Year 1:Abbie Carruthers for fantastic ideas in Literacy
Year 1/2: Scott Handleigh for working hard and improved behaviour
Year 2: Emily Docherty for working so hard on her part in our play
Year 3: Nicole Dimond for always being so cheerful and helping everyone in class
Year 4: Kieron Milne for always asking sensible questions
Year 5: Kieron Gilmore for his excellent writing in Literacy
Year 6M: Davis Handleigh for his improved ice-skating skills
Year 6A: Anna Bailes for being a lovely member of Year 6

Well done everyone for working so hard over the past week

Anti-bullying wristbands were on sale during anti-bullying week, 14th and 18th November, to raise money for the charity anti-bullying alliance. We raised a total of £103. Thank you to all who bought them.

Congratulations to the winner of the 2011 Children In Need Raffle.

Thank you to everyone who took part we raised a total of £193.60

Year R: Jerrard Dagdag for a fantastic picture of his story
Year 1: Joseph Houston for sharing his wonderful knowledge of plants with Year 1
Year 1/2: Thomas Hughs for always being ready to answer questions in maths
Year 2: Lewis Rutherford for trying really hard in singing practice
Year 3: Ethan White for always taking part and sharing ideas
Year 4: Lucy Perry for always being ready to listen.
Year 5: Peter Hamilton for improved behaviour in class
Year 6M: Estelle Clark for fantastic freeze framing in Literacy.
Year 6A: Olivia Lazzaei for fantastic teamwork during shelter building
Mrs Clark: Megan Shiell for outstanding written work about Shabbat
Mrs Fox: Rosie Bamling for good answers when planning the Year 1 Liturgy

At St. Alban's school we are so lucky to have excellent volunteers that come into school when needed. Recently we embarked on a Comenius cookery fortnight where all children had the opportunity to cook recipes from Turkey and Finland. This was a roaring success, with children tasting foods they never imagined they would. Thank you for all of your help! The recipe books are still available to buy at £2 from Mrs Reynolds.

Rec: All Reception class for excellent behaviour on their recent trips
Year 1: Isabella Rogers for producing fantastic work in science
Year 1/2: Lucy McShane for being kind and helpful member of the class
Year 2: Hannah Ellison for her lovely manners and excellent behaviour at all times.
Year 3: Owen Hawes for working extremely hard in Literacy and Numeracy
Year 4: Katherine Ruff for her great pottery skills and her improved handwriting
Year 5: Katie Wilkinson for writing an excellent revolting recipe.
Year 6M: Luke Gilmore being an excellent friend to his Year R Buddy
Year 6A: Jordan Davison for his excellent short story
Mrs. Clark: All of Year 5 for their excellent behaviour and listening skills
Mrs. Bridon: Sam Urwin for good work in letters and sounds

Barnaby and friends flew to Finland for a Comenius overseas cultural visit.

St. Albans has been host to the Scolastic Book fair this week. Books are available to buy until Friday after school

St Albans School is getting a new website which is currently under construction. The new site will be up and running after Christmas. The Staff will continue posting to the current site until then.
Mrs Phillipson

For our Special Places topic in RE, Reception Class explored St Alban's Room. Everyone liked the coloured windows and we know that they help us to track the seasons of the Church's year.

St Alban's pupils visited St John's school to enjoy a day working with the Lions of Zululand. We watched a fantastic display of their traditional dance, followed by workshops in dance, art, language and culture and singing. It was a wonderful day - thanks to St John's for hosting the event.

Everyone enjoyed the attractions of our Summer Fair. The money is still being counted, but we'll let you know when we have a total. See if you can spot yourself in our gallery.

Year 5 told the Easter story through song, action and narration. 'Easter!' tells of Jesus' preaching, teaching and miracles, his joyful entry into Jerusalem and the events leading up to his arrest and crucifixion. It concludes with the wonder of his friends when they see the risen Christ.

Following our campaign to save energy we have cut our carbon emissions by 14%, dropping our school rating from E to D. As a result we are one of the first schools in the country to gain the DECC "Energy Award for Schools". Well done to everyone for 'switching off'!

We were very proud to receive our award from Andy Akinwolere and Lord Hill. The Church School Awards is a new event, open to all Church Schools, promoting the fantastic and vital work done in the areas of community cohesion and global citizenship. It was a wonderful opportunity for St Alban's to showcase the important work that pupils, teachers, governors and staff do for our local community, for our country and throughout the world. Linking Citizenship with Religious Education enables our children to see faith in action and to know that their actions have an impact on others and the world.

Reception have been sailing the seven seas searching for treasure. For more photographs take a look in the Gallery.

We had two winners of our Fairtrade competition. The lucky boys received goody bags from our Fairtrade shop. The answers to the quiz are on display in the corridor.

To celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight our school council took part in a parade of school children over the Millennium Bridge. The bridge was festooned with bunting which the children had decorated with Fairtrade messages. The Mayor of Gateshead and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle spoke about the importance of supporting Fairtrade.

To spread the word about Fairtrade Fortnight, we have a new display in Pelaw Library. We hope it persuades people to buy Fairtrade goods.

To help us celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight lots of parents came to our Fairtrade Liturgy and Coffee Morning. Our quiz this year is 'Whose Bag?' Entrants have to match the bag with the member of staff to win a Fairtrade hamper. Quiz sheets are on sale this week for 50p. The focus of our Citizenship lessons is Fairtrade cotton.

St Alban's School is the North East regional winner of the Church School Awards.
The Church School Awards was launched in September 2010. It is open to all Church Schools and promotes the work done in the areas of Community Cohesion and Global Citizenship.

Our Advent Liturgical Dance Club have learnt a beautiful liturgical dance to the Christmas carol, Silent Night.

Please note that the performance of the Key Stage 1 play which was scheduled for this afternoon has been postponed until Wednesday afternoon. The other performance on Tuesday morning will go ahead as planned.

After discussing the weather conditions with Mr Cavanagh, the Chair of the Governing Body, a decision has been made to close the school tomorrow and Friday. School will re-open at 9.00 am on Monday.

The decision to close school is never taken lightly and it takes into account all information available at that time. In the event of school being closed the news of the closure is posted on the school website and three local radio stations are informed (Radio Newcastle, Galaxy Radio and Real Radio). Staff who live within walking distance of the school will come into school to answer telephones. However, the best way for parents to find out if school is to be closed is to look at our own website or to listen to Radio Newcastle.

Parents' evening has been cancelled tomorrow night due to the weather. Sorry for any inconvenience which this may cause. More details about parent consultation will follow.

Last June children worked with Gateshead's Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service to celebrate Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month. We were delighted to discover that the work of one of our children had been Highly Commended in the National Poetry Competition.

Due to the weather:
Parents' evening is postponed.
Opening of the playground is postponed.
Photographer is postponed.
Sorry for any inconvenience.
New dates to be arranged.

Teachers from our Comenius partners in Finland and Turkey are arriving in school on Thursday 4th November. We will be working on our new project, 'Work, Rest and Play'. Everyone is invited to join us for afternoon tea in the Hall on Thursday from 3.10pm to meet our visitors.

In Citizenship Year 1 are finding out what children around the world like to eat. We studied photographs and thought of lots of questions we would like to ask children from other countries.

Year 5 enjoyed a morning of playground buddy training today. They found out how to teach younger children playground games that make break times enjoyable and active.

A big thank you to everyone who took part in the Macmillan 'World's Biggest Coffee Morning' in the school hall this morning. We raised over £140 for this wonderful charity. Special thanks to everyone who helped out or donated cakes.

Election fever gripped Key Stage 2 last week as classes voted for the new School Council. The successful candidates were Kieron Nixon and Lauryn Wiscombe in Year 3, Jack Luke and Lucia White in Year 4, Aaron Morris and Sophie Johnson in Year 5 and Matthew Boyle and Emily Brown in Year 6.

Congratulations to the Reception girls who completed the Junior Run. They inspired us to chalk out a track and have a go in school.

Reception class have settled very well into school and are taking full advantage of our outdoor space for their learning.

Come rain or shine the outdoors holds endless learning opportunities. Watch this space . . . .

Please note that the competition will now take place on Tuesday 30th March and not on Wednesday as previouly stated.

Catholic Life of the School and Religious Education Inspection Report February 2010
St Alban's has been judged to be an outstanding Catholic school for a second time. The inspection on the Catholic Life of the School and Religious Education took place on 23rd and 24th February.
Click on the link to read the full report.

I am delighted that we have once again been judged to be an outstanding school and that the report reflects our commitment to enable all of our children to 'live life to the full'. Mrs Fox Head Teacher

'St Albans is an outstanding school where every child really does matter. The visionary headteacher leads a strong team who ensure pupils receive high levels of care and education. This means that pupils are extremely happy and confident learners. Pupils have exceptional understanding of how to keep safe and healthy. The school ethos of 'Live life to the full' is supported by a wealth of exciting experiences in which pupils engage, extending their knowledge and understanding of the world about them. An overwhelming proportion of parents support the excellent progress their children make.' OFSTED January 2010

Please click on the link to read the full report.
St Albans Catholic Primary School OFSTED report January 2010.pdf

Tomorrow we are raising money for emergency relief in Haiti by wearing hats. £1.00 donation per person please.

Children in Years 3 and 4 planted hyacinth, daffodil and tulip bulbs with Mr Seaton. Hopefully some may even be winning entries in the Gateshead Spring Flower Show!

Further severe weather warnings have been received from the Local Authority for next week. We will endeavour to keep school open. However, if it is necessary to close school, the closure will be announced on BBC Radio Newcastle, on this website and on the Gateshead Council website.

School is closed today, Thursday 7th January.
A decision about further closures will be made each morning. Any closure will be announced on BBC Radio Newcastle and on this website. School closures in Gateshead are also shown on the Gateshead Council website.

School is closed today Wednesday 6th January 2010.

Years 3 and 4 entertained parents and relatives at their Christmas concert. They were taking part in the Christian Aid Big Christmas Sing and raised £56.97 for the charity. Well done and thank you to everyone who enjoyed the concert and the refreshments afterwards.

Cyberbullying: advice for parents and carers from the Anti-Bullying Alliance
This week is National Anti-Bullying week. The main focus this year is cyber-bullying. In Citizenship lessons children will be learning about bullying and will be reminded of our school policy on Anti-Bullying. In order to help raise awareness of this important issue, we are selling blue wrist bands for £1.00. The week of activities ends with Blue Friday when children are encouraged to dress in blue.
Click on the link to read advice to parents about cyberbullying from the Anti-Bullying Alliance.

Well done to the following children who received awards on 13th November 2009.
Year R: Louis Powell for exceptional manners.
Year 1: Jack Georgeson for excellent reading.
Year 2: Lauryn Wiscombe for writing a beautiful 'colour' poem.
Year 3: AZ Bismilla for excellent multiplication and division .
Year 4: Joe Tough for always being a fantastic member of Year 4.
Year 5: Melissa Hawes for great work in poetry.
Year 6: Amy Broome for making an excellent Rosh HaShana card.
Mrs Hetherington's Award: All of Year 5 for excellent behaviour.

Weekly Attendance Winner: Year 3
Weekly Winning House: St. Aidan

Today, St. Alban's gathered together in the hall to observe a mintute of silence.
We remember all those who lost their lives at war and we pray for all soldiers who are currently at war.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Our school is taking part in Switch Off Fortnight. In our Citizenship lessons we are learning that wasting energy is very bad for the environment. We are all making an effort to switch off lights that are not needed.

To celebrate National Film Week, the whole school has visited the cinema.
Year R, 1, 2 and 4 went to see March of the Penguins, Year 3 saw Ratatouille and Year 5 and 6 saw Coraline.
Everyone enjoyed the films and especially their cinema treats.

Well done to the following children who received awards on 23rd October 2009.
Year R: Renata Balog for settling into class so well.
Year 1: All of Year 1 for being lovely and helping Mrs Turnbull this half- term.
Year 2: Rudolf Balog for settling into class so well.
Year 3: Niamh Doherty for excellent knowledge of teeth and healthy eating.
Year 4: Pui-Ling Ho fo always listening in class and using similes in writing.
Year 5: Natalia Lowes for hard work in Maths.
Year 6: Adam Burton for excellent work on Evacuation in History.
Mrs Hetherington's Award: Rachel Bushell for her research on being an active Christan.
Mrs Fox's Award: Nikhil Bhandari for answering so well during Hymn Practice.
Weekly Attendance Winner: Year 1
Weekly Winning House: St. Benet

Year 1 are finding out about Baptism. They listened very carefully to the words the priest uses then they acted out part of the celebration.

St. Alban's is clearly full of very keen readers. Lots of children from all classes successfully took part in a Summer Reading Challenge organised by Pelaw Library. The children were awarded with the certificates during Merit Assembly.
"It was great fun and we went to the library loads of times.We are looking forward to the next challenge!". Year 6 children

Reception have been investigating the weather. They have listened to the rain, explored materials, made sun reflectors and waited for wind to fly their kites! For more photographs visit the gallery.

Nursery children have been looking at different types of weather. They agree that the windy weather helps on washing day! For more photographs visit the gallery

As part of their Schools Linking Project Year 4 worked with Northumbria University PGCE students at Shipley Art Gallery, where they met their linked school, Brighton Avenue. Everyone had a very creative day and we're looking forward to the next meeting at Brighton Avenue in November.

There was lots of designing and building at lego club.

For more photographs see the Year 1 & 2 Gallery pages.

As part of the topic Ourselves we have set up a hairdressers in our classroom. The children have been very busy experimenting with different hairstyles!

Reception have made animal sculptures based on the Spanish traditional tale "The Little Vain Mouse"

Look in the Gallery for more photos of their work.

Reception visited Tynemouth Toy Museum and discovered lots of old toys from the past.

We headed to the beach for lunch and had a sandcastle competition.  Look in the Gallery for more photos of the trip.

Year R worked with Dora Bear learning how to cross the road safely.

Our Member of Parliament, Sharon Hodgson, visited school today. The Head Boy and Head Girl took her on a tour of the school. Year 6 had prepared questions to ask her about her work as an MP. The school council gave a presentation on the Send My Friend To School campaign and we gave her messages to forward to Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister.

During the Easter hoidays a new interactive whiteboard was installed in the Reception classroom. The children returned to the surprise and have been busy having fun using it.

Smile!

Reception have been learning about keeping safe near roads. Click on Gallery to view more photographs of the visit.

Primary Chaplains from around the diocese visited St Alban's school today. Mrs Hetherington led a reflection in St Alban's room.The Chaplains shared resources and discussed the importance of chaplaincy in primary schools.

Despite the cold conditions Reception managed to get five minutes of fun in the snow.
For more photographs visit the gallery.

Please listen to either Century Radio, Metro Radio or Radio Newcastle for announcements on school closures.
2.2.09 severe weather.doc
Click on the link to read the letter about the severe weather warning received today.

Following the story of Hansel and Gretel we built a house from cake, biscuits and sweets. All the children were involved in the making and EATING of our sweet house!

During our investigation of sticks as a house building material, we explored ways of joining using glue, string, tape and blu tak.

As part of our topic 'Homes' we have explored the houses made by the three little pigs.

'Morning Reading' has started in Year 1. Parents come into school to read with children and to share literacy activities. As you can see, the children are enjoying this! More pictures in the gallery.

All this week, we have been looking at myths and legends in our Literacy lesson. In our lesson today, we used drama to act out an interview between a St. Alban's TV presenter and Theseus and asked him lots of gruelling questions about his fight with the minotaur! We definitely have some budding TV presenters in our class!

In Year 1 we are discussing the celebration of Mass.We enjoyed role play to help us understand the words and actions of the priest.

Comenius Newsletter
Click on the link to read the latest news about our Comenius project.

We have been awarded the National Fairtrade Award by the Fairtrade Foundation. Thank you to everyone for their continuing support.

What a great time we had at the fair!
From cakes to hot-dogs, reindeer dust to cracker making, sweets to raffles and finally games to Santa's Groot- such festive fun!
Thankyou to everyone who helped make the fair a great success.
View many more pictures in the Gallery.

We are all looking forward to playing on a perfectly levelled school field.
Watch this space...

The Curriculum Evening is on Wednesday 1st October at 4:30pm.
This is an opportunity to meet with your child's class teacher to find out more about this year's curriculum.
Please note that the meeting is only for adults. Refreshments will be served on arrival.

A coffee morning will be held to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support tomorrow from 9.00 am to 10.30 am in the school hall.
Please drop in to help us to support this important charity.
The Fairtrade shop will also be open for children and adults.

24.9.08 Year 4 guitar lessons .doc
Click on the link to read the letter about Year 4 guitar lessons
All Year 4 children are learning to play the guitar each Tuesday afternoon during their music lesson. Mr Nicholson, a teacher from Gateshead LA Music Service, is teaching the class. Miss Laws is joining the children and is learning to play the guitar too.

Well done to the following children who received awards on 18th July 2008.
Year 1: Lennox Tyers for excellent behaviour and manners.
Year 2: Mikey Mancini for an excellent attitude to work.
Year 3: Max Davidson for an improved attitude in class.
Faye de Luen for being helpful in class.
Year 4: Matthew Fenwick and Amy Broome for excellent Viking projects.
Year 5: Ysabelle Lucero, Rees Monaghan and Maisie Kirtley for being polite and
well mannered.
Year 6: Toni Ashcroft and Liam Brown for invaluable technical support during the play.
Mrs Hetherington's Award:
Toni Ashcroft, Jenny McFadden, Owen Marshall, Adam Lennox and Carl Amos for excellent liturgical dancing.
Head teacher's Award:
Jack de Luen, Chloe Butler, Emily McIntyre, Kate McIntyre, Rowan Feher, Alexandra Spencer, Joseph Bainbridge, Amdrew Robinson, Faye de Luen, Thomas Storey and Abbie Brough for working hard to help achieve the Impetus Award.

Trinity Term's Attendance Winner- Year 3
Trinity Term's Winning House: St. Aidan
The children in St. House and in Year received prizes for their achievements- well done. Good luck to all children for next year.

The statement is:
I notice that we are the same and we are different.

Well done to the following children who received awards this week.
Year 1: AZ Bismilla for working very hard in Maths and doing lots of work.
Year 2: James Bain for settling in so well.
Year 3: Nikhil Bhandari for working hard to find remainders after division.
Year 4: Morgan Bridgett for showing good sportsmanship.
Year 6: Rose Hogan for working enthusiastically during play rehearsals.
Mrs Hetherington's Award: Michael Hewitt for excellent role-play.
Winning House: St. Aidan

To celebrate St. Alban's Day, the whole school enjoyed a visit from Mr. Twister. Some of us dressed up in different costumes and others were even given balloons as prizes. Everyone had lots of fun!
At the end of the afternoon, we all gathered together in prayer.

The statement is:
I matter so do you.

The statement is:
I stand up for people being treated unfairly.

Today, we are delighted to welcome teachers from our partnership Comenius schools. Our visitors come from Finland, Turkey, Spain and Italy and will be able to sample life in the North East of England.
Our curriculum has truly been enriched by this project. Our children have been learning about different cultures throughout many subject areas.
"We love having penpals in different countries and get very excited when we get new mail."
"We are looking forward to asking the teachers about their schools". (Year 6)
There will be an Art show in school today at 3:15pm, where cream tea will be served.
To view pictures of our day, see 'Comenius trip' in the Gallery.

The statement is:
I try to forgive people when they hurt me.

The statement is:
I try to understand that God loves and forgives me.

On Friday 9th May we were invited to Cardinal Hume School to give a presentation on Fairtrade in St Alban's School. The guest speaker was the BBC News Reader, George Alagiah.

