The Nest: A home away from home

We are thrilled to announce that we are now accepting applications for children aged between 9 months and 3 years to join our childcare provision The Nest, during term-time only, located at NCEA Grace Darling Campus.

Your child’s development and happiness are our top priorities. We understand how important it is to provide a safe, nurturing and joyous environment for your child to learn, grow and thrive. You can read all about our provision via the NCEA Trust website, or click the ‘learn more’ button at the bottom of the page.

A summary of the most recent comments regarding The Nest Provision based at our Robert Stephenson Campus;

There is a lovely, calm atmosphere in the Nursery, led by an inspirational and experienced leadership team via a well thought-out Early Years Foundation stage curriculum, which instils the love of learning into children early into their development.

The staff are very attentive, kind, gentle and nurturing. Staff are passionate about promoting emotional wellbeing and nurturing the children to become confident and independent. They have close bonds with the children and join in with play, ensuring that everyone is included. Introducing new words during play through the use of repetition accelerates the expansion of the children’s vocabulary and imagination. Story of the week is an exciting way to embed the love of reading into the children, encouraging them to recall the story and tell it in their own way. Numbers are used in everyday activities, such as number walls, counting and encouraging the use of size language

Want to learn more about The Nest Childcare? Just click on the button below so we can redirect you to the right place.

Grace Darling Primary School, part of the Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, is celebrating the outcome of their recent OFSTED inspection, which judged the school to be ‘Good’ in all aspects.

In the inspection carried out on the 2nd and 3rd of July 2024, Inspectors noted pupils behave well and know to be ready, respectful and safe. Pupils look after one another and classrooms are calm and orderly. Bullying is extremely rare and pupils trust adults to sort out any problems. Pupils say they enjoy school and “beamed with pride and self-belief”. This is reflected through “the outcomes in national assessments in reading, writing and mathematics [which] demonstrate the good progress that pupils make over time in these subjects.” 

“There are numerous opportunities for pupils to experience learning outside the classroom, such as ‘Beach School’, which features water safety lessons and care for the environment. Every child is encouraged to take part in numerous school clubs.”

Leaders are ambitious and have created “a curriculum that will ensure that pupils have the knowledge and aspirations to lead a ‘life without limits’”, the curriculum is inclusive of everybody which is demonstrated throughout the school, including through the use of the SEND provision, described by Ofsted as “holistic and highly effective”. The curriculum “meets the needs of all pupils, including those with special education needs/disabilities” with staff making appropriate adaptations to the curriculum so that individuals are supported to be successful in accessing the entire curriculum.

“The curriculum is precisely sequenced and the most important knowledge for pupils to learn is clearly identified. As a result, pupils can remember what they have been taught over time”. 

“The school’s curriculum and provision for early years, including for two-year-olds, is well planned. Adults focus on developing children’s communication and language. This is effective. The learning environments are stimulating and children enjoy their play. Children make strong progress from their starting points.“

Sharon Cole, Headteacher at Grace Darling, said:

“We are absolutely delighted that our school has been recognised as a Good school by Ofsted. At Grace Darling, our priority is to nurture and support children so that they are safe, happy and successful and our report recognises our efforts. The children here will tell you that we are like a family and we all look after each other. Newbiggin by the Sea is a very special place and we are proud of everyone who is a part of our school community.”   

Alan Hardie, Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust’s CEO commented:

“I am delighted that OFSTED recognise the high aspirations that Grace Darling’s staff have for their pupils, the school’s key role in the local community in Newbiggin and the hard work the staff put into delivering this. There is praise for the school environment, which ensures that pupils feel safe, happy and can learn effectively in the nurturing atmosphere. This is a great report that the whole school community can feel very proud of”.

Photo caption: Pupils from Grace Darling celebrate their latest Ofsted result with Headteacher Sharon Cole.

25th September 2024  4pm-6pm

Is your child in Year 6? Duke’s Secondary is holding an Open Evening on the 25th September between 4-6pm.

This is a great opportunity for you to meet your child’s prospective teachers, allowing you to make an informed decision on your child’s future. Staff at Duke’s will address any queries or concerns you may have regarding the application process and your child transitioning to Year 7.

It’s a beautiful day at Barhaugh Hall, Robinwood. All well fed and looking forward to an action-packed day. First up for Mr Mac’s group? The zippy zipwire!

After a fantastic day of all sorts of activities we are settling down to games night. The children have been amazing & are loving every second – building their skills, resilience & confidence. We are very proud of them! PS: they all say a big night night to everyone at home 🥱

We’re almost at the end of a brilliant day of activities. Every child has risen to – or exceeded – what they thought they could achieve and have done so well. Go TeamGD!

We’ve been making memories that will last a lifetime. Only one more sleep till home. We miss you all but will be home soon! See you tomorrow.

We’re so full of stories about our adventure to Robinwood. Incredible trip – the children have been so happy to have shared this time with their friends (old & new) & can’t wait share memories tomorrow. Souveniers and other items will be given out at school tomorrow.

At Grace Darling this half term we have had a series of events raising much-needed money for national and local charities. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our community. In November, we were visited by a real-life Paralympian! Local hero, Stephen Miller, who is a 3-time gold winning Paralympian, visited our school and delivered an assembly for all children. Supported by Mr Norris and Mr Johnson, he then set up a circuit training session for each year group to take part in.

Over £2000 was raised in support of the Paralympian fund and school PE resources! Many of our children received Gold Awards for raising over £35 and were invited to have individual pictures taken with the local superstar. We are incredibly proud of how generous our school community has been this term and thank everyone for their much-needed support.

Grace Darling children also raised a fantastic £275 for Children in Need. The children were so excited when Mr Macfarlane brought a special guest into the classes to meet them. Can you guess who it was? Children enjoyed a range of Children In Need themed activities such as Teddy bear biscuit decorating, PSHE sessions around Positive Relationships, Mindfulness and PE with Joe Wicks. It is on these sorts of days that we remember the difference that we can make to others’ lives and at Grace Darling we are always remembering to “Let all that we do be done in Love.”

We are extremely proud of our Year 5 children who had the wonderful opportunity to be invited to the Brass Band in Aspire event at The Glasshouse. Our children proudly took the stage and played in a special concert in Newcastle. The children were expectation in every way!

Our children took part in a range of activities to explore what bullying is and how they can deal with it and deal a range of situations. The children discussed what they could do to help each other and they were able to link this to our school vision. We were very impressed with their mature discussions around these sensitive issues.

Supporting our children’s emotional wellbeing and developing their positive mental health is very important to us at Grace Darling. Being happy and comfortable helps us to be in the right mindset to learn. World Mental Health Day was on October 12th and we decided to have a drop-down week where the children would be able to work on strategies to support their wellbeing.

We had a range of activities such as Yoga, mindfulness, walks, writing worry leaves (which the children loved ‘blowing away’) and creating our own positive affirmations. We also had some special guests from the If you care, share Foundation who worked across the school with all children in Y1-6. They discussed feelings and identifying different emotions in ourselves and others. The children recognised that we don’t all share the same feelings and spent a lot of time working on how we can make ourselves and others happy when we may feel down. The children wrote down their happy thoughts which are now stored in a treasure chest in each classroom and any time they need to reflect on these, they are given time to do so. The children were also delighted to receive a positive mental health goody bag at the end of the week.

A MASSIVE WELL DONE to the community of Grace Darling for helping raise over £3000 for charity.