguarding, Health and Wellbeing Updates
DARKER NIGHTS
Our North Yorkshire Police Schools Liaison Officer has asked us to pass on the following message:
Please find attached our Darker Nights 2026 parent/carer safety letter, developed in partnership between North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service and North Yorkshire Police. The letters provide age-appropriate safety advice for families for Bonfire Night and the darker autumn evenings.

  -Primary DN26-.pdf-  

News from the wider community

NEWS FROM THE BENEFICE
Please click below for news from the Benefice:
  -Pew News 8 Nov 26.pdf-  

MESSAGES FROM…
THE FRIENDS PTA GROUP
Please note that it has been necessary to change the location of our next meeting on Thursday 12th November. The meeting will now take place at The Bull Inn at 7.30pm.
Once again, we shall also be supporting the fundraising efforts of Gallone Ices for Children in Need: Lollies for those with dietary requirements will also be available.
 
PARENT CARER VOICE NORTH YORKSHIRE
Please see below for this month’s newsletter:

  -PCV October 26 Newsletter.pdf-