Dear Parent/Carer,

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

Yr 6 Goblin Kit Car

On Monday Year 6 were involved in building a Goblin kit car which Dr Thomlinson’s will use to compete in a tournament at Gateshead International Stadium in June.

The two engineers visiting our school to help with the building of the vehicle were very impressed with the contributions of the children involved.

The built car can reach speeds of 20 miles per hour and we enjoyed seeing the car involved in numerous test drives at the end of what was a very productive day.

 

Bede Church Service

Well done to the Bede House Captains who today led our annual Bede House service at All Saints Church, Rothbury.  Our House Captains had written the service and celebrated the many achievements of the Venerable Bede – one of which was to write the Ecclesiastical History of the English People which is still in print today.

Well done to the House Captains for this thoughtful service and for all those from Bede who took part.

 

Girls Football

Our U11 Girls and U13 Girls football teams were in action on Thursday, 18th May.  Two Dr Thomlinson teams took part in a Key Stage Two tournament at Chantry.  The teams played games against Ovingham; Chantry and Newminster.  Despite some spirited performances from both teams, we encountered narrow defeats in five of the six matches. A special well done to Sophie in goal; Joy in defence and Darcy in attack who really stood out with the quality of their efforts.

However, we were saving the best until last when – in our 6th game of the evening –  we secured a creditable 1-1 draw against Chantry.  Well done to Iris who once again popped up in the box to score from close range.  The evening almost finished on an even better note when – following the awarding of a penalty to Dr Thomlinson’s from the excellent match referee – the last minute spot kick was gloriously saved!

Our U13 Girls started their tournament in emphatic fashion by coming back from a goal down to beat Ponteland 2-1.  Great goals from Emily and Zara secured the precious victory.

Unfortunately the momentum gained could not carry the team through into the rest of the tournament with the team falling to narrow defeats in their other two fixtures.  Well done to everyone involved – the response to Girls’s football at Dr Thomlinson has been tremendous this season with 35 children involved yesterday evening.  We look forward to even greater results in the future.

 

Tag Rugby Tournament

Well done to the nine Year 5 children who represented the school at a Tag Rugby tournament at Ponteland Primary School on Wednesday, May 17th.  Mr Atkinson was very impressed with the attitude of the players.  Thanks to all those who took part.

 

Biodiversity @ Dr Thomlinson

Well done to our Biodiversity Champions Core Team who have been very busy building a fabulous bug hotel and village in our Forest School area. The children helped construct the five-story hotel, filling it with all sorts of natural materials to create nooks and crannies for invertebrates to hide in. The crowning glory of the new bug hotel is a green roof with a difference, it has been planted up with the wildflower seeds given to our school to celebrate the King’s Coronation.

 Pairs of children then designed and built smaller bug houses, giving them opportunities to use a range of hand tools. The whole creation was finished off in style with a hand made “Bug Hotel” sign to let all the invertebrates know that it is open for business.

 

Well done Year 6

Well done to all Year 6 for their excellent efforts during SATS week (week beginning 8th May).  All the Year group conducted themselves really well through the week and I was so proud at the calm and resilient attitudes they showed.  As a small reward the Year group went to the cinema on Wednesday to see Super Mario Bros – the Movie.  I am sure you will agree that there could be no finer reward for such hard work.

 

Year 6 involved in Water Safety Week

Please note that next week is Water Safety Week so – in a change to normal swimming arrangements – all Year 6 girls will be going swimming on Tuesday 23rd May.  All Yr 6 boys will be attending swimming on Tuesday, 6th June.

 

Parent Evening

On Tuesday our series of Parent Evening s continued.  It was lovely to see so many Year 5 parents/carers attend.  We look forward to our Yr 6 parent evening on Tuesday, May 23rd.

 

I hope you have a restful weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

It has been a short but busy week at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School.

Coronation Celebration

Today we had a lovely afternoon where we celebrated tomorrow’s coronation of King Charles III with a range of Coronation themed activities. Children designed their own Coronation emblem; fashioned their own crown out of willow: took part in a Coronation escape room activity; wrote their own Coronation acrostic poem and took part in their own investiture activity. We also came together to celebrate the Coronation with cake and juice whilst having Coronation quiche served for lunch.

