Pupils across Year 2 to Year 6 have taken part in this year’s Premier League Writing Stars competition. This year’s theme is Ambition, and we have some wonderful poems on display. Let’s hope we are as successful as last year!
Morning everyone,
We hope that you are well and finding things to keep you busy during these unusual times.
We wanted to share with you all a fantastic resource created by The National Literacy Trust for families to support with home learning. As Harton Primary is a ‘Puffin World of Stories’ school, we have been invited to use The Family Zone. This website has been designed with you in mind and gives a range of activity suggestions, online resources and things to keep your children busy (and learning).
Simply follow the link below and select the age range of you child to find out more! 
https://literacytrust.org.uk/family-zone/
Dear Parents/Carers,
Re: Coronavirus update – school closure to most pupils
Following on from my last update, I’m now writing to let you know that we have now been instructed to close the school to almost all children after this Friday until further notice.
As advised by the government, we will do all we can to stay open for the children of key workers (e.g. NHS staff, police, others in frontline services) and children with certain needs.
We are waiting for the government to publish more information on what this means, but it would help us in the meantime if you could let us know if you think your child may fall into one of these categories. Please contact school by telephone 0191 4562150 or email [email protected] giving your child’s name and class if you think your child will be attending school from Monday. We’ll be in touch again as soon as we are sure who this does apply to.
All other children will need to stay at home, so we ask that you do not send your child into school from Monday onwards.
Please note that this is a national closure – as you may have heard in the news – so while it is a challenging situation, we are not alone. We’ll re-open fully as soon as we can and will let you know when this is by ‘Marvellous Me’ and the school website.
What we’ll continue doing while your child is at home
Your child’s learning is of course important to us, so we’ll continue to help your child to learn.
You should have received a pack of work (if not it is available to collect in school)
Staff will be in regular contact via ‘Marvellous Me’ and please check the school website regularly.
If your child usually receives free school meals we will also be in touch with more information about how we will continue to provide this, with support from a scheme that the government has just announced.
What we won’t be able to go ahead with
School trips
After school clubs
Any SATs or other planned assessments
This is as much as we know right now and we appreciate your continued patience with as we deal with this ever-changing situation. We understand that this latest news will have an impact on you and your family and it’s far from ideal, but we’ll continue to keep in touch with any updates as the situation develops.
If you want to get in touch to share any concerns, please don’t hesitate to do so via the school office, [email protected]
And remember: if you or your child feels ill and you want to know what to do next, please use NHS 111 online.
Thank you again for your continued support, and we will be in touch with more information when we can.
K Ratcliffe
Head Teacher
We have had a lovely week in year 2 celebrating Science week.
We have had talks from Dove Marine Lab and Kielder Observatory, which were both really interesting.
We have also carried out our own investigations and experiments. We found out who the chocolate thief was! Why don’t you ask us?
Well done to all of the children who have entered our Spring Reading Challenge, reading a book in an unusual place. It is wonderful to see so much enthusiasm around reading. A winner will be picked from each year group and announced in assembly on World Book Day – Friday 6th March. 
A huge congratulations to Cameron Coyne in Y2E for placing 1st in the South Tyneside Addison Act Art competition. There were over 700 entries! His enjoyed collecting his prize and seeing his art work displayed at The Word. Well done!
We have introduced a new online learning platform called NumBots. This game is aimed at boosting addition and subtraction skills for all aged children.
Since the success of Times Tables Rockstars in encouraging children to master times table and division fact instant recall, we would like their skills with mental addition and subtraction to be just as good. NumBots will help! More importantly, children in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 can access the games.
All children start at the same place in Story mode, and when they get to a certain stage they will unlock Challenge mode. The idea is that they play little and often, and this will significantly improve their understanding of number bonds and addition and subtraction facts.
The login is exactly the same as the one for Times Tables Rockstars – Key Stage 1 parents should have received parent letters with new login details.
Times Tables Rockstars app and NumBots app are available to download on all android and Apple devices.
What a fantastic Christmas party we had in Y2S. Dancing, party games, food and more!
Our School Council have been like busy little elves making Positive Vibes Boxes for each class. They can’t wait to share them with their classes in January and explain how to use them. We promote positive mental health and wellbeing at Harton Primary.
We raised an amazing £470 from the sale of Anti-Bullying Week wristbands and rulers which will enable us to make a donation to the Anti-Bullying Alliance charity. Our Eco-warrior Day raised a fantastic £230!
Our School Council voted to support the WWF, The Woodland Trust and to buy a composter and gardening equipment for our allotment. All of our pupils took part in a vote regarding which endangered animals to sponsor.
We greatly appreciate your generosity in helping us to support our chosen charities.
