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Mr Mc says he has settled in nicely!
Mr McAnaney joined Grangetown as Headteacher in January, and he has
loved every minute of the past 6 weeks! He thinks Grangetown is a
very special school, and says he has been really impressed with how
friendly everyone has been: “Everyone – staff, children and
parents – have given me such a warm welcome, going out of their way
to make it easy for me to settle in. The staff are hard working, and
really go the extra mile for the children and for each other. The
building itself is superb, and the grounds are first-class. It’s
what’s inside the building that makes it a special place though –
staff and children determined to give 100%, in an atmosphere of
support, trust, achievement and fun. I’m committed to working with
everyone at Grangetown so that the school continues to thrive and
develop. Thankyou to everyone for helping me to have such an
enjoyable first half-term!” |
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Happy New Year – Chinese Style!
This week we have had great fun celebrating Chinese New Year at
Grangetown. Our children have made dragons, tasted noodles, learned
about the Chinese zodiac, and found out what Chinese animal they
are. We have even had two Chinese visitors. Mrs Pyle, originally
from Shanghai, told our
year 5 & 6 children about her life as a teacher in China and about Chinese
customs – she even taught the students how to speak some basic
Mandarin. Then, years 5 & 6 enjoyed a day of Chinese dance workshops with
a professional choreographer. After half-term, Lip Lee will do some Chinese arts & crafts
with Early Years and years 1, 2, 3 & 4. |
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Staying Safe on
the Roads
Year 1 have been taking part in Walk Wise over the past half term.
The children have been learning about how to stay safe as a
pedestrian. Groups of children have been out and about, learning how
to use zebra crossings and generally finding out road-safety. |
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Over £200 for Haiti – WELL DONE!
Recently we held a non-uniform day to raise money for Haiti.
Everyone made a donation, and we raised over £200. This will be
donated to Unicef, and will be used to help the people in Haiti
overcome the devastating effects of the earthquake. Well done to all
children and parents and thankyou for your generosity. |
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Do you like our new Newsletter?
Our new-style Newsletter will be issued monthly, towards the end of
the month. It will celebrate achievement at Grangetown and will keep
you up to date with the rich range of learning experiences provided
for your child. As well as our monthly Newsletter, we also issue a
Weekly Update – a mini-newsletter containing the latest information
on attendance, a weekly schedule, some short news items and a list
of our weekly achievers. We hope you like the new-look Newsletters –
if you have any further suggestions to help us improve how we
communicate with parents your views are most welcome. |
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Let’s Dance!
Yesterday’s Valentines Discos were a tremendous success. The
turn-out was huge, and everyone had great fun. We’d like to thank
the parents who worked so hard making decorations and giving the
hall an amazing Valentines theme. They also organised the sale of
sweets and hot-dogs (which they’d bought themselves), and set up
card-making and face painting tables. Thanks also to our dedicated
staff for helping with games and supervision. A brilliant time was
had by all! Today, in Assembly, everyone watched a powerpoint
showing the photos from the discos, set to music of course! |
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School Council members cast their votes!
Our School Council recently voted for a number of important
positions on the Council. The following pupils were elected:
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Chairperson: Layton
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Vice-Chairperson: Georgia
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Secretary: Emily
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Treasurer: Robert
The council recently visited Southmoor School, to take part in a
consultation about the forthcoming renovation and refurbishment
programme. After half-term, the Council will be organising a survey
to find out what our children think about school dinners. We will
then work with the Sunderland school catering service to improve
school dinners. |
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Grangetown Playwrights!
Some of our year 6 children recently decided to write their own
play! It’s called Wizards of Grangetown Place (based on the TV show
Wizards of Waverley Place). The pupils have recently met
Sue Charnley, a teacher involved in the performing arts, to start
the process of producing the play. |
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Grease is the Word!
After half-term a new club will start at Grangetown. This will be
our ‘performing arts’ club – we intend to choose a special name for
it soon. Auditions will be held, and the aim is to work on a
production of Grease! We are very lucky to have secured the services
of a talented drama and music teacher. The Performing Arts Club will run on a Monday from
3.20-430, and is open to students in years 5 & 6. |
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Start the Day at Breakfast Club!
We are very lucky at Grangetown to have a team of dedicated staff,
willing and able to run a Breakfast Club. The Club runs from 8.00
until 8.50, offering a nutritious breakfast of cereal, juice and
toast. The children can draw, colour in, read, play games, and play
the Wii. We have 20 places, and the cost is £1.20 per day. Please
see Mrs Cranston if you would like your child to join breakfast
club. |
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New ICT Club!
As you may know, we have first-class ICT facilities at Grangetown –
so it makes sense to use them at every opportunity. We have recently
started a brand-new lunchtime ICT Club. It is open to 20 children
every day, and places are decided by our teachers. Each class
teacher has two passes, to be awarded for hard work, good behaviour
etc. At the moment, the Club runs once a week, but after half term
we will steadily increase the number of days. Thankyou to Mr Newby
for running the Club. |
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Let’s join the Circus!
