Message from the Headteacher 10.2.23

13th February 2023Miss T Carnaby

Dear Parents/Carers,

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

 

KS2 Live Spaceport Lesson

At Lamba Ness in Unst, Shetland, SaxaVord Spaceport is developing a launch site and ground station and this exciting venture was a part of a “live” lesson for our Year 5 and Year children on the afternoon of Friday, February 3rd.  The lesson was really enjoyable and really contributed to the further understanding of our Science curriculum.

 

Yr 8 Mock Trial

A team of our Yr 8 children annually take part in the Mock Trial event where children take part in specially written legal cases comparing against their peers in a competitive event that introduces children to the workings of the  judicial system, its venues and access to senior legal professionals.  On Monday, 6th February this year’s team worked on their cases with a Magistrate in our main hall.  The children found this session really beneficial and we have high hopes for them when they take part in the actual “Mock Trial” competition later in the year.

 

Yr 5 & 6 Theatre Visit

Yr 5 & 6 visited the Theatre on Tuesday 7th February to watch the play “Little Manfred”.  Based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, this captivating play follows Charley and her little brother, Alex, in the summer of 1966 as they learn that friendships can be built around difficult circumstances. The children very much enjoyed their Theatre visit.

 

Yr 5 Safetyworks Visit

SafetyWorks! is a multi-agency interactive safety centre serving the community of Tyne and Wear that provides innovative, enjoyable learning experiences enabling visitors to participate safely in realistic situations illustrating everyday hazards and how to prevent them.  The visit is a very important part of the work we do in the wider curriculum to teach children how to stay safe and our children found the trip very informative.

 

TOP Awards week beginning 30th January, 2023.  The core value was Thankfulness

5T James

5H Sophie

6O Harriet

6M Daisy

7I River

7L Grace

8N Oliver

8S Phoebe

 

TOP Awards week beginning 23rd January, 2023.  The core value was Hope

5T Jake

5H Poppy

6O Layla

6M Henry

7I Lewis

7L Emily

8N Chanon

8S Jordan / Jacob

 

Well done to all of these award winners!

 

I hope you have a restful weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

Message from the Headteacher 23.12.22

23rd December 2022Miss T Carnaby

Dear Parent / Carers,

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

 

Well done to all of the children who took part in our Christmas Celebration event on December 13th.  The event comprised Christmas Drama; Poetry and Song and went very well.

 

Our Christmas Celebration event was part of a wider celebration of Christmas that saw our Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Dinner Day on December 14th.  Thank you very much to Mrs Muir and her catering team for an excellent meal.

 

Christmas carried on into the evening with our Christmas Disco and a special thank you to those parents/carers who helped out to volunteer to help staff the event – it was a night in which we literally rocked around the Christmas tree.

 

It was equally lovely to see so many people attend our Christmas Church Service at All Saints Church, Rothbury on December 22nd.  Thank you to our choir and orchestra for their musical input and to our House Captains for their contribution to the readings.

 

Well done to all our Yr 8 children who took part in our annual Christmas Cake Decoration competition.  Well done to the following prize winners:

  1. Charlotte

  2. Sarah

  3. Amber

Commendations go ot: Ben & Will

 

We finished term today with both Key Stages watching an online pantomime which was enjoyed by all – oh no it wasn’t..oh yes it was!

 

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a lovely Christmas and a happy new year and we look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday, 10th January, 2023.

 

TOP Award Winners – week beginning December 12th, 2022

Our core value for this week was Friendship

5T – Amelie

5H – Kaitlyn

6O – Liam

6M – Andrew

7I – Emma

7L – Ava

8N – Carter

8S – Amber

 

Well done to all of there award winners

 

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

Message from the Headteacher – 9 December 2022

9th December 2022Miss T Carnaby

Dear Parent/Carer,

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

 

KS3 Road Safety Drama

Giving children important messages regarding keeping safe is a really important par of our wider curriculum and on Tuesday, 6th December Yr 7 & Yr 8 children took part in a “Josh Green Education Theatre Performance ” in our main hall.  The main message of the play was the importance of road safety and the play was very well received by our children.

