Ponteland Middle School head girl flies the flag for Northumberland cooks

A talented teenager whose culinary skills have landed her a date with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver tested out her prize winning menu on schoolmates yesterday.

Ellen Forsyth, 13, is the 2010 North East Cooks Champion and will travel to London next month for the national finals of the competition in front of TV favourite Jamie.

Yesterday, fellow pupils at Ponteland Community Middle School in Northumberland were able to judge her cookery credentials for themselves when they sat down to enjoy her three-course creation for lunch, prepared by kitchen staff.

Head girl Ellen was one of four students from the school who entered the Cooks Challenge sponsored by Sainsbury's, the British Nutrition Foundation and the Design and Technology Association.

It is part of the Active Kids Get Cooking initiative, and the theme of this year's challenge was sustainability, with the emphasis on using local produce and reducing food air miles.

Ellen used leeks from her family's garden for her starter, leek and potato soup. This was followed by wholemeal savoury bread pudding, with mixed leaf and roast beetroot salad with apple balsamic dressing, followed by apple filo baskets and vanilla fudge ice cream.

She and her three fellow Year 8 students created their recipes using local produce, including bread from Davidson's bakery in Darras Hall, flour from Gilchester's organic farm in Hawkwell, carrots from the school garden and ice cream from Vallum Farm tea room at East Wallhouses on the Military Road in Northumberland. Ellen's menu was chosen as the best in the region and she will now travel to Sainsbury's headquarters on June 23 as one of the 12 United Kingdom finalists. She has already won a £100 prize for the school's food department. Jamie Oliver will sample all the winning entries and announce the three overall winners.

Yesterday, Ponteland Middle food and textiles teacher Charlotte Hancock, who will accompany Ellen to London, said: "The whole school is so proud of Ellen and her fabulous three-course meal will be available for everyone to enjoy.

"Our four students worked very hard to create healthy recipes and source local food."

Source: Journal Live

Pond puts nature on the timetable

WORK is underway to create an outdoor area for Ponteland school pupils to learn about the wonderful world of wildlife.

And an important discovery by one of them has led to plans by a county wildlife organisation to make the mini reserve in Callerton Lane, next to Ponteland High and Middle Schools, a haven to be enjoyed by residents as well. It has existed for more than 20 years but it had become overgrown and started attracting litter so staff and pupils began to clean and tidy up the area, which includes a pond, as well as prune some of the trees.
Then keen nature watcher Hannah Patterson, a Year 8 pupil at Ponteland Middle School, spotted a newt which looked different to ones she had seen before.
The Northumberland Wildlife Trust (NWT) was called in and together with Hannah they saw folded leaves and eggs to confirm the presence of great-crested newts — a rare and fully protected species.
Now the NWT is working with the schools to make the area a designated reserve with a pond dipping platform, seats, explanation signs and fencing to help prevent litter building up again.
Head of Conservation Steve Lowe said: "After the area was assessed we decided to work together to ensure the great-crested newts are protected and making a nature reserve will benefit all of the wildlife there as well as becoming an important resource for the schools and the local community.
"A clean-up day was held to clear debris and litter from the site and the attitude of the students and staff was fantastic as they were happy to get mucky.
"This is a beautiful area and a range of birds such as the blue tit, bullfinch and goldfinch can be seen along with the frogs and newts."
Funding is being sought for the works, which also include creating clear paths to the site, and pupils will help to manage it.
Ponteland Middle School Head Teacher Caroline Pryer said: "The children absolutely adore it and we are very proud of Hannah, whose discovery was even mentioned in the Cambridge Primary Review.
"It would be great to have a nature reserve next to the school where our pupils can see a lot of wildlife up close and help to feed the birds."
Gordon Baldwin, Business Manager of Ponteland High School, said that the project was fully supported by the Prudhoe and Ponteland Local Multi-Agency Problem Solving (LMAPS) group, which includes police and council representatives.
"It's gone well so far and it will certainly be a worthwhile venture once everything is in place, but it is still a work in progress," he added.
"Hopefully we will get the funding we need, particularly for the fencing to help keep the area secure."
A £250 donation towards the project has been awarded by Ponteland Town Council.
To help it find grants, contact Mr Baldwin on 01661 824711.

Source: Morpeth Herald

Christmas came early to Ponteland Middle School. Results from the Key Stage 2 tests, taken earlier in the year, in combination with other statistics have brought it to the top of the league tables for Northumberland primary and middle schools.

