At Cestria we have ‘Something Special’ happening every day!
In Key Stage 1 we are really lucky to offer our super curriculum rooms to the children in Years 1 and 2. Over a weekly period, the children visit each of the rooms for 2 sessions to be taught Art, Design and Technology, and Cookery by our highly experienced staff. Our children love visiting each room and working on the special projects. Here’s a little snapshot of some of the things they get up to…
In the out fabulous ‘A Splash of Art’ room, the children love to com here to explore the wonderful world of art and artists. It’s great to see the enthusiasm on the children’s faces as they paint their fantastic paintings or mould their super sculptures.
When completing the exciting Design and Technology projects, the children are taught the skills and techniques of the DT curriculum, exploring what makes structures strong and stable and creating moving mechanisms. You can also find budding inventors bringing their designs to life in our very own Invention Shed.
Food, Glorious, Food! Everyone just loves the Cookery Room. From cakes and biscuits to the healthier fruit kebabs, the children eagerly wait to find out which delicious meal they will be preparing next!
As well as having super children we also have super teachers who have their own skills and talents in certain areas that they like to share with the children. On a WOW Wednesday, the teachers in years 1 and 2 swap classes to teach their specialist area. The children benefit from the teachers’ own enthusiasm for the subject as well as their in-depth subject knowledge too!
In Music the children learn all about different composers, they listen to different types of music from around the world, but the best bit is when they get the instruments out!
Our children keep fit and active within super PE sessions. They are taught all the skills and techniques from the National Curriculum through fun games and team building activities. It’s amazing to watch our children working together and the team spirit that they have. 
During STEM activities (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) the children are encouraged to work individually and together to solve problems and also to develop their resilience when faced with a challenge.
From visits to religious buildings, to organising special visitors into school, Miss Behenna works really hard to teach the children about the different religions and cultures of the world as well as promoting British Values. Pop into her classroom to see some of the lovely work the children have produced.
Terrific Tuesday! Just like in KS1, the children have a fun filled day of exciting lessons led by our staff in Years 5 and 6 in their specialist subject areas – a day where we bring our learning to life in the pursuit of developing mathematicians, fitness fanatics and engineers of the future. More often than not, the classrooms are made redundant, and the children can be found ‘out and about’ embracing their love of learning. Mrs Devlin leads fabulous outdoor maths investigations. There’s not a textbook in sight when the children are off solving problems or investigating maths outside. Whoever said maths can be boring! Mr Walker keeps everyone fit and healthy with his active PE lessons. Whether it be in the school yard, down at Park View or even at Chester-le-Street park, he ensures everyone has fun whilst keeping healthy in a range of sporting activities. You never know, we might just find the next Mo Farah here at Cestria! And finally, our children absolutely love Mrs McGee’s Design Technology sessions. Who doesn’t love designing, inventing and investigating how things work! Not forgetting the best bit when they get to visit our incredible invention shed and turn their ideas into reality. Who knows, we might be nurturing some budding architects and designers of the future!
Thrilling Thursday in Years 3 and 4! Mr Gowland and Mrs Bowry specialize in teaching P.E. practicing lots of different key skills the children will use regularly across their time in Key Stage 2. They enjoy creating crazy games and activities to support the children’s development and can often be seen joining in with them too! Look outside to find problem solving with the children in Outdoor Maths and Mrs Robson working with more budding Design and Technology inventors. 
In the Science Investigation Hub, KS2 children have the opportunity to be mad scientists planning and carrying out all sorts of weird and wonderful experiments. Look out for Miss Shaw in here too.
We have links with the local library where we visit for research purposes or to take part in a storytelling session. Catherine the librarian always has a special story to share with us. To further develop our love of reading we enjoy choosing a book which we can bring back to school to read during Storytime.
We regularly welcome visits from pupils from other schools who work with our children on a variety of peer-to-peer projects. They have included reading, keeping fit and healthy and handy First Aid hints and tips.
Trips – We often venture out of school and further afar to consolidate the learning that takes place in all areas of the curriculum. The children thoroughly enjoy these adventures and are a credit to the school when out and about.
We frequently welcome visitors to our school for storytelling, assembly, fire safety and lots more.
Practise Makes Perfect! – Interventions At Cestria, we are so proud of how hard our children work and the progress that they make. We constantly reflect upon their work and strive to help them reach their full potential. We include lots of fun intervention sessions that our children look forward to each week. We’ve certainly found that by tackling these small steps it leads to huge strides forward in our learning.
