Christmas Raffle Draw & Coffee Morning
This year's Christmas Raffle Draw & Coffee Morning will be held on Thursday, 18th December in the school hall from 9:15.
Our school Christmas Church Service
Our annual Christmas Church Service for all the children, will be held on 15th December from 10.15am in St Nicholas' Church.
Community Carol Service
Our Community Carol Service will be held in St Nicholas' Church on 16th December, from 6.30pm.
Christmas Pantomime Visits
This year our Key Stage Two children will be visiting the Theatre Royal in Newcastle to watch 'Robinson Crusoe'.
The dates of this are as follows:
9th December ~ Years 3 & 4
10th December ~ Years 5 & 6
Christmas Parties
Our Christmas Parties will be held in school on the following dates:
9th December ~ Nursery (am & pm)
Reception (pm)
10th December ~ Years 1 & 2 (pm)
11th December ~ Years 3 & 4 (pm)
12th December ~ Years 5 & 6 (pm)
Christmas Plays
Our Christmas Plays will be performed in school at 9.30am & 2.15pm on the following dates:
Nursery & Reception ~ 5th December
Years 1 & 2 ~ 16th December
Years 3 & 4 ~ 8th December
Years 5 & 6 ~ 17th December
Christmas Fayre
Friday, 21st November
Scholastic Book Fair
The Scholastic Book Fair will be in school week beginning Monday, 17th November
Parent Consultations
Monday, 10th & Tuesday, 11th November
Autumn discos
Thursday, 16th October
Reception, Year 1 & Year 2 ~ 4pm-5pm
Year 3 & 4 ~ 5pm-6pm
Year 5 & 6 ~ 6pm-7pm
Harvest Festival
Monday, 13th October
School Photographer
Wednesday, 8th October
School closure
Due to strike action by UNISON, our school will be closed on Wednesday, 16th July therefore, the children will break up for summer a day earlier on Tuesday, 15th July.
We will keep you informed shoud there be any changes.
Kingsmeadow Steel Band
On Thursday, 26th June all of our children enjoyed a picnic in the school yard whilst they listened & danced to the fab sounds of Kingsmeadow's Steel Band.
The inconsistent weather didn't dampen our spirits too much & our lunchtime proved to be one of the most memorable to date.
It was also lovely to see some of our former pupils hitting the beat!
Progress Reports 2008
This year's progress reports will be sent out to all parents/carers on Wednesday, 9th July.
WANTED...Your photos of Dunston Hill dating back to 1910!
If you have any photos of your time here at Dunston Hill then please share them with us, as we would like to produce a 'Memory Book' dating back to when our school first opened in 1910.
We will copy any photos & return them to their rightful owner.
We would like pictures of the school building - inside & out
Members of staff
&... of course pupils
In fact, anything you have so please get searching & share these with us asap.
Thank you!
Celebration Week - 23rd June
Week beginning the 23rd June, will see a whole host of events taking place to celebrate our time as a school on Dunston Bank.
A working party has been meeting regularly to share ideas & organise a selection of events including:
Gateshead Music Workshop Team working with Key Stage One
Y6 working with Kingsmeadow to produce a DVD detailing what Dunston Hill means to them
Former pupils/staff etc invited to a cheese & wine evening plus a look round school
A tea party for anyone 65 years+
A Memory Book produced of the school, dating back to when it was opened in 1910
A visit from an ice-cream van for all children, as this proved to be a hit last year after Ofsted
Many more events will be taking place...& if you would like to become involved then please contact the school.
Y5 visiting Washington Old Hall
Both Y5 classes will be visiting Washington Old Hall next half term, to coincide with their topic of the Tudors.
The children will experience what life was like in Tudor times, wear Tudor costume & experience an appetising Tudor Banquet.
The dates of the trip are as follows:
5G Monday, 9th June
5R Wednesday, 11th June
Dunston Gala Day
Our Gala Day will be held once again in Dunston Park, on Saturday 12th July.
See you then!
Book Fair in school
The Scholastic Book Fair will be in school from Monday, 19th May until Thursday, 22nd May.
Pop along after school & have a browse at all the fab books on sale!
Spring Half Term
A reminder that all children will break up for their Spring holidays on Friday, 4th April & return to school on Monday, 21st April
Tesco Computers for Schools Vouchers
We are once again collecting the Computers for Schools vouchers courtesy of Tesco. These vouchers are available from Monday 3rd March until Sunday 11th May & are used to purchase much needed ICT equipment.
Please send your vouchers into school & don't forget to also include used inkjet cartridges & old mobile phones, as these can earn us extra vouchers for recycling.
The Computers for Schools box is located in our ICT Suite & we'll keep you posted with our running total.
February Half Term
Our school will break up for half term on Friday, 15th February & return on Monday, 25th February.
