Autumn 2022 Club Timetable
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope this email finds you well. We have had a very busy and productive start to our new school year.
Open Evening – 29th September, 2022
The evening of September 29th saw our annual open evening. More than 50 children gave up their evening to help run the event. The best thing about our school are our pupils and they all did so much to make the evening a memorable one. Thanks for all their help.
Macmillan Coffee Morning
The morning of September 30th saw our annual Macmillan Coffee Morning for parents who are new to the school. Mrs Ryan and I really enjoyed this opportunity to have a chat with the parents/carers who attended. Thank you very much to all the parents/carers who contributed cake to this event.
House Captain Elections
On September 23rd our school elected our Year 8 House Captains. The election followed a week-long period of campaigning in which prospective candidates wrote a letter of application and gave a formal speech in front of the whole school. All the candidates gave an excellent account of themselves and should be hugely congratulated for their efforts.
The successful candidates were:
Aidan House
Michael & Ben
Bede House
Will & Martha
Cuthbert House
Nieva & Jacob
Northumberland Youth Elections
If you are aged between 11 and 18 then you are able to stand in the Northumberland Youth Elections for positions in the Northumberland Youth Parliament or Youth Cabinet. You can apply to take part in the elections until December 2nd, 2022. To do please use this link.
Year 5 Welfare Meeting – Tuesday 4 October 2022
Just a reminder that on Tuesday 4th October we are are holding a Virtual Parents’ Meeting between 9.00 am – 3.30 pm. This will be in addition to our normal Parents Evenings. The Year 5 meeting will be repeated for all Year groups later in the academic year.
We will hold these welfare meetings via video conferencing similar to Zoom/Google Meet. Please visit www.drthomlinson.schoolcloud.
Financial well being help & resources
Please find resources below to help with Financial Well Being
This article explains everything you need to know about the government’s energy support available to all households and how this will be rolled-out.
British Gas Energy Trust – Independent advice and support – British Gas
British Gas Energy Trust is an independent charitable trust that has been set up to support families in the UK who may be struggling, regardless of who supplies your energy. The Trust has put together a Bounce Back Checklist that provides over 220 links to take you straight to the free help and support that you might need. This covers topics such as Cost of living help, help towards paying for a funeral, food banks, childcare/school costs, water bill costs and much more.
Turn2us is a national charity that provides practical help to people that are struggling financially. Their website offers a range of information and resources, including grants that could help people on low incomes, or those that are struggling with finances due to an illness or disability.
Help for Households – Get government cost of living support
Help for Households is a specific page set up on www.gov.uk to help people easily find the support they need regarding the cost of living. This page also includes links on help with transport costs, help finding work and discounts and offers available through businesses.
Mental Health & Money Advice can offer free, independent and confidential advice and support for money and mental health issues. There is a section, with interactive tools to help with budget planning, savings calculator, and debt health check.
TOP Awards
Each week our Form Tutors award Thomlinson Outstanding Pupil Awards for the pupils in their Form Classes who have best epitomised the core value of the week.
w/c 26.9.22 – Justice
5T Annabelle
5H Louie
6O Oliver
6M Rosie
7I Amber
7L Dillan
8N Martha
8S Will
w/c 19.9.22 – Peace
5T Imogen
5H Anna
6O Abbi
6M Hannah
7I Alfie
7L Flynn
8N Dexter
8S Chloe
w/c 12.9.22 – Endurance
5T Amelie
5H Niamh
6O Tyler
6M River
7I Emma
7L Flynn
8N Imogen
8S Leonid
w/c 5.9.22 – Compassion
5T Finn
5H Isabella
6O Thomas
6M Libby
7I Max
7L Gabriel
8N Maisie
8S Freya
Well done to all of these award winners!
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Liam Murtagh – Headteacher
The school is seeking to appoint a school cleaner to work independently and as part of the school cleaning team.
Apply now at: https://www.the3rivers.net/work-for-us
Dear Parents / Carers,
I enclose the OFSTED report detailing the inspection that was carried out on 5th & 6th July, 2022. We are very pleased that the report shows that Dr Thomlinson Church of England Middle School continues to be a good school.
I recommend you read the report. The report is a concise document which helpfully highlights many positive aspects of our school as well as an area in which we can further improve.
Thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to carrying on our journey together in a partnership that will look to provide an excellent education to all our learners in order to enable them to achieve their full potential.
Yours sincerely,
Liam Murtagh – Headteacher
We are deeply saddened by the news of the death of Her Majesty the Queen.
