The Lit and Phil Writing Competition
At the beginning of the academic year, Mrs Leahy announced to a select group of keen writers that there was going to be a writing competition which is sponsored by the Lit and Phil.
At the beginning of the academic year, Mrs Leahy announced to a select group of keen writers that there was going to be a writing competition which is sponsored by the Lit and Phil.
Our Key group wanted to improve Brockwell Woods. We wanted to make benches, insect hotels and smokescreens.
We gathered sticks to make animal houses and made many animal hotels. We learnt how to make and light a fire. We also chopped branches down on pine trees. We enjoyed most eating our lunch and eating marshmallows. We also found time to play a little game. Jamie was really good because he could run around without falling.
All in all we enjoyed the trip and we hope to do something like it next year; maybe build an animal shelter.
In geography, we had an especially fun lesson, learning about Fair Trade and trying some Fair Trade chocolate milk. We made some posters and bunting to promote the sale. During Tuesday and Wednesday break times, Mrs Donnelly and her helpers sold Fair Trade chocolate milk, for only 30p- bargain, if you ask me!
The profit will go towards buying recycling bins for the school, thanks to Mrs Donnelly’s efforts! Not only this, but the Fair Trade additional cost ensures that farmers get a fair price for their produce. The extra money will help them support their families and have enough money to afford the basics that we often take for granted. A FANTASTIC cause, a FANTASTIC price and a FANTASTIC effect for our school. A win, win, Win!
By Charlotte 8HC
On the 25th of March, two Year 8s, Katie and Charlie, took part in a maths competition at Heddon-on-the-Wall. They were joined by two former GEMS pupils, who are currently in year 9 at Gosforth Academy. The two year 8s had practised problem solving during their Friday maths lessons with two other people in Year 8 top set.
They spent the whole day solving problems in four rounds. The rounds were a crossnumber (similar to a crossword), a relay (a combination of maths and racing), shuttle (teams work in pairs to solve 4 questions) and the group round (teams work together to solve 10 questions). They managed to get second place, behind Gosforth Central Middle School while RGS was third.
At the beginning of the academic year, Mrs Leahy announced to a select group of keen writers that there was going to be a writing competition which is sponsored by the Lit and Phil.
However, there was a twist. The participants had to write their story with the theme of courage in mind as well as writing either a fictional story, a non-fiction piece or a poem. The limit of words for the fiction and non-fiction was 1,500 whereas the limit for the poem was 50 lines.
GEMS are hosting a disco on Tuesday April 2nd. It's open to all year groups, and is from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.
Tickets £2 on ParentPay.com.
Refreshments will also be on sale.
It's Red Nose Day on Friday - GEMS will be raising money for Comic Relief with a non-uniform day.
The evenings are getting lighter, which means the return of two clubs: Rugby (boys and girls) and Girls' Football. Rugby is after school on Mondays (see Mr Jordan if you want to join) and Girls' Football is after school on Wednesdays (see Mrs Hadfield if you want to join).
A sports camp will be running at GEMS over the Easter holidays.
On the afternoon of the 6th February book club and the newspaper team A.K.A press were very generously invited to go on the BBC interactive tour. We were going to spend time in an exciting world of broadcasting. This is one of their award winning tours!
On the 28th of January The super cool optimistic jumping noodle squad (Luke, Josh, Dylan, Daniel, Ben, Jake and Aadil) visited Age UK Gateshead for our KEY project. We want to help the elderly by providing them with a thrilling afternoon of fun and entertainment with, singing, a game of bingo (maybe 2), a raffle, dominoes and some nice food.
On Saturday 19th January, 29 of the year 8s chose the ski trip as their residential visit along with Mr Robertson, Mrs Hadfield and Mr Stout. They flew to the Geneva airport which is in Switzerland then they got the bus for the last part of the journey, taking them all the way to France. The Year 8’s enjoyed a whole week of skiing and other fun and energetic activities arriving back on the 26thJanuary.