For the first online competition, we want to see how good Brighton Avenue's pupils are at story writing. Can you complete the ending to this story:

Jake finally got a chance to run with the ball. He took it past one player, then another, he was one on one with the goalkeeper! He was just about to shoot when suddenly...

What has just happened to Jake? Did he score? Did he miss? What could have happened so dramatically?

Write the ending to this story either by hand or on the computer and hand it to your teacher, Closing date is Thursday 9th February 2012 and a winner will be announced on Friday 10th February.

Good Luck!!! 

A huge thank you to all the families who attended our Family Evening held on Wednesday 25th January. We're sure you'll agree that a great time was had by all who attended! With our 'Review of 2011' quiz and bingo games on our large screen projector there were plenty of activities in the hall. Some of the younger pupils enjoyed playing party games and participating in treasure hunts around the school. Lots of delicious treats were on offer too!

Well done to the winners of our quiz, who won a wonderful family games compendium. Please find the answers to the quiz below, along with some photographs from the evening.

Brighton Avenue Family Evening Quiz.doc

Picture round.doc

Who would like to go on the best trips every term? How many points did you collect last term? Would you like some more?

As you know, Mrs Pallent and Mrs Dickinson are always looking to hand out their special points to children who do lots of writing at home. But sometimes it can be hard to think of things to write about. Well from now on, there will be a weekly competition on the website for you to take part in and possibly win some fantastic prizes!!!

All you have to do is log on to the website every week and find the competition question. It could be a story, a poem or even a recount of something you have done. You can either type your entry on the computer or write it by hand but either way you will be in with a chance of earning those special points. The best entry may also win a star prize! 

Make sure you keep logging onto the website to find out how you can enter the weekly competitions and good luck!

On Wednesday 25th January, Brighton Avenue were treated to an amazing journey back in time to World War II. Mr Parkin and his colleagues from the Drydon Centre played us a variety of songs from the 1940s and taught us all about life during the Second World War.

Some of Brighton's children got a chance to become soldiers and marched off to France to fight against Hitler's German forces. Many children got a chance to become members of the band and there were even some excellent swing dancers amongst the Key Stage 2 audience.

We also had our very own Brighton Avenue newsreaders in the form of Akeesha and Max who did a brilliant job of retelling the events throughout the Second World War. A great time was had by all of the children (and the staff) and we are looking forward to learning more about this historic period of British history.

At the end of the Autumn Term, the children who managed to collect the most points were rewarded with a fantastic day out at the Centre for Life in Newcastle. The children were able to investigate a wide range of interactive exhibits at the Centre, as well as watching shows in a lecture theatre and the Planetarium.

After lunch, the children were able to try their hand at ice skating as well as enjoying a hot chocolate and cookies. The children, and staff, all had a fantastic time and it was an excellent way to end a term in which the children have all worked very hard.

If you went on the ice skating trip, or even if you didn't, leave a comment below telling us your thoughts about the end of term trips. Did you enjoy them? Where would you like to go next time?

On Friday 25th November a special visitor came to Brighton Avenue Primary School.

The Mayor of Gateshead came with two ladies from Morrisons, to plant a pear tree in the school grounds.  Jordan, Chloe and Rebecca helped the Mayor to dig a hole and then plant the special tree.

Afterwards, the Mayor joined the children in Key Stage 2 as they rehearsed the songs from their Christmas production Hosanna Rock.

Monday 26th September was the European Day of Languages. As we are a multi-cultural school, Mrs Gibb worked hard to organise a wonderful day for us. We had special visitors and musicians from all over Europe, tasted some delicious food from around the continent and had some very special teachers for the day! Two of our parents (and one sister!) gave up their time to teach us more about their culture and heritage. A huge thank you to all our fantastic volunteers and to Mrs Gibb for organising a super day.

On Thursday year 3 were lucky enough to work with a head chef of a North East restaurant to make an edible model of the National Trust landmark Brimham Rocks. First the children made scones and rock buns. When they were cooked the children had to look carefully at the rock formations to decided how to stack the food. They took it in turns to create parts of the cake and then decorated the model with different sweets to look like grass, hills and trees.

