Dear Parents/Carers,

Harvest Festival

Thank you to all those donated food and/or who attended our Harvest Festival on Wednesday, October 19th.  Your kind donations have been given to the Alnwick Food Bank.

U11 Boys Football

On the 1st of November, Dr Thomlinson took an U11 Boys football team to Dukes Academy in Ashington,  to play in the Stephen Tait Memorial Cup.

The teams were split into 3 mini leagues with the winners progressing to the finals.

Our first match was against Bede – the match was a close affair with some outstanding play from the Dr Thomlinson defence. Bede narrowly edged the game with a goal seconds before the final whistle.

Next up was NCEA Bishops, one of the strongest teams. The Bishops scored quickly and looked like they might run away with the game; however Dr TThomlinson’s rallied and recovered their composure – pushing for an equaliser and working the Bishop’s goalkeeper hard. The match ended 1-0 to Bishops but was a close affair.

The third match was against St Pauls from Cramlington. Dr Thomlinson dominated the match from the beginning and played some really good football. The match ended 2-0 to Dr Thomlinson but the score could have been greater had St Paul’s goalkeeper not pulled off some fantastic saves.

The final match saw Dr Thomlinson play St Aidans – the match was very close and both teams had chances to score early on. It was St Aidans who finally took their chance with a fantastic strike just before the whistle.

Well done to all boys who took part.

Thank you to Mr Pickup for writing this report

 

Yr 6 Rugby League World Cup Tag Rugby Festival

Well done to the Year 6 pupils who took part in the Rugby League World Cup Festival at Kingston Park on October 14th.

Our two teams won two games; drew two games and lost two games. Well done to Nick; Ben; Emme; Florence; Maise; River; Josh; Lucy; Charlotte; Matthew; Liam and Thomas for scoring tries in the competition.

I hope you are watching the Rugby League World Cup at the moment.  Tomorrow England Men play Papua New Guinea in the quarter finals.

 

Further East Northumberland Football Trial Success

Many notable footballers have begun their careers by playing for East Northumberland, most famously the Charlton brothers.  So we are very pleased Toby in Year 7 has joined Emily in Year 8 in being selected for his respective County age group team.

Reading

Reading is a priority at our school and thank you to all those pupils who took part in our Book Fair every lunchtime this week.

I hope you have a restful weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh

Dear Parents/Carers,

Thank you to everyone who helped out at our Open evening

Thank you to everyone who helped out at our Open Evening on Thursday, 29th September.  The best thing about our school are our children and all those children who gave up their time to make the evening such a memorable event did really, really well.  I include a sample of the feedback below.  All the people who attended thought our tour guides did a great job.

“We both found  the event informative with a feel of the whole school working together in collaboration to make it a success,all sharing knowledge and experience that came across clearly and with sincerity.”

“We were really impressed with the school, staff and students.”

“The school was so inviting, the pupils were fantastic, totally didn’t expect food!

It truly looks like the most wonderful place to learn.”

Year Five Pupil Welfare Day

On October 4th we had a virtual Year 5 pupil day.  A chance for parents/carers to make a ten minute appointment to speak to their child’s form tutor about their child.  Thanks to all those who made appointments.  We have similar days planned for Year 6; Year 7 and Year 8.  These will be in addition with our face-to-face parent evenings that are scheduled for Spring 2023.

Dr Thomlinson battle bravely

Dr Thomlinson battled bravely against The Duchess School in the first KS3 Boys Football fixture of the season.  Although defeated, they never let their heads drop and Will in Yr 8 and Toby in Yr 7 played very well.

Dr Thomlinson welcomed the Kakatsitsi Master Drummers

On Friday October 7th Dr Thomlinson welcomed the Kakatsitsi Master Drummers. They are a group of traditional drummers, dancers and singers from Ghana. Their music rearranges traditional rhythms and chants from a variety of Ghanaian tribes in a ‘neo-traditional’ and accessible way.

The group have toured the UK 15 times, including high profile performances at WOMAD, Glastonbury and many other festivals and venues.  In school they gave a performance to the whole school as well as leading drumming workshops for all year groups.

