Games and fun at school fair

THERE was plenty of fun in the sun at Darras Hall First School's Summer Fair on Saturday.

And for once the Head did not mind being bombarded with wet sponges in the 'stocks' during the afternoon of entertainment.

The annual event to raise funds for the school, organised by its PTA with support from staff, included a variety of games such as hoopla, coconut shies and a knockout football tournament.

Among the other activities were face-painting and pony rides and the day was also supported by Northumbria Police, which brought along police horses and a police car.

Darras Hall First School Headteacher Peter Tincombe said: "Everyone really enjoyed the event and there was a great turn-out not only from pupils, parents and staff, but also formers pupils and local residents.

"The glorious weather helped a lot and for the first time in five years my annual role of going in the stocks to be hit by sponges was the best job as I was the only one who was cool. We're still counting, but what we can say is that the fair will raise hundreds of pounds for the school."

Source: Morpeth Herald

Ponteland pupils in national karting finals

A team of kart drivers from a Northumberland school have sped into the final of a national competition.

Ponteland High School pupils Daniel Barber, 16, Christian Harrison, 15, and Matthew Graham, 13, won the regional final of the British School Karting Championship in style last Thursday. The team whizzed to the top of 70 North entries at the Teesside Autodrome, beating teams from as far away as Berwick and Doncaster.
Now, they will travel to Milton Keynes to compete in the national final of the contest, which is open to 13 to 18-year-olds. They will face 33 top teams from across the country on a 1360m track, using karts with a top speed of over 60mph.
Each driver will tackle two races with the top times winning podium positions for their school.

The lads, who are all from Ponteland, put a school team together last year after Daniel found out about the competition. They have quickly made a name for themselves in karting circles. Daniel has been racing at Warden Law near Sunderland for over three years and is currently leading the 2010 Junior TKM class.
"It started out as a birthday present, we took him along to the circuit to have a go and that was that," said his father, Tony. "He has a real passion for it, as do the others.
"They are very dedicated to their driving, and very excited to have made it to the finals in their first attempt."
Christian also races at Warden Law. Matthew races in the Super 1 National Karting Championship, which started last weekend, where karts can reach speeds of 85mph.
Last year he won the British Championship at Cadet level.

Ponteland High School physics teacher, Phil Armstrong, manages and supports the boys.
"This is the first year we have been able to put together a team, and they are doing very well," he said.
"They are all very good drivers, and really enjoy taking part in the competition. We're all really looking forward to Milton Keynes."

The British School Karting Championship has grown from just a handful of schools in London to almost 200 schools across the country, over three years.

Pictured: Ponteland High School pupils, from left, Matthew Graham, Daniel Barber and Christian Harrison

Source: Journal Live

A group of Ponteland youngsters put on a thrilling dance show in tribute to the late Michael Jackson.

The members of 'Destiny', pictured, dressed in black and white and performed in front of fellow pupils at Ponteland Middle School. The man dubbed the 'King of Pop' died recently, aged 50. 

Source: Morpeth Herald

Could Pupil Power Ease Ponteland Traffic Troubles?

PUPILS could become traffic wardens for the day in a bid to tackle parking problems on the road outside their schools.

Head Teacher of Richard Coates Middle Paul Rusby said the idea, which he saw being put into practice by another school on television, was among the options being discussed by it and Ponteland First, both at Thornhill Road.

And after concerns that the current traffic calming measures were not effective enough, Northumberland County Council has agreed a re-think and is proposing new ones to try to ease the problems.

Complaints about cars parking along the road and on pavements when taking pupils to and picking them up from school — which parents, local residents and councillors say reduces an already narrow road and puts children's safety at risk when crossing — have intensified since the First School joined the Middle School in 2007.

At a meeting of the Northumberland County Council Area Committee for Castle Morpeth, Mr Rusby said: "When watching the regional news on television, I saw that pupils from Cullercoats Primary School, with the Police alongside them, were wearing luminous jackets and placed reminder notices on cars.

"It appeared that it was effective in getting the message across about the problems caused by parents parking right outside.

"We would have to be very careful to make sure we were not putting any of our young people at risk, but we are being as flexible as possible and will consider all sensible ideas that we see or are suggested."

There are traffic calming measures along the road (20mph limit, speed cushions and chicanes which allow only one vehicle through at a time) to reduce speed, but Committee Chairman Richard Dodd believes there needs to be a change.

The Ponteland North member said: "My daughter goes to Richard Coates School, so I regularly see the problems on Thornhill Road and I think we all agree that we have to do something about the traffic at dropping off and picking up times," he said.

"Measures were put in place to try to deal with that, but they are not working and so we need new ones in place."

Dick Fraser, Head of Policy and Information for Community and Environmental Services, said officers had looked at the site during peak traffic times and decided that the chicanes should be removed.

"If there was only one school in the area they might have been useful but not with two, and unfortunately we have seen people driving faster through them which defeats their purpose," he said.

"We are now proposing to take them out and put in road humps to keep the two-way flow of traffic all the way along the road and we are happy to listen to other ideas to slow traffic down at this stage.

"But this is only part of what is needed, as there are enforcement issues to consider and we are encouraging the schools to educate parents about other parking facilities nearby."

He said there would be be consultation on all major measures proposed, which could also include yellow lines and signs warning cars not to park in the bus turning circle area.
Source: Morpeth Herald