We think our cake turned out really well. What do you think?

On Sunday 26th June, 6 class members were chosen to join Miss Hind and Miss Wasiejko to enter our model in a competition at Gibside. People all around the North East had been busy making cakes of different landmarks and they all presented them on a giant map at the festival. There were entertainers, games, music and best of all, plenty of food! The children were excellent role models for our school. Well done Year3!

As part of their visit to London, Year 6 are lucky enough to be going to see the West-End show 'The Wizard of Oz'. We are all so excited and can't wait to see, what is sure to be a fantastic show!

We saw this as the perfect opportunity to treat all parents, pupils and staff to our own production of the show. We are currently learning lines, making props and organising costumes to make sure we do it in style!

Please come along and support us. The show will take place on Friday 1st July at 1:30pm in our school hall. All parents across the school are welcome, the more the merrier!

Wizard of Oz invitation.doc

Well done to Year 5 for performing a lovely assembly on Friday 13th May. We hoped we weren't going to be jinxed! Groups of children explained what we had been learning in class. These were research about rainforests in literacy, negative number lines in numeracy, seeds in science, dance in PE, playing guitars and musical notation and where rainforests,deserts and polar regions are in geography. Thank you to all the parents and carers who came along to watch and have refreshments in the classroom.

On Friday the School Council organised and prepared an Easter Fair for the children. It was highly successful and all the children enjoyed the stalls. There was hook a duck, guess the name of the chick, guess how many sweets in the jar, raffle, tombola, treasure hunt, pin the tail on the bunny and Easter nests and juice to eat. Mrs Sweeney and Mrs Conway are really proud of the School Council and the Year 5 children who helped on the stalls. We raised a staggering £213 which will be used to by equipment for the children to play with.

On Tueday 7th April, Years 5 and 6 had a visit from the Newcastle Eagles as part of their Hoops for Health programme. Some of the players came to teach us some important messages. We learned about basketball skills, fitness and community, healthy eating and the risks of smoking. It was a great afternoon where prizes were won and tickets to basketball matches given out. Everyone had a great time.

All the children in Key Stage 2 received 'Tobacco Education' this week by Lynsey Rowe. They found out about the dangers of smoking cigarettes and how they affect all parts of the body in some way. Discussions were held on what it means to be addicted and the chemicals which are contained within a cigarette. One of the pictures below shows a lung which is full of tar from smoking. The children understood why people feel they want to smoke but also have the information to make informed choices when the are older. The message was to never start smoking and you won't become addicted and you will lead a much healthier lifestyle.

Once again many children from our school took part in the Gateshead Schools Dance festival at The Sage, Gateshead on 15th March. They were absolutely fantastic.The theme was the Olympic Games. Mrs Sweeney's children danced to Keep on Running and You're the Best and depicted some of the sports in the Olympics. Mrs Franklin's tap dancers daned to Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner and Lambeth Walk as the Olympics are being held in London. The parents watched with pride both at The Sage and in school when we performed the dances for everyone to watch. Well done to all the girls and boys who took part. You did us proud.

On Tuesday 22nd March, fifiteen boys and girls from Years 5 and 6 took part in the Gateshead Primary Schools Cross-Country competition at watergate forest Park in Lobley Hill. The course was just over on mile. Everyone was enthusiastic and tried their best to run this long distance. Although we didn't win any prizes it was a great afternoon and Mrs Sweeney was proud that all the children made it round the course on the beautiful sunny afternoon.

Ahoy there!

To celebrate Comic Relief, Brighton Avenue became a pirate academy for the day! Year 6 loved getting into the spirit of things, revisiting their old pirate characters. Our day to day names were no more, as we made way for the likes of Bare-faced Balog, Cutlass-carrying Callum and Eyepatch Erkasap. Take a look at some of our snaps from the day! 

