World Leaders have committed to 17 Global Goals to achieve 3 extraordinary things in the next 15 years. End extreme poverty. Fight inequality & injustice. Fix climate change. The Global Goals for sustainable development could get these things done. If the Goals are going to work, everyone needs to know about them.

To find out more, go to www.globalgoals.org.

Staff at Newminster have been raising awareness – and some laughs – by taking part in the Dizzy Goals challenge. You can see their efforts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFyzf6Ge6g8&feature=youtu.be

The beginning of October marks the beginning of KS2 Science Club. Nearly ninety Year 5 and 6 pupils have signed up to an 8 week block of science club activities including investigating slime, forensic science, fireworks and science busking. Pupils will develop their skills in science as well as enjoying a high quality extra-curricular activity and having lots of FUN! Activities will be delivered by Newminster staff and some sessions will be supported by facilitators from external agencies. Photos of pupils enjoying science club to follow…

 Year 8 pupils have recently enjoyed taking part in workshops delivered by Newcastle University’s Medical School Graduate Ambassador team. First, a recent graduate of Biomedical Science shared his experiences of studying with pupils.

Pupils also had the chance to practice using mechanical micropipettes – one hundred times more accurate than the pipettes we use in science lessons! Then, the following week, pupils took part in a hands-on demonstration extracting DNA from strawberries. Pupils were fascinated to see just how much DNA a single strawberry contains and particularly enjoyed getting their hands messy!

More Cafe Scientifique workshops will be arranged in the coming weeks to allow pupils the opportunity to experience a range of careers in the STEM subjects.

If you are a parent/carer with a career in Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths and would like to share your experiences with our Year 8 pupils at Cafe Scientifique please contact Mrs Urwin.

Following on from the success of the Summer Series, Active Northumberland will be running a similar indoor version cricket event, namely titled Winter Series! This will be taking place at the new Ashington Leisure Centre on a Tuesday from 16:00 – 18:00 (whilst there is no official date yet, it is though to be around mid-November).

The event is listed as Under 13s (Years 6-8), however both younger and older players are welcome to attend and take part. The games/sessions will be structured to suit students of all ages and ability.

P.E teacher Mr.Dick will have more information in the near future, you can contact him via email at; [email protected] if your child is interested.

If you have any questions be sure to see the FAQs; http://ncb.play-cricket.com/website/news_articles/156935

As part of our ongoing work to promote healthy lifestyles and responsible choices, Newminster students in Year 8 will be taking part in a Health Related Survey during their PSHE and citizenship time. A letter has been emailed to all Year 8 parents and a copy of the questionnaire which is to be completed can be found on the link below. The results received will further help us to plan and ensure that we are providing the right information and health related information for our students.

Download (DOC, 750KB)

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As you may have become aware through reports in the media, National Curriculum levels to assess students’ progress in KS1, KS2 and KS3 are no longer being used. Schools have been given the responsibility to develop assessment methodologies which they believe are best suited to meet the needs of the children that they work with.

Over the last 18 months we have worked closely with Chantry and Rothbury middle schools, our feeder First Schools and the High School, to develop an assessment framework that does just that. The focus of the framework is very much on identifying what children can currently do and what steps are needed to enable them to progress further.

Further details about the new assessment framework and how we will be reporting on this will follow in due course, but in the meantime the following links may be helpful in providing you with some additional information about the context of this national change.

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The Give it a Go Commuter Challenge encourages employees to travel to work in an energy saving way. Travelling via bus, train, bike, and on foot, will gain you points. By the end of the event your points will be tallied up for a chance to win the challenge. The challenge starts Monday 14th September and runs until Friday 16th October.

For more information see: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4cmfJKwyCGWUkxpbW4xMC1GMGItTUhQbzYwYU5qSDQ3eVVn

As we start the new academic year, we would like to share with you some fantastic news from last year. Playing an active part in the wider community is something that we consider important and actively promote with the students.

Throughout the year, we undertake many events and activities which are specifically aimed at raising awareness of important charities and causes and in doing so provide support to these charities.

During the course of last academic year (2014/15), Newminster pupils, staff and parents raised an amazing sum of £5,381.65 all of which was donated to a wide range of local and national charities. In addition to this there were a number of enterprising students who raised money through bake sales and donated these funds to local charities of their choice.

This is a fantastic achievement and will continue to be an important element of our Citizenship and community related work in school.

Many thanks for your support!