Dear Parents / Carers

I hope this email finds you well.  We are having a very busy end of term.

Climate Festival 10th – 14th July.

This week saw our school celebrate a Climate Festival.  The Three Rivers Learning Trust is committed to doing all it can to address the challenge of climate change. We recognise the urgency of the crisis; follow the science; and will be open, honest, positive and optimistic in our response.  As part of our strategy to raise awareness of the challenges, our Trust organised a Climate Festival.

The school celebrate the Climate Festival in many ways: through a display of pupil art work in All Saints Church; a showing of the Climate Crisis Documentary 2040 and a Dragon’s Den activity where four “Dragons” (Neil Dorward, the Senior Manager for Education Development & Collaborative Projects at Northumberland County Council; Joshua Knight – an expert in the field of the maintenance and operation of power stations; Hazel Scurr – a person who is currently helping deliver the NCC’s Climate Action Plan – and Katie Scott – the coordinator of Rothbury CAN (Climate and Nature) group listened to presentations from Year 7 and Year 8 pupils – as well as pupils from Thropton Village First School and Harbottle First School – .on ideas to help our schools still further reduce their carbon footprint.  The panel were very impressed with the work of all the pupils who took part.

On Thursday we also welcomed The KEVI Senior Students who spoke to the whole school about issues regarding Climate Change.  The Senior Students gave a presentation and then spoke to Year 7 pupils about the Senior Students experience of leadership.  The visit was very much appreciated and thank you very much to Andrew; George and Liam for their hard work.

Our biodiversity group as well as all our Year 8s have been really busy further improving our Forest School area.  We have added benches to this area that have been signed by all our current Year 8 pupils.  The signed benches will be a lovely legacy of our current Year 8’s time at Dr Thomlionson’s.

During the week our pupils also looked at the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, which provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership. The goals recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.  Each Form Class voted on which of our 15 core values would best align to the United Nation Goals.  These core values are then the ones we will especially concentrate on next year.  Our chosen values were Hope; Service; Friendship; Creation and Koinonia.  A display of this information can be found in our main reception.

Wildflower Talk – Monday 17th July

If you wish to take part in our Climate Festival why not come to a Wildflower Talk taking place on Monday, July 17th at 7pm.

Sports Day 2023

Thank you to all those parents / carers who attended Sports Day on Monday 10th July.  I had a lovely time and I was very impressed at the enthusiasm, commitment and endeavours of all our pupils.  Thank you very much to Mr Heath and all our staff for organising such a great event.

Year 8s helping at other Schools

Thank you to all the Year 8s who have been helping younger children in a number of different activities at first schools over the past few weeks.  This work is part of the Archbishop Young Leaders Award.

Thursday 20th July, 2023 – End of Term Church Service

Parents & Carers are very welcome to attend our End of Year Church Service at All Saints Church, Rothbury.  The service is on Thursday, 20th July and will start at 1:15pm.  During the service Year 8 pupils will be each issued with  Dr Thomlinson pen and revolving pencil which will be a small memento of their time at our school.  Following the service , children and staff will make their way back to school to be dismissed at the normal time of 3:30pm

Year 8 Shirt Signing

As is customary, Year 8 children will be allowed to sign school shirts during the last week of the school year.  This will take place on Wednesday, 19th July, 2023.  Please could all Year 8 children make sure they sign a spare school shirt so as to ensure they have another clean and unsigned school shirt to wear during the remainder of their last week at Dr Thomlinson Middle School.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

The Three Rivers Learning Trust is committed to doing all it can to address the challenge of climate change. We recognise the urgency of the crisis; follow the science; and will be open, honest, positive and optimistic in our response.  As part of this Climate Festival, Year 8 at Dr Thomlinson  have chosen poems that they feel hold an important message for us all in our efforts to address Climate Change.

Please spend a few moments listening to the poems chosen.

Y8 2023 Climate Poetry

Dear Parents / Carers

I hope this email finds you well.  We are having a very busy end of term.

Climate Festival 10th – 14th July.

