Year 3 STEM Week

23rd May 2025Sophie Hawkins

This week, our Year 3 students dove headfirst into the world of STEM and coding!

As part of STEM Week, our young engineers not only built innovative LEGO models to solve real-world problems, but also explored the basics of coding, bringing their creations to life using simple programming tools. They were able to make their models make sounds, light up and move. They learned how to sequence commands, use logic to solve challenges, and work as a team to create a team poster. The children should be proud of their teamwork, innovation and hard work!

E-Safety Information – Violent Content Online

21st May 2025L Forster

Around 70% of teenagers say they’ve seen real-life violence on social media in the past year. Violent content online isn’t just something young people are occasionally stumbling across – in many cases, it’s becoming a routine part of their digital world . From fights  and stabbings ️ to toxic ideologies ☣️, disturbing videos are often just a click away on social media or group chats. Many children don’t go looking for this material, it finds them via algorithms or peer sharing.

This week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide highlights the unseen risks this poses to children’s mental health , sense of safety ️, and social behaviours. With insights from a leading expert ‍, it offers practical ways for parents and educators to respond with empathy  and support  – not punishment or panic .

The guide outlines key concerns, including the mental toll of repeated exposure, shifts in behaviour, and the worrying normalisation of harmful ideologies. It also explains how such content can escalate from screen to street, and why some young people may feel pressured to share or even create violent media themselves.

Year 3 STEM Week Begins!

19th May 2025Sophie Hawkins

Year 3 are excited to dive into STEM week with this year’s theme: Submerged! We are getting ready to explore the mysteries beneath the surface as we build, create, and learn about the fascinating world of underwater exploration. With teamwork, imagination, and plenty of LEGO bricks, we will investigate real-world challenges faced in deep-sea environments. Stay tuned as we embark on this exciting journey beneath the waves!

Harton Primary Puzzlers Make History with Innovation Award Win

7th May 2025R Errington

We are incredibly proud of our 2024-2025 Harton Primary Puzzlers team, who represented the borough at the First Lego League national competition in Harrogate on Saturday 3rd May. Throughout the day, the children were commended for their enthusiasm, brilliant teamwork and excellent communication! They wowed the judges as well as other competitors with their ground-breaking project idea of the Tyne Cleanstream bubble barrier, which is designed to gently redirect plastic into a container unit using a curtain of bubbles. During the award ceremony, the Harton Primary Puzzlers were announced as the first place winners for the Innovation Project  Award for going above and beyond with their idea and their research! The Puzzlers are the first team in South Tyneside to have received one of the top awards at the national competition!

Check out a lovely article from ICT in Schools about their brilliant achievement, including their excellent work on the robot game:

https://ictinschools.org/harton-primary-puzzlers-shine-at-first-lego-league-national-finals/

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STEM week continues in Year 4

10th April 2025Charlotte Whitehead
Another great day of STEM week in Year 4. Today the children were challenged to adapt their submarine model to work for a job that explores or studies the ocean. Their final task was to create a team model to showcase everything they have discovered as a team in our ocean exploration.

STEM week in Year 4

8th April 2025Charlotte Whitehead
This week in Year 4 is STEM week, the theme this year is ‘Submerged’. More than 80% of the ocean remains unexplored! This week, we will be learning about how people explore our oceans. Yesterday, we got into teams and were all given an important job. We worked together to complete our first tasks, it was so much fun!

E-Safety Information – Instagram

3rd April 2025L Forster

Instagram  remains one of the world’s most popular social media platforms, especially among teens – used by around 70% of 13 to 17-year-olds.

It may be one of the most familiar social media names around but features like AI-powered chatbots and Threads integration have added fresh challenges for families and schools to navigate From worrying livestreams to issues like social exclusion and fear of missing out, Instagram isn’t just about photos. As the platform evolves, so too must the conversations we have with young people about how they use it 

Our latest #WakeUpWednesday guide outlines what these new features involve, the possible risks they bring and how to make the most of Instagram’s parental controls to keep children safe online. ️

Instagram remains a go-to app for teens, with its endless stream of photos, videos, and ‘Stories’ keeping young users constantly connected. From influencer content to live broadcasts, the platform is packed with evolving features that can feel fun and engaging – but can also raise some serious concerns around screen time, online pressures and exposure to inappropriate content.

We’ve created this free guide – also available in podcast format – offering parents and educators up-to-date knowledge on the risks and safety tips for this latest version of Instagram.

https://nationalcollege.com/

Year 1 Visit the allotment.

27th March 2025P Mullea

Year 1 were delighted to be working with Kaye and Danielle from Williby Rocs a few weeks ago to help improve our allotment space. The children learned lots about plants and used their knowledge of the seasons to understand why Spring is a good time to plant new things.

The children made special signs so that they knew what had been planted and then got their hands dirty by planting seeds.

We have been looking after the seeds in class and have been very excited to see them growing!