There was a dramatic change in the school hall on Friday 18th March. The Brighton Avenue children had disappeared and were replaced by 'Pirates'. We were raising money For Comic Relief by contributing £1 to come dressed as a pirate. The costumes were fantastic so thank you to all the parents and carers for their efforts in dressing our pirates and donating the money. We had a fun day but also raised £146 for this worthwhile charity. Children won prizes for writing pirate stories and painting pictures of pirates as well as for their costumes. There were also a few strange looking members of staff!

A team of 18 children took part in the cluster Sportshall Athletics Competition at Kingsmeadow School on Thursday 17th March. The children had to compete in sprints, long distance running, relays and obstacle relays, chest push, speed bounce, long jump and javelin. Everyone worked hard and tried their hardest to achieve the best jumps and throws they could and t run as fsat as they could. Some of the children will now go forward to represent the cluster in the finals at Gateshead Leisure Centre at the end of March.   

On March 7th 2011, four students (Danielle, Becky, Lewis and Tori) and two teachers (Miss Hind and Miss Marley) from our school flew off to spend four days in Sweden and what a fantastic time we had! We arrived in snowy Sweden and were greeted by our very welcoming hosts and families. We spent the first day together in school sharing a presentation to the students about our school. The second day we spent in the forest orienteering, playing team building games, cooking on a real camp fire and playing in the natural environment! It was fantastic and an amazing opportunity to cook our own lunch on a real camp fire! The final day we spent in the local town called Linkoping at two super museums! Please have a look at the pictures to find out what scary creatures we encoutered whilst at these museums.

We would just like to say what a fantastic opportunity this experience was, a super learning opportunity for both staff and students. All the children were fantastically well behaved and a credit to Brighton Avenue. We would also like to say a huge thank you to our hosts in Sweden, we enjoyed every moment!

On Monday 14th February, our brilliant School Council, with help from Mrs Sweeney and Mrs Conway, organised a super 'Valentine Party' after school. Children from Reception, right up to Year 6 attended and had lots of fun. There was dancing, games, lots of yummy treats and even the odd Valentine's card to be spotted!

Great fun was had by all who came!

Due to preparing for the Valentine Party there will be NO homework Clubs on Monday 14 February.

Valentine Party starts at 4pm until 5.30pm. The 4pm start is to allow children time to go home and get changed into their party clothes.Tickets are on sale 50p each. Hot dogs, drinks and tuck shop are on sale.

As St Valentine's Day is fast approaching, Drama Club got into the spirit of things, by studying one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet. This is a tale of two young teenagers who fall in love, despite the fact that their families are always at war with one another. As we found out, the play has a rather dramatic end to say the least.

We read extracts from the play (which was more difficult than we thought, Shakespearean vocabulary isn't the easiest to work with!) and performed to the class. We did such a good job that we decided to write our own scenes for the play, bringing it up to date with a more modern day feel.

Lots of fun was had by all!

After working hard all term we let our hair down and celebrated in style at the KS2 Christmas party. We danced the afternoon away, played games, ate lots and most importantly looked very trendy!

Have a lovely Christmas everybody!

On Wednesday 8th December staff and pupils from across KS2 ventured out into the snow to go and view their artwork at Saltwell Park. We got there for 5pm and walked through the park which had been magically transformed into a winter wonderland. There was lots of fantastic artwork on display but our beautiful story jars hanging on the monkey tree was the best sight of all. We all felt very proud to see our work on display and be part of such a special event.

It is with regret that I inform you that I have decided to close the school for the rest of the week. A big thankyou to you all for your patience and to all who managed to get their children into school today despite the dreadful conditions. Please keep safe and warm and hope to see you ALL next Monday 6 December. Many thanks

Mrs Pallent

Headteacher

School is open today (Wednesday 1st December)

Please take care and have a safe journey this morning.

'Scrooge at School' - Thursday 9th and Friday 10th December

Calling all pupils in KS2!

We do hope you are all still learning any lines you have and are singing the production songs at home despite the snowy weather!

Sing along to parents and carers and tell them all about our super production!

