Stories and histories come to life at Newcastle school

The curriculum has been brought vividly to life for children at a Newcastle primary school, with the introduction of a colourful mural and a themed new library.

Created by artist Jamie Henderson from Cloud H, the hand-painted mural fills the entrance and stairwell at St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School in North Kenton, and was designed with the help of Headteacher Anne Bullerwell. It features key historical ages, along with some familiar landmarks.

“It’s an ancient history timeline,” explained Mrs Bullerwell. “It depicts scenes from ancient history, including Prehistoric, Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age – including some local history, with a depiction of Howick House Stone Age dwelling from 7600 BC – Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome.

“It reflects the Key Stage 2 History Curriculum, engages and excites the children, and makes use of a plain stairwell to enhance the teaching and learning environment of the school.

“The children were absolutely blown away when they saw it. There were gasps of ‘Wow!’ as they entered the building.”

There was another surprise in store for the pupils at the school, which is part of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust – the library had also received a dramatic new look, and had been transformed into an ‘enchanted forest’.

Devised by Mrs Bullerwell and the company Promote Your School, the makeover included a wall mural of scenes and characters from classic children’s books.

“The idea was to develop an immersive feel to the library, so as to give it a feeling of being in an enchanted forest,” said Mrs Bullerwell. 

“The children love it, and describe it as a ‘magical place’ where they can ‘visit different places and live the lives of different people’.

“The library is timetabled for use every day by classes. We also run a Reading for Pleasure lunch club, and teachers have hosted reading sessions for our more able readers to broaden their range of reading material.

“We also host our extremely popular and well attended parent/carer Reading Cafes in the library.”

St Cuthbert’s new library is home to thousands of books, while an electronic book loaning system has been introduced to facilitate borrowing.

“The library is extremely well resourced, and non-fiction books cover the full range of the primary curriculum,” continued Mrs Bullerwell. “We have a well stocked section focusing on local history and geography. 

“Our fiction range covers all genres, and includes authors ranging from Charles Dickens to Sharna Jackson. We have a well stocked bi-lingual section to support our EAL [English as an Additional Language] learners. We also have a range of children’s books set in the local area.”

Both projects were funded by St Cuthbert’s Parent Teacher and Friends Association.

“We have a phenomenally proactive and effective PTFA who host a range of fundraising events across the year,” added Mrs Bullerwell. “Any events we host alongside the PTFA are always well attended and supported by parents and carers.”