On the first two Mondays and Tuesdays of October, the Year 8s went to the Discovery Museum to visit the Charge Gallery, which was about wars (WW1 and WW2 in particular). It was a trip organised by Mrs Cheape in preparation for our debate about wars. We started off by looking around the gallery and finding out as much information as we could before we sat down and played some games.
On the 5th September, Year 7 embarked on a journey that was showcasing all the inventions and models which were originally based in the North East, the trip lasted the majority of the school day and was enjoyed by many people.
The trip started by travelling by Metro to Central Station where we darted excitedly to the Discovery Museum to have a look around a small handful of the rooms, and to see Robert Stephenson’s famous 200 year old steam train called ‘Rocket.’
As many of you will now have seen, a permanent tribute to lollipop man Jim Connon is now in place. Jim's high fives were purchased with the money kindly donated by parents and friends of all four schools after his death.
On Thursday 18th October, Lola and Edward went to Gosforth Central Middle School (GCMS) on account of an IT project. They met with other primary school aged representatives from Gosforth and were asked to create, over the next few months, a short 15-20 minute long film clip about GEMS. They decided to make a film based on the 4 Rs (resilience, reflectiveness, relationships and resourcefulness) and created a mood board showing all the opportunities GEMS has to offer. It was filled with lots of exciting ideas about life at our school. They will be sending out letters to those who they may like to feature in this film. These are to ask for parents’ permission as the film will be published on the Gosforth Trust website and our school website, along with other school films. If you would like to feature in our film or have any ideas or input, you can tell Mr Robertson or find Lola and Edward out and about. There will be sign-up sheets outside the doors to the lunch hall, ICT2 and beside the downstairs finger machine. You will need your name, class, which of the four R clips you would like to feature in and which days you can do rehearsals and be filmed. We may need pupils to interview and to show or to discuss the online games we have to support learning so look out for opportunities to get involved.
On Wednesday 3rd October, fifteen Year six pupils went to the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. They were picked for a “Bring It On” event because they are currently in DT. They had fun doing all sorts of science-related challenges such as building a tower, watching a 3D printer at work and even feeling a lamb’s heart (with protective gloves on)!They all enjoyed themselves, and the trip made them think about careers as scientists. The trip was a success and everyone learned a lot. We hope for another event like this soon.
Year 6 Book Club came up with a great idea to widen their choice of reading without having to dig deep into pockets...a KS2 Book Swap. So, after telling everyone about it in assembly, on Wednesday 17th October the first big event took place. KS2 pupils brought a book to the Resource Area that they had enjoyed but finished with and swapped it for another that they fancied reading...as simple as that! The event was a success so Year 6 plan to hold regular book swaps. Look out for the next Break time Book Swap early next half term.
The Book Club from Year 5 and 6 have aged to become Year 7 and, in order to keep the group together, the members have decided to start a ‘Key project’ to raise money ...obviously theming the topic around books. After some research, we found a charity called ‘Talking Books’ .
Mrs Leahy immediately contacted the organisation so we could tell them about the Key project and ask if they would be happy to be our chosen charity.
On Friday 5th October the year eights experienced an ‘Of Mice and Men’ workshop. ‘Of Mice and Men’ is our class book and is about two men trying to achieve ‘The American Dream’. It is a very interesting book and I think I speak for the majority when I say that it is also very enjoyable.
On the 7th of September Year 5 went on an adventure into the city. 5AW and 5SL went for the whole day while 5EA and 5ER were preparing for the adventure ahead. When the afternoon came around 5EA and 5ER jumped onto the Metro. All of year 5 were extremely excited because we had been told about an extraordinary visit from the royals.
On Tuesday the 2nd of October, Years 5, 6 and 7 went with Mrs Donelly and Mrs Hadfield to the cross country event. Everyone enjoyed the trip as they claimed to had an ‘amazing day.’ I interviewed Tarika from year 7, and she told me what happened during the day and what her highlights was.
On the 11th October, the Newcastle Eagles came in to school, to talk to us about basketball and health. Fletcher, Kyle, Georgia and Darius, who are a part of the Eagles, played games with us and talked to us. It was very interesting and all of the Year Fives thoroughly enjoyed it.
On Friday 28th September, the MacMillian coffee afternoon took place. It is a fundraiser to help people with cancer and we take part here in GEM every year. Parents and friends joined their children in the hall and there was a whole range of cakes and treats to sample—some generously donated by ASDA.
