2022-2023
Childcare Provision
Childcare Provision is offered Monday – Friday from 3.15pm – 5pm. Each day there is a focussed activity along with a range of fun and exiting things to do. Childcare Provision includes a snack which will be juice, biscuits and fruit. Miss Batson, co-ordinates the childcare and After School clubs offer.
Childcare Provision is £4 per child per session. Payment should be made through ParentPay and will be payable from the first date of attendance.
Autumn Term 1 – Plan
| MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACTIVITIES | Arts & Crafts Messy Play | Computing Club with iPads Board Games | Science Club Explorers | Designers Club Problem Solving Club | Film Club Homework Help Club |
Autumn Term 2 – Plan
| MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACTIVITIES | Construction Explorers | Computing Club with iPads Quiz Night | Painting Origami | Sculpture Games Club | Film Club Homework Help Club |
Spring Term 1 – Plan
| MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACTIVITIES | Construction Explorers | Computing Club with iPads Quiz Night | Painting Origami | Sculpture Games Club | Film Club Homework Help Club |
Spring Term 2 – Plan
| MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACTIVITIES | Outdoor Adventures Games Club | Computing Club with iPads | Mindfulness Lego Club | No Cook Cooking Club | Explorers Film Club |
Summer Term 1 – Plan
| MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACTIVITIES | Mindfulness Exploring | Power Play Exploring | Lego Club Exploring | No Cook Cooking Club Exploring | Film Club Exploring |
After School Clubs
After School Clubs are offered on selected weeknights from 3:30pm – 4:30pm. This year we have an amazing range of After School Clubs and have organised a full year’s programme to help you to plan and organise for the year ahead. We hope that you find this useful. Please note that circumstances can change throughout the school year and sometimes we may need to adapt to these changes meaning that new clubs may be added or different people may be delivering the clubs.
After School Clubs are £6 per child per session. Payment should be made through ParentPay and will be payable from the first date of attendance.
After School Clubs 2022-2023 – Letter
Please fill out the following booking forms and submit them the school office.
- Booking Form for Autumn Term 1
- Booking Form for Autumn Term 2
- Booking Form for Spring Term 1
- Booking Form for Spring Term 2
- Booking Form for Summer Term 1
- Booking Form for Summer Term 2
AUTUMN TERM 2022
Autumn Term 1
| Club | Age | Delivered by: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Art Club | KS2 | Ms. Ingwersen |
| Monday | Gardening Club | All | Saskia Callaars-De Gruyter (Volunteer) Cath Rice (Volunteer) |
| Tuesday | Football | KS2 | Miss Hepple Mr. Clarke |
| Tuesday | Multi-Skills | All | Sports Cool Coach |
| Wednesday | Taekwondo for 4 weeks from 28 September | 7+ | Katey Wallace (Instructor) |
| Thursday | Cookery Club | KS1 | Creative Kitchen |
| Thursday | Stanhope Striders | KS2 | Miss Hunter-Purvis Mrs. Parvin |
*Taekwondo starts on Wednesday 28th September and will run for 4 weeks until the end of this half term. This is a trial period and if the club is popular, Katey is happy to run Taekwondo again in Autumn Term 2 or even throughout the year if the demand is there.
*Stanhope Striders is a running club which will involve children leaving the school site but remaining local within the Stanhope area. The children will be escorted and supervised by two members of staff.
*Cookery Club is offered to KS1 children for the first half term of each term followed by KS2 in the second half term.
Here’s what we’ve been doing…
Gardening Club
All About Bees – Over the next couple of weeks we will taking part in Chartwell’s Flight of the Bumblebee campaign. They are working in conjunction with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to raise awareness of the importance of protecting our bees. We began this morning with an assembly all about being gentle with things which are precious and how we have to look after things or they become damaged and lost.
Our After-School Gardening Club have already begun work with the AONB to create a Wildflower Meadow on the sloping bank on the school field where they have planted a wide range of plug plants which we hope will provide essential food for the bees. During last Summer Term Molly Jones, Kerryanne Higgens and Beth Lightburn worked with our Gardening Club to plant up the bank. Prior to planting our children had nurtured the plug plants which had been collected as seed and sown by the volunteers at the Tees-Swale Hay Meadow Restoration Project. The children watered the seedlings and then split them into bigger pots when they had become established.
