News

Sleep and Screens

Research shows that primary-aged children (8–11 years) who limit recreational screen time to under two hours a day achieve significantly higher scores in thinking, language, and memory tests compared to those who exceed this limit. A landmark study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health found that the best cognitive outcomes occur when this screen limit is combined with 9–11 hours of sleep, as excessive digital use often “displaces” the deep sleep and physical activity vital for brain development. To support your child’s focus and learning, health organizations like the NHS and World Health Organisation recommend  prioritizing “active” high-quality content and ensuring screens are switched off at least one hour before bedtime to protect sleep quality. For more information please check out the links below.

Why not fill in the ‘Family Tech Agreement’ to set healthy boundaries and     recharge your routines over the half term break?

Evidence & Resources for Parents:

Currently our school is third on the leaderboard for Northumberland for parents committing to a smartphone free childhood.

If you haven’t signed yet, it takes less than a minute: https://www.smartphonefreechildhood.org/parent-pact

 

Area SEND inspection for Northumberland Local Area Partnership

OFSTED and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are visiting Northumberland to inspect the arrangements for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).

The Team would like to hear views about the support that children receive. You can provide your views by completing an online survey at the following link:

https://ofsted.smartsurvey.co.uk/p/AreaSend/10382800

This survey is for parents/carers of children and young people with SEND aged 0-25.

The survey will help inspectors understand children’s experience of the SEND arrangements within the Northumberland local area. The survey will close at 9am on 3rd February 2026.

Area SEND inspection Letter to Parents and Carers

Publisher warning regarding compromised website linked to children’s book.

Please see the statement below from the Publisher, Faber and Faber, regarding the website linked to the ‘Humphrey’ series of books by Betty Birney. If your child has any of these books at home you may wish to remove them from your child’s book shelf until this issue is resolved.

Public Statement  (from Faber & Faber)

This morning, we became aware that the website www.funwithhumphrey.com which is advertised on the back of various titles in the ‘Humphrey’ series by Faber author Betty G. Birney now leads to a malicious website. This website is not in any way associated with Faber or the author Betty Birney. 

We are taking this matter extremely seriously, and acting, as a matter of urgency. All affected stock is now frozen. We have immediately paused on the sale and distribution of those books. We have reported the site to the National Cyber Security Centre.  

We are asking people not to visit the website and to ensure that children do not visit it either. We are asking anyone who has copies of these titles to remove these books from their shelves and return them to us, until such time as they can be replaced.

Ebook editions of these books have already been amended.

The affected titles are listed below, 

978-0571282500 – Secrets According to Humphrey

978-0571328338 – Holidays According to Humphrey

978-0571248186 – Friendship According to Humphrey

978-0571328352 – Mysteries According to Humphrey

978-0571284191 – Spring According to Humphrey

978-0571328383 – Imagination According to Humphrey

978-0571328390 – World According to Humphrey

978-0571328369 – Christmas According to Humphrey

978-0571255429 – School According to Humphrey

We sincerely apologise for all inconvenience and distress that this will have caused and to all Humphrey fans.