The Durham Dales Federation is a federation of small rural primary schools, which was formed in September 2023. Staff from all schools work together to share expertise and to plan and deliver the curriculum. Our subject leaders co-ordinate their subjects across all the schools within our federation, which ensures that we can offer the same high-quality experiences to all pupils in our schools.
The Upper Dales schools of Wearhead and St John’s Chapel work together on a regular basis each week. At the start of the week, each school works in their own building and on Thursdays and Fridays, the schools come together on the St John’s Chapel Primary School site. On Federation days, we take advantage of the opportunities to work in larger groups with other children of the same age, and we often arrange visits and visitors for these days so that everyone can participate.
Hamsterley Primary School Bikeability Session 1 - Back to Basics! Our first Bikeability session was a great success! We focused on the essentialshelmet safety, bike checks, and mastering balance through striding and gliding. This can build our core strength and confidence! We are already looking forward to the next session.
View this PostSt John's Chapel and Wearhead Primary Schools Today, we hosted our very first Maths Café with DurhamLearn, where children teamed up with their parents and carers to explore maths through games and puzzles. It was wonderful to see everyone engaging, learning, and having fun togetherwhat a brilliant way to build confidence in maths!
View this PostHamsterley Primary School To celebrate VE Day yesterday, the children enjoyed a special VE Day themed lunch and tea party followed by lots of outdoor fun!
View this PostSt John's Chapel Primary School Yesterday, we had a fantastic afternoon celebrating VE day! The children enjoyed a delicious party lunch (Thanks Jennifer! ) before playing some games on the field.
View this PostSt John's Chapel and Wearhead Primary Schools Well done to this week's special certificate winners!
View this PostHamsterley Primary School All hands on deck in Gardening Club! First, we followed the seed packet instructions. Then, with teamwork we planted carrots, turnips, leeks, radishes, rosemary and lavender - our garden is officially growing! Excited to see them grow!
View this PostHamsterley Primary School - Cookery club To celebrate #VEDay, we explored rationing and wartime food traditions! The children got hands-on making potato floddies grating potatoes, mixing with flour and seasonings, and frying in lard. They went down an absolute treat! An easy and delicious recipewho knows, maybe they'll be whipping up breakfast in bed for you this weekend! #HistoryInTheKitchen #WartimeRecipes #VEDayCelebration
View this PostSt John's Chapel & Wearhead In French lessons, our Year 5 and 6 children have been learning how to talk about the sports they play! It's fantastic to see their confidence growing as they expand their French vocabulary.
View this PostWearhead Primary School VE Day Celebrations! This morning, we walked to the church at Cowshill to look at the VE Day exhibition. We had the opportunity to find out about local people and their part in WW2. We also played games from that era and took part in some craft activities. We have enjoyed a VE Day party lunch and are looking forward to playing some games this afternoon.
View this PostHamsterley Primary School Class 2 have been busy this morning making paper collages using different visual effects. They explored tearing, cutting, layering and folding to create an abstract or pictorial collage.
View this PostHamsterley Primary School Class 2 throughly enjoyed making dandelion tea this afternoon in Forest School Firstly, the children picked the dandelions and separated the roots from the leaves. We then set up the fire, boiled the dandelions, steeped the dandelions and lastly tasted the tea! The children also enjoyed making a den and playing in the mud kitchen.
View this PostHamsterley Primary School Class 2 looked at marbling and quilling this morning as part of their new art topic 'Mixed Media'.
View this PostHamsterley Primary School Cookery Club Fun! Tonight, our cookery club had a blast making sausage rolls from scratch. It was a wonderfully messy session, with the children getting stuck insqueezing out the sausage meat, brushing on the egg wash, and carefully crafting their rolls. Now, they're in the oven, turning golden and delicious, ready to be taken home tomorrow. A great mix of fun, learning, and tasty treats!
View this PostHamsterley Primary School First week of Gardening club and the children loved being outside in the sun This afternoon we got to work spruceing up the area by weeding and cleaning the garden, ready to plant some vegetables
View this Post