To help the children to learn more about bees, they will be given a Bee Collector card with their lunch with some more ‘special’ ones given out to collect too. The children are very excited about their collector cards and it was lovely at lunchtime to hear them talking to each other about looking after bees.
FACT: Did you know that a bumblebee is only ever 40-45 minutes away from starvation? That’s why it’s important to provide flowers for them!
Gardening Club Plug Planting 2022
Art Club
Learning to Trust Your Eye – This half term we have been learning to trust what we see not what we think we see. We have been using the blind contour and modified blind contour techniques to develop our skills. We have looked at value and shading techniques and have examined how light and shadow can bring our drawing to life. We have had good fun drawing each other and even attempted to draw King Charles III. Keep an eye out for the Art Exhibition in Summer Term 2023 when we will be showing our work!
Football
Skills Development – In football club this half term the children have enjoyed practising their football skills, playing different positions and playing in games against each other. The Year 5/6 children who attended will represent the school in an upcoming league at Parkside school and the future is bright as the Year 3 and 4 children who attended have more than held their own in the games.
Taekwondo
Taekwondo Total Success – Katey Wallace has started a Taekwondo class each Wednesday after school and it is proving very popular. Initially, Katey wanted to run it for half a term to see how many children wanted to take part but has now kindly offered to run the club right up to Christmas. The children learn core skills of the sport but there are also many beneficial learning opportunities including: responsibility, respect, self-control and problem solving – all essential life skills.
Stanhope Striders
This half term our children have thoroughly enjoyed our new running club – Stanhope Striders! Miss Hunter-Purvis and Mrs Parvin have organised a running club which caters for children at all different levels of ability.
The club has been so successful that we are hoping to start it up again in the Spring/Summer term when the weather improves and we have more daylight hours.
Autumn Term 2
| Club | Age | Delivered by: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Drama | KS1 & KS2 | Mr. Storey |
| Tuesday | Choir | All | Mrs. Heslop-Stead |
| Tuesday | Christmas Crafts | All | Zoe Mrs. Wilson |
| Tuesday | Multi- Skills | KS1 | Sports Cool |
| Wednesday | Taekwondo | KS2 | Katey Wallace (Trainer) |
| Wednesday | Reading Club (FREE) | KS2 | Mrs. Norman |
| Thursday | Cookery Club | KS2 | Creative Kitchen |
*Christmas Crafts is a club being run by Zoe who is a member of staff in our kitchen who works tirelessly to support the school. She has offered to run this club so that the children can make crafts to sell at our Christmas Fair to help to raise money for the school. Zoe will be supported by Mrs Wilson who just loves everything Christmas!
*Multi-Skills is a session designed to allow our younger children to take part in a wide range of different sport activities and helps to strengthen fine and gross motor skills along with improving co-ordination and balance.
Here’s what we’ve been doing…
Taekwondo
Wednesday 23rd November 2022 will be the last Taekwondo club until the summer term. The children taking part have learnt a great deal about strength, control and discipline. The skills they learn in Taekwondo also prepare them for later life by giving them defensive techniques with which to protect themselves.
The children have loved these sessions and I am delighted that Katey will be returning to our school just before the Easter holidays to deliver some taster sessions to each Learning Zone. She will then be running Taekwondo After School Club again in the Summer Term.
“I love the Taekwondo sessions, they are fun, help you stay fit and teach you new skills.” Euan.
Reading Club
Reading for Pleasure – Our Academy Councillor Lead for Literacy (Mrs Norman) is running a free After School Club each Wednesday to broaden children’s reading experiences and foster a love of reading for the absolute pleasure of it.
In Reading Club this half term our theme is ‘Myths and Legends’.
The group is really enjoying our novel ‘The Legend of Kevin’, which puts a modern, fun, spin on the subject and alongside that the children are taking turns to read and then they are preparing a talk on an ancient legend which they share with us all.
Related crafts, puzzles and the occasional quiz are all very popular!
“I love reading books because it makes me feel calm.” Lexi-Mae
“Reading lets me go somewhere else in my mind.” Lewis
Multi-skills Mayhem!
