Fairtrade award success for James Knott Eco Warriors

31st March 2022Leanne Tonks

A primary school in South East Northumberland has taken its first steps towards becoming a certified ‘Eco School’ after receiving the FairAware Award from the Fairtrade Foundation.

James Knott C of E Primary School in Ashington, which operates as part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, achieved the award in recognition of the efforts its pupils and staff have made to become more environmentally aware and conscious of the positive impact of using Fairtrade products.

Driven by the school’s ‘Eco Warriors’ group, pupils took part in a special assembly during the national ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’ event held earlier this month to introduce the topic of Fairtrade – what it is and why schools should support it. Staff and pupils then participated in a series of audits to assess what Fairtrade products were already in use within the school, how Fairtrade was included in the teaching curriculum and what level of understanding the children had about Fairtrade.

The data was then submitted to the Fairtrade Foundation for analysis which resulted in the school receiving its FairAware Award.

“We’re absolutely delighted to have achieved the FairAware Award. The Award is the culmination of a huge amount of work to help us take the first positive step towards becoming a fully-fledged Eco School,” said Claire Donnelly, Class Teacher at James Knott C of E Primary School.

“The enthusiasm shown by our staff and pupils throughout the project has been incredible. Our Eco Warriors – a group of pupils from Years 5 and 6 have been fundamental to the success of the project having given up their break times and even stayed late after school to help compile the audit results and complete the online application forms.

“Looking to the future, we hope to achieve our second Fairtrade Foundation accredited award – the FairActive Award, by Christmas 2022 and to grow our eco community in school even further by electing a Fairtrade ambassador for each form class. The ambassadors will be responsible for suggesting ideas how we can improve our Fairtrade status, such as switching to Fairtrade tea and coffee in the staff room and stocking Fairtrade produce as part of our annual Market Stall day.”

Alan Hardie, CEO at Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, added:

“At NCEAT, we are passionate about encouraging our pupils to become conscientious global citizens, tuned in to the wider impact that they can have on the world around them through small actions taken in their own lives.

“I’d like to congratulate all of the pupils and staff at James Knott C of E Primary School on their FairAware Award and wish them every success with the continuation of the project.”

For more information about the Fairtrade Foundation awards for schools, visit https://schools.fairtrade.org.uk/fairtrade-schools-awards.

Pupils raise ÂŁ163 for NSPCC’s ‘Number Day’

18th February 2022Leanne Tonks

Last week, pupils at James Knott took part in the NSPCC’s ‘Number Day’ – a maths-inspired fundraising event to support the charity’s ‘Speak Out, Stay Safe’ initiative.

Pupils were encouraged to come into school wearing an item of clothing with a number on it and during the day, each class solved maths puzzles and took part in problem solving, reasoning and number games.

Pupil Voice, our school council, tells us that Numeracy is a favourite subject at James Knott. The children love to be challenged and like that there is always a right answer, so Number Day was a huge success and we helped to raise ÂŁ163 for the NSPCC.

A huge thank you to everyone who took part and donated and to our super creative families for making such fantastic number-themed t-shirts and clothing!

Careers Week at James Knott

19th October 2021Leanne Tonks

All this week, our pupils will be taking part in activities to help them explore the world of work and find out about some of the different jobs that adults do. They will find out about apprenticeships, higher education and future study and also celebrate Black History Month by studying the differences famous black people have made in the UK and beyond.

See our timetable below to find out more…

Trust Primary School’s in national Top 50 for reading achievements

30th September 2021Leanne Tonks

NCEAT’s primary schools have been recognised in the UK’s top 50 schools for Accelerated Reader usage.

Accelerated Reader is an online platform which supports pupils’ reading skills. When they first start using the platform, pupils complete a STAR reading test which gives them a level based on their reading ability and advises on the books they should be reading. This allows teachers to ensure that pupils are challenged with an appropriate text and develops their reading fluency.

Once they have finished reading their book, they can then complete a comprehension quiz to assess whether they have understood what they have read. This gives teachers valuable information about pupils reading ages and also reading comprehension ability.

Prior to the summer holidays, the primary schools within the Trust had a big push on reading for pleasure, encouraging pupils to read at home with parents and carers. This push has seen pupils carry out over 28,537 Accelerated Reader quizzes online since August – that’s 28,537 books read across Bishop’s, Grace Darling, James Knott, Thomas Bewick and William Leech C of E Primary Schools!

Jack Christophers, Director of Literacy, commented:

“We’re absolutely blown away by what our pupils have achieved through Accelerated Reader. The statistics speak for themselves – our pupils have put in an amazing amount of effort and we’re extremely proud of each and every one of them.”

To find out more about reading in the primary curriculum, visit our Reading Corner!

Year 6 Open Evening Thursday 30th September 4.00 – 6.00pm

23rd September 2021Ray Snell

Dear Parents/Carers

We would like to invite the parents/carers of all Year 6 learners to an open evening at Dukes. Transition between primary and secondary can be a difficult time and we want to make that transition smooth. Our open evening will you an opportunity to meet the staff and current students and find out more about the exciting curriculum and enrichment opportunities we provide here at Duke’s.

Year 6 Open Evening Thursday 30th September 4.00 – 6.00pm

The event will start at 4.00pm and end at 6.00pm. There will be a welcome talk given by our Principal Mr Atkinson during the evening. There will also be some current Year 7 and 8 learners supporting this event through sharing their experience and answering any questions your child may have.

Information
In the meantime if you would like any further information please visit our school website where we have a dedicated webpage for Year 6 transition. https://dukes.ncea.org.uk/y6-transition/

Contacting school staff
If you need to speak to the staff responsible for your child please call 01670 816111 (ex. 329) or email ashleigh.mitcheson@dukes.ncea.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Mitcheson
Head of Year7

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LIGHThouse – Summer Holiday Edition

28th July 2021Leanne Tonks

Click the button below to view the latest issue of our LIGHThouse newsletter.

In this edition:

  • Free School Meals vouchers for summer (All Trust)
  • Summer School reminder for Year 6 pupils (All Bishop's)
  • Showing racism the red card (All Trust)
  • Get lost in a book this summer (All Trust)
  • ÂŁ5,500 raised for CRUK (Thomas Bewick Campus)
  • Sports success for Duke's students (Duke's Secondary)
  • Alpaca madness! (Warkworth Primary)
  • Castle School pupil becomes charity cover star (Castle)
  • The Karate Kid (Grace Darling Campus)
  • CEO's blog: Making the most of our summer (All Trust)