 

Yr 8 Sport leaders

Thank you very much to the ten Yr 8 Sport Leaders who helped run our annual First Schools Football Festival on Thursday.  Due to icy weather the festival was brought indoors yet it was still a great success.

 

We are looking forward to some very important christmas School events next week:

 

Christmas Celebration – Tuesday 13 December

Parents and carers who responded to our invite to take part in our Christmas Celebration event on Tuesday, 13th December will be joining us in one of two performances of the event on Tuesday afternoon.  All those who said they wanted to attend have been sent an invitation and we look forward to the celebration.  Mince pies and refreshments will be served during the event and we ask those invited to make a donation with all monies raised going to Shelter – the charity that supports housing and homelessness in the United Kingdom

Unfortunately this event is an invitation only event.

 

Student Christmas Dinner Day – Wednesday 14 December

Our lunch for students will be on Wednesday 14 December, this extra special meal will come with crackers and all the trimmings.

Thank you to all those who responded by the December 2nd deadline

 

Christmas Jumper Day – Wednesday 14 December

This day is also Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children.  Pupils are invited into school wearing their favourite Christmas jumper plus their normal school uniform for a donation of £1.

 

Christmas Disco – Wednesday 14 December

Pupils are welcome to dance the night away at our Christmas Disco – 6.00 to 7.30 pm.  Parent volunteers are always needed, please let the office know if you can help.

 

Christmas Church Service – Thursday 22 December

Parents and extended family are welcome to join us for our Christmas Church Service at All Saints Parish Church from 1.30 pm.

 

Panto – Friday 23 December

Pupils will watch a seasonal showing of Jack and the Beanstalk in the school hall.

 

School closes – Friday 23 December

School will close for students at 3.30 pm.

 

TOP Award

Week beginning 5th December – Core Value was Thankfulness

5T – Edwin

5H – Charlie

6O  – Myles

6M – Maisie / India

7I Ethan

7L Cecily

8N – Ben

8S – Esme / Will

 

P&Q Award Winner – Daniel

 

Well done to all these award winners.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Take care,

Liam

Message from the Headteacher – 2 December 2022

2nd December 2022Miss T Carnaby

Dear Parent/Carer,

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

 

Careers information is always an important part of our wider curriculum and on Monday afternoon Yr 8 took part in a Careers in NHS session.  The main part of this afternoon was a drama that detailed the range of careers available in our National Health Service

 

Student Leadership is also an equally important part of our school and Tuesday saw more than 30 Yr 8 pupils taking part in training that will lead to a Young Sports Leader qualification.  All those who took part really enjoyed the day.

 

Thursday saw the first day of December and we are busy planning the following activities to celebrate Christmas.

 

Christmas Celebration – Tuesday 13 December

Parents are invited to join us in school on the afternoon of Tuesday 13 December for a Christmas Celebration.  If you wish to attend please – in the next few days –  complete THIS FORM.

 

Student Christmas Dinner Day – Wednesday 14 December

Our lunch for students will be on Wednesday 14 December, this extra special meal will come with crackers and all the trimmings.  Our Catering Manager, Mrs Muir & her team, would like to invite all pupils to enjoy their special Christmas lunch.  We are providing this at the same cost of our normal school lunch.  Payment will be taken off the normal lunch account on the day, so please ensure there are enough funds to cover this cost.  Choices include a meat or Vegetarian option.  As always we will cater for those with gluten and nut allergies.

Thank you to all those who responded by the December 2nd deadline

 

Christmas Jumper Day – Wednesday 14 December

This day is also Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children.  Pupils are invited into school wearing their favourite Christmas jumper plus their normal school uniform for a donation of £1.