We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family.
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope this email finds you well.
We have had a very exciting week at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School.
Sports Day – July 11th
It was lovely to see so many Parents / Carers able to celebrate our Sports Day with us on Monday afternoon. I’m sure all those who were able to attend will agree that they were presented with a feast of competitive sport. I really enjoyed the afternoon and it is incredible to think that 22 school records were broken during this afternoon sporting fiesta.
The results of the Sports Day will be announced on Thursday afternoon following our Church Service at All Saints, Rothbury. Thank you so much to Mr Heath for organising the events.
Consultation on an amendment to our school’s Christian Vision and Values
July 15th, 2022 – July 29th, 2022
“For the good of all” (Corinthians 1:12:7)
As a Church of England School the effectiveness and impact of our school’s Christian vision is inspected through SIAMS – the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools. Part of this work is considering how well the school has developed an inclusive and distinctive Christian vision. As part of our school’s ongoing work in this area we are writing to inform you of a consultation Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School is conducting with our stakeholders on an amendment to our school’s Christian Vision And Values. Please find a letter explaining this attached to this email.
Year 8 helping in First Schools
Year 8 have been helping and supporting children in our feeder first schools during the last two weeks and their work has been much appreciated. One leader in a First School remarked of our Year 8 pupils: “Just wanted to say how wonderful your year 8s were this afternoon – what a lovely bunch!” I agree – they are a lovely bunch of pupils and it is lovely to get such appreciative feedback. Well done Year 8.
End of Term Church Service – July 21st 1:40pm – All Saints Church, Rothbury
Thursday – 21st July @ 1:40pm will see our end of year Church Service at All Saints Church. Parents/Carers are very much invited. The service will be a chance for us to say our goodbyes to our Year 8 leavers. We look forward to seeing you there.
Signing Leavers Shirts
The signing of leavers shirts is a lovely tradition and one which we will honour this year. There will be a time on Tuesday, 19th July for Leavers Shirts to be signed. Please can pupils ensure they have a clean spare school polo shirt which they will be able to wear once one of their school shirts have been signed. Thank you for your support in this matter
Disco – July 18th
On Monday 18th July from 6pm – 7:30pm there will be a Disco at Dr Thomlinson Middle School for all pupils. Entry is £3 and our Year 8’s have already chosen the music. A small number of parent helpers have kindly volunteered, if you are still to contact the school to offer your services then please contact the school office.
Ofsted Report
We really look forward to being able to share our recent Ofsted report with you. We are currently waiting to be sent a copy of the report. As reported on the Ofsted website reports are ready to be shared within approximately 30 working days of an Inspection: “Typically, we will send the school an electronic version of the final report within 30 working days of the end of the inspection.”
Please be aware this may mean that our report will be ready in September, 2022.
Hot Weather
The final week of school for this academic year looks like it will be a hot one – please try and make sure that pupils come to school with a water bottle and ,preferably a hat and with sun cream.
TOP Awards – Wk beginning July 11th, 2022
The theme of this week is Creation
5T Joh & Layla
5H Grace
6O Emma
6M Xanthe
7I Kate
7L Elsa
8N Lacey
8S George
Well done on all of these award winners.
School will be closed at the end of Thursday, July 21st, 2022
Next week our school will close for the Summer Holidays on July 21st, and reopen for pupils on September 6th, 2022.
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Liam Murtagh – Headteacher
Dear Parents/ Carers,
I hope this email finds you well. It has been a very pleasing week at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School and both my staff and I are able to reflect on many accomplishments.
Transition Days
One of these successes is the wonderful excitement and attitude of our Year 8s when they returned to us from their transition days at The King Edward VI High School. All of them clearly had a great time and we were delighted that they all were so excited at starting at the High School in September. They are a fantastic year group and we will really miss them but they are clearly ready for their next step which is what we all really wish for.
Equally, it was great to see our new Year 5s who will start in September. They really enjoyed their two days with us and I was especially proud of the way our Year 6 and Year 7 welcomed them into our school. The theme of the week was Service – particularly the great kindness that St Paul was shown by the people of Malta when he was shipwrecked there in 60AD. So many visitors who come to our school speak of the school’s lovely atmosphere and the excellent behaviour of our pupils, so it was appropriate that in the week when we marked the feast day of St Peter and St Paul, we could show a similar kindness to our visitors.
