Visits & Wider Opportunities
EDUCATIONAL VISITS
As part of our curriculum, we exploit all opportunities to provide pupils with opportunities to immerse them in real life contexts, contextualise their learning and engage with real life audiences through projects, educational visits and wider opportunities. Please see below an overview of educational visits planned for this academic year and how it links to pupils learning.
Early Years:
As part of their 'Belonging, Community & Connection' Curriculum, our Reception pupils spend time out in their locality exploring their environment. This provides a real life context for pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world, to develop their communication and language skills and their own personal development. They practise the green code, observe seasonal changes and engage in lots of team work. Reception pupils will also spend time comparing their locality with the beach with a visit to Tynemouth beach in Summer 2.
Key Stage 1:
In the Spring term the pupils in KS1 will visit Jesmond Dene as part of their learning in science about plants. They will complete 'Follow the Buzz', which will help them to understand why bees are very important as pollinators for plants. In the summer term, KS1 will visit the Rising Sun Country Park to apply the simple field work they have been learning about.
Lower Key Stage 2:
In the Sprint term, LKS2 will visit the Rising Sun Country Park and experience pond dipping as part of their Science learning on Habitats. They will also visit Vindolonda in Northumberland to enhance their History learning on the Romans. Year 4 will spend 3 days at the Emmaus Village in Consett, which serves to enhance their personal development and provide opportunities for outdoor adventurous activities as well as give hem their first experience of a residential. The residential visit, lead by the Youth Ministry Team, provides opportunities for pupils to explore their faith in a fun and positive way with pupils from other Catholic primary schools.
Upper Key Stage 2:
In the summer term, the pupils in Year 5 will visit Woodhorn Colliery as part of their local history topic in order to enhance their learning around mining. Year 6 will spend 5 days on a residential trip to High Borrans, which serves to enhance their personal development and provide opportunities for outdoor adventurous activities. In order to prepare for their transition to high school, Year 6 will also experience a spiritual trip to Holy Island, so they can explore their faith in a fun and positive way with pupils from neighbouring Catholic schools.
WIDER OPPORTUNITIES
At St Bernadette's, we provide and encourage pupils to participate in a range of wider opportunities such as: Mini Vinnies, School Council and Eco-Club, in order to contextualise and deepen their learning as well as develop their skills of collaboration, communication, organisation and leadership and extend their understanding of our values curriculum and their ability to live out their faith in action thus making a positive contribution to their immediate, wider and global environment. Although each group represents our all of our school values, they can be best summarised as follows:
Mini Vinnies
At St Bernadette's, our Mini Vinnie group is made up of pupils across KS2. They come together weekly to form a part of the St. Vincent de Paul Society England and Wales, a voluntary organisation dedicated to tackling poverty in all its forms. When Mini Vinnies meet, we pray and discuss ways in which can to help make a difference in our communities.
Our Mini Vinnies truly turn concern into action as they use the simple formula of ‘see, think, do’ to find people in need and help them. We asked our Mini-Vinnies to tell us about some of the wonderful things they have done this year...
'We designed and made our own Christmas cards for people receiving cancer treatment in hospital. We all wrote warm messages and wished them well at a very special time of year. Mrs Collins took the cards to the patients in hospital for us. We hope they made them smile.
In the run up to Christmas, we organised a collection in school of Advent Calenders. Some of us went to the Bay Food Bank with Mrs Collins to donate them. As Mini Vinnies, we thought about the families in our area who don’t always have enough food to eat.
We really enjoyed the session where the Waste Warriors joined us and we talked about tasty recipes to prevent food waste. We shared our recipes with others.
Mrs Gallagher helped us film, ‘An Open the Book’ to send to other children in other parts of the world. We really enjoyed acting out a Bible story for others to see.
We raised money for charity when we organised a Mile of Coins which our whole school took part in. It was really good to have fun and see everyone coming together for a good cause.
We took part in an art exhibition which was displayed at The Baltic in Newcastle. We designed images around the themes of welcome and home, in order to make refugees feel welcome and raise awareness of the issues they face. We also had the opportunity to design pieces for the Durham Museum Story."
Eco Club
With the world beginning to experience the effects of climate change; different species of plant and animals becoming extinct every day; and micro-plastics being found in the most remote locations on Earth - now is the time to educate future generations about the impact of our actions on the planet we call home. As a school, we have therefore made the decision to work towards Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation.
The Eco-Schools programme does this through providing a simple seven-step framework that has been designed to raise awareness of environmental issues whilst empowering young people to make a positive difference by taking a lead on environmental actions and projects in their school and local community.
Our St. Bernadette's Eco-Committee have chosen the following topics to focus on over the coming academic year - Healthy Living, School Grounds, Waste and Energy. Over the course of the year, they will decide what actions they would like to take and how they are going to involve our school and community. With these topics in mind, the children have developed the following ECO Code for our school:
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We will save energy
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Drink lots of water, eat healthy food and exercise
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Look after our environment
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Plant fruit, veg and wildflowers
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Use the right bins
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Looking after one another
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Everyone is important and works together
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Look out for regular updates on our Facebook page; invitations to participate in environmental events and projects; and increasingly conscientious young people!
Waste Warriors
Meet our wonderful ‘Waste Warriors’
St. Bernadette's Waste Warriors focus on reducing waste, particularly food waste, through education, awareness, and action. This fantastic team, led by Miss Fox, are St. Bernadette’s Waste Warriors. Chosen by their peers, this group have accepted the mission to reduce our food waste through the Eat Smart project. Working together with our kitchen team and Project BIND, they will measure and audit our school’s food waste and come up with solutions to reduce it. They will do this through promoting mindful consumption, and encouraging proper disposal of recyclable and compostable materials. This is a huge undertaking, but what an amazing way to act as stewards of our common home.