Girls Under 11 Football

Yesterday we entered two U11 Girls Football teams in a competition at Ponteland Primary School. I am delighted to tell you that in two of the games we won!!!! A close range finish from Iris and a driven shot by Darcy saw Dr Thomlinson’s beat Chantry B and then an even closer poacher’s goal from Maisie saw Dr Thomlinson’s beat Chantry A. Both Dr Thomlinson’s teams played each other in a cagey 0-0 draw before defeats against Ponteland and Bailey Green. Well done to all those who took part. The teams sung Abba on the coach on the way back to school although Sweet Caroline would have been more appropriate!

Survey from Northumberland Music Service

I would really appreciate it if you could take some time to complete this short survey (use this link ) about Music provision.

Top Awards for the week beginning May 1st – the theme of the week was Justice

Top Award Winners were:

5T Imogen

5H Kaitlyn

6O Evie

6M Florence

7I Mary Ann

7L Miles

8N Ben

8S Darcy

Well done to all of these award winners!

I hope you have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

It has been a busy fortnight to begin our Summer Term at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School.

British Science Week Quiz Winners

As part of our school’s celebration of British Science Week (March 10th to March 19th) children were invited to take part in a Science Quiz.  Well done to all who participated.

KS2

1st Gracie Mae & Charlotte

2nd Nancy

3rd India

KS3

1st Laney; Charlotte; Fran; Will; Luke & Michael

2nd Toby

3rd Nieva

Well done to the eight pupils who got full marks in the quiz – they all win a Science book!

Under 11 Girls Football

Well done to our Under 11 Girls Football team who took part in a competition at St Aidan’s Primary School in Ashington on April 20th..  The team played thee 7a’side fixtures against St Aidan’s; Bailey Green and Hareside.  All three games were very competitive but all ended in narrow defeats.  A particular mention goes to Layla – our goalkeeper – who showed cat-like reflexes in saving a penalty.  Mary Earps would be very proud.

Under 11 Boys Football

Dr Thomlinson played a home friendly against Whittingham Primary School after school on the 17th of April. Whittingham brought their A team and Rothbury fielded an A, B and C team – rewarding all players who have consistently turned out for the U11 football team practices.

The C team performed very well, many playing their first ever match. They were narrowly beaten 3-0.

The B team fared better beating Whittingham 2-0. With some excellent play from Jake and Teddy creating many chances.

The A team won even more convincingly – 4-0. Josh scored a hatrick and Mackenzie scored the 4th.

In the return fixture – on April 26th, Dr Thomlinson again took the victory with their A team winning 5 – 2. While Dr Thomlinson’s B/C team played very well, narrowly losing 5-3. A big thank you to all players.

Easter Egg Competition Winners

Y8 Art Young Leaders judged the Y5 Easter Egg Designs.  The winners were  Harry in 5H and Annabelle in 5T  Both were presented with a chocolate Easter Egg as their prize.

Many thanks to all the Y5’s who entered their designs

Parent Evening

It was lovely to see so many parents at our rearranged Year 8 Parent Evening on April 20th.

We still have two remaining Parent Evenings.  The dates for these are:

May 16th – Yr 5 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm

May 23rd – Yr 6 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm

Empty 2 Litre Bottles required

Our newly appointed Biodiversity team are working really hard on our school allotment.  In order to protect wild flowers which we are planting on the school site we need empty 2 litre plastic bottles.  Please bring any contributions to school – they will be gratefully received.

TOP Award Winners Week beginning April 17th and April 23rd

Week beginning April 17th – Core Value: Reverence

5T – Finn

5H Charlie

6O Violet

6M Jessica

7I Amber

7L Adam

8N Emma

8S Millie

 

Week beginning April 25th – Core Value: Peace

5T Daisy

5H Sophie

6O Laila

6M Matthew

7I Hylton

7L Hollie

8N Martha

8S Charlotte

 

Well done to all of these award winners.

 

I hope you all have a restful Bank Holiday Weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

Dear Parent / Carer,

It has been a really busy week at Dr Thomlinson Church of England  Middle School.

