Message from the Headteacher – 11 March 2022

11th March 2022Miss T Carnaby

Dear Parents/Carers,

It has been a great two weeks at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School.

School Football

Well done to our Boys Key Stage Two and Key Stage Three Football teams who took part in fixtures over the last week.

Friday March 18th Comic Relief

Please be aware that next Friday is Comic Relief and children will be able to come to school in Fancy Dress.  Children are asked to make a voluntary contribution of £1

World Book Day – Thursday, March 3rd, 2022

We all enjoyed our World Book Day on Thursday 3 March and there were a number of competitions for children to enter.

The first was for children to decorate a potato as their favourite character from literature.

Y5:Potatoes: 1st-Jack who painted Christian Ronaldo, 2nd-Hannah who painted – Gertrude from Code Name Bananas, joint 3rd-Layla  who painted Harry Potter, Rosie  who painted- Cheshire Cat

Y6 Potatoes: 1st- Max PP who painted- Gandalf, 2nd:TJ who painted- Bison Boy, 3rd Ceci  who painted- Ugly Duckling

KS3 Potatoes: Joint 1st: Sarah Duffin who painted- Napoleon (From Animal Farm), Elsa  who painted- Anne of Green Gables – 2nd Alex  who painted – Slime

The next competition was for children to paint a stone illustrating  who painted favourite book cover.

Y5: Stones: 1st- Rosie  who painted- Harry Potter, 2nd- Gabrielle  who painted-Secret Garden, 3rd-Leon  who painted- White Fang

Y6: Stones: 1st-Eva  who painted- Charlie and Chocolate Factory, 2nd Sam  who painted- The Silver Pony, 3rd- Toby  who painted- Ladybird, ladybird

We had some wonderful entries in this competition and it has become something of a Dr Thomlinson’s tradition!

The next competition was for children to take a photo of a parent/relative reading their favourite book in an unusual position/place.

Well done to:

1st Joey, 2nd Edward, Joint 3rd Jonah &, India

The next competition was for children to write a book review of your favourite book.

Well done to Amelia and Luke who won this competition

There will be prizes for the best potatoes, stones, reviews and photos. The closing date for all entries is Thursday 3 March.

Children were also invited to come to school in Costumes dressed as a character from Literature:

Best Costumes: KS2: 1st- Ava- Mary Poppins,  joint 2nd- Maddiey- Bessie & Lewis – Boy in a Dress joint 3rd:  Miles and Nick- Robinson Crusoe & an evacuee from Eagle in the Snow

Costumes: KS3: 1st- Freya- Alex Rider, 2nd Esme – Cher 3rd -Luke as a character from fiction

Headteacher’s prize for Great Costume went to Isla

Well done to all of these award winners.  We all really enjoyed the day – thanks for all your great support.

International Women’s Day of Prayer

Tuesday 8th March was International Women’s Day and our school always celebrates this event by taking part in the International Women’s Day of Prayer.  The service this time was at All Saints Church in Rothbury.  Each year the event celebrates a particular country and people from this country write the Church Service in which we all take part.  This year the country was the United Kingdom.

It was lovely to be able to take children once again to a Church Service and I was very impressed with the singing of our school choir – I couldn’t remember a time when they had sounded better; it was beautiful.  I was especially moved by their rendition of “Make Me A Channel of Your Peace”.

Ukrainian Refugee Crisis

We have spent time in School Worship talking about and praying for the people caught up in the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.  Children have asked how we can help these people and in response to this we have collected donations of clothing and basic supplies in conjunction with the donation centre at All Saints Church, Rothbury.  Thank you to all those who donated.

