Cleadon Church of England Academy

The PTFA will be hosting their annual Easter disco again this year.

The events will take place on:

• Tuesday 31st March- 4pm to 5pm (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2)
• Wednesday 1st April- 4pm to 5pm (Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6)

Tickets can be booked using the link below:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FF6LC3M

The closing date for bookings is Friday 27th March at 12pm. No further bookings will be accepted after this date.

The cost is £3 per child which should be handed into your child’s class teacher in a named envelope.

Last week, we had our annual visit from the Show Racism the Red Card team. The team worked throughout the day with Year 5 and Year 6 and were extremely impressed with the children in their questioning and responses. The sessions focussed on developing he children’s understanding of what racism is and the differences and uniqueness of everyone. The children shared extremely positive feedback about the sessions and the learning that took from them.

Following the success of last year’s event, we are planning to open school on Sunday 26 April from 10am – 1pm. We would like to request help from any adult volunteers who can support on several projects that we would like to complete.

We have painting, gardening, fixing items and installing new equipment on the list of tasks that we would like support with. Children will need to stay at home on that day to ensure their safety. 

If you can support us on Sunday 26, then please complete the survey monkey link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M5H3DH6

This week, the eco team headed down to Greenfingers Garden Centre to purchase some plants for the boxes outside the main entrance. The children were keen to go for the most colourful plants possible which they then planted on their return. It has certainly brightened up the entrance to the school. The next task is to water them regularly to keep them alive and looking beautiful. Well done, Eco Team!

This week, our swimming team attended the South of Tyne swimming finals at Haven Point. They qualified after some exceptional swimming at the recent gala. Each swimmer competed in an individual event before a range of team medleys. Mrs Tate and Mrs Fenwick were extremely impressed as the children demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and they were a credit to the school. Well done, swimmers!

Last week, our newly formed VEX team travelled to Newcastle University to compete in this year's competition: Mix and Match. Since September, the children have been designing, building and learning to drive their robot. The children were very proud of their result, coming away in 6th place at their competition against some very experienced teams! Miss Nixon and Mr Da Rosa were very impressed with the studdents' teamwork, attitude and behaviour throughout the day. Well done VEX team!

On Friday 30^th January, Year 6 headed off to the Theatre Royal to see the show Weird. Mr Robb was lucky enough to secure free tickets for the whole cohort. The story was centred around Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which the children have been looking at this term but from the witches’ point of view. The children were impressed with the costumes and some of the gory scenes were mentioned as a highlight. Overall, the children had an excellent time with staff very impressed with their behaviour. Well done, Year 6!

Last week, we hosted the Knitted Bible in school. It has been almost 8 years since we last hosted the exhibition in school. The Social Display Area was transformed into a showcase of over 30 Bible stories with the children exploring the stories throughout the week. We also had visitors from other schools and Churches across South Tyneside. Thank you for taking the time to come and explore the Knitted Bible if you visited after school with your child(ren). A special mention to Mrs Cryer and Mrs Adams who accompanied me to Hartlepool to collect the exhibition and to those who helped set up the event.

In late January, Year 5 pupils headed off to Thurston for their residential visit. 5x spent the first half of the week away with 5y travelling over to the Lakes on Wednesday. From the stories I have heard from staff and children, everyone had a wonderful time with highlights being canoeing, ghyll scrambling and jumping into the lake off the jetty. Staff commented on pupils’ excellent behaviour, their perseverance at trying new challenging activities and their resilience in getting the tasks completed. Thank you to the staff who accompanied the children on the visit as this would not have been possible without them. 

On Wednesday, the KS2 swimming team competed in the South Tyneside Swimming Gala at Haven Point. Overall, they came second out of 14 schools receiving a range of gold, silver and bronze medals from their team and individual races. They have qualified for the finals in March where they will compete with other schools from across Gateshead, Newcastle and Sunderland. Well done!

The Junior Leadership Team would like to thank everyone who attended their coffee afternoon on Friday. In total, £327.40 was raised towards the cost of their trip to London in March. They were very impressed with the number of adults who brought their own cups / mugs to help support the eco team in their quest to stop using reusable cups in school.