Easter Church Service

Thanks to all those who were able to attend our Easter Church Service on Thursday, March 30th at 1:30pm at All Saints Church, Rothbury. A particular well done to our school choir; musicians and House Captains who did so much to make the service very memorable.

Yr 8 Careers

Year 8 participated in a virtual career event on Tuesday 28th March which discussed the merits of becoming an Apprentice.  Year 8 found the event very informative.

PHSCE Music Event

On Tuesday, March 28th the school were delighted to invite singer “Zak – new teenage sensation” to our school.  Zak performed to the whole school as well as delivering important messages on anti bullying; Cyber Safety and Mental Health.  Zak was very well received by our school community and we enjoyed his rendition of “My Girl” – Zak’s latest single.

Lit Quiz

Well done to our two Lit Quiz teams who took part in the regional heat of the quiz about books.  Our teams finished a creditable 13th and 17th.

Our Yr 7 team were : Jonah, Miles, Cecy and Xanthe

Our Yr 8 team were : Luke, Wilf, Esme and  Fran

Parent Evenings

Please see a reminder of your forthcoming Parent evenings

Dates of Parent Evenings:

March 9th – Yr 8 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm – postponed due to bad weather to Thursday, April 20th

May 16th – Yr 5 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm

May 23rd – Yr 6 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm

 

Well done to Nieva in Year 8 who won our termly P&Q awards competition – Naive wins a £10 Amazon voucher.

 

I hope you have a lovely Easter.  We look forward to seeing children back at school on Monday, April 17th..

 

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

Dear Parent / Carer,

It has been a really busy week at Dr Thomlinson Church of England  Middle School.

Drama Club Performance

Thank you to our Drama Club who – led very ably by Martha, Izzy and Elsa –  performed a play the club had written and directed to children at Harbottle First School on Friday, March 24th.

The members of the club all performed with great enthusiasm in costumes that they had designed themselves.  I especially enjoyed Emily’s interpretation of the Grinch – her performance defined the role.

The Drama club has written another play which we have scheduled to be performed to another First School soon after the Easter holidays.

Yr 8 Boys Rugby Sevens

Well done to our eight player squad who took part in the Yr 8 County Sevens Rugby event on Thursday, March 23rd.  The team played 7 games in a round Robin format, winning 2, drawing 1 and losing 4. All played really well and were a credit to the school.  All concerned were very impressed with the team’s performance and conduct.

KS2 Boys Football team

Well done to the KS2 Boys Football team who were unlucky to lose to a strong Tweedmouth side on Monday.  Josh scored Dr Thomlinson’s goal in a 1-5 defeat.

Easter Church Service

Our Easter Church Service is on Thursday, March 30th at 1:30pm at All Saints Church, Rothbury.  Parents & Carers are very welcome to attend.

Parent Evenings

Please see a reminder of your forthcoming Parent evenings

Dates of Parent Evenings:

March 9th – Yr 8 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm – postponed due to bad weather to Thursday, April 20th

May 16th – Yr 5 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm

May 23rd – Yr 6 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm

 

Top Award Winners week beginning 20th March – Core Value – Wisdom

5T Isla

5H Elise

6O Nancy

6M Rory

7I Emily

7L T-Jay

8N Elsa

8S Sarah

 

Well done to all of these award winners.

Dear Parent / Carer,

It has been a really busy fortnight at Dr Thomlinson Church of England  Middle School.

 

British Science Week

This week we were celebrating British science week. There was a science quiz that everyone enjoyed taking part in. In form time there were short biographies from scientists who are in this year’s #SmashingSterotypes campaign that the British science week are involved with.

Children from KS2 and KS3 also took part in the Royal Society of Chemistries #RSCTakeCharge global battery experiment to take energy storage from renewable sources to help with climate change. Using only 1p coins, saline solution, cardboard and tin foil, children made batteries and their data has been included with data from all around the world. The KS2 experiment was to find out how many cells their battery needed to light and LED and KS3 experimented with finding out how the voltage changed when adding cells to their batteries.