Dear Parents/Carers

I am very sorry that school has had to close again today (Tuesday 30 November). Unfortunately we did not have enough staff able to get into school.I'm very sorry for the inconvenience that this may have caused. I have managed to get into school and have carried out a risk assessment I am hoping that we should be open tomorrow. Naturally if we have another heavy snowfall then I will have to re-assess the situation.

Wednesday 1 December was to be our Christmas Fair but even if we are open the fair will not take place. I will keep you updated as often as possible.

I do hope that you are all managing to keep safe and warm and that the children are enjoying the snow. Please remind them to read every day and it would be good if they could write a story or a poem about the snow.

Keep looking at the website for updates.

Hope to see you tomorrow

Best Wishes Mrs Pallent

Headteacher

Closure update

School will remain closed tomorrow (Tuesday 30th November) due to continuing poor weather conditions. We ask that you keep checking the website for updates tomorrow.

Take care and stay safe.

Over the last few weeks Years 3,4,5 and 6 have been involved in an exciting art based project. They have been working with a storyteller who has been helping them to capture their favourite 'magic moments' from stories and put them into glass jars. Artists have then helped them to design and make a 3D scene inside the jar to reflect their magic moment. A selection of children have also recorded their stories for others to listen to.

The jars are going to be taken to Saltwell Park for the festive 'Enchanted Parks' festival held in December. The jars will be displayed around a tree and illuminated in a fantastic exhibition showcasing many local artists work.

The organisers have offered FREE places for the children involved to see the exhibition at Saltwell Park. As the park turns into a 'glow in the dark fantasyland' it doesn't start until after school. These tickets are £5 to the general public and are selling out fast. 

School staff would like to take the children from Years 3,4,5 and 6 to see their work on Wednesday 8^th December.  If your child is interested, please remember to sign and return the permission slip that has been sent out.

Watch this space for photographs of our work displayed at the Saltwell Park exhibition!

On Friday 19th November, the whole school helped raise money for Children in Need. The children paid £1 to come in 'non uniform' clothes. For their money they also received a drink, a krispie cake and a raffle ticket. Many children supported Pudsey Bear by wearing as many spots as they could and enjoyed parading their spots in assembly.

The School Council had been very busy after school on Tuesday making krispie cakes with Mrs Sweeney and Mrs Conway. They worked as a team to melt, mix, spoon into cases and sprinke spots onto the krispies to make them spotty. Everyone appreciated their efforts on Friday when they ate them.

The children had also entered a competition to either colour Pudsey's spots or write a story about how he got his spots. There were some brilliant entries and a winner from each class was chosen to win a mini Pudsey.

Everyone listened eagerly for their name to hear if they had won a prize in the raffle. Demi and Cody won the two Pudseys and other children won a wide variety of Pudsey gifts, cakes and biscuits.

Last week all Key Stage 2 classes took part in a rather magical workshop. We were told a story by the visiting artists and were asked to remember the magic moments from within the tale. We found out that Thomas, one of our visitors, was a story keeper and keeps special parts of stories within glass jars. We were asked to do that very thing with the story we had just heard. We thought about what we would put into our jar to capture the 'magic moments' and set to work using a range of materials to create our magical story jars. We will continue to work on them this week and look forward to visiting Saltwell Park on 8th December to see our work displayed as part of the 'Enchanted Parks' exhibition.

Take a look at some of the photographs below showing Year 6 creating their jars.

Each class will be visiting the Shipley Art Gallery in the coming weeks to make some Christmas or theme based crafts. Children will need sensible walking shoes and a waterproof coat. All groups will be back in time for the end of the school day.

Mon 15^th Nov- Year 6 - Creative Recycling- am

Tues 16^th Nov- Year 4- Containers- pm

Mon 22^nd Nov- Year 3- Victorian life - am

Thurs 25^th Nov-Year 2- Christmas Fun- pm

Mon 29^th Nov- Reception, Miss Brown- Christmas Fun-am

Fri 3^rd Dec- Reception, Miss Marley-Christmas Fun- am

Mon 13^th Dec- Year 5- Christmas Fun- am

Tues 14^th Dec- Year 1- Christmas Fun- am

Thank You

Last week Year 6 were visited by the Gibber drama group. Here we took part in a workshop which helped us explore issues linked to stereotyping, discrimination and racism. It was brilliant; we played games, worked as a team and found out lots about these important issues.

