Dear Parent/Carer,
It has been a busy opening fortnight to our second Autumn Half term.
Our Scholastic Book Fair was very popular during the week beginning November 4th and it was clear from its success that our pupils have a real love of reading.
On November 6th we had a really productive Parent Curriculum Consultation evening. The evening was an excellent opportunity for the school to share its curriculum intent with its parent body and I thank the parents/carers for attending. Their contribution was very valuable. There will be further curriculum events throughout our school year.
Well done to our team of avid readers who attended the regional heat of Kids Lit Quiz in Gosforth. The Lit Quiz is a worldwide competition designed to test children’s knowledge of our Literary Heritage. Our teams consisted of four Yr 8 pupils (Daisy, Matilda, Jenny & Dylan) and 4 Yr 7 pupils (Eilidh, Isobel, Lily & Noah) and competed against 30 other schools. Our Yr 8 team finished in 6th place (the best the school has ever achieved) and our Yr 7 team finished only two points behind. Well done – to both teams.
November 8th saw our school cross country runners compete in the North Northumberland Cross Country at Longridge. Well done to Noah, Isaac, Steven, Katie, Elliott and Skye who all placed in the top 15 of their respective races. A special well done to Molly in Year 8 who finished runner-up in her event. The conditions were very wet and muddy and all our students showed remarkable resilience to do so well.
Thank you to all seven of our school House Captains for representing the school at the Rothbury Remembrance Day Service at All Saints Church. The House Captains laid a wreath at the Rothbury War Memorial on behalf of our students, staff, parents and academy councillors.
On Tuesday, November 12th our Key Stage Two Boys and Girls mixed 6 aside football team showed equal resilience to compete in the teeth of rainstorm at Cochrane Park, Newcastle. The team were competing in a Premier League football competition to see who would be the team to represent Newcastle in a national football event. The team beat Whytrig Middle School and Moulton Primary School before being defeated narrowly against Bede Academy and Seahouses Primary (the latter the result of a freak deflection). Well done to Edward, George, Cameron, Maisie, Emily, Lara and Zara.
Well done to the Boys KS2 Football team who played very well against Northburn Primary on Thursday, November 14th. Despite dominating large parts of the match they were unable to find the decisive goal and ended up losing in a narrow 3-1 defeat.
On November 11th we welcomed our Community Safety Officer to speak to our children about Social Media. The children really enjoyed the presentation and our Community Safety Officer is returning to our school on Tuesday, 19th November to present an Information Evening about Social Media to any interested Parents. We hope you are able to attend.
On November 14th the school further developed its children love of reading by inviting the school library service into school to train a number of keen children librarians. Our school has really invested in our school library and the library is open every lunchtime from 12:30 – 1pm.
Well done to all the people who contributed to a great day raising money for Children In Need on Friday, November 15th. There was an impressive range of stalls and activities at lunchtime to supplement the money raised through our non-uniform day.
Would your child like to be confirmed?
The Bishop of Newcastle will be conducting a Confirmation Service in All Saints Church, Rothbury, on Sunday 8th December at 10.15am. Once confirmed a person is a full member of The Church of England and is able to partake of the bread and wine at Holy Communion services.
If there are any pupils aged 10 or upwards who would like to be confirmed please contact the school by Friday 22nd November, 2019 (email: [email protected] – subject Confirmation Service – for the attention of the Headteacher.
Pupils would need to attend three 30 minute preparation classes which will happen during school lunchtimes from 12:30 on 26,28,29 November as well as the rehearsal which is in All Saints Church on Friday 6th December at 6.30pm.
Tuesday – 19th November – 6pm – Parent Information Evening – Social Media
Our Community Safety Officer will be in school for an information presentation regarding Social Media. All Parents/Carers are welcome to attend.
Thomlinson Outstanding Pupil Awards
Week ending October 24th
5T Edward
5H Lily
6O Daniel
6M Daisy
7L Hugo
7I Luke
8N Daisy
8S Trinity
Week ending November 8th
5T Will
5H Bibi
6O Imogen
6M Kaitlyn
7L Joseph
7I Lois
8N Emma
8S Chloe
Week ending November 15th
5T Gus
5H Luke
6O Freddy
6M Daisy
7L Katy
7I Isaac
8N Emma
8S Chloe
Well done to Wilf, Esme and Ryan who were awarded Mathemagician of the Week awards.
Children In Need
To raise funds for Children In Need we are holding a non-uniform day on Friday 15 November 2019.
Pupils and staff are invited to wear non-school uniform (normal school rules apply, eg no earrings, makeup etc), for a donation of £1.00. This is, of course, optional. If you do not wish your child to take part please sent them to school in their normal uniform.
There will also be various fundraising stalls during lunchtime.