Lit Quiz

A staple ingredient of the Dr Thomlinson calendar is our contribution to the Lit Quiz – a national competition about books.  Well done to the following pupils have made it to the Lit Quiz team:

Y7: Jonah, Miles, Cecily and Xanthe

Y8: Luke, Wilf; Esme and  Fran

The regional round of this competition takes place on March 27th.  We wish both teams the very best of luck.

Design a book cover competition

Well done to the following winners of our design a book cover competition that was part of our World Book Day celebrations.  There were a large number of entries and we are very appreciative of Esme; Amy and Alex – our Yr 8 Librarians  – for judging this competition.

Yr 5

1. Daisy

2. Izzy

3. Iris

Yr 6

1. Nancy

2. Libby

3. Emme

Yr 7

1. Jessica

2. Xanthe

3. Lucy

Mock Trial

A huge well done to our Year 8 team who did so well in the Mock Trial event on Saturday, 11th March.  The Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial Competition helps young people understand how the law touches every aspect of their lives, gaining an insight into how the legal justice system works.

Our team was given access to resources, including a specially written criminal case, to help prepare legal arguments for the case. After preparation, our team went head-to-head with other schools to prosecute and defend the case they had prepared.

A spectator at the event said of our team: “The preparation, rehearsals and practice sessions paid off and all of the children were a real credit to the school.  Confidence, team spirit and constructive debate all shone through on the day.  The opportunity to run an event like this in a real court and to give an experience like this is invaluable and one which I’m sure will be remembered for a long time.”

Well done to all involved.

Boys Football

The last fortnight has seen three boys football fixtures.

Well done to our U13 Boys team who played away to Northumberland Church of England Academy on 6th March and then Seaton Sluice Middle School on March 17th.  Although both games ended in defeat, the team played really well and were especially unlucky in a narrow 2-3 loss against Seaton Sluice.  Huge congratulations to Will and Harry who scored the team’s first and second goals of the entire season.  Will’s goal was a goal worth waiting for as his first time volley from over 40 yards sailed over the keeper and into the net.  The team celebrated the strike with great gusto!

Our U11 Boys football tram have been having a good season with a string of creditable performances perhaps deserving of even better results.  On March 7th the team lost narrowly to Newminster Middle School 0-3.

St Cuthbert Day Service

Our Housecaptains plan and prepare a service for the Saint that gives their House its name.  A huge well done to Jacob and Nieva who devised and led a really interactive and joyous House service on March 17th.  The highlight of a very memorable morning was an excellent speech by Jacob on the life of St Cuthbert.  Those in the congregation should have been listening as the service finished with a quiz which put a number of the congregation on the spot!  A huge well done to Jacob and Nieva.  Thank you to the Parents & Carers who were able to join us in this celebration.

Comic Relief – March 17th

Thank you to all those who contributed to our Comic Relief fundraising – the school raised £149.

Parent Evenings

Thank you to all the Year 7 Parents/Carers who attended our Year 7 Parent Evening on Thursday, March 16th.  It was lovely to see so many people attending and I hope those attending found the evening beneficial.

Dates of Parent Evenings:

March 9th – Yr 8 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm – postponed due to bad weather to Thursday, April 20th

March 16th – Yr 7 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm

May 16th – Yr 5 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm

May 23rd – Yr 6 Parent Evening – 3:30pm – 7:30pm

Easter Church Service

Our Easter Church Service is on Thursday, March 30th at 1:30pm at All Saints Church, Rothbury.  Parents & Carers are very welcome to attend.

Top Award Winners week beginning 13th March – Core Value – Wisdom

5T David

5H Harry

6O Gabrielle

6M Charlotte

7I Max

7L Jonah

8N Cameron

8S Wilf

 

Top Award Winners week beginning 6th March – Core Value – Service

5T Iona

5H Iris

6O Yasmine

6M Florence

7I Daisy-Lou

7L Amelia

8N Cameron

8S Michael

 

P&Q Award Winners – Ben and Will

 

Well done to all of these award winners.

We will be fundraising for Comic Relief on Friday 17 March – pupils are invited to wear non-school uniform for a £1 donation.

 

Members of St Cuthbert House are invited to wear House colours (Yellow) to celebrate their Saint and will be attending a church service at All Saints Church on Friday 17 March.