The current lockdown has seen Jesmond’s schools finding creative ways to make learning at home as fun as possible.

Newcastle School for Boys, Royal Grammar School Newcastle, and Newcastle High School for Girls have been giving students challenges and activities which they can all do at home, to promote positive wellbeing and provide social opportunities for them outside of lessons.

Jesmond’s Royal Grammar School (RGS) use daily form time to host virtual trips around the world, quizzes, museum tours, and scavenger hunts. A “Kitchen DJ” competition saw students recreate a famous TV theme tune using kitchen appliances.

The school has also been delivering an extra-curricular programme of training and challenges. Richard Chadwick, the Deputy Director of Sport and Head of Boys Games, said it has been a focus of the PE Department to ensure students continue to prioritise their physical and mental health whilst they are studying at home. 

Chadwick told JesmondLocal: “We have been setting weekly house challenges for students, to recreate the feeling of team sports and provide an element of competition.

“It has been important to encourage students to get active and away from their screens, given the inevitable screen time requirements of remote teaching.” The house challenges include running the distance from Land’s End to John O’Groates, and cycling Le Tour de France.

Newcastle School for Boys (NSB) have also been providing pupils with creative ideas to maintain their physical fitness, including a fitness advent calendar and lockdown fitness bingo.

The students are currently connecting with each other in fitness challenges based on the board game Connect 4, where they must compete against each other in order to add a counter to the board.

Lee Hogarth, NSB’s Director of Sport, told JesmondLocal: “Whilst the wide range of ages, fitness levels and motivation in our students has presented certain challenges to these virtual competitions, feedback from the boys and parents has been extremely positive.

“The boys have particularly enjoyed having their achievements shared in our newsletter and on our Twitter feeds.”

Newcastle High School for Girls (NHSG), on Tankerville Terrace, has been creating a variety of learning experiences to suit the school’s wide range of age groups. The “Explorer Day” for the Junior School provided all pupils with instructions on how to pack their own explorer bag and create accessories for their journey, such as binoculars and a sun hat.

Michael Tippett, Head of NHSG, said the day was a great success. “All the girls thoroughly enjoyed their Explorer Day online lessons; for some it was the exploration of space, some headed to the coldest places on Earth, while other girls were learning about iconic female explorers.”

Tippett added: “Younger girls created an Explorer base camp in their home and some went on a trek around their garden or local area in search of new species. They documented their findings in a journal and the work they produced was so creative.”

While staff and students are looking forward to resuming in-person teaching next month, remote learning has provided opportunities for them to get creative.

Pupils across Jesmond have enjoyed taking part in the online challenges, which have helped them to continue to feel connected to each other while they study at home.