This half term the sports coach (Gareth) from SportsCool has delivered a range of different activities to give the children a taster of various alternative sports.
The children have enjoyed Archery, Dodgeball, Multi-skills keep fit and dance this half term.
Christmas Crafts to raise money for our school
Zoe (from Charwells) and Mrs Wilson are running a Christmas Crafts After School Club this half term. The children are making a range of different Christmas items to sell at our three Christmas performances to raise money for the school. What a fantastic idea and a great way to teach our children about social action, taking action to help your local community!
There are some amazing crafts being created and I’m not sure who is having the most fun – the children or the adults!
Choir
Although a small number of choir attenders, we have thoroughly enjoyed exploring a range of different Christmas songs. We start our sessions with a warmup song called ‘I have a song to sing’ which sounds amazing. We have then listened to and suggested songs we want to sing. We have decided on:
Little Donkey, It was on a starry night, Rocking around the Christmas Tree, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells, and See him lying on a bed of straw.
SPRING TERM 2023
Spring Term 1
| Club | Age | Delivered by: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Design | KS2 | Mrs. Humble Mrs. Davies |
| Monday | Dodgeball | KS2 | Mr. Storey |
| Tuesday | Computing | KS2 | Mr. Clarke |
| Tuesday | Mini Me Yoga | KS1 | Sports Cool |
| Thursday | Reading Club | KS2 | Mrs. Norman |
Spring Term in Book Club
This term the ‘After School Book Club’ will be trying out some new aspects of literature – reading, creating and presenting wildlife news reports and also current affairs, as appropriate.
We’ll also be reading a range of poetry and will finish the term with a book by Jacqueline Wilson, ‘Cliffhanger’.
As always, the children will be encouraged to extend their reading range and to recommend books to each other.
Later in the term they will be actively supporting our plans for ‘World Book Day’, by setting up and running the stalls.
Spring Term 2
| Club | Age | Delivered by: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Newsletter | All | Mrs. Anderson |
| Tuesday | Basketball | KS2 | Sports Cool |
| Wednesday | Reading Club | KS2 | Mrs. Norman |
| Thursday | SATs Booster | Y6 | Miss Hepple Mrs. Green |
Giant Easter Egg for Weardale Railway
This Easter the creative folk at the Weardale Railway have asked local organisations to create giant Easter eggs which will be displayed along the side of the railway tracks for visitors to enjoy over the Easter period.
A selection of children have taken part in designing, making, painting and decorating our giant egg and they are all very proud of their achievement.
If you take the train this Easter – keep watch for our egg!
SUMMER TERM 2023
Summer Term 1
| Club | Age | Delivered by: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Art Club | All | Ms. Ingwersen Mr. Storey |
| Tuesday | Tri-Golf | All | Sports Cool |
| Tuesday | Lego Club | All | Mrs. Geraghty-Shewan |
| Thursday | Reading Club | KS2 | Mrs. Norman |
Art Club in Summer Term
“In our Art Club we are making origami birds as they symbolise peace. We researched what peace means. Peace has a different meaning to everyone but most people think it represents a world without war. We are trying to make 1000 cranes for an Art Exhibition later this year.” Finn
Summer Term 2
| Club | Age | Delivered by: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Science Club | KS2 | Mrs. Green |
| Monday | Cricket | All | All Stars Cricket |
| Tuesday | Tri Golf | All | Sports Cool |
| Tuesday | Football Training | Year 3 & 4 | |
| Thursday | Boxing Club | KS2 |
2021-2022
I am delighted to introduce you to Miss Batson, who has been appointed as our After School Supervisor. Miss Batson co-ordinates both the Childcare and Club elements of our provision.
Childcare is offered Monday – Friday from 3.15pm – 5pm and costs £4 per child per session. Each day there is a focussed activity along with a range of fun and exiting things to do. Childcare includes a snack which will be juice, biscuits and fruit.
Here are some of the things we have been doing…
Since introducing our After-School Provision in September it has been excellent to see how creative the sessions have been. Miss Batson is providing fun and entertaining care that ranges from day to day. The children enjoy a range of activities including exploring outside, constructing with the Lego and even producing their own slime.