Northumberland Family Hubs

Northumberland’s Children’s Centres are relaunching as Family

Hubs on September 26 2022, giving young people of all ages the best start in life.  Family Hubs will build on lessons learned during the pandemic and will offer outreach, online and virtual services too, so that support can be as accessible for everyone in the right way, and the right place, at the right time.  For more information click on this link

 

Have a good weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope this email finds you well.  We have had a very busy and productive start to our new school year.

 

Open Evening – 29th September, 2022

The evening of September 29th saw our annual open evening.  More than 50 children gave up their evening to help run the event.  The best thing about our school are our pupils and they all did so much to make the evening a memorable one.  Thanks for all their help.

 

Macmillan Coffee Morning

The morning of September 30th saw our annual Macmillan Coffee Morning for parents who are new to the school.  Mrs Ryan and I really enjoyed this opportunity to have a chat with the parents/carers who attended.  Thank you very much to all the parents/carers who contributed cake to this event.

 

House Captain Elections

On September 23rd our school elected our Year 8 House Captains.  The election followed a week-long period of campaigning in which prospective candidates wrote a letter of application and gave a formal speech in front of the whole school.  All the candidates gave an excellent account of themselves and should be hugely congratulated for their efforts.

The successful candidates were:

 

Aidan House

Michael & Ben

 

Bede House

Will & Martha

 

Cuthbert House

Nieva & Jacob

 

Northumberland Youth Elections

If you are aged between 11 and 18 then you are able to stand in the Northumberland Youth Elections for positions in the Northumberland Youth Parliament or Youth Cabinet.  You can apply to take part in the elections until December 2nd, 2022.  To do please use this link.

 

Year 5 Welfare Meeting – Tuesday 4 October 2022

Just a reminder that on Tuesday 4th October we are are holding a Virtual Parents’ Meeting between 9.00 am – 3.30 pm.  This will be in addition to our normal Parents Evenings.  The Year 5 meeting will be repeated for all Year groups later in the academic year.

We will hold these welfare meetings via video conferencing similar to Zoom/Google Meet. Please visit www.drthomlinson.schoolcloud.co.uk to book your appointments.

 

Financial well being help & resources

Please find resources below to help with Financial Well Being

This article explains everything you need to know about the government’s energy support available to all households and how this will be rolled-out.

 

British Gas Energy Trust – Independent advice and support – British Gas

British Gas Energy Trust is an independent charitable trust that has been set up to support families in the UK who may be struggling, regardless of who supplies your energy. The Trust has put together a Bounce Back Checklist that provides over 220 links to take you straight to the free help and support that you might need. This covers topics such as Cost of living help, help towards paying for a funeral, food banks, childcare/school costs, water bill costs and much more.

 

Fighting UK Poverty – Turn2us

Turn2us is a national charity that provides practical help to people that are struggling financially. Their website offers a range of information and resources, including grants that could help people on low incomes, or those that are struggling with finances due to an illness or disability.

 

Help for Households – Get government cost of living support

Help for Households is a specific page set up on www.gov.uk to help people easily find the support they need regarding the cost of living. This page also includes links on help with transport costs, help finding work and discounts and offers available through businesses.

 

Mental Health & Money Advice can offer free, independent and confidential advice and support for money and mental health issues. There is a section, with interactive tools to help with budget planning, savings calculator, and debt health check.

 

TOP Awards

Each week our Form Tutors award Thomlinson Outstanding Pupil Awards for the pupils in their Form Classes who have best epitomised the core value of the week.

 

w/c 26.9.22 – Justice

5T Annabelle

5H Louie

6O Oliver

6M Rosie

7I Amber

7L Dillan

8N Martha

8S Will

 

w/c  19.9.22 – Peace

5T Imogen

5H Anna

6O Abbi

6M Hannah

7I Alfie

7L Flynn

8N Dexter

8S Chloe

 

w/c  12.9.22 – Endurance

5T Amelie

5H Niamh

6O Tyler

6M River

7I Emma

7L Flynn

8N Imogen

8S Leonid

 

w/c  5.9.22 – Compassion

5T Finn

5H Isabella

6O Thomas

6M Libby

7I Max

7L Gabriel

8N Maisie

8S Freya

 

Well done to all of these award winners!

 

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Take care,

Liam Murtagh – Headteacher