The Three Rivers Learning Trust is committed to doing all it can to address the challenge of climate change. We recognise the urgency of the crisis; follow the science; and will be open, honest, positive and optimistic in our response.  As part of our strategy to raise awareness of the challenges, our Trust has organised a Climate Festival.

Display of Pupil Art Work at All Saints Church

Part of this festival is finding opportunities to celebrate the work of our pupils.  If you get the opportunity why not visit All Saints Church, Rothbury to see Art work completed by Year 8 pupils for their Endangered Animal Unit.

13th July Showing of 2040 film at Dr Thomlinson Middle School

On 13th July why not attend a showing of the Climate Crisis Documentary 2040 at Dr Thomlinson Middle School.  The film 2040 follows filmmaker Damon Gameau as he travels the world in search of new approaches and solutions to climate change. He meets with innovators and changemakers in many fields to draw on their expertise.  We would very much like parents/carers and other interested people to come and join us to watch this film from 6pm to 8pm at Dr Thomlinson’s Middle School.

17th July – Wildflower Talk at Dr Thomlinson Middle School

Also linked to our Climate Festival is an invite to a fascinating talk on Wildflowers at Dr Thomlinson Middle School on Monday, 17th July from 7pm – 8pm.  The talk is being given by our school biodiversity lead – Mrs Austin – Walker

Sports Day 2023

As advertised on our school website, our annual sports day will be taking place on Monday, 10th July.  This year there will be a slight change to the format and the day will be split into field events and track events.  All field events will be held in the morning with track events taking place in the afternoon.  All parents and carers are welcome to attend the afternoon track events from 1pm – 3:30pm.  Please be aware that children should come to school on Monday in PE Kit including trainers, and ensure they have a water bottle and any inhalers or medication they require.

I hope you have a restful weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

We have a large amount of unnamed, unclaimed uniform in school – sweatshirts of all sizes.  They will be available for collection from Mrs Young until Friday 14 July.  We will then take them to the RSPCA charity shop in Rothbury, which holds all of Dr Thomlinson’s second hand uniform.

Please name all your child’s clothing.

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope this email finds you well.  We have had a very busy two weeks at Dr Thomlinson CofE Middle School.

Sponsored Walk

Thank you to all the children who took part in our sponsored walk on Wednesday, June 7th.  The walk – planned to coincide with World Environment Day – was to raise money for a charity our school has a connection with. Linda Community School in Livingstone, Zambia.  The school specifically provides an education for vulnerable children in a very disadvantaged area of the city and a 100% of money raised by this charity will go to supporting the charity that addresses this vital issue as they expand their school to offer both pre school and secondary education to more than 700 vulnerable pupils.  We really appreciated all the money we raised for this good cause.

KS2 Football Tournament

Well done to our mixed Key Stage Two football team that took part in the Bobby Robson Football Tournament at the Newcastle Academy training ground on Wednesday, 7th June.  The standard of the tournament was very high and, although we didn’t progress, the school did enjoy an excellent 2-0 victory against St Mary’s.  Well done to all those who were involved.

Geography Field Trips

On Wednesday 14 June and June 15th our Year 7 pupils and Year 8 pupils visited Marsden Beach, South Shields for an essential field trip to carry out an investigation into coastal and river landforms.  The work helped to develop students’ map skills, fieldwork skills and their understanding of the local area.  The behaviour of the children was excellent and was commented on by members of the public.  Well done to all those children involved.

Visit to school of History Bloke

On Thursday, June 8th and Monday, June 12th we enjoyed a visit to our chool of the History Bloke.  The History Bloke specialises in bringing history to life through artefacts, drama, costume, investigations and art and worked on World War One with Year 8 and World War Two with Year 6.

School Photograph

Today was “Whole School Photograph Day” and we couldn’t have picked a better day for it!  The whole school photograph taken today was the first we have had since 2016.  It was lovely to take the opportunity to capture a photograph celebrating our school together.  Well done everyone!

I hope you have a good weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

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