We thought that Grant, Fiona and Sonny from Gibber were fantastic. A big thank you to you all!

During October half term I was lucky enough to fly to the USA and explore Baltimore! Here I visited many different schools, including elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. I was welcomed into each and every school I visited and found out so much. It was a fantastic experience; American schools really are very exciting!

On the days I was not visiting schools, I was able to visit many other fantastic places. I went to Philadelphia and shot hoops on an outdoor basketball court (Mrs Sweeney would have been very proud) and I also visited Washington DC. Here I managed to sneak a peek at the White House and other political buildings. Unfortunately, Barak Obama wasn't available on the day, a shame as I'm sure he would have loved to find out all about Brighton Avenue!

I really had a super time and would love to tell you all about it. If you have any questions about schools in America or are interested in finding out more about my trip, post a comment and I'll get back to you! In the menatime, take a look at some of my photographs taken in Washington DC. Can you spot the White House?

Miss Heathfield

What a brilliant day we had today, 1st Novemeber, when ExpoChep Natasha visited school to deliver some healthy messages. Many children volunteered to by apprentice chefs and tasters. Did you know that we have 10,000 taste buds which are always changing so we should keep trying different foods?

Leonard helped to make the dressing for the healthy salad by squeezing orange juice through his fingers. A group of tasters tried the salad which included grated parsnip and carrot, leek, red pepper, cucumber, tomato, rocket, celery and strawberries. Many were unsure about this dish.

Craig used his hands to mix the ingredients for burgers. When they were cooking the smell in the hall was delicious. There were plenty of willing volunteers to taste these and the result was a thumbs up by everyone.

Amber, Akeesha, Jason and Callum peeled bananas to go into 'Brenda the Blender' to make a smoothie. Orange juice, natural yoghurt, strawberries and honey were blended together. More volunteers drained the cups when they tasted the delicious liquid. Another thumbs up.

Paola and Ethan took the pepper challenge. They had to taste a red and green pepper then guess which was which with their eyes closed. Both were correct each time. Well done.

Eight willing brave chilren volunteered to take part in a 'Bush Tucker Trial'. They had to chose a cup and taste what was hidden underneath it. Everyone nibbled and ate a selection of fruit and vegetables. Congratulations to all the volunteers.

We had an excellent day and learned many interesting facts which will help us in the future at home. Tha nk you to Natasha for an excellent day.

Last week we were lucky enough to host Comenius visitors from schools all over Europe. We welcomed visitors from: Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Sweden, and Turkey.

On Tuesday morning our partners visited our classrooms and told us a little more about their countries and school systems. We all found it very interesting and had lots of questions to ask!

On Friday each class in school presented a short assembly and retold a traditional story from each country. Year 6 investigated Latvia and retold the traditional European tale 'The King with Horses' Ears'. We all really enjoyed our week and found out so many interesting things. We are looking forward to the next meeting in Sweden!

On Saturday 16th October, five pupils from Year 6 took part in something very special. We were invited to St James' Park for the Newcastle vs. Wigan match where we were asked to compete against another local school to shoot penalties at half time. We were competing for the prestigious 'Kick it Out' cup to celebrate equality and diversity within football. It was an amazing experience and we are delighted to say that we won the cup! Luckily, there were lots of our school friends in the stands cheering us along as we took to the pitch.

We had a fantastic day and would like to thank the coaches and staff from the Newcastle United Foundation who really made our dreams come true! Another big thank you to the pupils from Our Lady & St Anne's Primary in Newcastle, we hope you had as much fun as we did!

You can see the story in more detail on the Newcastle United website, or follow the link below:

http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Foundation/News/0,,10278~2187821,00.

Looking for things to do over the 6 weeks? Have a look at the link below which gives a day by day view of events/workshops going on in the area (most if which are free).