The Head, Dr Caroline Pryer, said this oustanding result reflected the holistic development of all the children in the school and was directly attributable to the dedicated imput from every member of staff. Well done, everyone!

By Muriel Sobo

Litter for Literacy

School libraries are not what they used to be: meeting points for pupils doing quiet reading or checking facts and researching projects. More work is done from duplicated worksheets, from the internet, with the computer, and it is more class room based. The central school library which can serve 600 pupils is redundant. That is the assessment of the head of Ponteland Middle School, Dr Caroline Pryer, who with her staff, have decided on the concept of classroom libraries with more choice about the books given to the pupils. But how to fund this, especially with increasingly restricted budgets? Ponteland Lions were asked to help. The Lions already have good links with the school and listened sympathetically but what was the pay back for them? The school site, shared with the High School, is one of the worst places for litter in Ponteland and there is obviously huge scope for voluntary litter picking. What if the children were asked to do litter picks and then funds were made available for buying books?

The project was agreed by all interested parties, it has started this month, and will continue until November when the Lions should have funded books to a total of £2000.

Ponteland Middle School Pupil in Evita

Nicholl Gilhespie aged 11 from Ponteland Community Middle School landed a singing part in Andrew Lloyd Webbers Evita at Newcastle Theatre Royal.
Nicholl has attended Newcastle Stagecoach Theatre Arts School for a number of years.
The Principal Angela Salkeld has helped Nicholl prepare for the role and has also provided a number of opportunities for Nicholl to develop her skills.

Nicholl said “I have been involved with a number of productions during my time at Stagecoach but this Is the most exciting and fulfilling role to date”
Evita is this summer’s sizzler and has been given excellent write ups on its first week in Newcastle.

Credit Crisis Hits Pupil Numbers

THE head at one of the country’s top-performing state middle schools claims the credit crunch has left it under-subscribed for the first time in almost a decade.

Ponteland Community Middle School, in Callerton Lane, Northumberland, still has places to offer new pupils starting this September.

The fall in the number of new applicants is being blamed on the current economic crisis and the struggling housing market, especially in affluent areas.

Headteacher Caroline Pryer says the credit crunch has made it harder for families to buy new homes in wealthier areas like Ponteland and Darras Hall. The shortfall comes despite the school being described as “outstanding” in an Ofsted report last year, the highest rating government inspectors can give, and being ranked in the top 5% nationally.

However, Dr Pryer says “every cloud has a silver lining” and is pleased the school can now offer places to children outside the usual catchment area.

She said: “Normally we are overwhelmed with families wanting to send their children here, but not this year.

“It’s a combination of factors, including demographic changes outside our control and the state of the housing market.

“But that is actually good news for people outside the area who want to send their children to one of the North East’s premier state schools.

“We will be able to say ‘yes’ to children who normally we would not be able to consider at all and delighted to be able to offer small classes and the facility to personalise the teaching and learning.”

Ponteland Community Middle School is one of the country’s biggest middle schools, with around 600 children aged between nine and 13.

Parent Tracey West lives in Newcastle but has sent both of her children, Courtney and Bradley, to the school. Bradley is now attending Ponteland High School and is predicted to achieve A* grades in his GCSEs.

She said: “Sending my two boys to Ponteland Community Middle School was one of the best things we have done. The boys made friends for life as the school gave them an excellent foundation for friendships and academic achievement.

“There has never been a day when they didn’t want to go to school. All the teachers are interested in the children and dedicated to them.”

The Mayor of Castle Morpeth Borough Council, Councillor Irene Brumwell, is also a governor at the school. She said: “I’ve known this school since it opened and all three of my children attended.

“It has very high standards. I have been a governor for 12 years and have enjoyed every minute.”

Source: JournalLive

Ponteland Middle School Eco Team

The ECO-TEAM from Ponteland Middle School prepare to enhance their Memorial Garden with daffodils for spring flowering. They have high hopes of achieving a Gold Award next year since the judges for this year's Bloom Awards said they were a petal away from Gold. Their award was the Silver-Gilt. The Head, Dr Caroline Pryer, explained their achievements and the work they had done in measuring everyone's carbon footprint, both pupils and staff. They grew a variety of fruit and veg over the year in raised beds, and they planted English and French lavender to attract more bees to the gardens. The creation of a wild garden or meadow may take a little more time. The projects have to be sustainable and generally of low maintenance. Well done to all the children involved!

By Muriel Sobo