Year 5 Cricket Festival

Posted June 11th, 2018

​On Monday 11th June, 28 children from year 5 took part in the first of the Darlington Year 5 Cricket Festivals at Feethams. We could not believe that the weather was so kind to us; the sun shone all day!
Our school was split into 3 teams, A, B and C. Each team played at least 5 matches on the morning in the group stage. The quality of our cricket increased after every game: many of us bowled overarm – unlike other schools! Team A finished top of their group and therefore went on to play in a nail-biting semi-final against Mowden. Despite our best efforts, Mowden won –marginally! We all had a great day though!
Due to our narrow miss in the semi-finals, the A team were invited to the Darlington Cricket Final on Thursday 14th June. Unfortunately, we were beaten by Hurworth in the semi-final. Our last game was for the bronze medal position and our opponents were Mowden, once again! After another tense match, Mowden were victorious by only 2 runs! Another very close game.
We are very proud of the fact that we are the 4th best cricket team in Darlington – we don’t even have a field! We may start practising a little earlier next year.

Kingswood

Posted June 8th, 2018

​On Friday 8th June, 54 Year 6 children set off to Kingswood to begin their weekend adventure. Once we arrived, we were shown around the site, given delicious food to start our weekend off and were required to make our own beds! It was a very interesting time of the weekend. We completed a range of activities on our first day such as orienteering, climbing and archery. After this, we gobbled down more food before our evening entertainment of a campfire. During the campfire, we sang songs and told jokes before heading back to our dorms for the evening.
On the Saturday morning after breakfast, we completed another fantastic selection of activities. During Saturday and Sunday, we completed a range of challenges which included: 3G swing, zip wire, aeroball, nightline (where we got very muddy), obstacle challenge, fencing, shelter building and the leap of faith. On Saturday evening, after a mouth-watering dinner, we started our evening entertainment of Mini-Olympics, where children and staff got very competitive! Everyone had a fantastic time playing a range of games and taking part in competitions.
On our final day, after packing our cases, we finished off with breakfast and two more activities. After lunch, we loaded the coach and headed back to school.
Overall, a fantastic time was had by all children and staff. The children were very well behaved and a credit to the school. Well done, Year 6. 

Carmel Climbing Wall Competition

Posted June 5th, 2018

​On Tuesday 5th June, 24 children from Key Stage 2 visited Carmel Climbing Wall after winning a competition where they had to persuade Mrs Ayto why they should be able to visit the wall. The children persuaded Mrs Ayto using a wide range of methods such as poems, letters, posters, dances, songs, raps and even building models!
Whilst at the climbing wall, staff from Carmel helped and encouraged the children to try as many of the walls as possible. Most of the children reached the top of the wall several times. Despite some initial nerves, the children had a fantastic time.
Thank you to Carmel for allowing us to visit the wall. We hope to do it again sometime.

China

Posted May 25th, 2018

​For the final week of the topic ‘Around our World’, the focus was China. Children enjoyed revisiting facts about Chinese culture and traditions including Chinese New Year. On Wednesday we cooked and ate noodles with prawn crackers.
On Friday after learning about the Great Wall of China the children were set the challenge to build a strong wall without and gaps across the whole garden. The wall was to protect and stop the invaders. Fantastic fun was had especially when we ran out of bricks and had to become more creative! Some children even thought that you may be able to see our wall from Space just like the real one!

Stay and Play

Posted May 22nd, 2018

​Twenty parents were invited to spend the morning with their child and explore the learning opportunities that they receive within school. The classroom was set up with numeracy, literacy and creative activities. The children enjoyed showing their parents what they do at school and how they learn through purposeful play. The morning began with our exercise routine from ‘Jump Start Jonny’ followed by a Read Write inc speed sound session. The children then explored the areas of the classroom before coming back together again to sing some songs used regularly within lessons- Count to 100 every day and the Tricky Word song. Parents then enjoyed a biscuit and a drink and left very positive feedback from their morning.
 
 
“ A fantastic morning. It was great to see what they get up to at school.”
 
“I really enjoyed all of the activities especially the ‘Tricky Word’ song. I will use this at home to help. A big thank you to all of the teachers.”
 
“I got some great ideas to help learning at home!”
 
“ I really enjoyed the morning and seeing how much they have learnt. It made my day!”

Capacity

Posted May 22nd, 2018

​Today we used our capacity skills to make our own measuring bottle. The scale went up in 100ml up to 1L. We used amazing team work and measuring skills. Finally, we checked that our 1000ml was the same as a real measuring jug. Amazingly, they were! We found our 1000ml was the same amount of liquid, even when it is in containers of different shapes and sizes. 

Votes for Women Centenary Celebrations

Posted May 21st, 2018

​On Monday 21st May, fourteen children from year 6 took part in the Votes for Women Centenary Celebration at the Hullabaloo Theatre, Darlington. We were one of only two primary schools to take part in the event.
On our arrival, we were greeted by Heather who escorted us to our first workshop. We climbed so many steps we felt as if we were taking part in our very own Everest challenge! During our first activity, we produced list poems and created posters of why we would make good Prime Ministers. Many of us had very different ideas.
Once this session was complete, we took part in an art session where we made rosettes – similar to those worn by the suffragettes.
Before we travelled back to school, we joined everyone in the theatre and two children, Maddie and Arabella, bravely explained to the packed audience what they had produced and why they would make great Prime Ministers.
We had a great afternoon!   

Mass Dance

Posted May 20th, 2018

​On Sunday 20th May, fifteen children took part in this year’s Mass Dance in Darlington’s Market Square.  This Mass Dance was created to support the theme of mental health and was about ‘Expressing Yourself’ through dance.  The children performed in front of a large audience alongside a number of dance schools and other primary schools in Darlington.  Reid Street members of staff and parents also attended this event and supported Reid Street as they took part.  We are very proud of the children who participated with this and would like to say thank you to both them and their parents/carers for supporting the Mass Dance.

Australia!

Posted May 18th, 2018

​Luckily the Great British weather was on our side during Australia Week and all the children were able to enjoy a barbeque Australian style in the sunshine. Many children said that they had never had a barbeque before. Safety around cooking and fires was revised and facts about healthy and not so healthy foods learned. Some children even talked about which animal the meat that they eat comes from.
The children also had a go at Aboriginal dancing. Many were amazed at the fact that the dancers looked as though they were wearing a nappy!
Miss Bond also brought in some of her pets. The children were amazed to find out that she has a snake in her house!

On top of the world!

Posted May 18th, 2018

The Reid Street School logo made it to the top of the world this week!

A huge congratulations to Steve, who managed to reach the summit of Mount Everest on Wednesday. An amazing achievement. Look out for news on future fundraising activities as we continue to try and raise as much money as we can for St Teresa’s Hospice.