Trips
Another pleasing aspect of this week was the enjoyment by Year 7 of their trip to Stemfest at St James’s Park. The Science and Engineering event was particularly promoting careers that tackle and combat Climate Change and those that went on trip found it very useful. It was great that we could offer another extra curricular trip for our pupils – as such trips were not able to be offered during the previous year.
Sports Day
One activity that we haven’t had for two years is Sports Day and a Sport Day when you can come and watch! Our Sports Day is on Monday, 11th July and parents/carers are very much invited. The day is always one of my highlights of the year and – even as we speak – I understand the Sports Day commentator is gargling their throat in readiness…
Please note children can come to school in PE Kit on Monday, 11th July, please ensure they bring a water bottle and sun cream.
Disco
Another activity we are once again able to offer is DISCO NIGHT! So on Monday 18th July from 6pm – 7:30pm there will be a Disco at Dr Thomlinson Middle School for all pupils. Entry is £3 and our Year 8’s have already chosen the music. Incredibly I knew all the songs (why do Year 8 pupils want to hear the Eurythmics? I remember seeing them live at the NEC in the late 80s.) As I will be able to sing along to the songs I will be there but we could really do with Parent Helpers so if you are willing to come along please contact the office.
Readathon
‘Read for Good’: Monday 11 July- Sunday 17 July
We are stepping up to the challenge to read as much as we can next week and hopefully get some sponsors to donate an amount for this challenge.
All money raised goes towards buying books for sick children who are in
Hospital. School also receives 20% matched funding in books for our Library.
All pupils have been given a sponsor card and free bookmark to enable them to complete the challenge. If all money could be placed in an envelope with the name and amount,
along with the sponsorship card, by Tuesday 19 July.
We look forward to sharing and celebrating further success and achievements in the weeks to come.
My Child At School
We move over to using MCAS messaging on Monday 11 July. If you haven’t done so already, please download the app and log in using the invitation code sent last week.
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Take care,
Liam Murtagh – Headteacher
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope this message finds you well. We have had a very busy fortnight of learning.
It was great to see our Yr 5 children arrive back from their residential visit at Kingswood Activity Centre this afternoon. Our children had a great time and it was wonderful to be able to resume this annual experience for our Yr 5 cohort.
The residential was one of a series of trips children have enjoyed over the last two weeks. On June 14th our Yr 6 children visited Safetyworks. The centre, based in Newcastle’s West End, was set up in 2016 and is managed by Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, working in partnership with Northumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Northumbria Police, Nexus, St John’s Ambulance and Sainsbury’s.
SafetyWorks! promotes safety through a range of interactive scenarios for young people and community groups. These include actions that keep people safe, such as installing smoke alarms and dealing with bogus callers.
They also include activities designed to deter children from littering, committing anti-social behaviour, trespassing on the railway and starting fires, and warning of the dangers around grooming. Lessons are delivered by Northumbria Police Community Support Officers and staff from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service.
Yr 6 really enjoyed their visit and found it very informative.
Friday, June 17th saw a number of Key Stage Two children from our school taking part in a Commonwealth Sports Festival at Alnwick Gardens. The sporting festival was laid on to inspire the next generation of young people to enjoy being active by providing a whole range of fun, outdoor activities and sports, all within an iconic backdrop.
The event was organised by a partnership comprising Northumberland School Games, Active Northumberland, RISE Northeast, The Alnwick Garden and Alnwick Castle, and was funded by Sport England Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund. The event was very much enjoyed by our pupils.
On the same day our Year 7 children visited the Hancock Museum in Newcastle. Pupils used their visit to complete focussed observational drawing in The Living Planet Galler. The work directly linked to our Yr 7 Climate topic “Where have all the animals gone?”
On Tuesday, June 21st our Yr 5 children visited Vindolanda. Although first built by the Roman army before Hadrian’s Wall, Vindolanda became an important construction and garrison base for the Wall and the visit was an excellent way of further strengthening History curriculum knowledge of our pupils..
TOP Award Winners
Wk beginning June 27th, 2022. The core value was Koinonia
5T Daniel
5H Matthew
6O Lewis
6M Cecily
7I Phoebe
7L Toby
8N Kaitlyn
8S Rose
Wk beginning June 20th, 2022. The core value was Endurance
5T Rosie
5H Rosie
6O Ryan
6M Jessica
7I Hannah
7L Edward
8N Joel
8S Katie
Well done to all of these award winners.
I hope you have a restful weekend.
Take care,
Liam Murtagh – Headteacher