 

Christmas Disco – Wednesday 14 December

Pupils are welcome to dance the night away at our Christmas Disco – 6.00 to 7.30 pm.  Parent volunteers are always needed, please let the office know if you can help.

 

Christmas Church Service – Thursday 22 December

Parents and extended family are welcome to join us for our Christmas Church Service at All Saints Parish Church from 1.30 pm.

 

Panto – Friday 23 December

Pupils will watch a seasonal showing of Jack and the Beanstalk in the school hall.

 

School closes – Friday 23 December

School will close for students at 3.30 pm.

 

TOP Award

Week beginning 28th November – Core Value was Wisdom

5T Joy

5H Jenson

6O Harriet

6M Emily

7I Leo

7L Jonah

8N Nathan

8S Ben

 

P&Q Award Winner – Will

 

Well done to all these award winners.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Take care,

Liam

Message from the Headteacher

25th November 2022Miss T Carnaby

Dear Parents/Carers,
We have had a very busy two weeks at Dr Thomlinson Middle School.

Anti Bullying Week
14th November to 18th November was Anti Bullying Week and this important event was marked through our Odd Sock Day on Monday, November 14th – all pupils who wore odd socks to school were awarded with house points for their efforts. The theme of this year’s anti bullying week was “Reach Out” and in PHSCE during this week we looked at how we all have a part to play in reaching out to people we trust if we need to talk about things that are troubling us and how we need to reach out to people we think are upset. We looked at how it is important to reach out to be the change we want to see in the world.

Football
There have been only two really important football matches taking place over the last fortnight and they were our U13 Girls Football team and our U13 Boys Football team playing at Ponteland High School. Well done to our Girls football team who played three matches on 15th November. Goals from Maisie and Zara in Year 8 saw a great win over Ponteland B.
On Wednesday November 23rd our Boys U13 team played Ponteland High and played really well in a 4-0 victory. I was really pleased with the football we played with Gus Dodd putting an imperious display of ball control and passing in the centre of midfield.

Cross Country
Well done to the 12 pupils in KS3 who qualified for the Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championship in very, very difficult conditions on Friday, 18th November. We were so proud of all our pupils who participated. Many congratulations go to Danny; Miles; Cecily; Emily; Amber; Emma; Mary-Anne; Samantha in Yr 7 and Michael and Nieva in Yr 8 – these children go forward to the next stage of the competition on 17th January, 2023.

Children in Need
Thank you to the many pupils who organised a host of fund raising activities on November 18th for Children in Need. the school raised over £500 and we had a lot of fun in doing so. There was a real buzz and excitement about the school.

St Aidan Day – November 25th
On November 25th the members of AIdan House celebrated the life of their patron saint in a church service planned and written by the Aidan House Captains. A huge well done to Ben and Michael (ably supported by Will and Toby in Yr 8). We look forward to the Bede and Cuthbert Saint Days in 2023.

Thank you
Thank you to all those pupils who made a donation to Sport in Mind – a charity whose mission is to improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems through sport and physical activity – by wearing England colours on Monday, 21st November. We raised over £120. Often the excitement of England opening a World Cup campaign is seldom matched by the performance, however Monday’s match proved an exception. Let’s hope such form is carried on into the rest of the tournament.

Top Awards
14/11/22 – The theme this week was Compassion
5T Iona
5H Harry
6O Grace-Mae
6M Grace
7I Emily
7L Joe
8N Nieva
8S Laney

Well done to Poppie who won the P&Q award

21.11..22 -The theme this week was Humility
5T IArchie
5H Bobby
6O Rosie
6M Jake / Emily
7I Poppie
7L Sam
8N Oscar
8S Hannah

Well done to Zara who won the P&Q award.

We are all looking forward to Christmas – especially as our Yr 8s are currently taking part in our annual Christmas Cake Decoration activity. Please find enclosed a letter detailing the other school Christmas events scheduled.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Take care,
Liam Murtagh – Headteacher