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Grace Darling

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Grace Darling Logo
  • Our School
    • Vision and Values
    • Early Years Foundation Stage
    • Curriculum
    • Extra-Curricular Activities
    • Our School Books
    • Enrichment
    • Careers Education
    • Our Staff
    • Governance
    • Chaplaincy
    • Community Links
    • NCEA Trust
    • Facilities Hire
    • Work For Us
    • Gallery
  • Key Information
    • Policies
    • Admissions
    • Statutory Information
    • SATs
    • Safeguarding
    • Anti-bullying and e-Safety
    • British Values
    • Pupil Premium
    • Sports Premium
    • SEND
    • Data Protection and Privacy
    • Mental Health and Wellbeing
  • Parent/Carer Hub
    • Year 6 Transition
    • Letters and Newsletters
    • Covid-19 Information
    • Useful Apps and Resources
    • Term Dates
    • Uniform
    • Breakfast Club
    • School Meals
    • Speech and Language
    • Ofsted Parent View
    • e-Safety for Parents/Carers
    • Severe Weather
    • Growth Mindset
  • Pupil Hub
    • Reading Corner
    • Accelerated Reader
    • Student Leadership
    • Children’s Links
    • Soundcloud
    • LifeSavers
    • Virtual Easter School
  • News
    • Latest News
    • NCEA LIGHThouse Newsletters
  • Contact Us
Grace Darling Logo
  • Our School
    • Vision and Values
    • Early Years Foundation Stage
    • Curriculum
    • Extra-Curricular Activities
    • Our School Books
    • Enrichment
    • Careers Education
    • Our Staff
    • Governance
    • Chaplaincy
    • Community Links
    • NCEA Trust
    • Facilities Hire
    • Work For Us
    • Gallery
  • Key Information
    • Policies
    • Admissions
    • Statutory Information
    • SATs
    • Safeguarding
    • Anti-bullying and e-Safety
    • British Values
    • Pupil Premium
    • Sports Premium
    • SEND
    • Data Protection and Privacy
    • Mental Health and Wellbeing
  • Parent/Carer Hub
    • Year 6 Transition
    • Letters and Newsletters
    • Covid-19 Information
    • Useful Apps and Resources
    • Term Dates
    • Uniform
    • Breakfast Club
    • School Meals
    • Speech and Language
    • Ofsted Parent View
    • e-Safety for Parents/Carers
    • Severe Weather
    • Growth Mindset
  • Pupil Hub
    • Reading Corner
    • Accelerated Reader
    • Student Leadership
    • Children’s Links
    • Soundcloud
    • LifeSavers
    • Virtual Easter School
  • News
    • Latest News
    • NCEA LIGHThouse Newsletters
  • Contact Us
Category

Front Page News

Celebrating National Careers Week

10th March 2022Leanne Tonks

What do you aspire to be? A question children at Grace Darling have been thinking about a lot this week as part of National Careers Week.

Throughout the week, children have been thinking about their future careers and exploring the qualities and qualifications needed to complete each role. Children have each completed a career passport, exposing them to six new careers and written questions to help them find out more about each role.

A huge focus of the week has been on challenging gender stereotypes in career choices and throughout the school children have dressed up, taken part in role play activities and participated in virtual visits with professionals from various sectors.

Click on any of the photos below to view images in a slideshow


Digital Camera

Front Page News,Latest News

Bikeability training keeps pupils ‘wheelie’ safe!

18th February 2022Leanne Tonks

Children in Year 4 at Grace Darling Primary gave their bikes an important safety check, dusted off their helmets and checked they fitted securely before working with Marcus from the Cycle Partnership to complete their level 1 Bikeability training in school.

Bikeability is the only UK Government recognised cycle training scheme funded by the Department for Transport and is designed to teach pupils the skills and confidence to cycle safely. Bikeability Level 1 aims to develop cycle handling in an off-road environment and prepare riders for cycling on the road.

Marcus was very impressed with the behaviour and positive attitudes displayed by all the children and thoroughly enjoyed his day at Grace Darling. Each child who took part successfully completed the assessment and will receive a Bikeability Level 1 badge and certificate.


Front Page News,Latest News

Important Notice: Cyber Security Issue

2nd February 2022Leanne Tonks

Dear parents/carers,

It has been brought to our attention by a parent from one of our Trust schools that a suspicious looking email, seemingly sent by members of staff within the Trust, has been issued. The emails have a ‘zip file’ attachment and password to use to open it, however, this is not a legitimate email so please do not click on the attachment.

While a thorough investigation is still being carried out by our IT team, we can confirm that this is part of a wider cyber security issue which highly likely originated from outside of NCEAT, but is now having a direct impact on our own communications systems.

