The school has a small wildlife garden on the edge of our school site. The staff and students have worked hard to clear and begin to restore the site, but there is more that we would like to do. We would like to restore the pond, install a small-scale water feature to attract birds, bugs and all sorts of other wildlife to keep the garden thriving. The garden needs new fencing to replace the current wildlife garden boundary, as well as fencing around the pond to ensure the site is safe and secure for all students. Finally, we would love to add a shade sail so that the newly created seating areas can be used for outdoor learning opportunities, regardless of the weather!

Newminster believes that children’s learning goes beyond the classroom. One way of doing this is through our wildlife garden; an inspiring outdoor learning experience for all the children of Newminster. Our aim is that the garden becomes more than just a learning resource; we would like to integrate it into as many learning opportunities as possible – from natures studies and science activities to providing an inspiring resource to help develop writing skills. All children will access the wildlife garden during their time at Newminster and in doing so will be encouraged to develop their responsibility, independence and resilience.

Through the garden we hope to develop a hub for outdoor learning that can be used in all subjects for every student to experience. Overall, studies of outdoor learning consistently show positive benefits on academic learning. On average, pupils who participate in outdoor learning regularly make approximately four additional months’ progress (as evidenced by the Education Endowment Fund). There is also evidence of an impact on non-cognitive outcomes such as self-confidence, collaboration, practical problem-solving, explicit reflection and discussion of thinking and emotion. With the growing emphasis from the government on educating children on how to look after their own mental wellbeing and also to recognise when their classmates might be struggling, we feel that a fully functioning wildlife area will cover why simple self-care, such as spending time outdoors and with friends, is important.

The more support we have, the better chance we have of being successful with our fundraising and ultimately having a wildlife garden that can be fully restored and used by all of our students. Our outdoor learning projects are very special to us and already the current Year 6 cohort has been instrumental in the creation of seating areas and the general upkeep of the wildlife garden. However, we are now at the point where the garden needs investment to ensure the longevity and safety of the site for the current and future students.

Please do donate, but if you can’t donate right now you can help us in other ways! Share this project with anyone you think would support us. Share the link at the top of the page on Twitter, Facebook, email, your website, blog, mention us in a phone call or even just a chat over the fence! Please support us and help make a difference to our students.

We have set up a crowdfunding page where you can pledge your support:
www.rocket.fund/p/newminsterwildlifegarden/

Please ‘dig deep’ and help our garden grow!

Red Nose Day Super School award winning students once again performed for Comic Relief! The sponsored sing performance of ‘Africa’ by Morpeth’s Newminster and Chantry Middle Schools Rock Choir and Tiako drummers took place on the school field on Thursday, 14th March 2019 at 11.15am.

 It was the biggest and best Comic Relief event held by the schools with over 1200 students performing Toto’s ‘Africa’ together on the school field. Over the past few weeks, students and staff had been busy planning, practising and perfecting their song with the pupils not only singing, but creating the sound of a storm using body percussion!

Red Nose Day 2019 was fun packed with the whole Morpeth middle school community coming together to form the Rock Choir to help Comic Relief. Fundraising efforts both on the day, sales of red noses and through sponsorship will help people living incredibly tough lives, both here in the UK and Africa.

 Charlotte Jones, Curriculum Leader of Creative Arts at Chantry & Newminster Middle Schools, who is helping to organise the school’s Red Nose Day 2017 fundraising events, said: ‘We were even prepared for the rain but thankfully the sun shone on us and this was an absolutely fabulous day for everyone involved. Pupils loved performing and raising money for such a wonderful cause.’

The Head Teacher of Newminster Middle School Elizabeth Kinninment said: ‘Our joint Comic Relief choir was another great example of our two schools working together. The students have worked hard to rehearse for the event and this was evident in their great performance. Amazing work – we are really proud of you all!’ 

Head Teacher of Chantry Middle School, Bryan Stewart said: ‘A truly amazing event which highlighted the hard work of students and staff across both schools. The commitment, dedication and talent on show was a true insight into the values of the schools which also raised the profile and the importance of fundraising for Comic relief in our area.’

Simon Taylor, who is the CEO of ‘The Three Rivers Learning Trust’ said: ‘Wow! What an event and what an achievement.  Congratulations to you and all who supported you in putting this together.  A wonderful example of the two schools working together for the benefit of all, and a great cause!’

Their efforts were even filmed by the BBC and appeared on the evening Look North show on Thursday 12th March 2019.

Click here to view Look North show.

Just a reminder that our annual Book Fair is on now and will remain in school all week!

For every £1.00 we spend, 60p comes back to school for spending directly on our children to help promote a lifelong love of reading!