Happy New Year!
We would like to wish you a warm welcome to 2008 & hope you have had an enjoyable Christmas & New Year.
The Spring term will once again be a busy one & we endeavour to keep you informed of all the events etc taking place in school.
Termly overviews will be sent out via the children on Monday, 14th January so you can have an insight into your child's learning over the next few months.
Key Stage 1 & Key Stage 2 SATs Results
See how well the children are achieving by the end of Year Two & Year Six
Buy a brick!
As you are aware, we will be moving across to our new school in September 2008. As part of the plans, we have asked the constructors to build a special feature wall near the entrance, which will incorporate bricks engraved with the names of past and present pupils.
The cost to any interested parties would be £10 a brick. Any money raised from the sale of the bricks will be used to fund the cost of organising community events to celebrate our last year on the present school site.
Details have already been sent home with our pupils including a reply slip to show your interest. If you have not received a copy of this or are a past pupil/member of staff then please inform the school via this weblog OR email/ telephone/ write a letter.
Thank you.
Updated Welcome
I should like to extend a warm welcome to you on behalf of the Governing Body and staff at Dunston Hill Community Primary School and invite you to join us in a partnership that will make your child's time here enjoyable and worthwhile
As Headteacher, I am very proud of our school and its many achievements. Our last Ofsted inspection report in June 2007 was very successful and we were described as being: “…an outstanding school…with no significant areas for improvement…"
In September 2008, we will be moving into a new state-of-the-art, secure and inclusive building set in attractive grounds. The extensive range of facilities and resources will ensure that teaching and learning are of the highest quality. Community links will as always be well embedded in the life of the school.

Keep up-to-date with our school by visiting our weblog regularly .
Mr W. E. Foreman (Head Teacher)
Golden Time Launch
Friday, 9th November will see the official launch of 'Golden Time' at our school.
This event coincides with our school's discipline policy & is proving successful with all the children.
At the beginning of each week, the children have 20 minutes Golden Time, which they can spend on a Friday (at the end of the week) doing an activity they enjoy e.g. painting, playing football, watching a DVD etc. However, if they misbehave they may lose some/all of their Golden Time & therefore have to earn it back by demonstrating a significant improvement in their attitude/behaviour.
We will be asking all children to design a 'logo' to accompany Golden Time & the winning design will be announced nearer the official launch date. Activities will also be taking place throughout the day, to celebrate Golden Time in our school.
Fab Food Funhouse visits Dunston Hill
The Fab Food Funhouse visited Key Stage Two, to encourage healthy eating & raise awareness of the unhealthy content in some foods.
The Funhouse provided an interactive & engaging session, where the children played a variety of games!
The LA's Don Sweeney presented the show, with his glamorous assistants
Year 5 Image Gallery
Visit the Y5 Image Gallery, to view the latest pics from our visit to Kingsmeadow - 12th July & also our special visit from King Henry VIII - 11th July... You'll find the link at the top of the page.
Our Image Gallery
To gain a further insight across all year groups & curriculum areas in school, visit our Image Gallery to see for yourself.
Local website for mums
Netmums.com is a free local website for mums, which offers advice & support on all the problems life throws at you. It has information about baby & toddler groups, indoor/outdoor play areas, childcare etc
If you are interested in finding out more, click on the link below...
School Term Dates 2007/2008
The proposed dates for the academic year beginning September 2007 are as follows:
Autumn Term - Tuesday 4th September until Friday 21st December
(half term 22nd-26th October)
Spring Term - Monday 7th January until Friday 4th April
(half term 18th-22nd February)
Summer Term - Monday 21st April until Thursday 17th July
(half term 26th-30th May)
In addition to the above dates, the school will be closed to pupils on Friday 21st March 2008 & Monday 24th March 2008 due to the Easter Bank Holiday weekend & also Monday 5th May due to the May Bank Holiday.
One day within the above terms is to be used for in-service training activities. This closure date is to be determined & agreed by school & the governing body.
May we once again remind you that the above dates are still subject to change.
School Website - Staff Session

Peter Bolger from Gateshead City Learning Centre will take staff through our new school website. It's an opportunity to learn about the site's functionality, what its aims are and where it fits into the wider web. Colleagues will also have an opportunity to publish to the site. It's easy to do, so no need to panic :-)
School Weblog - Staff Training
Peter Bolger from Gateshead CLC will attend the staff meeting on Monday May 14th to introduce and demo the school website to colleagues. There will be an opportunity to have a hands-on "play", publishing content to the site.
Internet Safety for your children
A very important & topical issue. It is vitally important that children remain safe whilst using the internet & especially when visiting chat rooms etc.
To ensure your children use the Internet safely & monitor their use, visit the childnet website for further advice & information...
Image Gallery
A new image gallery has now been added to the site...take a peek!