We have increased our internal online security as far as possible and are working with providers to ensure that as many of these potentially harmful emails are ‘filtered out’ of our network, however, if you do receive any suspicious looking emails, claiming to be from Grace Darling Primary, please do not click on any links or attachments and mark the email as ‘spam’.

To help you to identify a potential scam, please see some guidance below:

  • The “sent by” address will either be a jumble of random letters and numbers or have an unusual domain (not .com or .co.uk)
  • The email will contain links to click to ‘confirm your details’ or ‘make a payment’
  • The email may have an attachment which looks strange or unsafe to open
  • The email may give you a limited time to reply
  • There might be spelling mistakes, bad grammar and sentences which don’t quite make sense
  • If the email contains any logos or images, these may appear ‘pixelated’ or blurry
  • If requesting money, the amount will usually be quite specific, not rounded up to the nearest pound/pence to try and make it seem legitimate, eg £692.88 instead of £700,00.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We are working as quickly as we can to resolve the issue. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Front Page News

The new community initiative promoting reading for wellbeing

6th December 2021Leanne Tonks

A new community reading service is helping to bring stories to life for pupils and parents at a primary school in South East Northumberland.

Designed to engage children in the concept of ‘reading for pleasure’, the weekly Story Club at Grace Darling C of E Primary School in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea explores different ways to access stories, such as through local libraries and also online.

The popular sessions are hosted by representatives from the Community Reading Partnership, a new initiative which has seen a number of community hubs created within the local area, designed to improve people’s mental health and wellbeing through encouraging them to read.

While Story Club is available exclusively to pupils and parents of pupils who attend the school, the community hubs are open to all and welcome readers of all ages to each session, who come together to talk about reading, discover new books, meet likeminded individuals and find escapism through literature.

Mrs Sharon Cole, Co-Headteacher at Grace Darling C of E Primary School, commented:

“Reading is a huge part of our curriculum at Grace Darling so getting involved with the new Reading Partnership programme within Newbiggin was a great fit for us.

“From the moment that our pupils enter Nursery, we actively encourage interaction with stories and nursery rhymes and it is our ambition that by the time our children leave Year 2, they are all fluent, independent readers.

“Our pupils are all really enjoying their weekly Story Club and it’s wonderful to see so many parents coming along to participate in the sessions too, many of whom are also accessing the community-based Reading Partnership sessions and taking that little bit of time for themselves to focus on their health and wellbeing.”

The Community Reading Partnership was pioneered and continues to be part-funded by Ann Cleeves, best-selling author of the popular detective series, ‘Vera’.

Having delivered a keynote speech at the Regional Public Health England Conference about the therapeutic value of reading and its ability to improve people’s health and wellbeing, Ann joined forces with Local Authorities and Public Health England to get the Community Reading Partnership off the ground – creating 9 new roles for Community Reading Workers within the North East alone.

Jane Sampson and Sarah Carlson are the Community Reading Workers responsible for the sessions hosted around Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. They said:

“It has been wonderful getting to know the staff, pupils and parents at Grace Darling Primary as well as members of the wider community within Newbiggin over the past few weeks and we’re delighted to see already the impact that the sessions are having on people’s confidence and wellbeing.

“Our reader-centred approach is designed to support readers of all ages and abilities to discover new titles which appeal to their interests, and help them to relax and unwind in a safe and welcoming environment.”

For more information about the community reading sessions at The Hive in East Lea and the Arts Centre in Newbiggin, on Front Street and Gibson Street, contact read@northumberland.gov.uk. To find out more about Grace Darling C of E Primary School, visit www.gracedarling.ncea.org.uk.

Front Page News,Latest News

Trust Primary School’s in national Top 50 for reading achievements

30th September 2021Leanne Tonks

NCEAT’s primary schools, including Grace Darling, have been recognised in the UK’s top 50 schools for Accelerated Reader usage.

Accelerated Reader is an online platform which supports pupils’ reading skills. When they first start using the platform, pupils complete a STAR reading test which gives them a level based on their reading ability and advises on the books they should be reading. This allows teachers to ensure that pupils are challenged with an appropriate text and develops their reading fluency.

Once they have finished reading their book, they can then complete a comprehension quiz to assess whether they have understood what they have read. This gives teachers valuable information about pupils reading ages and also reading comprehension ability.

Prior to the summer holidays, the primary schools within the Trust had a big push on reading for pleasure, encouraging pupils to read at home with parents and carers. This push has seen pupils carry out over 28,537 Accelerated Reader quizzes online since August – that’s 28,537 books read across Bishop’s, Grace Darling, James Knott, Thomas Bewick and William Leech C of E Primary Schools!