We will be hosting the Knitted Bible from Tuesday 3rd February - Thursday 5th February. Parents / carers and children are welcome to visit the showcase after school on each day between 3:15pm and 4:00pm.

Children in Reception walked up to All Saints Church on Tuesday to experience the special baptism of their baby doll Ewan James. Reverend Vernon explained to the children each step of the baptism and presented Ewan with his own baptism candle. Reception are pleased to share that Ewan was very well behaved and didn't cry when at the font. The children had a great time at Church and were very well behaved. Thank you to all the parents / carers who volunteered to accompany them on the visit.

On Wednesday, the children in Year 4 went to Newcastle to visit the Cathedral for the Diocesan Christingle Service. The children were impeccably behaved during the Metro journey and the service inside the Cathedral. They worked with members of the Diocesan staff to create eco Christingles which they took home to grow. A special mention must go to the children who spoke to the Cathedral audience with confidence. It was lovely to receive an email from the staff who worked with the children congratulating them on their effort and their wonderful behaviour. Well done Year 4!

Last Tuesday, children in 1x headed off to the Urban Factory in Jarrow for their Cheerleading Festival. The children particularly enjoyed going on the trampolines and becoming experts at hand stands and cartwheels. The children also learned and performed a dance routine to a favourite Soda Pop song which caused great excitement. Overall, Miss Elliott and the staff were extremely impressed with the behaviour and effort in all of the activities. Well done 1x!

Last week, Year 6 headed off to Gosforth to the Newcastle Reform Synagogue. The visit was planned to support the RE theme this term and it certainly did not disappoint. They were met by Jonathan who was excellent in sharing information on the Synagogue and Jewish Faith. The children enjoyed seeing a range of items including a 200-year-old Torah. Jonathan was very impressed with the wonderful questions and the children’s behaviour and knowledge. Well done Year 6!

Class Worships

The Spring Term is always a special term as we welcome parents / carers and wider family into school to view Class Worships.  

Please find below the dates for your diary:

Friday 16^th January - 6x 9:10am, 1x 10:45am

Friday 23^rd January - 6y 9:10am, 1y 10:45am

Friday 30^th January - 4x 9:10am, Rx 10:45am   

Friday 6^th February - 4y 9:10am, Ry 10:45am                                              

Friday 13^th February - 5x 9:10am, 2x 10:45am     

Friday 20^th February - 5y 9:10am, 2y 10:45am

Friday 6^th March - 3x 9:10am 

Friday 13^th March - 3y 9:10am

The Eco Army would like to ask for your support in helping Macmillan Cancer Research. From 5^th January until 16th February, we will be collecting plastic confectionary tubs to send for recycling. All the funds raised will be used to support people living with cancer. A wheelie bin will be outside the main entrance every day for you to drop off your empty tubs. This is a great opportunity to discard your empties from the Christmas period! In 2025, the initiative collected over 240,000 tubs, weighing in at a record-breaking 27,990 kg of plastic, raising over £10,000 for the Charity.

On Monday, the Year 6 Choir were invited to sing at Haven Point in South Shields. They sang exceptionally well with many proud parents and members of the public enjoying the festive cheer. Thank you to Miss Fenwick and Mrs Wear for their dedication and support in working with the school choir. 

Members of the Junior Leadership Team will be heading off to London to visit the Houses of Parliament in March 2026. They have decided that they would like to fundraise to pay for some of the cost of the trip. On Friday 23rd January, they will be holding a coffee afternoon for adults and children in the school hall between 2:30pm and 3:30pm. Parents and carers can collect children from their classes after 2:30pm to attend the event. They would kindly request donations of cakes and biscuits (not containing nuts) to be sent into school on the morning of the event.

It has been a busy week in school this week with children in EYFS, KS1 and KS2 having the opportunity to showcase their Nativities to parents, carers, family and friends. It has been a joy to watch the children singing and sharing the Christmas story. I am so proud of every child who has rehearsed and taken part giving their all. The Nativities have been weeks in the making with regular practices all leading up to the final performances. The singing was exceptional, narration clear and confidently delivered and the characters all played their part in bringing the stories to life. I would like to take the opportunity to thank our wonderful children for a special week and our dedicated staff for their hard work in bringing it all together.