Dear Parents/Carers,

Calling Year 5,6 and 7: Can You Rise to Dr Thomlinson’s Reading Challenge?

Read some different authors and enter a draw to win a book voucher

Dear Parents/Carers,

For the month of November we are encouraging all pupils in these three year groups to further broaden their reading… We would like as many children as possible to set themselves a target of reading three quality texts (or more!) in 30 days.  It is great to see so many of our children reading books by such popular authors as Geoff Kinney, JK Rowling, David Walliams and Liz Pichon (after all – they are popular because their books are so enjoyable), however – for the month of November and whilst they are in school – we are challenging our pupils to see if they can read other different authors to those they normally read.

 It is very easy to get stuck in reading habits with the same writer when you find something you really like  ( I went through a phase of Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie). Why not try something different? Have a look at some of the new and classic texts in the recommended school reading list attached with this email. We will be celebrating all those who step up to our challenge. In addition, every child who succeeds in this challenge will be entered into a special prize draw to win a Waterstones book voucher.  For every book by a different author pupils read in November, pupils will receive an entry to win this exciting prize.

Year 8 already has embarked on our own well established and ambitious 50 Book Challenge for the year.

The Library in school is steadily increasing the range of books available. We also are having our Scholastic Book Fair immediately after half-term , so there will be ample opportunity for picking up the pace, boosting book power and rejuvenating reading. All children have independent reading as their English homework over the holiday so why not make an early start on the Reading Challenge?

Also, thank you to all those KS2 parents who were able to come to our ‘Come Dine and Read Event’ in school- it was lovely to see you all.  Please find attached a copy of the PowerPoint with suggestions on how to support your child with English.

Thank you for your ongoing support in further developing our culture of reading at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School.

Suggestions for books to further broaden your child’s reading

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Watson – Head of English

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laK1-fteyTA

We are pleased to welcome back our annual Scholastic Book Fair to school which will take place from Monday 1 November to Friday 5 November 12.00 – 1.00 pm.  Pupils can purchase books and stationery items from the Reception area of school.

Dear Parents/Carers,

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

Well done to our U13 Boys football team who played so well in defeats to Cramlington Learning Village and St Bedes this week.

Come Dine With Me

It was lovely to see Parents/Carers of children in 5T attend our Come Dine & Read With ME event.  We work very hard to continue to create a culture of reading at our school and such events as these are a very important part of our ongoing work.  We look forward to welcoming the parents/carers of 5H on Wednesday 20th October, 2021.

History Primary Quality Mark

As a school we are working towards achieving the History Primary Quality Mark.  An important part of our work in this area is being greatly helped by a project our Year 6 children are working on in collaboration with the Out of Town Museum.  The Out of Town (OOT) Museum is a National Lottery Heritage funded project which celebrates the rural heritage of Coquetdale.  The Museum is part of Bailiffgate Museum in Alnwick and is training our Year 6 Historians in the skills of obtaining oral history resources.  Both Year 6 classes have received an initial training session in this important area of History.

Religious Education Pilgrimage Visit

On Thursday, October 21st both Year 6 RE classes will be taking part in a curriculum workshop on Pilgrimage at All Saints Church, Rothbury.  This workshop will further support our children in our next RE Unit entitled Is Life Like a Journey?

Year 8 Careers Visit

As part of our Careers programme Year 8 will be visiting Barrasford Quarry on October 21st.

Year 7 attend Northumberland Space Event

A group of Year 7 children will be attending a “Northumberland Space Event” on October 18th, 20212  in which children will take part in a Space Workshop led by Jim Christensen.  Jim Christiensen has designed NASA’s Astronaut Training Experience and Mars Base 1 and has served as an advisor for multiple experiments that have flown in microgravity aboard NASA’s Reduced Gravity Aircraft, the Space Shuttle Atlantis, the International Space Station and the SpaceX Dragon.

In the workshop Jim will be sharing stories from his experiences of working for NASA, enthusing students about careers in the space sector and showcasing his Mars and Moon map resources.

Harvest Festival October 20th

On October 20th all our children will be taking part in our annual Harvest Festival.  Thank you for your donations of food for the Alnwick Food Bank,  If you still wish to donate please do so for the whole of next week.  Unfortunately our Harvest Festival event this year will not be open to Parents/Carers but you have all participated in the event already with your very generous donations.  Thank you very much.

