Year 5 Well, what a fantastic half term Year 5 have had! You won't believe the adventures they have been on with Percy Jackson. Through their topic, 'The Lost Gods', Year 5 have discovered a world of myths and wonder with Percy helping them along the way. They have read, analysed and compared the Greek Myths, 'Perseus and Medusa', 'Theseus and the Minotaur' and 'Deadleus and Icarus'. I don't know about you, but Year 5 were glad they've not had to defeat these evil creatures! Through their topic work they have learnt more about Ancient Greece and what it was like to live there. In Science, they have been learning all about forces and how we use them during everyday life. The children made their own parachutes and tested whether the size of the parachute affected the time it took to fall. Now Percy can escape from the mythical beasts safely with the correct parachute!

Year 6 Year Six have been fantastic human rights activists this half-term during our 'Because You're Worth It' topic. We began by thinking about the things all human beings need, and also looked at what all living things have in common. We classified different species of animal - it surprised some of us to realise that WE are just another type of animal - and learnt about the concept of evolution. We have learnt about how human rights have developed over time, from early family rights and responsibilities, through the suffragettes, apartheid and the civil rights movement in America, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We wrote our own inspirational speeches and poems based on Martin Luther King's famous 'I have a Dream', and critically analysed our school against Amnesty International's criteria for a human rights friendly school - which of course, we passed with flying colours! 6KM's fantastic assembly rounded off our work by inviting the whole school to 'start with the man in the mirror' to make the world a better place. Hands up for Human Rights!

A big hello to our Western family! What an action-packed and exciting month it’s been at school. It’s been great to see the children excitedly heading off on their first trips of the year (especially our brilliant broomstick flyers in Year 1!). We’ve loved seeing you all in school for assemblies, booklooks, Parents’ Forum, Challenge Maths workshops, Read, Write, Inc. sessions and parents’ evening. The children have loved sharing their achievements and we are always so proud to have such a brilliant turn-out at events—we couldn’t ask for more supportive families. Our values learning is well under way and we have been delighted to see the impact of both our Courage and Positivity themes all around school. Families have shared some wonderful examples of children demonstrating the courage to be honest, be kind and be themselves in their day-to-day lives. The positivity bug has been all around school in October; visitors to school have thoroughly enjoyed reading the nomination post-its by children and staff in every phase and tell me they leave feeling inspired by the power of positivity! We wish you all a great half term holiday with your amazing children and will look forward to seeing you back in school on Tuesday 3rd November.

Nursery As part of our 'Into the Woods' topic we have been exploring the story of The Gigantic Turnip. We have been brilliant at retelling the story using our story maps and using these to tell the story with our small world characters in small groups. We have been counting out the ingredients to make our own Turnip stew together. We tried the stew together; some of us enjoyed it more than others! The Nursery children have also been thinking positively about what we are thankful for and drawing pictures of these. Some of the things that make us happy are: jelly, birthdays, muddy puddles, swimming pools, jewellery, perfume, cheese and ham sandwiches! We are trying hard to think of these things when we are feeling a little sad. Cole is particularly good at reminding children that it is nearly Christmas when they need cheering up - it is great to see children spreading their positivity to others!

Reception

Reminder Dates for your Diary 23 Oct School closes for 1/2 term break 2 Nov Teacher Training Day 3 Nov School reopens for pupils 3-11 Nov Remembrance week 3 Nov 4.30pm Open evening for prospective nursery parents 6 Nov 3pm Friends of Western (FOW) meeting 9 Nov Proud presentation assemblies 12 Nov FOW disco 16 Nov 3pm 5LW class assembly 20 Nov 2.30pm Western University Graduation 23 Nov 3pm 4JC class assembly

October 2015

26 Nov Y2 trip to Discovery Museum 27 Nov Yrs 1, 2, 3 Panto trip to Theatre Royal 30 Nov Nursery visit to Northern Stage 3 Dec Reception visit to Northern Stage 4 Dec Yrs 4, 5, 6 Panto trip to Theatre Royal 7 Dec Y5 visit to Hancock Planetarium 8 Dec Nursery Christmas performance 10 Dec KS2 Christmas performances 11 Dec KS1 Christmas performance 15 Dec Reception Christmas performance 16 Dec Family Christmas Lunch

We have thoroughly enjoyed our topic of 'Into the Woods' this half term. We started by exploring some of our favourite traditional tales that take place in this setting. We have made sure that Red Riding Hood's grandma is much feeling much better after her awful encounter with the wolf by making her some delicious soup. Baby Bear is also feeling much better because we have designed him an awesome new chair. We have also learnt to retell some of our favourite tales and even made our own stories based on the 'Enormous Turnip'. Our topic would not have been complete without a visit to the woods to explore for ourselves. We had a fantastic day at Plessey woods and found lots of autumn treasures of our very own. We have had an absolutely amazing half term and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your fantastic children. The children have worked incredibly hard and we are very proud of their achievements.

Year 1 In Year 1 our topic has been ‘A Touch of Magic’. We have been receiving many tasks from the Chief Wizard and have written letters to join the Young Wizards’ Academy. We wrote our own spells and then skilfully wrote instructions for a ‘Positivity Potion’ using imperative (‘bossy’) verbs and time connectives. One afternoon we discovered that magical objects had been found in the school grounds. When we investigated, we found all sorts of evidence that wizards had been near school! We found a pointed hat, cauldrons and even a broomstick! In science we have been carrying out all kinds of magical investigations. We investigated whether we could make an egg bounce, and if we could put pencils through a bag of water without letting any water out. Our most exciting event was our visit to Alnwick Castle. We made our own magic wands, listened to stories of magic from the past and took part in Broomstick Training. We also loved looking around the State Rooms inside the castle.

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Year 4 We have been learning all about the treacherous journey that migrants made from Europe to America in the early 1900's. Our expedition has taken us from the depths of the ship's steerage to life in New York's famous tenement neighbourhood, via the rigorous border controls on Eillis Island. As part of our work we visited Newcastle International Airport, to see the similarities and differences between entering a new country today compared to the journey faced by so many in years gone by. We have also had the opportunity to tread the boards with a range of drama workshops in school; this has helped us to empathise with all the emotions that the migrants experienced as they made their once in a life-time trip. It really has been a voyage of discovery!