Here is what some of our children said,
“I normally do an after-school club then then come into Topaz with Miss Batson. I like to play chess with my friends in here.” Noah
“When it is sunny we get to go outside and play. We have the field to ourselves.” Lara
“I get to play with the big boys and girls. I like the Lego.” Ralph
After School Clubs
We aim to give our children the opportunity to experience a wide range of diverse clubs over the course of the year. After School Clubs will change every half term. The cost of an After School Club is £6 per child per session (unless otherwise stated). Places must be booked in advance via the school office.
Summer Term 2
Monday – Podcast Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – Emerald & Diamond LZ
Monday – Gardening Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – KS2
Wednesday – Cookery Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – All
Thursday – Dodgeball (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – All
Thursday – Reading Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – KS2 (free)
Summer Term 1
Monday – Podcast Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – Emerald & Diamond LZ
Monday – Gardening Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – KS2
Tuesday – SAT Booster Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm — TWO WEEKS ONLY) – Y6 (free)
Wednesday – Cookery Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – All
Thursday – Dodgeball (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – All
Thursday – Reading Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – KS2 (free)
Spring Term 2
Monday – Podcast Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – Emerald & Diamond LZ
Monday – Living Lab Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – KS2
Tuesday – SAT Booster Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – Y6 (free)
Tuesday – Chess Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – KS2
Wednesday – Cookery Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – All
Thursday – Quidditch Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – All
Thursday – Reading Club (3.30pm – 4.30pm) – KS2 (free)
Spring Term 1
Wednesday – Cookery Club
Thursday – Archery Club; Book Club
Autumn Term 2
Monday – Drama Club
Tuesday – Football Club – KS2
Wednesday – Cookery Club
Autumn Term 1
Monday – Art Club
Wednesday – Cookery Club
Thursday – Extreme Frisbee
SPRING TERM – Look what we’ve been doing….
Book Club
We are currently running an after school Book Club on a Thursday night and this is being co-ordinated by Mrs Norman – one of our Academy Councillors. Mrs Norman has responsibility for monitoring literacy across the school and is a retired Literacy specialist.
The first book the children are reading is The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis. The group are very proactive and have some great ideas for promoting a love of reading including having a book stall on World Book Day and creating a display in school based on the activities of the group. They are also going to start to recommend some books they think other children will enjoy.
Finn said: “ Book Club is really good and I enjoy doing the craft activities linked to the book.”
“We get to read new books which I really love” said Ava.
Archery Club
During Spring Term 1, Sports Cool and delivering an Archery After School Club every Thursday night. The club is extremely popular with children of all ages attending.
“Archery was amazing tonight!” said Jack.
Ollie said, “Archery is really good and it’s good to learn a new skill.”
AUTUMN TERM — Look what we’ve been doing…
Art Club – Autumn 2021
We have had such fun at Art Club this half term. We learned to draw what our eyes see (not what we think we see) by doing blind contour drawings, we learned about how to capture movement in quick 30 second gesture drawings, we also learned about perspective and shading techniques. We enjoyed learning about colour and painting techniques from a special visitor and local artist, Mr. Simon Wilson. What he taught us about colour pigments and light had our jaws dropping! He also shared his knowledge about Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.
Cookery Club
Cookery Club has been nothing short of exceptional! Every Wednesday evening Gemma from the Creative Kitchen joins us as we create a range of flavoursome food. Up to 30 children access the amazing club and have all given it a five-star review. Over the previous week we have made: cookies, curry and even Yorkshire puddings. We are very lucky to have such a great practitioner in Gemma come into our school and allow our children to flourish in their cooking skills.
Drama Club
The Autumn half-term has seen the school begin a drama club. The club is held on a Monday evening and is run by Mr Storey. Participation of the club has been excellent with on average, 17 children taking part. The club has allowed children to develop their expressive skills and also collaborate with children across the Learning Zones. Here is what Olivia and Iliza had to say about the club:
Olivia explained, “I think the club is great because everyone joins in. It’s good, too, because I can interact with people that I haven’t worked with before.”
Iliza added, “The club is the best. I liked it when we had to be mimes and when we had to make up fake facts and get everyone to believe the story.”