Click here to view Summer holidays.xls

Wednesday 30th June was sports day at Brighton Avenue. Athletic pupils from our Reception class right up to Year 6 competed in a range of sporting events within their house teams. Luckily the sun shone and many parents managed to come and watch us take part. As ever, we were all keen to support and encourage one another. Well done to everybody who competed!

We are very lucky here at Brighton Avenue as we have so many varied cultures found within our school. With that in mind, we decided to celebrate our diversity. Mrs Sweeney, along with many of the EMTAS staff, organised a super day on Tuesday 25th May. We had the opportunity to experience so many different cultures; from having mehndi designs on our hands, making spring rolls, tasting breads from around the world and turning our hand to Bollywood dancing, we did it all! We had a fantastic day, all of which was shared with parents and Governors at our celebration assembly the following Friday. A big thank you to everybody who gave up their time on the day. We all had so much fun, we can't wait for the next one!

On Friday 21st May our Year 6 pupils had a real taste of working life as they spent the day taking over many of the jobs and responsibilities in our school. Some pupils took over teaching duties, taking classes for the day, some took on board teaching assistant roles while others spent time working with our kitchen staff. The school office was looked after by pupils taking the place of Mrs Williamson and Mrs Henderson, while lucky Christopher spent the day as the headteacher, giving Mrs Pallent a rest! A great day was had by all!

On Wednesday 19th May Years 4, 5 and 6 took part in an exciting careers fair. We were lucky enough to have many guests, including: vets, police, computer game designers, hairdressers and many more. Some parents even gave up their time to discuss their careers and interests with us. It really got us thinking about our hopes and aspirations for when we leave school. A big thank you once again to everybody who gave up their time for us on the day. Have a look at some of the photographs below for an idea of what we got up to on the day!

Last term the Reception class went on a trip to Saltwell Park.  We had to put on our high visual jackets so that we would be safe when crossing the roads.

We had a long walk to the park and on the way we saw lots of different plants.

We visited South Dene Nurseries.  We saw lots and lots of different types of plants with flowers, fruit and vegetables growing on them.  We bought some plants to take care of.  Come along to our classroom and we can show you our plants.

After this we had to follow some clues from the Giant because Jack had been naughty and hidden all of the Giants golden coins.  We had fun following the different clues around saltwell park and finding all of the giants golden coins to give back to him.  He was very happy!

We were very hungry after our hunt, so we went and has our dinner in the lovely and warm cafe.

After dinner we went into the park and had lots of fun!  Can you spy Mrs hunt playing on the slide?

Spring Term 1

We have been learning all about Toys!  We have really enjoyed looking at and playing with different toys.  We were able to go on a trip to the Discovery Museum where we looked at old toys, water toys and took some funny photos!

This is a spinning top.  You have to press down the handle fast to make it move.

We used lots of different toys in the water to see how they move.

We had lots of fun but got very wet! We had to dry ourselves with a hand dryer.

Look at our funny outfits.

We learnt about teddy bears and read lots of different stories about bears.  We made teddy bear masks, went on a bear hunt and learnt a teddy bear song. 

We all brought in our own teddies from home and went for a teddy bears picnic yummy!

Robert Taylor

During World Book Week we were lucky enough to have author and performance poet Robert Taylor visiting our school. He made a great impression on the pupils and the staff and has inspired some fantastic writing from the children.

He read and acted out poems from his books during assembly which made us all laugh! KS2 were then treated to class based sessions where we heard extracts from some of the stories he has written.

We will certainly be looking out for his books in the future!

Morning Nurture Group have been finding out about the work of an animal refuge. We became so interested we have been selling cakes we make to raise funds for Bryson's animal refuge in Wrekenton. We were lucky enough to find out about this important work first hand when we visited them to hand over our donations of food and money. A big thank you to everyone who helped us by buying cakes and donating food. Along with dog and cat food,  we were able to make a donation of £20. We are sponsoring a dog called Sasha and a cat called Diamond who live at the refuge.