Take a look at the books on sale by visiting the Fair after school on Tuesday until 4:15 pm and check out the new specialist teenage case for our oldest students:

There is something for everyone!

Discount vouchers, which give your child 20% more book buying power at the Fair, can be purchased from

https://shop.scholastic.co.uk,

and the dedicated free helpline (office hours) is 0800 212281  

Have a quick peep now at the books that will be on offer – many at discounted prices!

Book character winners can choose a book prize (up to £7.99) from the Book Fair this week!

Together, we can make this Fair the best yet!

Sister Act Production 21st – 23rd March, The King Edward VI High School, Lower School Hall.

We have some exciting events coming up in the Creative Arts department.

COMIC RELIEF – ROCK CHOIR THURSDAY 14th MARCH:

On Thursday 14th March 2019 the children and staff at Newminster and Chantry will be performing Toto’s ‘Africa’ as a Rock Choir along with the NMS and CMS Tiako drummers.

Please return sponsor forms and money by Friday 29th March so it can be collated and sent to Comic Relief. There will be prizes for the biggest fundraisers!

ENSEMBLE EVENING CONCERT:

The Chantry and Newminster ensembles joined by the Tritlington First School First Access Project are performing in a Musical Ensemble Evening on Tuesday 2nd April at 6pm in the Chantry School Hall to showcase the wonderful musicians we have here in Morpeth.

There will be performances from the joint middle schools Jazz Band, Ceilidh Band, Steel Pan Bands, Percussion, Guitar, Pipe and Vocal Ensembles along with a guest performance from the Tritlington First School First Access Project.

Tickets for this event can be purchased on the door on the night and will be priced at £3.00 for children and £4.00 for adults.

RE-SCHEDULED THREE RIVERS CEILIDH – SATURDAY 27TH APRIL 2019 AT THE KING EDWARD VI SCHOOL:

The Newminster and Chantry Ceilidh Band will join the KEVI and Rothbury Middle Ceilidh Bands to play music for dancing which will be led by a caller on Saturday 27th April 2019 at The King Edward VI School, Morpeth.

There will be a no tickets for the event. Instead, a suggested donation on the night will be £5 adults and £3 children which can be collected at the door. Please bring your own drinks.

Congratulations go to Newminster Middle School pupils, Harry and Ajeet, who  recently competed in the ‘World Karate and Kickboxing Council National Championships 2019,’ held in Manchester.  Harry, a Year 7 pupil, won a silver medal and his cousin Ajeet, in Year 6, claimed a bronze award.  Cousins Harry and Ajeet, have been members of ‘East Meets West’ Black Belt Academy, in Bedlington, for five years. We wish both boys lots of luck in the next round of competitions, to be held in October.

Just a reminder that our annual Book Fair starts in a week’s time and will be held in the school library from Monday, March 11th to Friday, March 15th.  

On Tuesday 12th, the Fair will stay open until 4:15 pm to enable those of you who collect your children from school to view the books, if you’d like to.  It would be lovely to see you!

All children will have the opportunity of visiting the Fair where they can purchase from an exciting range of books and items of stationery.

 Discount vouchers, which are much safer than cash and give your child 20% more book buying power at the Fair, can be purchased from this website:

https://shop.scholastic.co.uk

On presentation of a voucher, children can choose books upto the value shown.

The dedicated free helpline is 0800 212281

 60% of the total Fair takings come back to school to be spent directly on our children in various different ways, so it’s worth supporting.

Last year we achieved our highest sales yet. This year, with your help, we might do even better!

Due to popular demand, Northern Steel Network is offering a fantastic opportunity for pannists of all abilities to work with talented pannists Marlon Hibbert and Ebow Mensah

Radio 2 have launched this year’s 500 Word competition for children. The competition encourages children aged from 5-13 to write a short story to be entered. This is an amazing opportunity for children to write for fun about any topic. We would like to encourage our Year 5 students to enter this competition.

What are the prizes?

As well attending a spectacular 500 Words Final from Windsor Castle, where superstar celebrities will read the winning stories live on the radio, this year we’re introducing an extra-special prize – Six well-known illustrators: Helen Oxenbury, Tony Ross, Susan Varley, Jarvis, David Roberts, and Briony May Smith – will each be set the task of illustrating one the winning stories.

The winners in each age category will also receive:

Gold Winners – Chris Evans’ height in books, 500 books for their school and an invitation to visit the set of a CBBC Production.

Silver Winners – HRH The Duchess of Cornwall’s height in books.

Bronze Winners – Their own height in books.

To find out more visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/28zgDX98FnDYbN9j1jbk4HS/500-words-2019