Open Day, Morpeth Castle, Saturday 27th to Sunday 28th April 2019 – 10.00 am – 4.00 pm.
Library Matters – Libraries Matter
North East Book Award
Do you have a high ZPD for your age?
Are you an enthusiastic and mature reader?
Do you enjoy talking about what you are reading?
Are you interested in meeting authors and getting your books autographed?
If so, would you like to help select this year’s winner of The North East Book Award?
We have about ten weeks to read and discuss all the shortlisted books before voting! There are six books this year instead of the usual five because two of them are are short. Obviously, there’s more to say – and disagree about – as the weeks progress and more people have read more of the books! As we read, we post reviews and comments on the NEBA website, which is closely monitored by the shortlisted authors. Extracts are used for giant promotional posters that the authors like to take home as souvenirs.
When all participating schools have voted, we attend an evening prize giving at The Centre for Life. We talk to the authors, get our books signed and generally have a good time. The ceremony will be held at the end of June.
Visit the NEBA website for more information – http://northeastbookaward.wordpress.com/
If you think you’d like to give this a go – and don’t forget that you need to write a bit about the books as well as reading them – find out more from Mrs Inverarity by Friday, April 5th.
Meetings are as follows:
Tuesdays after school until 4:30pm in Newminster library – this group includes KEVI members and is limited to 15 students.
Thursday lunchtimes in Chantry library at 12:30pm
The books involved are:
The closest thing to flying – Gill Lewis
A darkness of dragons – S. A. Patrick
Girl in the window – Penny Joelson
Boy 87 – Ele Fountain
She wolf – Dan Smith
Seaglass – Eloise Williams
and we’re looking forward to seeing you!
Mrs Inverarity
Library Matters – Libraries Matter
Schools in Northumberland are this week ( March 25 – April 5) taking part The Big Pedal, a national event aimed at improving health while reducing traffic congestion at the school gates.
The event encourages pupils, parents and staff to use “human power” to make the journey to school, and calls on them to cycle, scoot or, for the first time this year, walk to school.
Journeys are logged on The Big Pedal website and are ranked daily against other schools in Northumberland and the UK.
The initiative is organised by national cycling charity Sustrans and supported by Active Northumberland and Northumberland County Council. During last year’s event, more than a million journeys were logged nationally.
The theme for this year’s challenge focuses on health, and all schools entering the competition will receive a human body wall chart with curriculum-based fact cards as well as posters, top tips and daily classroom activities to stimulate their learning.
Miss Scott, PE Teacher Chantry Middle School said:
“ Our children really enjoy taking part in the annual Big Pedal. It’s great to see so many of them walking to school or arriving on their bikes and scooters. Its an excellent way to promote a healthy lifestyle”
Mark Tweedie, Chief Executive of Active Northumberland said: The Big Pedal is a great idea, Active Northumberland work closely with schools and I’m delighted that schools are supporting it. It’s a fantastic way to encourage more children to cycle, walk or scoot instead of taking the car. We all know that this is great for our environment and our health.”
Chantry Middle School in Morpeth has been able to expand its intake in Year 5 this academic year thanks to new classrooms developed there by Northumberland County Council.
An old music block on the school site has been converted into new spaces for learning.
The school is part of The Three Rivers Learning Trust which was established in 2011 and includes The King Edward VI High School, three feeder middle schools, including Chantry, and three first schools.
This new teaching space at Chantry provides for up to 50 additional children and has allowed the school to take in a new Year 5 class this year. The conversion has provided two bright and light classrooms plus some ancillary and storage space.
County councillors and officers from the council’s children’s services team met with the chief executive of the Three Rivers trust and the headteacher of Chantry Middle School this week to view the new facilities.
Councillor Wayne Daley, cabinet member for children’s services at Northumberland County Council said: “The council has been very pleased to fund these new classrooms at Chantry – expanding the educational provision for families in Morpeth.
“This demonstrates the council’s commitment to investing to future proof education by providing additional places not only in Morpeth but also where they are needed in other areas across the county.”
