Morgan Sindall Event Day

13th May 2025Sophie Renfree

The Dales School had the pleasure of attending a special event hosted by Morgan Sindall. For over two years, Morgan Sindall has been a wonderful partner, organising volunteer days and providing support for the train, and garden projects at both BlythDale and Ashdale.

 

We participated in a photography event with Morgan Sindall related to the Northumberland line. During this event, former students were photographed holding old images of the Northumberland line to commemorate the opening of the new stations. These photos were displayed on hoardings at all the new stations and even featured on the cover of The Journal newspaper.

 

A big thank you to Morgan Sindall for the invitation and for their ongoing partnership with The Dales School. And we can’t forget to mention what an amazing cake!

 

Blythdale Garden

11th April 2025Lee Wilkinson

We extend our gratitude to the following companies and individuals for their invaluable assistance in transforming our Dales School Garden into a remarkable space for our children. Throughout the year, the garden serves as a venue for classes to engage in planting and growing activities, as well as for the garden club and Forest School. Without the support of businesses and individuals, we would not have the necessary resources to bring this vision to life.

D A Johnson

We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to D A Johnson for generously supplying us with 5 tons of topsoil. This will be utilised by all our classes as they engage in the growing and planting theme during the summer term.

Craig Langlands

We would like to express our gratitude to Craig for supplying the cable reels, which have been transformed into tables and one will soon be used as a slide for the children during forest school sessions. Additionally, I appreciate the wood provided to assist in the construction of our planters.

High Sheriff Awards

11th April 2025Lee Wilkinson

On March 25th, the Garden Club team had the honor of attending an awards ceremony organised by the High Sheriff and presented by local celebrity Alexander Armstrong. This event was far from pointless; it was an extraordinary evening. The Dales School received a grant of £1,000 to support the purchase of equipment for the after-school and dinner-time Garden Club.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to High Sheriff Lucia Bridgeman for orchestrating such a remarkable event.

Winter Forest School Fun

20th February 2025Lee Wilkinson

We’ve had an absolute blast during our first winter term at Forest School! The kids have really embraced the chance to build resilience, tackle problems, and, most importantly, enjoy playing together.

Take a look at all the incredible activities we’ve been up to!

 

Mud Kitchen fun

Cooking sausages for Burns Night and practicing fire safety

Learning about Knights and making our own bow and arrows

Whittling

Hammock fun

Wooden Cookie Tattoo Art

 

New Fire Pit & Shelter

20th February 2025Lee Wilkinson

A wonderful new feature has been added to Blythdales Forest School garden! AB Playgrounds has set up a fantastic Fire Pit Shelter, which will allow us to enhance our fire safety and cooking skills all year round.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to AB Playgrounds for their outstanding work and to The Harrison Foundation for funding this project. We truly appreciate your support!

New Train Signal celebrates Heritage of Northumberland Line

18th November 2024Lee Wilkinson

The Dales School is proud to announce a significant new addition to its Train Project, following the generous donation of a historic signal by Network Rail working on the Northumberland line project. Morgan Sindall, Siemens, and GGP Consult, who are working collaboratively to complete the much-anticipated Northumberland line linking Newcastle and Ashington, have come together to celebrate the proud history and heritage of the line by installing this vital piece of railway equipment.

The signal, which was originally based in Newsham, was installed at The Dales School to enhance the educational experiences of its students and to celebrate the proud heritage of the Railways in Northumberland.

Train Blog September 2024

16th September 2024Lee Wilkinson

Harrison Foundation

Thank you to the Harrison foundation who has been a big part in funding our STEAM carriage on the train and for the recent donation of iPads.

 

Northern Rail

Thank you to Marie from Northern Trains for helping our students access train travel. This will be particularly important when the Northumberland Line opens giving the school access to stations along the line to help give our students life skills and opportunities. We look forward  to using the train on trips this term for our students to gain life skills.

 

Heaton Depot

Thank you also to Northern Rails Heaton depo, for all the work they have done on the train to help us keep it waterproof and in good condition. We look forward to working with Heaton Depo this year for a plan to help keep the train waterproof.

 

Dovetail Games

Thank you to Dovetail games for providing the software to run our train simulator. Dovetail games has provided us with the new update to the game, which features a Pacer train, for the children to drive.

 

Pathway of thanks

 Thanks to all the businesses and individuals who have purchased a slate for our Pathway of thanks. The Pathway of thanks, has been set up to honour the businesses and individuals involved in the train project, complete with their own personal message.

If you would like to purchase a slate, please contact the school office admin@thedales.northumberland.sch.uk

 

Garden Club

16th September 2024Lee Wilkinson

We have had so much fun in the Gardening club last term. The children stayed behind for the after school club and worked very hard planting vegetables in our growing and planting area. We are looking forward to eating the lettuce, Radishes, Beetroot, tomatoes and peppers we have produced. Well done to all the children involved.

We look forward to working with a new group of children this year, to learn gardening skills together and to grow and eat our delicious crops.

Planting Area

20th May 2024Lee Wilkinson

We would like to say a big thank you to D A Johnson for helping us to start off our growing and planting area. Thank you so much for the topsoil.

With help from the Greggs foundation we are able to create our fantastic growing and planting area. This week we have planted carrots, beetroot, peas, radish and strawberries. We can’t wait to pick them and turn them into delicious meals.