We have also looked at the importance of friendship and empathy with others as a way in which each of us can help make peace in our families; friendship groups; school and wider community.  We realise that this is a difficult time.  We do have support available for children and if parents/carers wish to contact the school to discuss this further then please do not hesitate to do so.  Our thoughts and prayers are with those families affected by this terrible crisis.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher, Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School

Emergency Support for Refugees

8th March 2022Miss T Carnaby

Dr Thomlinson’s are supporting the local collection of items to support refugees from Ukraine in Poland.  All items will be taken to All Saint’s Church, Rothbury.

We are looking for donations of:

Personal hygiene items, such as deoderant, soap, shower gel, shampoo, hair conditioner, hairbrushes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, face or hand cream.

Items for children, such as colouring books, crayons, small puzzles, soft toys.

Food items, such as sweets, baby food, packet food, canned food, paper towels, cutlery, disposable plates.

Other items, such as sleeping bags, mats, blankets, powerbanks, batteries, torches, new items of clothing.

 

 

Message from the Headteacher – 18.2.22

18th February 2022Miss T Carnaby

Dear Parents & Carers,

I hope this email finds you well.  It has been a productive week at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School.

Trip to Barter Books

On Tuesday a group of keen readers led by a number of pupil school librarians went on a trip to Barter Books to restock our 50 Book Reading Challenge (a reading challenge that our Year 8s take part in).  Mrs Lamont said that she was really impressed with the attitude of all the children who went on the trip.  I was especially pleased as I was presented  – on the trip’s return – with a hardback copy of The Sea by John Banville (my current favourite author) that the children had found during their trip.

Youth Parliament Elections

Children at Dr Thomlinson Middle School took part in the Northumberland Youth Elections on Thursday, 17th February.  The children voted for candidates for both the Youth Northumberland Parliament and the Youth Northumberland Cabinet.  A huge thank you to our School House Captains who organised the whole process at our school.  They were very helpful and the voting was completed very successfully.  It was great to see so many of our children involved in this important democratic process.

30 Lucky Children win a free book

Courtesy of Vision Education we had 30 copies to give away of the excellent book: “You are a champion – how to be the best you can be” by Marcus Rashford.  We conducted a prize draw during Celebration Worship and 30 pupils drawn from the hat won a copy of this highly recommended book.

World Book Day News

Thursday, March 3rd is World Book Day and Mrs Watson updates on our school activities below:

World Book Day celebrations are beginning straight after half term. Although the actual day is Thursday 3 March, we are starting early!  Firstly, we have four competitions that the children can choose from and complete over half-term if they wish:

  1.  Decorate a potato as your favourite character from literature.

  2.  Paint a stone illustrating your favourite book cover.

We have had some wonderful entries in the past and it has become something of a Dr T’s tradition!

  1. Take a photo of a parent/relative reading their favourite book in an unusual position/place.

  2. Write a book review of your favourite book.

There will be prizes for the best potatoes, stones, reviews and photos. The closing date for all entries is Thursday 3 March.

We know that some students enjoy to dress up or face paint as a favourite character. It will be lovely to see you in role on the day, but please do not feel the need to spend money on expensive costumes- be creative with your disguise! There will be prizes for this too. Also, every child will receive a £1 voucher to exchange for a special WBD book, or money off a book of their choice from participating shops.

Author Events

There are other various activities planned for celebrating World Book Day. One event we are especially looking forward to is acclaimed author, Emma Carroll, dropping in for a ‘virtual visit’  on Wednesday, 2 March. We were lucky enough to scoop this opportunity when we signed up to complete a whole school Readathon in the summer term.

We are expanding our School Library

Other exciting news is that we have increased the number and range of books in the Library, both fiction and non-fiction. All pupils are now visiting the School Library in their tutor groups at least once per month, and of course, it is open every lunchtime for all.

Hopefully there is something here for everyone,  including parents!

Thank you to Mrs Watson and everyone at our school – adults and children alike who do so much to further develop our strong culture of reading.

