At Harton Primary school the children are not the only ones who LOVE reading! We all do…so we thought we would put the children to the test and see if they can identify us by our favourite books!
Why not have a go for yourself? How well do you know us?
Hi everyone,
I hope you are all keeping well. Just an update on the Musical activities that the children have been undertaking at Harton so far this year.
Each Year group has access to new music software called ‘Charanga’. There are hundreds of modern songs and each scheme enables children to use musical instruments to accompany their compositions.
In Year 3, the children have been learning how to play the Djembe drums. They have learned how to follow patterns, understand the connection between ‘tempo’ and ‘pulse’ and maintain a steady beat. They have been doing so well!
In Year 4, Mr Bird has been teaching the children how to play the keyboard. They have learned basic key notation and how to play some simple melodies. It is sounding great!
Year 5 children have been working with a teacher from South Tyneside’s Music Hub called Rhys. Two classes in Year 5 so far have been using the Ipads to create music on an app called ‘GarageBand’. The children are shown how to compose a simple beat pattern and then add in other instruments. They explore a different range of tempo and sequences and create a ‘layered’ piece of music that even the best DJ artists would be proud of!
Here are some examples of the music the children in Year 5 composed, using the app ‘GarageBand’
A selection of Year 6 children have had the opportunity to learn a brass instrument with Mr. Storey in a small group setting. They have learned basic notation, some more complex pieces of music and are beginning to learn how to read music.
Every Year group has Singing with Mr. Richardson where they practise songs for a concert which is performed for all parents. These sessions are vital for children to learn the correct pitch, tempo and harmonies required in each song.
We hope this gives an insight into all the wonderful music which is taking place as we continue to promote the Arts here at Harton.
To celebrate the work the Harton Primary Puzzlers put into their First Lego League project, the local Newspaper the Shields Gazette wrote an article about them.
Read about our success at the Regional competition below.
Pupils from Years 5 and 6 at Harton Primary School won the First Lego League competition at a regional tournament held at The Word in South Shields in December 2019.
Now Caitlin Kerr, Chloe Hill, Ruby Bird and Evie Wardale, Daniel Allen, Electra Myers, Daniel Jack and Sophie Mustafa – aka the Harton Primary Puzzlers – will travel to Bristol to represent the region in the finals.
The competition will take place at the University of West England (UWE) on Saturday, February 22 with the Puzzlers going up against more than 70 teams from around the country.
This will be the second time the Year 6 students have made it this far, after successfully reaching the finals last year – but a first for Caitlin, Chloe, Ruby and Evie.
The international Lego League competition sees students research real-world problems such as food safety, recycling or energy. They then design and build a robot, using Lego Mindstorms technology, and compete on a table-top playing field.
The team took their inspiration from some of the issues facing their hometown for this year’s theme ‘city shapers’.
They designed an eco-friendly, solar-powered tram to travel down King Street and help tackle traffic congestion in the area.
The children reached out to a range of experts for advice and support, including Nexus, the solar panel company PowerRoll and South Tyneside Council.
They will now present their idea to a panel of judges at the finals, as well as completing other Lego tasks on the day.
Team coach and Year 5 teacher Lee Forster commented: “The children have worked really hard all year- giving up many of their playtimes to practise both the robot game and the presentation. It’s been great to see them so motivated and working together.”
Harton Primary headteacher, Karen Ratcliffe added: “This competition has given our pupils the opportunity to think like engineers and scientists and I am extremely proud of their achievements in winning the overall competition.”
Each class in year 4,5 and 6 has been designated a ‘Digital Leader’ who’s job it is to identify popular used apps within each class and help inform everyone – children, teachers and parents – of the guidelines or purposes of the apps being used.
Working in year groups, they completed a survey with each class to see which apps are used the most and asking the children what they think the minimum age each app. They then found out the correct answer and informed each class – as well as the parents using MarvellousMe.
Here is each year groups top 3 for Spring:
Year 4
| App | Estimated Age | Actual Age limit |
| Roblox | Between 3+ and 13 years old | 13 years old |
| TicTok | Between 10 and 14 years old | 13 years old |
| 8 years old | 16 years old |
Year 5
| App | Estimated Age | Actual Age limit |
| YouTube | 6 years old | 18 years old (13 with permission) |
| TicTok | Between 12 and 14 years old | 13 years old |
| Roblox | Between 7 and 10 years old | 13 years old |
Year 6
| App | Estimated Age | Actual Age limit |
| SnapChat | Between 11 and 16 years old | 13 years old |
| Between 12 and 17 years old | 13 years old | |
| Youtube | Between 10 and 18 years old | 18 years old (13 with permission) |
The Digital Leaders will be conducting these and other surveys throughout the year.
French artist Henri Matisse inspired us to ‘paint with scissors’ in Year 4. Year 6 were also creating their own version of Matisse’s ‘Beasts of the Sea’. We also looked at a ‘real’ painting copied from one of his earlier works ‘ Woman Reading’ 1920. Year 5 used their knowledge of The Ancient Greeks from their English and History lessons, to design a Greek pot calendar, and then made a pot from clay. The Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani had a particular style, and we replicated his style in our self portraits in Year 6. We have lots of talented artists too!
At Harton we have enjoyed using art and craft activities to maintain everyone’s smiles. If you are passing our school look out for the fantastic rainbows around the building and on the windows. We hope everyone is staying safe and well. x
The Playground Buddies helped to put together a questionnaire to find out what our pupils think about break times. Do they feel safe? What could they do if they feel lonely? Are there enough Playground Buddies? They went out into the yards to conduct a survey.
The results have been extremely positive so far! Our pupils think that the Playground Buddies are doing a great job in helping children in our three yards.
.
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
