We set the challenge and Mortimer pupils and staff cracked it!
Recreate your favourite book front cover.
Look at these fabulous creations!
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” …
Hello everyone, it’s Mrs Cunningham here again. What a lovely sunny day it was yesterday. It was Miss Middleton’s turn to look after the school, so I delivered a few work envelopes to your houses and waved to some of you. I was a little jealous that some of you still had your jarmies on at 1.00pm.
I had a cup of tea with my mam and dad today, but they were right down near their garage and I was near the pavement. We had to shout to each other.
Sammy is loving the facebook attention he is getting, so is Pip. They are thinking that they are famous! They might even become friends at the end of this!
Have you seen Mrs Stelling’s challenge, to be the front cover of a book? I am really looking forward to seeing your pictures.
Have a thrilling Thursday.
Mrs Cunningham
Hello everyone, it’s Mrs Cunningham again. I hope you had a top Tuesday and got a chance to go outside in the lovely sunshine. Sammy is so loving the house full of people. He is usually on his own and loves it when we all get in about 5pm, but these days he has us all to himself, and he is doing what cats do best……making their owners run around after them! So today he started meowing at about 6am and kept on going until I got up to feed him and let him out. He has tried to scare a big pigeon from the tree but did not win, so he came in for another packet of food. Then I saw him lying on the road on his back hoping for someone to stop and give him some attention. I called him in and he appeared with an extremely odd look on his face. I asked him what he was up to and he opened his mouth and a butterfly flew out!!! What a big fright. It happened in my kitchen, so I had to then try to get the butterfly out. He is such a naughty boy. He then went outside to sleep in a plant pot.
Our next door neighbours have a little Jack Russell Terrier called Pip. He is a lovely little dog, but Sammy’s enemy. Sammy does really bad things to get Pip into trouble. He looks at him through the window and walks around the top of his garden fence! I am now watching Sammy looking through their sitting room window making Pip bark and run around the living room.
Here are a few photos of him in action. Chasing a bird through the window, looking cute and sleeping in the plant pot. I have also added a picture of Pip.
Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Mrs Cunningham
Jane Lee McCracken, a local artist who worked with a number of our pupils last year, has launched a competition for children to take part in. We thought some of our pupils may be interested and wish to create an entry. Open to all age groups.
Useful contacts:
| Safeguarding support | [email protected] |
| Social care Advice and support | Early Help Outreach advice – 0191 4246210 (for children over 5), 0191 4246363 ( for children under 5 years)
Children’s services – 8.30am-5pm – 0191 4245010 Children’s services (out of hours 5pm onwards) – 0191 4562093 Police (non-emergency) – 101 Emergency – 999 Community Police Officers – Darren Lough 07885262870 NSPCC – 0808 800 5000 https://www.nspcc.org.uk Childline – 24 hour helpline – 0800 1111 |
| Young carer’s support | South Tyneside Young carers – 0191 4272795
http://www.southtynesideyoungcarers.org/ Email: [email protected] – 07387109388 |
| MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT | KOOTH – free, safe and anonymous online support for young people ages 10-25) Mon-Fri 12pm-10pm, Sat-Sun 6pm-10pm http://www.kooth.com/
LIFECYCLE – Free mental and emotional health support via telephone and face to face appointments. 0191 2832937 CYPS – Free mental health support for young people who are experiencing serious mental illnesses or symptoms of ill mental health. 0191 5665500 ICTS (Crisis) Team – free emergency support for young people who present an immediate risk to themselves or others. 0191 5665500 (under 16), 0303 1231145 (over 16) – then ask for the ICTS team MIND – Mental Health Charity – 0300 123 3393 PAPYRUS – Prevention of young suicide – 0800 068 4141 SAMARITANS – Phone 116 123 – [email protected] STREETWISE – Free and confidential advice, counselling health and support services for young people aged 11-25 – 0191 230 5400 RETHINK MENTAL ILLNESS – 03005000927 CALM – support for men – 0800 58 58 58 HOPE AGAIN – Bereavement support – 0808 808 1677 MIND – Mental Health Charity – 0300 123 3393 NHS MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING – http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety/depression NHS CHOICES WEBSITE – http://www.nhs.uk FRANK – national drugs information and advice service – 24hours per day – 0300 123 6600 – text 82111 – email – [email protected] NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HELPLINE – 0808 2000 247 WELLBEING INFO.ORG – Website with advice, tools and support – http://wellbeinginfo.org 0191 4178043 |
| FOOD BANKS | New Hope Church, South Shields – 0191 4245462
Hospitality and Hope, South Shields – 0191 420 3336 Hebburn Helps – 0191 4899707 Churches Together Food bank, Boldon lane, South Shields– 07833 613393 |
| FINANCE | Financial crisis fund: The Fund provides direct financial support to residents in financial crisis as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is managed by the Welfare Support Team in South Tyneside Homes. Applicants to the scheme should contact 0191 424 7444 or visit https://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/35031/Crisis-support |
| CORONAVIRUS SUPPORT | COVID-19 support for residents – 0191 4247575 – Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat-Sun 9am-1pm – http://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/69129/Cornavirus-COVID-19- |
Hello everyone, it’s Mrs Cunningham here again. I hope you had a good Monday and the first day of the Summer Term. Today I was in school and I let the children put chalk on the pavement. Mrs Stelling had to persuade me, but the results are really good. If you are passing on a walk with your parents, you might want to do some of our hopscotch and other games.