Community Safety Officer Visit

Thank you to Judith Davis – our Northumberland Community Safety Officer who was invited into school on Wednesday, October 6th to  give a talk to all our children on the dangers of anti-social behaviour.  The talk contained many useful and important messages for all of us.

TOP Awards week beginning October 4th and October 11th.  Our awards were given to those children who showed our core values of Justice and Thankfulness

Week beginning October 4th

5T Nancy

5H Nichlas

6O Ryan

6M Adam

7I Will

7L Dexter

8N Euan

8S Demi

Week beginning October 11th

5T Laila

5H Daisy

6O Hylton

6M Samantha

7I Harry

7L Maisie

8N Katie

8S George

Well done to Hannah in Year 7 who won our P&Q award this week.

Well done to all our award winners.

Have a good weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope this email finds you well.

Thank you to all those parents/carers who attended our Macmillan Coffee Afternoon on September 24th.  The event was opened to Year 5 parents/carers and was very well attended.  We raised £387.45 for this very good cause.

On September 29th and October 6th we had our Year 6 Come Dine With Me events.  Again it was lovely to see so many Parents/Carers and I am glad you all enjoyed your school lunch.  Reading is a key priority of our school and I am sure the event following the dinner will really have supported your efforts in encouraging reading at home.

September 30th was our school’s annual Open Evening and it was great to be able to host a live event.  Thank you to the 82 pupils who gave up their time to help run activities or be tour guides for prospective parents and children.  The event was a real success.

It is so pleasing to be able to run extra curricular events once again and our school football season has kicked off in earnest with our U13s narrowly losing to The Duchess and our U11 football team battling hard in defeat against Cragside Primary School.

The school has also invited pupils to attend East Northumberland Football trials and we wish all those taking part the very best of luck.

Year 5 enjoyed the visit of “The History Bloke” on Wednesday, 6th October and all those involved really felt the day enhanced their knowledge of this important historical period.

Harvest Festival

We are approaching our Harvest Festival.  Please help us support Alnwick Food Bank by bringing into school donations for this important cause.  The Food Bank currently need:Bags for Life; Tinned beans; Tinned soup;Tinned fish;Tinned tomatoes;Tinned peas;Tinned fruit;Tinned rice pudding;Tinned meat; Milk pudding;Pasta;Pasta sauce;Shampoo;Shower gel;Toothpaste;Toiletries;Soap.

The TOP Awards

Well done to the following pupils who won Top Awards for the weeks beginning Sept 13th  (core value – Endurance) and Sept 20th (core value – Peace)

Week beginning Sept 13th

5T – Charlotte

5H – Tyler

6O – Jodie

6M – Miles

7I – Esme

7L – Fran

8N – Daisy

8S – Imogen

Week beginning Sept 24th

5T Myles

5H – Grace

6O – Toby

6M – Lucy

7I – Darcy

7L – Alex

8N – Joel

8S – Skye

I hope you have a good weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

School admissions information for parents of children going into Yr 5 (Middle), Yr 7 (Secondary), Yr 9 (High).

Timetable for middle, high and secondary schools

Bring and Buy Y5 Macmillan Charity Coffee Afternoon with Form Tutors – Friday 24  September 2021

We would like to invite you to a charity coffee afternoon for families of Year 5 pupils on Friday 24 September 2.00 p.m – 3.00 p.m.  Form Tutors will be present giving you the opportunity to discuss how your child has settled into Dr Thomlinson Middle School, whilst enjoying refreshments and raising much needed funds for an extremely worthy cause. 

There is no need to book in, just turn up at 2.00pm.  Why not bring a friend or a family member – the more the merrier!

Donations of cake, biscuits, scones will be greatly appreciated and needed for the event.  Ideally if these could be sent into school with your child first thing in the morning of the event, it would help us be organised for 2.00pm. 

Your Y5 child will be allowed to leave school with you at 3.00pm. 

Children of parents who are unable to attend will also have the opportunity to buy a cake so please send them in with a cash donation if you would like them to take part. 

If you would like more information on the Macmillan Coffee Morning fundraising event, or fancy trying a new recipe, please visit www.macmillan.org.uk  where you can find lots of information and recipes. 

We hope you will be able to join us and we look forward to an enjoyable get together.