We commissioned researchers from Children North East (a local charity) to work in school recently with the aim of uncovering institutional and cultural practices which may stigmatise pupils who live live in poverty. As well as being in school and talking to all the pupils via focus group sessions, the researchers invited all parents, staff and directors to respond to questionnaires, enabling them to hear from the whole school community. We are looking forward to receiving the report and action plan which will help us move forward in poverty proofing our school.
On Thursday 10th November the choir commemorated all those who fought for us in the 1st and 2nd World Wars, as well as those soldiers still fighting in Afghanistan and Syria, by singing in assembly. The choir sung a beautiful arrangement of Josh Groban’s ‘Brave’ a song about not giving up and being brave in difficult situations. The choir sung in 2 part harmony creating a haunting and memorable performance.
Well done to all who sang! Choir rehearsals are Monday 3:30-4:30pm in the school hall for anyone who would like to join us after Christmas.
On 16th November we were fortunate enough to welcome Rich Cottell to Chantry who is an upcoming singer. He delivered a session to KS2 about Online Safety & Cyber Bullying and a session on Discrimination & Radicalisation for KS3.
The session started off with a performance from Rich, followed by the talk side of the session and finally a chance for the pupils to meet Rich and get a signed flyer. Rich informed the students to make the right choices in regards to online safety and why it is important to celebrate the diversity between each other. He also discussed personal stories of when he has been affected by these issues which helped to provide a great insight into these topics. The children thoroughly enjoyed Rich’s visit and took away some really important messages.
On the 11th November the whole of KS2 had the opportunity to go to VUE cinema at Cramlington to watch Finding Dory in 3D. The event was completely free for the pupils thanks to ‘Into Film’ which is a free online resource for schools. Every year the company offer hundreds of free cinema screenings for various age groups with the aim being to ‘put film at the heart of children and young people’s education’.
The event was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all, including the staff! Thank you to the staff of VUE cinema for their support during the screening and of course to ‘Into Film’ for making such opportunities possible.
Year 6 pupils at Chantry Middle School in Morpeth have recently been carrying out fundraising in support of The Costa Foundation. The pupils, aged 10-11, have been learning about the charity on Friday afternoons and they have become inspired by the good work carried out. As a result the pupils came up with some fantastic innovative and creative ideas as they were keen to play their part in raising funds.
In order for the project to be successful a community link with Costa Coffee on Bridge Street, Morpeth, was established. The pupils’ success was unprecedented and due to their unrivaled enthusiasm they raised over £250!
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Freshly picked from Flanders field
Many years ago
Like the soldiers picked from their families
Sent off to a dreadful war
Picked for their bravery and loyalty
For King and country
Living in trenches
Knee deep in mud
Guarding the world like a solitary sentry
The symbol of a brave soldier
Whose candle they called life was snuffed
Remember
While sobbing in eternal sorrow…
Remember
Because they mapped our future
Our tomorrow.
Written by a Year 6 student for Remembrance Day
Children have visited Barratt Homes North East’s South Fields development recently to bury a time capsule filled with items that they feel epitomise their local area. The capsule included various images and stories about the local area, which pupils have been working on as part of a history project.
Our pupils have spent the last few weeks drawing pictures and collecting photographs of the local area, as well as writing about what Morpeth is like in 2016 to give a little piece of history to whoever finds it in the future. Pupils were then invited to South Fields on Tenth Avenue to help bury the capsule.
Paul Race, Sales Manager at South Fields, commented:
“It was great to engage with the local community and get the children from Chantry Middle School involved. We had a lot of fun burying the capsule at our South Fields development, it’s an exciting prospect knowing that future generations will discover the capsule and gain an insight into both the past and present life in Morpeth. At Barratt Homes, we are eager to nurture the communities in which we build our developments. Morpeth has a wealth of local history and we want to encourage our residents and the wider community to contribute to the continuing story of the area.”
Steven Johnson, Head of School at Chantry Middle School, said:
“The children felt very privileged to be asked to contribute to the time capsule buried at South Fields. They really enjoyed collecting the items, photographs and stories about Morpeth over the last few weeks. It was a fun and exciting project for the children, and helped them learn more about the town and its history.”
Show Racism the Red Card, the UK’s anti-racism charity, have been in school this week working with Year 5. They promoted a message of understanding by using the high-profile status of football and football players to help tackle racism in society. All four classes took part in a range of workshops that aimed to:
- Educate young people about the causes and consequences of racism and to explore the various forms racism can take.
- Empower young people to challenge racism in the communities in which they live, providing them with relevant knowledge and information to enable them to do this.
- Help young people prepare to play an active role as citizens in an
increasingly multi-cultural society. - Enable young people to develop good relationships and respect the differences between people, regardless of their ethnicity, faith, culture or nationality.
Feedback from the children showed that they had all learned some valuable lessons from the day and we will be doing some follow up work in class to reinforce the messages learned today.
Chantry A contesting a tie break with 8 other teams.
The NE regional heat of this national competition was a closely fought and extremely tough contest. Each of the top five teams was separated by just half a point and every round went to a tie breaker.
With rounds on Captains, Cannibals, Cutlery, Cars, Comics and cartoons, not to mention Furniture, Hobbies, Rodents, Babies and World War 1, it was hard to predict our strengths and this cost us valuable points, as scores are doubled on the joker round.
Seriously, can you think of ten literary references to cutlery…?
Nevertheless, our teams performed magnificently and should be proud of their richly deserved scores of 65 and 71, which were very close to those of Newminster.
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- Eleanor, Robbie, Alex and Harry
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- Olivia, Safia, Lydia and Jac
This Harvest, we set up a Food Drop Off Point to collect items in support of the Wansbeck Valley Food Bank. Wansbeck Valley Food Bank is a local charity set up to help prevent and relieve poverty or financial hardship by providing food parcels from donations they receive.
The excellent work of the food bank can only continue with the generous support of local people and businesses, so we would like to say a huge thank you to all the pupils and staff who donated non-perishable food items. Sean and Linda from Wansbeck Valley Food Bank came to collect the items this morning and were so impressed by the large quantity of items Chantry Middle School had collected.