 Afternoon Nurture Group have been working hard on our current theme of Heroes and Villains. We started our work by visiting Gateshead Library where Andy from the children's section there helped us design our own superhero. We have proudly displayed our finished designs in the nurture group classroom.

Earlier this term, Mrs Pallent, Brighton Avenue's Headteacher was invited to a reception at 10 Downing Street. This prestigious event was to recognise the achievements of the most improved schools in the country.

Mrs Pallent was delighted to have been invited and had a remarkable time. During her visit she met Gordon Brown the Prime Minister who addressed the group of Headteachers. Mrs Pallent was interviewed by the press and said that she was very proud to be Headteacher at Brighton Avenue and went on to pay tribute to the wonderful work carried out by her staff. Downing street2.doc

On Thursday 4th March, Miss Heathfield and five pupils from Year 5 had great fun at the 'Let's Animate' conference held at the Dryden Centre. We have been working on a 'heroes and villains' song and storyboard in class to link in with our current learning theme, so we had lots of ideas as to what we wanted our animation to be like. By the end of the day we had created a short stop-motion animation with our song playing in the background, we couldn't wait to take it back to school and show it to the rest of our class!

Hola!

On Friday 19th February, Miss Heathfield and Miss Hind, along with Leyla and Shannon from Y5 and Jack and Casey from Y6, were lucky enough to be invited on a special visit to Madrid, Spain as part of our exciting Comenius Project.

We travelled to Madrid along with staff and pupils from Caedmon Primary School and spent five days in the city. We all had so much fun and learned so many new things. We spent time in a typical Spanish school; saw the fantastic sights of Madrid and the pupils spent time with Spanish host families who looked after them so well while they were away from home.

We all had a fantastic time and would like to thank all of our new friends who made our time so enjoyable. We look forward to June, when staff and pupils from Madrid will be visiting us here in Gateshead. Finally, a huge 'well done' goes out to Leyla, Shannon, Jack and Casey who were all fantastic representatives for our school, you really made us proud!

On Tuesday 2nd February Year 6 went to visit Safety Works in Newcastle.  The children attended several workshops with the theme of how to keep safe.  The children were shown around the virtual town which included a hospital, a police station and even its own metro station!

The children now know:

• how to put people in the recovery position;
• the dangers of playing on train tracks;
• how to treat burns;
• identify hazards in the home;
• what to do in an emergency;
• how to prevent fires in the home;
• what happens if you are arrested;

A fun packed morning enjoyed by everyone!

As you know, due to the extreme weather we are experiencing at the moment, we unfortunately had no option but to close our school both yesterday (Wednesday 6th January) and today (Thursday 7th January).

Our caretaker is making every effort to clear the snow around the school grounds to make it safe and accessible again. With this in mind, we do hope to open school to pupils again tomorrow (Friday 8th January).

Obviously, this may well depend on any weather we experience today or overnight. To be sure, please keep checking our website, or ring school tomorrow morning. We would appreciate if, once you know for certain, you could contact other people who may not yet be sure and pass the message on.

Furthermore, all school closures in Gateshead can be found on the Gateshead Council website.

https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Environment%20and%20Waste/severe-weather.aspx

Just to confirm, we do hope to open school again on Friday 8th January, overnight weather dependent.

We thank you for your co-operation at this time and hope that everybody is staying safe and warm.

We have been taking part in a brilliant project called a Linking Project. Our Year 4 class are linked with a Year 4 class at St Alban's School in Pelaw. It is all about learning what our identity is. In the first session we met our new friends for the first time at Shipley Art Gallery and thought about our own identities through many activities.

During the second meeting at Brighton Avenue, we learned about Hinduism through role play and the story of Rama and Sita, making the Taj Mahal and Bollywood dancing. We looked after our partners for the whole day. We had a fantastic time.

During the third meeting we visited St Alban's School. On this occasion we learned about Judaism. Mr Glickman told us about a Synagogue, we acted out the story of Hannacat, sketched Jewish artefacts, tasted Jewish food, made a Havdala candle and Mezuzah.