TOP Award Winners for Week beginning 14th February

The theme for this week was Creation

5T – Violet

5H Hannah

6O Lily & Poppie

6M – Jessica

7I – Michael

7L – Toby

8N – Alexander

8S – George

P&Q Winner Week beginning 14th February – Emily in Yr 6

Well done to these award winners

I hope you have a good weekend and a restful half term.  We look forward to seeing all our pupils back at school on Monday, 28th February.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

 

Message from the Headteacher 11 February 2022

11th February 2022Miss T Carnaby

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope this email finds you well.

This week we have celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week.  The theme for this year is “Growing Together” and the theme recognises that we are always growing, both physically and emotionally and that part of this growth can involve times when we encounter difficulties or failure. To help support our children in their growth we have looked at  “Growth Stories”.  These stories (found via this link) show that Human beings change and grow – we do it all the time and in many ways. Emotional growth is often a gradual process that happens over time, and sometimes we might feel a bit ‘stuck’. At these times, we are reminded of how much we need others in our lives to help us to keep growing.

In exclusive interviews with presenter and Place2Be Ambassador Josh Smith, familiar faces from the world of TV, music and sport have shared their stories of emotional growth with us.

These videos can be used in class, or at home with your child, to help start a conversation about growth and the different challenges we may face.

We have also looked at the importance of kindness in supporting well being.  “Kindness is a silent smile.  A friendly word. A nod of encouragement.  Kindness is the single most powerful thing we can teach others”.  Therefore everyday this week we have looked at the importance of remembering  that acts of kindness can have such a positive impact..  Just always saying hello to other people or always being ready to smile or nod a greeting is being kind. These small gestures are not huge things that will take up time in our day but they are things that make a real difference to how other people feel.

Prayer for Children’s Mental Health Week

Dear Lord,

Everyone is going through their own struggles.  Help us to recognise that everyone around is growing both physically and metally.  People around us will sometimes be worried and sad; people around us will sometimes be scared and feel vulnerable.  Let us all realise that we can best help people; we can best grow together; we can best help people flourish by being kind, friendly and respectful with each other throughout our school day.

Amen

TOP Award Winners for Week beginning 7th February

The theme for this week was Trust

5T – Abi

5H Nicholas

6O Eva

6M – T-Jay

7I – Sarah

7L – Lily

8N – Lucy

8S – Skye

P&Q Winner Week beginning 31st January  – Emily in Yr 7

P&Q Winner Week beginning 7th February – George in Yr 8

Well done to these award winners.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

 

Message from the Headteacher 4 February 2022

4th February 2022Miss T Carnaby

Dear Parents/Carers,

It has been a productive week at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School.

 

Road Safety

On 24th January Year 8 watched a drama performed by the Theatre Company called “Riot Act”.  The drama was educating children on Road Safety.  The play was very well received by our children.

It is important to remember that children of all ages are at risk of being hurt or killed when walking near roads. It is a sobering fact that, on average, six children are killed or seriously injured on UK roads every day. Please take some time over the weekend to remind your children of the importance of remembering and practising road safety.

 

Children’s Mental Health Week

Children’s Mental Health Week is taking place on 7-13 February 2022. This year’s theme is Growing Together.

During this week children are being asked to consider how they have grown, and how they can help others to grow.

The week is organised by the Place2Be   Further information and help can be found at https://www.place2be.org.uk/about-us/

Year 6 study the Victorians

Our Year 6 children really enjoyed the visit of “That History Bloke” on Monday January 31st.  The subject was the Victorians.

Top Award Winners for the Week beginning January 28th.

Our core value for this week was Wisdom

5T Gabrielle

5H Darcy

6O Elsie

6M Harry

7I Alice

7L Libby

8N Noah

8S Eli

 

TOP Award winners for the week beginning January 31st were not available at the time of writing this email.  These winners will be published next week.

 

Our P&Q Winner this week was Emily in Year 7.  Laney in Year 7 won last week’s P&Q award.

 

Congratulations to all our award winners.

 

I hope you have a good weekend.

 

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher