We had great fun guessing which mug belonged to each member of staff. Finally the results are out.....
We had three winners who matched the most mugs to staff- well done! These children, above, received a Fairtrade goodie bag.
We have made a great effort to support fairtrade this fortnight, let's continue to 'swap' more produce for Fairtrade produce.
Today, parents, carers and our local community enjoyed a nice cup of Fairtrade tea. The parents liked the tea so much that they are going to start buying Fairtrade tea!
As part of the School Linking Network, Year 4 from Brighton Avenue Primary School visited St Alban's Year 4 this week. In the morning they listened to Mr Glickman from the Gateshead Jewish community talking about the synagogue. They also worked with Susie, a story-teller, on a tale about Hannukah. In the afternoon they were very busy making mezuzahs, havdalah candles, tasting Jewish food and sketching artefacts. Many of the children have become friends and we are sure we will keep in contact with Brighton Avenue.
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.
During 'Food Week' Year 6 studied photos of people from different countries and thought about different eating habits. Here we are thinking about questions that we would ask.
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.
This Harvest Fast Day we are supporting CAFOD's work in Brazil. Children are asked to give up a favourite sweet and to donate the money to support CAFOD. The donations will be offered in our liturgy on Friday 2nd October at 2.40 pm. Children have been learning about the work of CAFOD in Citizenship lessons.
Anyone for coffee and a cake?
Thank you to all parents that donated cakes for our coffee morning; they were scrumptuous. Together, we raised £71 for Macmillan Cancer Care.
The House Captains running the Fairtrade shop.
Today, the Fairtrade shop was incredibly busy with everyone enjoying the treats.
It's election time. Year 5 have been busy preparing for the Key Stage 2 School Council elections. Candidates have written and delivered speeches and votes have been cast. Watch this space....
Today St. Alban's celebrated the huge success of our Comenius project.
Each class had worked on a traditional tale from one of the Comenius countries and presented their work to an audience of parents. We all enjoyed snacks from each country after our performances and had a delicious European lunch. What a day!
The Little Vain Mouse
Nursery acted out their traditional tale on the Key Stage 1 stage.
How the bear got its bobtail
Year 1 created an animation about their tale using a prgramme called I can Animate.
How to ride a donkey
Year 3 acted out their tradional tale.
Year 4 put on a puppet show and sang a song about the donkey.
The Legend of Colapesce
Year 5 presented a news report about the Sicilain traditional tale.
Year 6 studied Italian art on the Legend of Colapesce and recereated their own artwork. They also presented an animation.
St Alban's Child Friendly Anti-Bullying Policy
Click on the link to read our child friendly policy, which was written in consultation with the School Council and the Head Boy and Head Girl.
Following our Citizenship work on anti-bullying this week, the School Council and Head Boy and Head Girl took part in a themed 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' quiz. We are launching our Child Friendly Anti-Bullying Policy this afternoon in pastoral lessons.
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.
We are taking part in this year's Send My Friend To School campaign. We have designed Number 10 action cards and added a message to Gordon Brown to ask him to work hard to help the 75 million children around the world who can't get to school. We have invited our MP Sharon Hodgson in to school on Friday to collect our cards and deliver them to the Prime Minister.
We took part in The Big Read today to support the Send My Friend To School 2009 campaign. We watched the Global Campaign for Education dvd and listened to a story from their website. In our Citizenship lessons this week we are discussing children's right to an education.
Activities will be completed over the next 2 weeks about the work of Fairtrade.
We stand by the Fairtrade slogan, 'Fairtrade guarantees a better deal for third world producers'.
Our Fairtrade shop was very busy today.
"We're really lucky to have our own Fairtrade shop. It's great being able to buy tasty treats and know that you're helping people at the same time". Tomas Van Baelen
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.
Today is Anti-Bullying Day. We have supported the campaign by wearing blue clothes and wristbands.
The House Captains gave a presentation in Merit Assembly about Anti-Bullying. Now, we all know what bullying is and what to do if we are being bullied or if we see someone else being bullied.
This week is National Anti- Bullying Week.
You can buy an anti-bullying wristband for £1 to support this campaign.
All children will also be doing anti-bullying activities in their Citizenship lessons.
Today, we observed a silence at 11 o'clock to remember all those who lost their lives during the World Wars. We also prayed for friends and families who have lost loved ones.
In Flanders Field
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.
We are finding out about the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal in our Citizenship lessons this week. We are selling poppies in school to support their work. In St Alban's Prayer Room we can make tissue poppies and add them to our Poppy Man whilst saying a prayer of remembrance.
Year 6 enjoyed taking part in a project at Dryden Centre entitled 'Park Life'. They had to design and build a model of a park. See the other photographs in the gallery.
Today is Family Fast Day.
"We have given up a treat and donated the money to CAFOD."
Mmmm cookies!
Thank you for supporting our fairtrade shop; the Year 6 shopkeepers were run off their feet with custom!
Here are our newly appointed School Council.
The children have been given their Councillor badges and look very official.
Good luck councillors; lots of hard work ahead but we know you'll all rise to the challenge.
We have a new Head Boy and Head Girl who will be busy with lots of important jobs this year.
'I was delighted when I was chosen and I really can't wait to get started .' Head Boy.
Each of our 7 Pastoral Houses also have a new House Captain from Year 6 and a Vice Captain from Year 5.
'I really like being a House Captain. I like counting the merits and finding out which House has won before anyone else!' Head of St. Aidan House.
To view these very important children, have a look in our Gallery.
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.
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.
April Promise
I promise to find out more about the lives of other children around the world by visiting
www.cafod.org.uk/kidzone.
Year 6 were delighted to receive letters from our Turkish friends. There was great excitement in class as we read our letters and discussed our replies.
For more pictures, have a look in the Comenius album in the Gallery.
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!
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.
Please click on the link for information about activities planned for Fairtrade Fortnight.
On 13th February, Mrs Fox, Mrs Hetherington, our Head Boy and our Head Girl visited Traidcraft in Gateshead.
"I had a great evening. We met a lady called Marie, who told us so much about Fairtrade." Head Girl.
"We found out how Traidcraft works with people in Peru. I enjoyed listening to the speech and found it very interesting. I now know where the Fairtrade goods come from."
Head Boy.
To view pictures of the event, have a look in the Gallery.
Join us at 9.30 for a meeting about Fairtrade. We will show you how we are encouraging members of our school community to buy Fairtrade goods. We would also like your views on how we can do more.
On Wednesday evening Mrs Fox, Mrs Hetherington, Thomas Storey (Head Boy) and Abbie Brough (Head Girl) will visit Traidcraft in Gateshead to meet Fairtrade producers from Peru.
In Pastoral groups, we prayed together.
Here are some of our prayers:
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!
In Pastoral groups, we have been finding out about the 'UNICEF Day for Change'.
Continue reading "Find out more about UNICEF Day for Change" »
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!
We know that Fairtrade guarantees a 'better deal to Third World Producers,' though it's also pretty tasty!
Supporting Fairtrade
This week the children have been learning about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children. We have focused on the right to clean water and have linked it to the UNICEF Day for Change.