Check out our water area! This has been a really popular area this half term with children from all year groups. It has been lovely to watch the older children help the younger children.
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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This week we were lucky enough to have a visit from the writer, rapper and teaching sensation- Christian Foley.
Christian made a big first impression on the children, wowing us with his freestyling skills in a whole school assembly. The children loved his performance and joined in with his nursery grimes and other freestyles.
He then worked with all children from Reception to Year 6 in workshops to develop their poetry skills. The children got to hear stories that Christian has written and also come up with their own ideas.
It has been amazing to see how inspired the children have been following this visit and I know they enjoyed it.
His books can be purchased online.
If you want to know more about Christian Foley please look at his website https://www.christianfoley.co.uk/
During the Easter break, some of our amazingly talented staff have been in and added more wonderful areas for the children to play with. The children now have a mud kitchen, a water area, a dinosaur digging area and a hill slide! We can’t wait to see what they do and make in these new areas.
We kindly ask parents to ensure children do not play in these areas at home time, as the equipment and areas need to be supervised by staff.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Well… we have decided to make some changes and add even more zones to make more amazing opportunities for the children to play.
One of those amazing zones will be a Mud Kitchen! If you have any of the following we would appreciate any donations that you have:
- Whisks
- Wooden spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Old pots and pans
- Plastic funnel
- Mixing bowls
We are also adding a water area, we are expecting some serious splashing, mixing and getting just that little bit wet!
We think it would be a great idea if you could send a spare change of clothing if you know they like getting wet.
Thank you for your continued support.
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.
Please find below links to the various activities South Tyneside Libraries are hosting over the Easter holidays.
Arts and crafts | The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, South Shields
Board Games | The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, South Shields
Dr Bike Sessions | The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, South Shields
Lego Time | The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, South Shields
Easter Fun in FabLab | The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, South Shields
Gardening Themed Craft Activities | The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, South Shields
Harton Mini Police had a thrilling surprise visit from the Northumbria Police Dog Section! Excitement filled the air as they discovered they would get to see the police dogs in action, expertly sniffing out their favourite toys. The children eagerly asked questions about the dogs’ important roles and were delighted to meet Rocco and Ollie. Afterwards, they had the chance to explore the inside of a police traffic car, where they especially enjoyed pressing the horn to activate the sirens and lights. It was an unforgettable experience for everyone!
OPAL UPDATE-
OPAL is well underway at Harton and we have now introduced different zones for the children to explore.
Through play, children encounter, explore and make sense of the world and their place within it. Currently, the children have 9 zones to play in (with more zones to be added in the near future).
Here are some recent pictures of our children enjoying the OPAL activities in zone 1- The tranquil zone.
In Zone 1, the children can play with: chalks, buckets of water, paint brushes, big rolls of paper with colouring pencils and read books.
We have some lovely ideas planned for this zone including making bird feeders to hang from the trees and adding some relaxing tranquil music.
It has been wonderful to see so much; creativity, imagination, inspiration, communication and most importantly FUN happening!
Bluesky social app 
is a microblogging social media platform that gained popularity after separating from Twitter in 2021. It’s more than doubled its user numbers in the past six months alone, from 14.5 million in October 2024 to 32 million at present. Since accounts must be public, this opens the door to potential trolling
, cyberbullying 
and the spread of misinformation
We’ve created this free guide – also available in podcast format 
– offering parents and educators advice and guidance on the tools available to keep children safe while using the popular social media platform Bluesky.
Bluesky is a microblogging social media platform that gained popularity after separating from Twitter in 2021. Since accounts must be public, this opens the door to potential trolling, cyberbullying and the spread of misinformation.
We’ve created this free guide, offering parents and educators advice and guidance on the tools available to keep children safe while using the popular social media platform Bluesky.
