ECO Schools Application
We are excited to be part of the ECO Schools Award and are working together as a school community and ECO committee to achieve our first Green Flag.
The ECO committee and Y6 will work together to complete a 10 part Environmental Review. Following this, we will create an Action Plan which will explore 3 areas to develop as a whole school community.
Watch this space for recent developments and projects. We strive to achieve Green Flag success through our community values and hard work!
Community Litter Pick
Kittiwake Trust
We were very lucky to receive a donation of books from the Kittiwake Trust. They do a fantastic job of keeping books in circulation and saving them from being pulped.
Why not visit their website http://www.kittiwaketrust.org.uk/the-kittiwake-trust/ and take a look. We had a wonderful time choosing a new book to read and would like to say a big thank you to Amina Marix Evans for her kind donation.
'We Love Larkspur' Day
We celebrated our first 'We Love Larkspur' day on Monday 5th November and it was a roaring success. The children voted for activities that they would like to do in school and came up with a list which included cookery, games, computing and art & crafts. The children were split into groups of various ages and were able to complete four out of the ten activities on offer. Governors and members of the local community were also invited, along with parents who were able to accompany their child and join in with the fun. We will be holding another 'We Love Larkspur Day' in the Spring Term and Summer Term so the children can experience more of the activities offered.
Helping in the Community
The Year 1 and Year 6 children, along with 3 members of staff, went out and about on the estate doing some litter picking. They were joined by Martin Taylor from The Gateshead Housing Company. Martin is our estate manager and very kindly brought the children some equipment to use. He brought them litter pickers, gloves, hi-vis vests and black bags.
They had great fun and all of the children said they felt very proud that they helped to make our estate a better place.
Striving to Forge Strong Links with our Local Community
Here at Larkspur we recognise our role in establishing strong links with not only our local community but also the wider community of Gateshead and the North East, our National and International communities.
We regularly have visitors from local businesses and organisations into Larkspur to both support our school and work alongside our pupils and teachers in a range of productive and creative ways.
Farm to Fork
A fantastic project supported by our local Tesco store and community farmer. Children get regular opportunities to learn about more about the how our food gets from the farm to our plates. Assemblies, visits to farms, visits to Tesco and specialist led sessions in school support children's knowledge of food and having a balanced diet.
Local Church links
Visits from our local pastor and volunteers from the church community has given our whole school opportunities to explore a number of PHSE and RE topics through assemblies, prayer workshops, class led sessions and much more.
Phillips Court
Strong links have been established with the community of residents at a local care home. Our pupils have worked on a number of projects with the residents including a 1950s Creative Arts project and regular carol services and singing events performed by our wonderful choir.
Callender Court
Continued links with the team at Callender Sheltered Home have given our pupils the opportunity to share poetry, sing and entertain the residents regularly. We've even had to entertain our Gateshead Mayor during these prestigious events.
Knit and Natter Group
Meet every Wednesday afternoon at Larkspur making wonderful knitted creations to support our school fund raising events and provide our pupils with some beautiful visual resources to support their learning. Larkspur House now facilitates this group.
Local primary and secondary schools
Our pupils have the opportunity to visit a number of local primary and secondary schools for a range of activities including: writing workshops, sports activities, art activities.
Support from local businesses:
We are very fortunate that we have developed some strong links with local businesses. We receive regular donations from a number of small private companies including: