I hope you all had a lovely summer break and enjoyed some quality family time together. It was lovely to see so many happy smiling faces return back to school. This term is a busy one filled with lots of events and learning opportunities for our children. Do take some time to read our Autumn 1 newsletter and to check out key dates on our school calendar.

Mr L J Duncan

Thank you to our Year 11 student helpers this week. It was lovely to see some past pupils – thank you for all your hard work.

As part of their learning topic the children in Reception class turned into sea travelling pirates for the day. They had a lovely day playing pirate games, building pirate ships, finding pirate treasure and eating pirate snacks. The children were amazing as we know they always ARRRGH!!!!

Our Mini Vinnies and Year 4H spent time this week helping Durham County Council and Heritage Coast in cleaning our local beach. The children volunteered to litter pick from Seaham beach so that both people and wildlife can enjoy it’s true beauty. They learnt lots about the effects of litter and how to deal with problems when they arise. The children would like to pass on a message to all who read this – ‘…..please put your litter in a bin and keep our beaches clean.’

Thank you to all who joined us for our ‘Books and Bakes’ sale this week. It was lovely to see so many children and parents enjoying their time reading together. Thank you to all who baked cakes for the day and donated books- they were enjoyed by all! A big thank you to Mrs Jubb and the ‘Friends of the School’ group for their fantastic effort and hard work to make the day such a success. A total of £538 was raised – well done!

Our children were given a very important message during assembly about keeping yourself safe. Firehorse Productions delivered an engaging assembly and highlighted a number of safety rules to the children. Remember, ‘SAY NO or SAY NOTHING!’

It was a big night on Tuesday 20th June for the boy’s football (A) team as they took part in the final of the prestigious Catholic schools tournament, the Bishops Cup, hosted at St. Aloysius Primary School. It was the 60th year of the competition and reaching the final was a huge achievement for the A team, being the only St Mary Magdalen’s team to do so in many years. 56 teams entered the tournament, but only 4 made it to the final: ourselves, St Mary’s (Whickham), St Matthew’s (Jarrow) and St Aloysius (Hebburn).

It was a fantastic final and our very own talented youngsters came out victorious, winning the coveted Bishop’s Cup trophy! It was lovely to see the trophy being presented to the team by our previous head teacher, Mr Rhodes, who was clearly delighted with the outcome. Well done to Mr Herring and the boys and a big thank you to all parents, relatives and friends who came to support the team. We are all feeling very proud of your achievements!

As part of our Design and Technology week the school held a ‘Cavalcade of Crash Helmets’ competition. The aim  was to promote bike and scooter safety to the children and to promote the wearing of cycle helmets when riding bikes or scooters. There was certainly a fantastic selection of helmets on show. Well done to all that took part and to the year group winners, selected by our very own school council.