27th February 2015

Chinese New

Year Chinese New Year

is a traditional festival which is

also known as Lunar New

Year. This year Chinese New

Year comes on 19th February,

2015 and it is Sheep Year, al-

so known as the year of

Goat. Traditionally Chinese

New Year lasts for fifteen

days, ending on the date of

the full moon.

On Monday we had the oppor-

tunity to invite a visitor into

school to share with the chil-

dren his expertise and to pro-

vide a range of traditional

items to explore and investi-

gate. The children listened to

traditional Chinese stories and

were invited to explore and

discuss their own ideas about

celebrations and festivals.

During the morning, the chil-

dren made lucky red enve-

lopes and lanterns to decorate

the classroom. After lunch, the

children used musical instru-

ments to tap out a beat and

dragons and lions were used

to create a parade around the

classroom. The children thor-

oughly enjoyed their Chinese

New Year celebration.

Fairtrade

Fortnight Well done

to the Fairtrade team who

supported Mrs Simpson in our

worship this week to launch

Fairtrade fortnight. Thank you

for your support with our

challenges!

The BIG Award

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us in successfully gaining the Bullying Intervention Group national award especially to those parents, children and governors who reviewed our policy with us. Our new policy can be found on our website or paper copies by request to the school office.

The celebrations did not end

there, with the rest of the work

this week being based on

Chinese New Year. The

children are exploring lines of

symmetry through dragon

painting; they are wearing

Chinese costumes, reading

Chinese stories and non-

fiction texts and making items

to celebrate the arrival of the

full moon. On Friday, the

children will use a giant drag-

on for dance, while listening to

traditional Chinese music.

Thank you to Mr and Mrs

Clarkson for such a fantastic

resource.

Stars of the Week

Reception—Grace Irwin for having a kind heart.

Year 1—Alex Henderson for fantastic Maths and George Barkiss for producing improved

work.

Year 2—Myrren Stevens and Charlie Proud for being fantastic role

models in Mrs Sixsmith’s worship.

Year 3—Alfie Clarke for writing a fantastic rhyming poem.

Year 4—Charlie Graydon for an improved attitude to learning.

Year 5—Sam Neave for improved effort in all subjects.

Year 6—Holly Mitchell for mental maths.

The Big Pedal

Children are now gearing up for our next sustainable travel challenge with ‘The Big Pedal’ which takes place from next Monday the 2nd –20th March. Children who bike or scooter to school will receive a raffle ticket each day and be entered into our weekly draw to win some cool prizes and also earn points for the school to be in with a chance to win big! Check out the website for more information. www. big-pedal.org.uk

FOSA Another reminder

the next meeting will take place on Monday 2nd March at 7pm at The Pollard’s. Everyone is very welcome.

Next week…On

Monday, Year 3 will visit the Oriental Museum in Durham.

Also on Monday, Year 4 will attend the Ancient Greek workshop at Bowes Museum. On Monday evening, the Friends of St. Anne's (FOSA) will hold their meeting at 7pm at the Pollard's On Tuesday, there will be Pot Painting for Mother's Day with FOSA On Wednesday, Yvonne and Katherine from the Wear Valley Christian Centre will lead worship. On Thursday, we will celebrate World Book Day by hold-ing several class-based competitions during the day with books as prizes.

The opening!

Mrs Sixsmith, Mrs Simpson along with Lauren and Chloe from year 6 had the special privilege of being invited to the opening of the new Diocesan Church offices in Durham. Chloe and Lauren had been involved in the ceremony for laying the foundation stone for the building last year so it was exciting to go back and see it all finished.