Jack Christophers, Director of Literacy, commented:

“We’re absolutely blown away by what our pupils have achieved through Accelerated Reader. The statistics speak for themselves – our pupils have put in an amazing amount of effort and we’re extremely proud of each and every one of them.”

To find out more about reading in the primary curriculum, visit our Reading Corner!

Front Page News,Latest News

Year 6 Open Evening Thursday 30th September 4.00 – 6.00pm

23rd September 2021Ray Snell

Dear Parents/Carers

We would like to invite the parents/carers of all Year 6 learners to an open evening at Dukes. Transition between primary and secondary can be a difficult time and we want to make that transition smooth. Our open evening will you an opportunity to meet the staff and current students and find out more about the exciting curriculum and enrichment opportunities we provide here at Duke’s.

Year 6 Open Evening Thursday 30th September 4.00 – 6.00pm

The event will start at 4.00pm and end at 6.00pm. There will be a welcome talk given by our Principal Mr Atkinson during the evening. There will also be some current Year 7 and 8 learners supporting this event through sharing their experience and answering any questions your child may have.

Information
In the meantime if you would like any further information please visit our school website where we have a dedicated webpage for Year 6 transition. https://dukes.ncea.org.uk/y6-transition/

Contacting school staff
If you need to speak to the staff responsible for your child please call 01670 816111 (ex. 329) or email ashleigh.mitcheson@dukes.ncea.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Mitcheson
Head of Year7

Front Page News

Bishop of Berwick impressed by children’s ‘resilience’ on visit to Northumberland schools

14th September 2021Leanne Tonks

Pupils at Grace Darling C of E Primary School in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and Duke’s Secondary School in Ashington have welcomed a very special visitor, The Right Reverend Mark Wroe, Bishop of Berwick.

Formerly the Archdeacon of Northumberland,the Right Reverend Mark Wroe was installed as the Suffragan Bishop of Berwick in January this year – only the second person to have received the title in living memory after the Diocese of Newcastle resurrected the role in 2016 following a 444 year hiatus.

Serving the areas between the Tyne and Tweed rivers, the Bishop’s role is vast and varied. Having been consecrated during the Covid-19 pandemic, this visit has been one of the first opportunities for the Right Rev. Mark to get out to meet some of the children and young people in the South East of the county.

During his visit, the Bishop was treated to a tour of the full Grace Darling C of E Primary School campus, visiting each class in turn to view their displays and find out how they were settling back into school after the summer holidays. He met with the school’s ‘Gardening Gang’ who look after the school’s outdoor spaces and spoke with staff about the school’s involvement in the Thrive programme for promoting positive mental health and wellbeing in children.

On arriving at the Duke’s Secondary School campus in the afternoon, the Bishop met with the school’s Principal, Russ Atkinson, and was shown around some of the classrooms where Covid-19 catch up sessions were taking place for students in critical exam years. The day was rounded off with a meeting of school leaders from across Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust (to which Grace Darling C of E Primary School and Duke’s Secondary School are members).

Commenting on his visit, the Right Reverend Mark Wroe, said:

“I’ve been really impressed by what I’ve seen today. The resilience that has been shown by teachers and pupils during what has been an incredibly challenging time for schools is just amazing and it’s great to see how people have come together to support each other. I’d like to thank Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust for having me today and I’ll look forward to visiting again in future.”

Alan Hardie, CEO at Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, added:

“It was wonderful to have Bishop Mark with us today. At NCEAT, we value our close working relationship with the Dioceses of Newcastle and Durham and it is always a pleasure to host members of the clergy at our schools.”

For more information about Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, visit www.ncea.org.uk.

Front Page News,Latest News

LIGHThouse – Summer Holiday Edition

28th July 2021Leanne Tonks

Click the button below to view the latest issue of our LIGHThouse newsletter.

In this edition:

  • Free School Meals vouchers for summer (All Trust)
  • Summer School reminder for Year 6 pupils (All Bishop's)
  • Showing racism the red card (All Trust)
  • Get lost in a book this summer (All Trust)
  • £5,500 raised for CRUK (Thomas Bewick Campus)
  • Sports success for Duke's students (Duke's Secondary)
  • Alpaca madness! (Warkworth Primary)
  • Castle School pupil becomes charity cover star (Castle)
  • The Karate Kid (Grace Darling Campus)
  • CEO's blog: Making the most of our summer (All Trust)
Click here to view the latest issue
Front Page News
NCEA Trust logo

Northumberland Church
of England Academy Trust

Grace Darling Primary School, Central Parkway, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, NE64 6RT

01670 812019

admingd@gracedarling.ncea.org.uk

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