We have learned a lot and would like to keep in touch with our new friends.

All year groups are due to visit the Shipley Art gallery over the next few weeks. The children will be involved in designing and making a whole host a glittery Christmas crafts for the festive season. Dates planned are as follows:

Reception- Thursday 17th Dec a.m.

Year 1- Wednesday 9th Dec a.m.

Year 2- Monday 14th Dec a.m.

Year 3- Tuesday 15th Dec a.m.

Year 4- Monday 14th Dec p.m.

Year 5- Tuesday 15th Dec p.m.

Year 6- Wednesday 9th Dec p.m.

All sessions will take place during school hours.

In year 4 we received a letter from Sir Arthur Knight asking us to design and make a model castle which could be made into a toy for Christmas. We worked in groups to draw different views of a castle, make decisions about which to use, plan our group design, plan the order of work needed and make the castle. The results are fantastic. The Countess Castle group (Niamh, Avalon and Chloe K) won the prize. Have a look outside our classroom to find them all. Samuel, Daniel and James D worked hard on their castle too.

In Nurture Group morning session we have been learning about how to care for Archie our guinea pig. We give him food and water and make sure his cage is nice and clean.

We have been trying out lots of practical activities to help us with our learning. We made porridge for snack and then learnt how to write the instructions.

Year 4 had a fantastic visit to Warkworth Castle to start our theme of castles. We explored the castle and found the keep, the bailey the turrets and towers, the beer and wine cellar, the great hall and the kitchens. We had a Medieval banquet where we performed in a role play while we learned many facts. Some sketches were completed to help us design our own castles back at school. The whole day was brilliant.

On Tuesday 1st December Year 5 were invited to the Gateshead Schools' Music Service awards ceremony at the Dryden Centre to celebrate our hard work and progress in guitar lessons. We were presented with a special award on the night and gave two brilliant performances. A big thank you to all parents who attended the ceremony and to our guitar teacher, Mr Nicholson, for all your hard work and support with Brighton Avenue. Finally, a big 'well done!' to all the pupils who performed on the evening. You were fantastic and we are all very proud of you!

On Friday 18th September, Year 5 had a fantastic day out at the Great North Sport and Fitness Show held at Gateshead Quayside. We took part in lots of physical activities which made us think carefully about what we can do in order to make sure that we keep fit and healthy. We returned to school exhausted, but feeling very proud, as organisers complimented us on how sensible and polite we were. Have a look at the selection of photographs taken on the day to see some of the things we got up to!

News just in! Brighton Avenue's singing sensations Lidia and Tina have wowed audiences from across the borough and managed to win the 'Stars In Their Eyes' grand final. The pair were granted a wildcard entry despite finishing runners up in the school final. Judges were rendered speechless when the dazzling pair hit the high notes of the chart topping single 'Hallelujah'. It was a tough competition and our other singing stars Jan, Lewis and Sam from Year 4 gave a polished, professional performance singing Akon's 'Beautiful'.

We took so many great photographs at the NASA space event, we wanted to share some more with you. Check out Shane discussing space politics with the Mayor of Gateshead while Keith, Thomas and Chloe get one small step closer to an astronaut! David was lucky enough to ask a burning question to the crew. Do you know how many people can fit into a space shuttle?

On Wednesday 8th July all of our KS2 classes visited Gateshead Stadium to meet some very special visitors who had flown over from Houston, Texas. We were lucky enough to meet some real life NASA astronauts! With all of the fantastic pupils we have here at Brighton Avenue, perhaps we have some future astronauts of our own in the making!

We have been working really hard on our summer term learning theme 'Flying The Flag' where we have been looking closely at the Victorian era. Next week we will be visiting Beamish Museum to find out more. We are all really looking forward to it. Look out for photographs of the day to follow!

On Wednesay the year 6 went to Gateshead Stadium to raise money for St Oswald's Hospice.  We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves while raising money for a good cause.

Year One enjoyed a visit to the Castle Keep, Newcastle!