Thank you for your support, we look forward to letting you know how much we have raised.
Please work with us to ensure your child is absent as little as possible so as not to miss out on any of their education. Please read the information below carefully.
Sickness Absence – this should be reported first thing in the morning, before 8.50 a.m. This should be reported via a message on the school answerphone and we ask that you do this every morning that your child will be absent from school so that we know your child is safe with you. We also need to know exactly why your child is absent – ‘unwell’ is not a specific enough reason. Please do not email.
If your child is not in registration and we have not received a message from you, we will contact you initially by text to find out where your child is to ensure your child is safe. If we do not hear back from you by 9.30 am we will then phone the contacts on your child’s contact form, starting with Priority 1, until we get an answer. In the interests of your child’s safety, if we are not able to clarify the whereabouts of your child by 10.00 am, this will become an urgent safeguarding matter.
Appointments – please, where practically possible, make all appointments after school time. We do understand that you do not always have a choice and we ask if this is the case; try to make them so they can be collected after 1.15p.m. thus not missing out on their morning lessons or their afternoon registration. Please let us know (before the event) when the appointment will take place and sign all pupils in or out of the school office. Please keep ‘time out’ for appointments to an absolute minimum, if possible, pick pupils up and bring them back afterwards. Every lesson in school is important and pupils need to ensure they catch up with what they have missed whilst they have been out, they can do this by asking a friend to collect any work or homework or see the teacher of the lesson they missed.
Request for Leave of Absence – An ‘Application for Leave of Absence’ form will need to be completed and handed in with at least two weeks’ notice prior to the first day of absence but we ask that more is given if possible. We must be made aware of your plans so we know your child is safe. Please also be aware that we have very strict government regulations to follow and cannot approve any family holidays during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. If the reasons given for a child’s absence from school are not satisfactory then the Local Authority may take legal action.
Some examples where leave of absence would be granted as exceptional circumstances are: family weddings or graduation ceremonies; forces personnel on leave from a foreign posting; the holiday is important for the wellbeing and cohesion of the family following serious or terminal illness; bereavement or other traumatic events.
Music and Dance exams – These tend to take place during school hours, however we ask that you try where possible, to arrange the exam so that your child is out of school for the minimum amount of time. You must ask permission for your child have time off for an examination and this is at the Headteacher’s discretion. Your child will not be granted authorised time off if this has not been pre-arranged.
I am sorry this all sounds very stern but the main message is to keep us informed. We want your child to achieve their very best and get the most from our school and good attendance is key to this. If you are ever unsure about an absence, please contact me at school to discuss.
Dear Parents & Carers,
It has been a busy few weeks at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School.
Well done to our U11 Girls Football team who won the U11 Shield Competition for the Morpeth and Ponteland area at Ponteland Middle School on Tuesday 22nd October. The team completed all 6 games of their games without losing or even conceding a goal. They beat Belsay, Chantry B, Richard Coates C and Darras Primary, and drew against Richard Coates B and Heddon. Goal scorers for our team were Lara, Amy and Lacey, and the player of the tournament was Zara.
Our U13 Girls Football team came 4th in their group, beating Newminster B, but losing to Ponteland High A and B, Chantry A and Newminster A. Scorers were Cerys and Skye, and the player of the competition was Cerys.
Invite to a Curriculum Consultation Evening – November 6th 6pm
The school is amending the way it reports on Attitude to Learning. Parents & Carers are invited to attend a consultation meeting on the changes on November 6th at 6pm. The event will take place in our library at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School and will last no more than an hour. The consultation is part of our on-going work in consulting all stakeholders on our curriculum.
Local Democracy Week – 14th October – 18th October
On Thursday, October 17th Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School took part in the European Local Democracy Week – the aim of the week being “co-designing local democracy together with citizens and practicing open government”.
Our Year 8s had the chance to see a presentation from Northumberland County Council and ask questions from a panel of local politicians comprising of Richard Dodd,Steven Bridgett, Trevor
Thorne and Ashley Arkle.
The Three Rivers Learning Trust Climate Change Conference – 18th October
Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School staff and Year 8 House Captains took part in a Climate Change Conference at the Corn Exchange, Morpeth Town Hall on 18th October. The event was designed to develop the Learning Trust’s strategic policy on climate change. The Trust wants to help our students acquire knowledge and agency to take the lead, to provide platforms to help them speak out and help us find ways to act together and reduce our impact on the climate. This conference on climate change is the beginning of our journey towards a better future.
Half Term
Please remember that our school is closed on Monday, 4th November for a school inset day. The school will reopen on Tuesday, November 5th.
Harvest Festival
Thank you to all those who donated canned food as part of our school Harvest Festival on October 23rd. The food will be collected and donated to the Alnwick Food Bank.
Take care,
Liam Murtagh
