St John's Chapel & Wearhead Northern Gas Workshops Today the children took part in some fantastic workshops led by Alex from Northern Gas Networks. They were fully engaged and learnt so much about energy, safety, and our environment. Key Stage One explored: What bio gas is How to detect a gas leak The impact of greenhouse gases Key Stage Two learnt about: Climate change The UK's commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 Teamwork and problemsolving through an exciting escape box challenge, where they worked together to save a polar bear The children were enthusiastic, curious, and brilliant throughout. A huge thank you to Alex for such engaging and informative sessions.

As part of our geography Bees have been learning about the water cycle. We made water cycles using food bags and blue water and placed them on windows around school to see the water cycle in action.

Wearhead Primary School Today the children in Class 2 took some time out to lose themselves in a book.

Hamsterley Primary School We've had such a lovely afternoon at our second Stay and Play session! The children really enjoyed exploring the activities and spending time and playing together. Thank you to the parents who were able to join us today We're already looking forward to seeing you again next time!

Butterknowle In computing we have been looking at secret codes and how computers can help to crack them. We enjoyed looking at different type of codes and helping each other to solve them.

St. John's Chapel Primary School The children in EYFS arrived at school this morning to find something magical had happened overnight... A giant beanstalk had appeared in our classroom! The children suggested finding some little people to be Jack and his mother so we went on a hunt in the classroom. Not only did we find Jack and his mother, but we also found the giant and his wife, Bess the cow, the golden hen, 5 gold coins, a house and the all important 5 Magic beans. Unfortunately, we didn't have a golden harp......so we made one! The children coloured in lolly sticks to make them golden and added sparkly golden strings. Once we had completed our scene, we had a visit to our greenhouse to find some real magic beans which we will be planting later this week. While we were there, we admired the beautiful flowers and plants in our planters. Back in class, we continued our Jack and the beanstalk enthusiasm by listening to and retelling the story. Reception children then wrote some fantastic sentences to begin retelling the story. Well done EYFS! What a fantastic start to our day!

Hamsterley Primary School Class 2 had an amazing time in Forest School today! To celebrate British Science Week, the children took on a brilliant investigation: designing and building their own bird nests. They then put their creations to the test using a peg (our "pecking bird"), a watering can to mimic rain, and today's windy weather to see which nests were the strongest and most durable. Lots of teamwork, problemsolving, and scientific thinking on display. We also enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year with Chinese mudpainting numbers and some fun Chinese yoga poses. A lovely mix of creativity, culture, and outdoor learning. What a fantastic day of handson exploration and discovery for Class 2!

St John's Chapel Primary School Mini Beast Explorers in Action! Class 1 had a brilliant time today on our minibeast hunt. The children were full of curiosity as they searched high and low to see what tiny creatures call our school grounds home. We found wriggly worms, slimy slugs, and plenty of exciting places to explore. It was wonderful to see everyone so enthusiastic, working together, asking questions, and showing such care for the little creatures they discovered. A fantastic afternoon of learning through nature and adventure. Well done, Class 1 true nature detectives!

Durham Dales Partnership 'Stay and Play' Sessions Just a reminder about our Stay and Play sessions this term! Our next session is at Hamsterley Primary tomorrow (11th March) @ 1.30pm Parents and carers of children in Nursery and Reception are warmly invited to come along. These sessions are also open to any other children in our communities aged 0 to 4, so please feel free to share this with anyone who may be interested. All sessions are completely free we hope to see you there!

Hamsterley Primary School A huge well done to our special certificate winners this week! What an amazing start to our first week back everyone has worked incredibly hard and we're so proud of you all. A special shoutout to our World Book Day toilet roll competition winners! The creativity was unbelievable. Thank you so much to all parents and carers for supporting the children with their fantastic designs. Choosing winners was almost impossible because every single entry was brilliant.

St. John's Chapel and Wearhead Primary School Congratulations to last week's certificate winners!

St John's Chapel & Wearhead Primaries World Book Day Magic! A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our Reading Café yesterday. It was wonderful to see so many families sharing stories, enjoying books together, and celebrating the joy of reading. The children looked fantastic in their costumes so much creativity and colour filled the room. They also made some superb toilet roll tube characters, each one completely unique and full of personality. What a brilliant way to celebrate World Book Day. Well done, everyone!

Owl class and Mrs Unwin shared their learning at our Music cafe today.

Squirrel Class went out in the sunshine to do their Science on Tuesday. We explored to see what we could find and then we sorted the things into living and non-living.

Hamsterley Primary School Happy World Book Day! We've had a wonderful day celebrating together. The costumes were absolutely fantastic you've all put so much effort and creativity into them! We were especially impressed with your toiletroll characters made from recycled materials. Our literacythemed activities brought so much fun and excitement to the day, and it was lovely to see everyone so engaged. A big thank you to all the adults who joined us for our Reading Café.