The statement is:
I know how to help others when they are in trouble.

Well done to the following children who received awards on 9th May2008.
Year R: Ben Winship for very good reading.
Year 1: Rachel Slasor-Wilkinson for being polite and having good manners.
Year 2: Pui-Ling Ho for working hard and being helpful.
Year 3: Kate Ritchie for writing a brilliant letter in Literacy.
Year 4: Jessica Tracey for an excellent Lowry drawing.
Year 5: Daniel Marsden for trying very hard in Maths.
Year 6: Carl Amos for consistently working hard at home and in school.
Mrs Hetherington's Award: JB Dagdag for helping the teacher and his classmates in our RE lesson.
Head teacher's Award:
Thomas Storey for operating the PowerPoint at Cardinal Hume.
Abbie Brough for an excellent presentation at Cardinal Hume.
Attendance Winner- Year 3.
Winning House: St. Aidan

Today is Europe Day.
We've had great fun 'travelling around Europe' with our passports. Every class has visited England, Turkey, Italy, Finland and Spain in one afternoon! (We may be a little jet lagged tonight). We've enjoyed finding out about each country, listening to the national anthem and in particular, getting our passports stamped!

The statement is:
I know that God says, 'Do not be afraid, I am with you.'

The school is closed on Monday 5th May.
We hope you have a very enjoyable Bank Holiday weekend.

This week's statement of belief is our school's vision statement:
"I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

Well done to the following children who received awards on 25th April 2008.
Year R:Cory Snee for very good sentence writing.
Year 1: Serena Short for excellent maths work.
Year 2: Mikey Mancini for always working hard and having a brilliant attitude to school.
Year 3: Jesu Peralta for contributitng more in lessons.
Year 4: Sophie Scott for her excellent attitude to learning and always trying her best.
Year 5: Olivia Cossey for an excellent contribution to the world's biggest lesson.
Year 6: Zosia Feher for excellent story writing.
Mrs Hetherington's Award: Callum Elliot for an excellent contribution to the world's biggest lesson.
Head teacher's Award: Rio Maggs for fantastic writing.
Attendance Winner- Year 3.
Winning House: St. Oswald

The Statement of Belief is:
I know who to ask for help.

Welcome back to all children. We hope you had an enjoyable and restful 2 weeks.
There are lots of exciting things happening in school this term so watch this space.......

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us this afternoon. It was a very enjoyable celebration. The children sang and danced very well!

You are invited to join us tomorrow afternoon in school at 1:30pm for a 'Songs of Praise' to celebrate the Resurrection. All children in Year R to 6 will attend.

April Promise
I promise to find out more about the lives of other children around the world by visiting
www.cafod.org.uk/kidzone.

The Statements of Belief for this week are :
I am proud of what I can do.
I know what humility means.

This week's statement is:
I am proud of what I can do.

Year 2 visited Whitehouse Farm for our Spring trip this year. We had a fascinating day observing farm animals such as cows, sheep, goats and pigs. We also had the opportunity to see and handle other creatures including lizards, snakes, rats and mice. The children and parents had an exciting day looking around the farm, feeding some of the animals, and gaining a better understanding of how animals are cared for. As expected, the children were very well behaved throughout the day.

17.3.08 A Celebration of Easter
Join the children from Years 3 and 4 for A Celebration of Easter in St Alban's Church on Friday 28th March at 6.00 pm.

Click on the link for a copy of the letter to parents.

Thank you to all children and adults who entered an egg in the Decorated egg competition. The standard this year was absolutely outstanding. You're all so creative! It was an unbelievably difficult task to choose winners but eventually decisions were made.
The lucky winners from each class received an Easter egg and all the runners up who entered an egg received a small egg, yum!
Here are the lucky winners:
Year N am- Alfie Ryan
Year N pm- Kellis Kirtley
Year R- Megan Shields
Year 1- Tyler Roberts
Year 2- Adam Gilchrist
Year 3- Andrew Robinson
Year 4- Ryan Ord
Year 5- Lauren McDermont
Year 6- Shannon Galsworthy
Adult award- Mrs Gilmore
To view more pictures of the 'eggstravaganza' go to the Gallery.

The Statement of the week is:
I can set a simple target for myself.

On Wednesday 12th March, Year 5 were involved in a Singing Day at Cardinal Hume. They worked really hard all afternoon, learning new songs and practising for their performance in the evening.
The behaviour from the Year 5 children was outstanding and their singing was absolutely spectacular. The whole school were also lucky enough to watch the Year 5's perform in Merit Assembly.
Well done Year 5. Great ambassadors for St. Alban's.

Mrs Fox and Mrs Hetherington returned from their Comenius trip to Finland on Thursday.
The children were very excited to hear about the work they had been doing and eager to learn about the Finnish culture. Both Mrs Fox and Mrs Hetherington enjoyed telling the children all about their trip.

Our Comenius website is currently under construction. Click the link on the main page of our school website to view it. Information about the project and about our partner schools will be added soon.

Barnaby is having a lovely time in Finland!

This week's Statement of Belief for 10-14.3.08 is:
I know that it is OK for me to make mistakes.

Can you imagine what it must be like to be in someone else's shoes?
As part of our Fairtrade fortnight activities, we are playing a game to match the pair of shoes to the correct member of staff. The staff are having a lot of fun trying to figure it all out too.
Children and adults are asked to donate 50p to have a go.
1st prize is a hamper of Fairtrade goodies.
So have fun and good luck!

To view the shoes, have a look in the Gallery.

The Mayor of Gateshead visited our school today and presented us with the Gateshead Fairtrade Status Award.
The Mayor met with Mrs Fox, Mrs Hetherington, the school council and the head boy and girl. The children explained all of the things that our school does to support Fairtrade such as our Fairtrade shop, coffee mornings, 'Fairtrade Friday' and especially how we have learnt so much about Fairtrade in our lessons.
The whole school assembled in the hall where we enjoyed meeting 'Mr Mayor' and found out about his many responsibilities.
We felt very proud as our award was presented to the Head boy and girl.
Here at St. Alban's we put our faith into actions by encouraging ourselves and others to buy Fairtrade products which helps people in different countries across the world.
Thank you for your support.

To view pictures of the Mayor's visit, have a look in the Gallery.

Please click on the link for information about activities planned for Fairtrade Fortnight.

Newsletter 15.2.08 Fairtrade Fortnight

Join us for our service tomorrow afternoon at 1.30 pm.
Click the link to read more.

CAFOD Family Fast Day letter 12.2.08

14.2.08 Letter - Lunchtime Supervisory Assistant Vacancy

We have a vacancy. Please click the link for further information.

Today, the whole school found out about healthy food.

To find out more, have a look in the Gallery.

The meeting about the Year 2 statutory assessments is on Wedesday 13th February at 2.30 pm.

Every week we have a Merit Assembly in which our children’s many achievements are celebrated.

St Alban's School website has now been established. We look forward to receiving your views and comments.

We have started out Lenten journey today. In our liturgy this afternoon we looked again at our 'Livesimply' promises and we made a commitment to continue to keep these promises during Lent. Our purple lapel ribbons will help us to remember. The children have taken home a CAFOD Livesimply Lenten calendar to help them to prepare for Easter.

In our Art lessons this term we have been looking at patterns.

During February, I promise to raise money on Lent Fast Day to make a change for people living in poverty.

The Statement of Belief for this week is:
I listen to what you say. I show that I am listening to you.

We were given the responsibility of being 'shopkeepers' for the fairtrade stall.
As you can see, we look very professional. What's more, our maths skills are so good, you certainly wouldn't be short changed!

Thank you for all your kind support; the Fairtrade stall was very busy!

The staff of St Alban's collected £73.00 to send to UNICEF for the Day of Change. The money will be used to support UNICEF's work to improve water, sanitation and hygiene for children in The Gambia.

I really enjoyed selling fairtrade goods.
The chocolate chip cookies were a best seller!

All the staff are very excited about our new school website.
Here we are being trained at Gateshead CLC. Watch this space....