What an amazing assembly we had recently. Marty came along and
demonstrated his incredible circus skills. He juggled, spun plates,
and rode a unicycle. Some of our pupils got up in front of a packed
hall and quickly mastered plate spinning themselves! Soon, we hope
to launch a Circus Skills Club at Grangetown – more details after
half-term. |
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SAFC to visit Grangetown
After half-term, year 5 will be working with Sunderland Football
Club, looking at anti-racism. As well as working in the classroom,
the pupils will also enjoy some keep fit and football sessions. We
can’t wait! |
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Little Dribblers!
Our Nursery children will have the chance to take part in some very
special football sessions soon – Little Dribblers! The classes will
be run by SAFC, and will be open to children from Daisychain Nursery
and the school Nursery. The sessions will teach the children the
skills of football, as well as co-ordination and balance. Perhaps
we’ll unearth a few future stars for the Stadium of Light! This is
one of many ways that the school is working with Daisychain – we
value our day care service and want to develop a very close bond
between school and Daisychain. |
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After School Clubs
Galore!
Wednesday between 3.30-4.30 is a special time in the week at
Grangetown. There’s a real family atmosphere as everyone – staff &
children – get busy with their After School Clubs. Everyone is
spoilt for choice… there’s athletics, ICT, art, cross stitch,
newspaper club, and even cookery,…plus a homework club! Oh, and we
do choir on Tuesdays! The children have a brilliant time, and once
again we have our very dedicated teachers & teaching assistants to
thank for organising and running such an exciting range of
activities. |
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CEED to transform our grounds!
We have fantastic grounds at Grangetown, and we are keen to develop
them so that the children have access to exciting outdoor learning
experiences. We are working with Nathan, from the environmental
charity CEED (Community Environmental Educational Developments) to
improve the grassed and wooded areas surrounding the school. In
particular, we will focus upon the area around our Early Years unit,
and also upon our ‘outdoor theatre’. CEED have been involved in Back
on the Map, the ‘New Deal’ initiative which has transformed parts of
the East End over the past 10 years. More news soon of how our
outdoor project is progressing! |
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Check out our new
Website!
We’re online! The site is up and running, and over the next few
months we will fill it with content – the children will be fully
involved in that process. For now, check out the page devoted to the
History curriculum – do you recognise the local lad who became a
Sunderland AFC legend? And, can you watch the 1973 Cup Final video
without getting a lump in your throat?! Why don’t you log-on right
now!
www.grangetown.sunderland.sch.uk |
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Brand New Carpets!
Even though we already have a fantastic building, we are always
ready to improve it. With that in mind, we will shortly be having
two rooms fitted with new carpets: Miss Magnay’s year 1 classroom,
and our ‘spare’ classroom next to the ICT Suite. |
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Dads and Kids Club
This very special Club is run by the Grangetown Children’s Centre.
It’s on every week, currently on a Wednesday from 3.30-5.00, and is
open to dads and their kids. Activities include board games, arts
and crafts, football and dodgeball. Refreshments are available, and
a great time is guaranteed. Why don’t you come along and give it a
try! |
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Grangetown M-Athletes!
Year 6 are currently taking take part in World Maths Day – this
involves a special maths challenge called Mathletics. Our students
are able to go online and answer maths questions, competing against
pupils from other parts of the UK and even from other parts of the
world! Last year, 204 countries worldwide took part, answering
452,681,681 questions! Phew!!! Grangetown are taking part this year
– can we help to set a new world record? By Miss Booth.
See:
www.worldmathsday.com |
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Lights, Camera, Action
Wow! What fun the film-makers in year 4 have had recently! We paid a
visit to the City Learning Centre at Southmoor to make our own TV
programmes, linking in with our topic on the Tudors. We based this
work around Terry Deary’s Horrible Histories. We wrote our own
scripts, made our own props and did all the filming by ourselves. It
was an amazing experience. By Mrs Miller. |
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Year 6 at Southmoor
Class 6LM visited Southmoor for an RE lesson this week. Mr Hope
taught us. We learned all about signs and symbols, and how these are
used in Christianity. We learned a little Greek and a little bit of
Latin. This lesson was part of a ‘bridging unit’ that will help us
prepare for our move to Southmoor. By Kelsey, year 6. |
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Activities in our Children’s Centre
Mondays 1.00-2.30: Messy Play (0-5 year olds)
Tuesdays 1.00-3.00: Baby Days (0-1 year)
Wednesdays 2.30-4.00. Toy Library.
Wednesdays. 3.30-5.00. Dads and Kids.
Fridays: 1.15-2.15: Busy Bodies (2-5 years) |
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This
month’s Quote:
Twenty years from now you will be more
disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you
did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour.
Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain |
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