Bryan Stewart, headteacher at Chantry Middle School added: “This is a fantastic renovation of what was an old music block which was not at all suitable for everyday learning.
“The conversion has provided us with two great new classrooms plus some very useful additional space. These are proving to be inspiring places for our students to learn and we look forward to expanding their use in the future.”
Congratulations to Will, Harry, Imogen, Georgia, Felicity, Elspeth, Molly, Will, Hamish, Naomi, Benji, Lexi and Joe who took part in the Law Court Competition at Newcastle Crown Court on Saturday. They were an absolute credit to the school and were all convincing in their roles, whether defending and prosecuting in the Case v Alex Young who was on trial for the theft of a mobile. A big thank you to Mr Warner for leading the team and our two magistrates, Kate and Carolyn who supported us in the lead up to the competition. Congratulations to Cramlington Learning Village and Duchess High School who got through to the next round of the competition! It was lovely to see Dr Tomlinson’s taking part for the first time – competition within The Three Rivers Learning Trust!
Following a successful trip by Y7 to the Tyneside cinema to watch a French film earlier this month, some of our Y8 Hispanophones went to see the Spanish adventure film ‘Zipi y Zape y el Club de la Canica’.
“I thought the film was a combination of Harry Potter meets The Goonies. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it at first, but I am glad I was proved wrong. The characters were eccentric and it captured my attention the whole way through.” Benji
“I found the movie hilarious and not at all what I was expecting. I loved the chance to see a foreign film on the big screen as it opened up my eyes to other cultures.” Jack
“It was a great opportunity to learn some new vocabulary – one of my favourite new words is ‘cursi’ which means tacky! We did some language activities after the film which helped our understanding and our group also had to present a description about one of the main characters.” Amy
Please click here for a copy of the presentation shown at the recent Y5 Hawkhirst Parents’ Evening.
Click here for an information sheet and here for a SV5 form for any parents/carers who were unable to attend the presentation evening.
Please could you return the completed SV5 form to school at the earliest opportunity.
Morpeth Gathering 26th – 28th April 2019.
Please click here for further information.
Chantry and Newminster ensembles are performing in a Musical Ensemble Evening on Tuesday 2nd April at 6.00pm in Chantry School Hall to showcase the wonderful musicians we have here in Morpeth.
There will be performances from the joint middle schools Jazz Band, Ceilidh Band, Steel Pan Bands, Percussion, Guitar, Pipe and Vocal Ensembles.
Tickets for this event can be purchased at the door on the night and will be priced at £3.00 for children and £4.00 for adults.
Refreshments will be on sale during the interval.
Students performing in this concert will need to be at Chantry Middle School on Tuesday 2nd April 5.30pm, wearing full school uniform and in time to tune their instruments.
Please note ALL steel pans, ceilidh band, jazz band, percussion ensemble, guitarists, vocalists, brass players, pipers and drummers are involved in this event
Some of our Year 7 linguists took a trip to the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle for a French film study day. The movie was the animated tale ‘Ma Vie de Courgette’ which is the story of a young boy taken into care after the death of his mother.
“I really enjoyed the experience of seeing a French movie at the cinema. Although the storyline was fairly predictable, it was unexpectedly funny in parts. All of the characters had similar backgrounds but my favourite was Simon – at the beginning he was quite mean and distant, but by the end he was kind and sensitive.” Eva
“The film definitely tested my French. We did a variety of activities before and after the film to help increase our vocabulary and understanding of the plot – my favourite new word is ‘nuages’ which means clouds. It is the first French film I have ever seen!” Ben
“The film had a lot of charm and although the humour was few and far between, there were a few laughs to be had. I was thankful for the English subtitles as some of the dialogue was very challenging.” Ethan
“I liked how the movie showed us the real life struggles many children face in their lives. My favourite character was Camille as she was brave and strong willed. It was a great opportunity to see a film in a foreign language as it is not something I would normally do, and would definitely be keen to see another.” Freya
