Whickham St Mary's Primary School

'Let's Create and Animate'.

2010-03-05T08:17:13Z

On Thursday 4th March, five pupils from Year 5 were granted the wonderful opportunity to spend a day designing, filming and editing their very own stop-motion animation film.

]]> Much in the same way that films like "Wallace and Gromit" and "Chicken Run" are created, stop-motion animation films are produced by taking a series of still photos containing tiny movements, which when put together, produce a moving image.

The pupils were working alongside the experienced animator Oscar Stringer, whose wealth of knowledge was invaluable to both pupils and teachers alike. He told us that the job of the animator was to 'bring life' to the characters they create.

Despite Mr.Wheatley's best efforts to persuade the Year 5 pupils to create an animation about "Ma Routine Quotidienne" (my daily routine) in French, Peter and Sergio had already concocted a plan to bring to life a ghastly, extra-terrestrial creature we later named "Greedy Gary"!

During the day we had to work as a team to ensure that we were all on the same page when it came to animating our story. We had to model our characters and props from lumps of plasticine, remembering that BIG FEATURES such as big eyes, or a big mouth are easier to animate. Once we had created our characters, we had to then bring them to life. We took it turns to work as the Cameraman and the Animator. The film shows 12 frames (still photos) per second, so for a film of one minute, there would be 720 still photos to take! After we had animated the creatures, we could then add titles, credits and voiceovers (which caused much hilarity in the group!).

All in all we had an utterly fantastic day and all departed feeling thoroughly shattered (Mrs Beard and Mr Wheatley especially)! We hope you enjoy the fruits of our labour.

So without further ado, we bring you the healthy eating tale of "Greedy Gary and the Fruitbowl of Truth"...

Download file

Here are a few photos of us hard at work

and here are some pictures of us viewing our masterpiece at the Odeon Cinema, Metrocentre.....with free popcorn!

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Easter Activities

2010-03-04T09:20:28Z

Please see attached document for Easter holiday football and multi-skills activity information.

Download file

Stars of the week 26th February 2010

2010-03-01T08:14:21Z

Congratulations to you all for being caring in school and for working hard.

The Jungle Book at St Marys!!!

2010-02-25T16:31:52Z

On Wednesday 24th February the children were all treated to another fantastic performance by the theatre group. This year they performed The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.

]]> The school hall came alive with Mowgli, Baloo the bear,Bagheera the black panther, Shere Khan the tiger and Kaa the python.

The children all enjoyed watching and taking part in the performance, thank you Mrs McMillan.

Pirates invade CLC!

2010-02-18T15:24:02Z

Year 3 had a fantastic time at our recent trip to the CLC for a 'Pirate Day!'

]]> We drew pirate pictures on the computer; sang pirate songs and recorded our voices using audacity; and used digital cameras to take photos of each other - just look at the results!

Stars of the Week 12th February 2010

2010-02-12T15:58:17Z

Congratulations to you all for your hard work and working independently.

Multi-skills Year 4

2010-02-12T10:26:23Z

Well done to the children from Year 4 who recently took part in a Multi-Skills Challenge at St Thomas More.

]]> Daniel, Josh, Thomas, Jack, Georgina, Beth, Alice and Ellen competed against seven other schools in a range of throwing, catching, aiming and running events. Everyone had a great time and we came away with silver medals. Daniel and Georgina were awarded a special trophy fro being the best performing boy and girl on the night. FANTASTIC!

Year 6 close in on SATs

2010-02-12T10:25:46Z

After an eventful half term, preparations for this year's SATs has been stepped up.
Gabriel hard at work.

]]> The count down has firmly begun to their SATs in May. However, we still found time to produce some fantastic art work on perspective and researched mountain environments. Else where in the curriculum the class has now got to grips with using spreadsheets effectively, while hula hooping to dance music!
The focus still remains on their numeracy and literacy. Bring on the SATs!!!

TAG rugby line up second

2010-02-12T10:01:14Z

The year 6 rugby team produced a fine display at Blaydon Rugby club in the TAG rugby tournment, finishing second in their group.

]]> Alex Leng, Joseph Griffin, James Stephenson, Rebecca Jamieson, Anya Sordy, Emily Thompson and Kaite Protheroe showed great determination and team work. A big thank you has to go to Jason Leng for giving up his time to help Mrs Joyce coach the team.

Year 5 Basketball Champs!

2010-02-12T09:52:11Z

Well done to our Year 5 team who brought home the trophy for the second year running.

]]> We entered two teams in the recent tournament at Whickham School. Sixteen teams took part in a very close run competition. Our B team narrowly missed out on a semi-final place only on goals scored - well played Morgan, Jack, Ryan, Nathan, Rebecca, Katie and Beth. The A team went on to beat Carr Hill in the semi-final and then Brighton Avenue in the final -well done to Joseph, Oliver, Matthew, Francesca, Grace and Emily.

Saints secure Cluster cup

2010-02-12T09:49:39Z

The boys secured their first trophy of the season at St Thomas More. A stunning performance from Jordan Boyd in goal helped the team to an unbeaten run to lift the cup.

]]> The team comprosed of Luke Pani, Jack Knight, Jack Wilson, Alex Leng, Oliver Walters, Harry Young and Jordan Boyd. The team won all 5 games in the tournament, and clicned the cup with a fine display against Corpus Chrsiti.

Hello From Y2

2010-02-09T13:57:36Z

This term has been an exciting one in Y2. We have been learning about lots of new and interesting things. In science we have learned all about electricity and how to use it while staying safe. We even directed our own T.V adverts to make other children aware of staying safe with electricity!

]]> We have also enjoyed learning about life on the Scottish island of Coll through the “Katie Morag” stories and are looking forward to hearing from our new pen pals in the Highlands. We hope that they enjoy writing to use nearly as much as Peter the Puffin enjoys writing to Katie Morag!!!
Every week Y2 look forward to show and tell. This week we had some very interesting ones. Ify brought some lovely pictures of her new baby brother, Emmanuel and Nathan brought in his certificate from a Jedi training camp that he went to on holiday. All of the class asked very interesting questions.

Choral Poetry in Year 5 - What a racket!!

2010-02-09T12:22:57Z

Year 5 have been experimenting with sound effects and different ways of using our voices, in order to enhance the performance of a poem, inspired by "The magic of the Brain" by Jenny Joseph.

]]> We explored different sounds through solo and choral speaking, as well as through the use of musical instruments. Despite seeming chaotic at the start of the lesson the children were all astounded at how well they performed the poem in the end.

We have used Jenny Joseph's idea of looking at the five senses in our own poems, imagining what it would be like to be at the Ancient Greek Olympics.

Half term activities in Gateshead Area

2010-02-08T09:32:54Z

Please open the links below for information on various activities going on in the Gateshead area during half term and in March and April.

February Half term activities

March, April activities

March, April activities 2

Stars of the Week 5th February 2010

2010-02-05T16:21:43Z

Congratulations to this week's stars for their hard work and looking after their belongings.