We are delighted to say that we have won the Active Durham award for Primary School Contribution to Sport & Physical Activity. Our Chair of Governors, Amanda Hopgood, nominated the school for this. At the award ceremony that Mrs Whitton and Mrs Morton went to, they were so thrilled that it took them a little while to make their way to the stage to collect the trophy! Mrs Morton, our PE Co-ordinator, said “I am so proud and honoured that our school has won this award. Huge thanks to Mrs Whitton and our Governors for their support and encouragement with all matters sport and activity related. We have a great group of enthusiastic children who enjoy and participate fully in the wide-ranging activities we offer them in and out of school. We do have a genuine talent pool here. We give our children the chance to try many sports and sign-post them to further their activities within the community. We are lucky to have supportive parents who accompany us to events and of course a dedicated school staff, including Mr Thorn, who teaches PE and supports staff and Mr Pratt who coaches the football teams.”  Finally, Mrs Whitton commented, “This award is the result of the combined efforts of our whole Finchale family – well done to everyone!”

SPORTS DAY 2018

We had a fantastic Sports Day – the weather was sunny and hot and we made sure the pupils were properly hydrated throughout the afternoon. As always, we started with our multisports in family groups with the winners being Miss Scott’s team. We then had the sprint races in year groups, boys and girls separately. Whilst that was exciting, I’m not sure anything quite matched the parents/carers’ races which were very hard-fought. The toddlers’ races were lovely to watch too. Mrs Whitton loves Sports Day – it really embodies the Finchale family feel she and all staff try to promote. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a wonderful day!

Sports Day 25/6/18 Team Results

KS2 Mini Olympics - Maiden Castle, 15/6/18

The children had a fantastic day, full of different activities for each class:

Year 3 - Skipping

Y4 - Tag Rugby

Y5 - Rock-it ball

Y6 - Dodgeball & Hockey

Congratulations to our Durham Dash runners and field event participants. Our pupils competed brilliantly, upholding all of our Finchale values. We did especially well in the running races with three of our pupils, Bobbi (Y3), N (Y5) and L (Y6), finishing as finalists in their respective heats. Bobbi went on to finish third overall in the final race! Well done to everyone who represented Finchale, you were a credit to our school.

This year we supported Cancer Research when we ran our Fun Run. Through sponsorship, our children raised £666 (plus £108.75 Gift Aid) for this very worthwhile cause. One pupil deserves a special mention for collecting an amazing £120. Thank you to the PTA for organising the fundraising and to everyone who donated and supported this event. Your kindness and sense of community is greatly appreciated. It was noted by everyone how much faster and fitter our children were this year, following nearly a year of Finchale Fitness. Well done, everyone!

Football Coaching

Well done to the 8 Y5 & Y6 pupils who took part in the very first Triathlon organised by our School Sports Partnership. The event involved them running for 4 minutes, cycling for 2 minutes and swimming for 3 minutes as fast as they could!

What a great team effort they delivered with congratulations to the whole team. E won the Gold Medal and I who won the Silver Medal for Y5 Girls which was a great achievement. 

We hope there are more Triathlons to come...

Above left: M, Y4 with her Gold Medal from a Newcastle Area British Judo Competition.

Above right: J, Y6 with her trophy from an Ice Blizzard Cheerleading Competition. She won "1st Place Group Stunt".   

Sport Relief 2018

Well done to our pupils who organised and participated in activities for Sport Relief. They did amazingly well and were still very enthusiastic even though it was windy.

There were Activity Stations for:

KS1 - skipping, jumping into hoops and bean bag throw.

KS2 - skipping, football, basketball and aerobics.

We raised £126.57 for this worthy cause, thank you to all who donated.

Year 3 took part in a multisport afternoon at Maiden Castle. The children were divided into 4 groups – Determination, Self-Belief, Passion and Teamwork. They were able to try skills from 2 different sports. They all had a very enjoyable afternoon trying handball, tag rugby, football and netball.

Y5/6 Boys Football: Ruby League Winners 15/3/18

Congratulations to the Year 5/6 Boys Football Team who are joint winners of the Ruby League Cup. They won 6 games and  lost 1 game to finish joint top of the League with Gilesgate Primary School. We will share the cup and it will be arriving in school soon. WELL DONE BOYS! 

Well done to both teams who played really well. We came second to Pittington and narrowly missed getting to the School Games Final!

Reception Class took part in the Infant Agility Festival at New College Durham, along with children from other local schools. A carousel of athletic activities was set up for them to enjoy including hula- hooping, stepping, jumping, balancing, and throwing, all against the clock! The festival is a great introduction to athletics for Key Stage 1 and gives them the chance to develop agility, balance and co-ordination.

Many thanks to Durham University who have been providing us with first class coaching. Year 5 and 6 have been working on their basketball skills learning how to handle, dribble and pass the ball. They have also worked on communication skills, special awareness and progressed to speed work with their feet, moving and changing direction at pace. The children are working hard in the lead up to the Y5/6 Basketball Competition.

Year 4 girls attended a football festival at Maiden Castle.

They practised dribbling skills and teamwork before playing some mini games and ending with a penalty shoot-out. Lots of goals were scored.

What a great time Year 5 had dancing at their festival.

They tried Bollywood, Line Dancing, Rock n Roll and Hip Hop!  

Y5/6 Sportshall Athletics

Framwellgate School Durham, 8^th November 2017

We finished second out of the five schools at the indoor athletics event. We made our presence known with some excellent running in a variety of relays and the obstacle race. We then delivered strong performances in field events like standing long jump, triple jump, chest pass, speed bounce and javelin. Practising before the event at our after school club really paid off. Well done to everyone who took part!

Year 3 had a great time trying out golf when they visited Cocken Lodge golf course and driving range for the Tri-Golf Festival. Golf was a new skill for many of the class, but we soon learned how to putt and drive using a wedge stick. We then spent time practising how to shoot. The targets, involving lots of cones and hoops, started off achievable but did get more difficult which we found a fun challenge. We had a fantastic afternoon!

KS2 Cross Country for Durham Schools

4th October 2017 

Well done to our children who went to Meadowfield Leisure Centre to run in the Cross Country. They all ran well and E, in Year 5, was second in her race and now goes forward to run in the final.  

National Fitness Day

Wednesday 27th September 2017

The whole school took part in National Fitness Day. Nationally at 10am children took part in fitness sessions, we also had a special school assembly and fitness activities. This year it is our school aim to become more active.

Soccertots 27th September 2017

The children in Year 1 and Year 2 went along to Meadowfield Leisure Centre to learn new skills. They learnt how to control a ball, dribble with it and also how to shoot penalties. Both classes participated brilliantly and were great ambassadors for our school. Well Done!