Thank you so much to everyone who has donated cans and other items for the South Tyneside Food Bank. Every single item will really make such a difference to the lives of others in our local community.
Due to current restrictions, unfortunately we will not be able to accept Operation Christmas Child donations this year. We appreciate your previous generous donations to this charity and others, and if you’d like to participate in making up a Christmas Box for another child, please follow the link below.
There are a range of interesting ways in which our pupils can still participate and donate to this very worthy cause.
Thank you!
https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/important-covid-19-updates/
There are some great upcoming Live Forums on Khoot for young people and parents to access during October at http://kooth.com/
We will be celebrating both of these events in school very soon.
Kooth Live Forums: October 2020
Live forums can be found in the discussion boards and go online at 7.30pm on the evening they are planned. They are moderated in real time until 9.00pm.
Wednesday 7th October – Supporting World Mental Health Day
This year looking after our mental health is more important than ever. Join us for an evening of discussion on how we can support and celebrate World Mental Health Day. This will include lots of fun and creative ways of raising awareness despite difficult circumstances. We hope you can join us!
Wednesday 28th October – Let’s Talk About Black History
October is Black History Month, and to honour this occasion… Let’s Talk About Black History! Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate and truly appreciate diversity in the UK, as well as learning more about the rich history, culture, struggle and achievements of the black community. In this live forum, we’ll be looking at famous black role models, the history of black communities in the UK, and why it’s so important for us to celebrate Black History Month. Come along and join the chat, everyone is welcome!
‘Remember: kindness matters most’
https://youtu.be/Qcyc68d6OAk
Today, Year-6 children received a special delivery to make what ought to have been the beginning of SATs week. We at school wanted to celebrate how hard they have worked this year in preparation for the tests and to let them know how proud we are of them.
Junior Lego League have been thinking about different buildings and architecture around South Shields. We discussed the different features of buildings and chose some buildings that we liked . We sketched out the building and discussed the structure. We then used Lego to start to build our chosen building!
In the middle of our half term, the Harton Primary Puzzlers met at Newcastle Airport – excited for their trip to Bristol for the First Lego League England and Wales Final.
Athena being x-rayed
Tea in the departure lounge
Boarding the plane
All smiles…
…for take off.
On Saturday the 22nd of February, we set off the University of West England to the competition, setting up our information board at table 50 in the pit.
After the opening ceremony, we had to quickly change into our costumes to give deliver the best and last presentation on our idea for a solar powered tram to help boost interest in South Shields town centre. After than we had to run to the Robot Game table for our first of three attempts to score as many points as possible. Lets watch:
The day was full of interesting activities, on top of the usual Core Values, Robot Design discussion and practice tables for the robot game. The teams spoke to other teams, interviewed by the IET team and, of course, had lunch.
Opening ceremony
Team photo
Interviews – some serious…
…some not so serious.
Lunch!
In the practice pits…
…between games.
With all our practices over, our last robot game was on table 1, with all the cameras on us. Below is the live stream of our last game (If time link doesn’t work, time is 4:42:20):
On the final tables we came 20th, out of 66 teams. But with teams with joint scores, we had the 13th highest score on the day! The Harton Primary Puzzlers worked their socks off, did themselves (and their teachers) proud, and had a great day!
Photo booth medal photo.
Team photo
After months of hard work, the Harton Primary Puzzlers took part in the South Tyneside First Lego League competition – with OpenZone in The Word.
This year’s task was to identify a problem in our local area and design a solution to fix it. We designed at solar powered tram that would travel from the The Word down King Street to the sea front. We thought this idea would:
- Make the sea front more accessible to people who could not walk that distance.
- Bring in more people to the town – bringing shops back to the town centre.
- Lower pollution from less cars being used in the town.
We presented this idea as a new report, with Caitlin and Sophie as hosts and Ruby as the weather girl, and the rest of the Puzzlers being all the experts we spoke to – including a solar panel scientist; a tram engineer from Beamish; a PhD student from Northumbria University; a Nexus worker; and a member of the South Tyneside 365 rejuvenation scheme.
Our interviews with the public of South Shields
Our idea on poster…
…and made from Lego, which ran around that track all day.
The Puzzlers spend the day talking to other teams, finding out about their ideas, helping with robot tasks, practicing their robot challenge and just having a great time!
The excellent judges.
Setting up our area.
Getting our practices in.
Getting our practices in.
Talking to other teams.
Selecting correct program.
Cheeky smile at the table.
Core value task – what famous building are we making?
Core value task – what famous building are we making?
Well deserved lunch.
Competing in the robot game.
Competing in the robot game.
Competing in the robot game.
Competing in the robot game.
Competing in the robot game.
Competing in the robot game.
Competing in the robot game.
Competing in the robot game.
Competing in the robot game.
They also had to compete in a robot game; a 2 and half minute challenge to complete as many tasks as possible to score the most points, with 4 highest scoring teams got into the Semi-finals.
The Puzzlers came 3rd in the knock-outs with 215 points. When competing in the Semi finals, they scored 225 – securing their spot in 2nd to progress to the finals. Competing against Oakwood, who were unbelievably talented at the robot game. They set a heavy lead with 300 points in their first of 3 rounds – securing their trophy in the robot game – but the Puzzlers fought in every round, scoring their highest score of the day of 245 points.
Winning the Robot Design Award…
…Athena (on the right), known at the competition as ‘The Beast’
And winning the Champion Award.
Some tears of joy.
We are the champions….
…and we’re off to Bristol!
The trophy ceremony gave the Puzzlers 2 reasons to celebrate! Their robot – Athena, God of Technology – won ‘Best Robot Design’, after being referred to as ‘a beast’ by the judges. After coming 2nd in both the presentation and robot game, and 1st in the robot desgin, the Puzzlers won the overall day – for a 2nd year running – and now have to compete in Bristol in the national competition!
FREE open-access additional activities that children, young people and families can get involved in as part of this year’s campaign.
Climb / BBQ – Friday 25th October, 5:30-9:30pm
This will take place at Simonside Climbing Wall, South Shields, NE34 9SD (www.simonsideoutdooradventure.com/centres).
Over 170 unique climbing routes are available, in addition to a ‘free-climb’ bouldering area and the UK’s first digital / sensory trailblazer traverse wall (as seen on Dragons Den).
Children from the age of 5, young people and families are welcome.
Should you have any queries please contact Martin Simpson at: [email protected] or by telephoning: 0191 424 0118.
5-a-side Football Tournament – Friday 1st November, 7-9pm
This will take place on the outdoor 3G pitch at Temple Park Leisure Centre, John Reid Road, South Shields, NE34 8QN (www.southtyneside.info/article/11155/Temple-Park-Centre).
To enter a team (11-13, 14-15 and 16-18 age groups) please contact Chris Thompson at: [email protected] or by telephoning: 0191 424 7845.
5-a-side Football Tournament – Friday 8th November, 7-9pm
This will take place on the outdoor 3G pitch at Clegwell Community Association, Mountbatten Avenue, Hebburn, NE31 2QT (www.southtyneside.info/article/19969/Clegwell-Community-Association).
To enter a team (11-13, 14-15 and 16-18 age groups) please contact Chris Thompson at: [email protected] or by telephoning: 0191 424 7845.
Our Harton Primary Elmer has taken over the Customs House, as part of the Great North Elmer Parade. Designed and painted by pupils at our school!
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