I have had lots of Zoom meetings today. I have had 4 and the last one has just finished and it’s 7pm. Everyone sees your face and you have to ask and answer lots of questions. I had a posh work blouse on…….and my pyjama bottoms and slippers!! How funny is that?
Now because it is late, this is only a short letter, but I am hoping to make you laugh. Can you all remember the assemblies we had a few months ago and children told jokes and we all had to clap loud to see which one we all liked the best. I thought your clapometers were really good. Can you remember the Infant and Junior winners? if you can’t, here goes:
What do you call a dog that lies next to a fire?
A hot dog!!!
You infants loved that joke!! Some of you were lying down laughing on the hall floor at that one.
Here is the junior winner:
Two bags of crisps were walking down the road. A car pulls over and asks if they want a lift. They reply, “No, we are Walkers!”
There were lots of claps and groans there!
Have a top Tuesday.
Mrs Cunningham
Hello everyone, it’s Mrs Cunningham here again. How have you all been? I hope you have all had a super Easter. I know you couldn’t get out to the park or the fair or the beach, but I’m sure your mams and dads made it a special time in the house. Mr Cunningham bought me a Galaxy Easter egg. It did not last very long. I ate it in two halves with 2 cups of tea! I am going to have to do lots of running and spend some time at the gym when we are all back to normal.
Now you know my two girls are grown up and they are both back home at the minute. Well, I thought it would be funny to make an Easter Egg hunt for them, based around Nursery Rhymes. Now if you are in Nursery, I know you will get all of these right. The first clue said, “There was an old woman who lived in a ……”. My girls couldn’t remember the rhyme and thought the answer was “tree”, so they went outside expecting to find a cream egg in the tree. Eventually, I had to tell them the answer. The next one was, “Old Mother Hubbard went to the ………”, Rachel guessed “kitchen” and then Louise guessed “the Bingo,” I started to think that maybe they were playing a trick on me!! They eventually found all of the eggs!
All of the teachers had a day or two in school over Easter, looking after some children who were in and getting some more work together for you. You might find some new work online or you might get an envelope through your door. The teachers have worked really hard to make sure that you are still learning and the activities are fun. We are looking forward to seeing your homework when you are back to school.
It’s lovely getting back in touch with you all.
Have a magical Monday.
Mrs Cunningham
Update 19.4.20
After the announcement by the Government that lockdown will continue for a further 3 weeks, Mortimer Primary School will remain open for our Key Worker families and supply additional work for pupils at home.
Please see key information below:
- Childcare Mortimer
We will revert back to Facebook events for parents to book in for childcare. This really helps us see who we will be having each day.
Mon 20th – Fri 24th April events will be live today.
If possible, please comment with your children’s names and classes to help see when siblings are coming.
Apologies if you aren’t using Facebook, but this is the easiest way for the majority of parents and staff to see uptake. This way you will be able to change your attendance easily if your circumstances change.
Please indicate your attendance at your earliest possible convenience for each day.
- Work for home
Additional work will be available via the Google classroom, Tapestry or posted to you. This will be appearing throughout the week.
