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 Class 1 had fun this week reading their class story "Topsy and Tim Visit London." Year 1 then practised retelling the story in their English lessons. We think their writing is super! Great job, everyone!
View this PostSt John's Chapel and Wearhead Schools Well done to this week's special certificate winners!
View this PostSt John's Chapel & Wearhead Primary Schools This morning, the children in year 5 & 6 have been learning how to use dictionaries effectively.
View this Post#WakeUpWednesday Investigations revealed that some under-18s are accessing dating apps and Ofcom is even introducing laws enforcing stronger age checks of these user-to-user services.
View this PostHamsterley Primary School This afternoon in KS2, the children took part in different Safer Internet Day activities as part of their computing lesson. As the theme this year is 'Too Good To Be True?', the children used their knowledge from the live Google assembly yesterday to identify if something was a scam or not. They looked at different vocabulary such as 'phishing' to gain a better understanding of what techniques a scammer might use to pull them in and how to secure their profiles properly to keep their personal information safe.
View this PostHamsterley Primary School The children all had a lovely night at the Valentine's disco! They enjoyed playing different party games like corners and musical statues and joining in with dances like the Cha-Cha Slide and the Hockey Cokey.
View this PostWearhead Primary School This afternoon, we have walked through the village, practising our mapwork skills, to make a special delivery to a member of our village community. When we returned to school, we cooked hotdogs on the fire and toasted gummy bears.
View this PostHamsterley Primary School Class 1 and 2 took part in the live 'Google- Be Internet Legends' assembly this morning. The children had to identify if something was a scam and the correct steps they would need to take if it was. They also looked at what different emoji's mean and how to use them correctly to ensure they don't upset anyone. #SaferInternetDay2025
View this PostSt John's Chapel Happy Safer Internet Day! This morning, the children took part in a live Google - Be internet Legends assembly. This year's theme is Too Good To Be True? Protecting yourself and others from scams online. The assembly was really interactive and the children took part in five challenges, to see if they could identify the scams. UK Safer Internet Centre
View this PostSt John's Chapel In Forest School, the children in Class 1 went on a minibeast hunt. The children loved looking under stones and logs to see what minibeasts were on our school field. The children also worked together to make a den.
View this PostSt John's Chapel & Wearhead The children in year 5 & 6 really enjoyed celebrating NSPCC Number Day. The children designed their own maths related t-shirt, sorted shapes in different ways using their properties and used the clues to place letters in the right place on a coordinate grid.
View this PostHamsterley Primary School Reception have enjoyed making their own moving dinosaurs to help them develop their fine-motor skills. They also followed instructions to make a hotel for the dinosaurs
View this PostHamsterley Primary School Number Day Class one had a wonderful morning taking part in lots shape activities. Reception enjoyed making dinosaurs out of blocks, creating animals out of different shapes. Thanks you for all your kind donations
View this PostHamsterley Primary School Well done to all of the star award winners!
View this PostSt. John's Chapel and Wearhead Primary Schools The children in KS1 have been learning to play glockenspiels in their music lessons over the past 2 weeks.
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