West Rainton, Houghton-le-Spring DH4 6RN
Wow! Our Key Stage Two dancers stole the show at the Durham Primary Dance Festival to end the term with a bang! Our routine to ‘This is Me’ from The Greatest Showman had the audience screaming and cheering with delight. That was after an awesome display by Year Six to ‘Ego’ which scooped the award for most original routine. Well done to all- you were AMAZING!
Pupils from 2-11 years old took part in our annual dance assembly in spring 2018. Once again, it was one of the most well-attended events of the year and we had a whole load of fun developing our dances through PE lessons to be ready to perform. We can’t wait to show two of our performances at the Durham Primary Dance Festival later in the term.
Pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 had a wonderful opportunity this spring to perform with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Durham Cathedral. They spent a few weeks practising The Fairy Queen, based on the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the music of Henry Purcell, before the performance, in Durham Cathedral, took place on 7th February.
Here are some images of our final performance:
EYFS and Key Stage One worked incredibly hard all term to bring us two amazing productions of the Nativity. A traditional view from the early years team was incredibly well received by families of nursery and reception. This was followed by an ambitious retelling of the Nativity by Years 1 and 2 in a production of Baubles!
The following week saw Key Stage 2 take to the stage with two sell-out performances of ‘A Christmas Carol’. The rousing choruses and enthusiastic dances got us all in the mood for the Christmas celebrations. An incredible way to end a vey busy term. Thank you very much!
Pupils in Year 5 took part in the Shakespeare Schools’ Festival 2017 performing a 30 minute version of Romeo and Juliet at the Gala Theatre, Durham. The entire cast were incredible and received a rapturous round of applause for their talented display. Hours of studying the text and how to convey the emotions of the tragic love story really paid off on the night. Well done Year 5; you were an amazing team.
Pupils in Year 5 are now just four weeks away from their performance of Romeo and Juliet at Durham’s Gala Theatre. This week saw preparations step up with painting of masquerade masks for the ball scene and the arrival of our official festival t-shirts. We really look the part now!
Pupils in Year 5 have become our second crop of brass band students taking part in weekly lessons with teacher, Mr Wilkinson. The band have begun to get to know their instruments and the basics of producing a sound, reading notation and playing as a group.
Year 5 pupils have been working incredibly hard recently on their performance of Romeo and Juliet for the Shakespeare Schools’ Festival later in the term. At the drama workshop, the children got to work alongside friends from Tudhoe Colliery Primary School to show the work in progress so far. They also got a glimpse of the stage that they will be performing on in November.
‘But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?’
We were delighted to welcome our friends from the 46th African Children’s Choir. After singing with them at the Bethany Christian Centre, it was great to get to know them better when they came to join us for an afternoon in school. We know that this link has created a lasting friendship, and we look forward to writing to them on their return to Uganda.
We are delighted to be taking part in Shakespeare Schools’ Festival in 2016. Our Year 5s are learning a 30 minute production of Macbeth, true to the original script, to perform in Durham’s Gala Theatre in November. We are enjoying rehearsals and our first theatre workshop in September was a really exciting experience.
Pupils in reception and year 1 have enjoyed taking part in workshops led by New Writing North this autumn. The children are looking forward to seeing the performance in West Rainton’s Jubilee Hall in October before doing some writing all about their experiences.
What an enjoyable afternoon we had when New York Brass came to visit Year 4 in July as part of Durham City’s streets of brass festival. The children, who have been learning brass instruments all year with Mr Freney, took part in an intense workshop before playing ‘A Message To You Rudy’ for the entire community at home time.