- BBC Bitesize Daily
6 daily lessons of 20mins will be posted each day for varying ages. These may complement the work given by school or provide a different avenue of learning.
We will continue to keep you updated and support you all as best we can.
Stay safe!
E-vouchers to the value of £15 per child per week will be provided for eligible families to buy food whilst schools are closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The company that is processing the vouchers for families on behalf of the government is called Edenred. The link below takes you to Edenred’s parents and carers information page:
https://www.edenred.co.uk/reward-recipients/Free-School-Meal-Vouchers/
Schools have ordered vouchers for their eligible families via the Edenred website. On receiving a voucher order from a school, Edenred then sends an email to the family giving instructions on how to order a voucher. Sometimes these emails fall into the junk or spam file of email accounts so families need to check regularly to find the email. When families order their voucher, another email is sent with the voucher code. For families with no access to an email address, a paper voucher will be sent to the family home in the post.
Why are the vouchers currently taking so long to reach families?
Edenred has reported a very high demand for vouchers from schools. This is because it is a national voucher scheme for all schools, and it means that some families have had to wait longer than expected for their voucher. In some cases there have been delays of up to 3 days for vouchers to arrive after the family has selected their supermarket choice. We appreciate how frustrating this is, but please be assured that vouchers will reach all eligible families soon.
Please note that local authorities and schools are not in control of how quickly vouchers are processed, but families can continue to order packed lunches while they wait for their voucher to arrive. You can order your packed lunch by contacting your school or the Council’s Contact Centre on tel. 427 7000.
If you choose to order food online using your voucher, do check first that your chosen supermarket offers an online service
Note that most supermarkets don’t permit use of the self-service tills with a voucher payment.
April 2020
17.4.20 Just to say…
Hello everyone, Mr Bennett here, your deputy head.
It’s fair to that when I started working at Mortimer back in November 2019, I never imagined my first 6 months would go the way they have!
Mortimer is the 4th primary school I have worked at, definitely the biggest and as I’m finding…an amazing place to work. I can’t sing the staff’s praises enough. They have a heart for the community and so many can’t imagine working anywhere else. This was apparent during the recent Investors in People review where my zero years service at Mortimer brought the average time at the school down to 13 years! What a great team we have!
A huge thank you to Mrs Cunningham for continuing to pull the strings and deal with so much; Lisa and Ann in their virtual office and to Mr Clarke for opening up every single day! They may be out of sight but definitely not out of mind! In fact, I’ve seen Mrs Cunningham just once in 4 weeks!
As I’ve discovered the pupils are fabulous and have continued to amaze me every day. They are a credit to you the parents, grandparents and carers! So don’t mess them up whilst we have lent them to you during lockdown. I miss my Wednesday trip into nursey to work with Blue group. They were so wary of me in my first week with them, but now they are generally happy to see me and some even shout ‘Hi MRS Bennett!’ – I need to get more males in early years!
I have enjoyed getting to know so many and I am sad that this time is not spent learning more of their names and finding out what makes them tick! It has been great to see the photos on our Facebook page. I miss popping into lessons as Jump Start Jonny plays or seeing them all in assemblies. They are such a great group. Please tell them I miss them.
To you the parents, just do your best over these next weeks, just as you have been. Don’t try to replicate what happens in school, it simply can’t be done. Believe me I know, with having a 13, 10 and 1 year old and trying to work from home! Just do your best each day – little and often is how we are rolling!
My wish is that we get back to Mortimer with every member of staff, every pupil and their families safe and healthy. We have the skills and wherewithal to sort the educational side of things once we get back. Every child is in the same boat, so don’t worry about catching up, just keep them going with the work their teachers are supplying. However, try and see the positives of this time together. I have seen my 1-year-old develop so much in the last month and I am truly grateful for that.
So parents,I wish I was talking to you more about the STEM team, school trips, football and cricket team results, school productions (I think I was in line for the role of Joseph this year!) or all the other positive things that take place…for now I’ll be here to chat meal vouchers and child care or anything else you need.
I’m even missing the knock on my day and “Mr Bennett can we have a chat…” conversations (although they were few and far between!). So when Monday hits and we continue lockdown, just remember Mortimer Primary School is here for your and will help in any way we can!
Stay safe and look after each other.
In the words of our Queen…we will meet again! Feel free to print your certificate out, you’ve earned it!
#mortimerfamily
