Year 5’s Presentation of Learning Rehearsal: At the Coalface

This term, our Year 5 pupils have been hard at work on their summer learning expedition, At the Coalface, exploring the fascinating geography, rich history, and powerful musical heritage of mining.

Today, they proudly showcased their learning in a special presentation to Year 4. This was a fantastic practice run ahead of their full Presentation of Learning for parents and carers on Thursday 17th July

The Year 5 children took real ownership of their audience’s experience by designing a series of engaging activities for Year 4 to get involved in. From investigating how mining shaped local settlements to trying out creative tasks linked to mining life, Year 4 were thoroughly engrossed.

A highlight of the afternoon was the moving performance of Year 5’s own mining poems inspired by the Aberfan disaster, accompanied beautifully on the glockenspiel. Their thoughtful words and music captured the emotion of this historical tragedy and demonstrated how deeply they have engaged with the topic.

We are incredibly proud of Year 5 for their hard work, creativity and leadership. We look forward to seeing them share their learning once again tomorrow afternoon at the Askers Miners Welfare. Well done, Year 5!

Y3/4 Rounders team triumph against the odds!

Despite last-minute dropouts leaving us with only 7 players instead of the usual 9, our team showed incredible determination and teamwork. They topped the group stage with an impressive 16 points — ahead of Carcroft, who finished 2nd, along with 3rd and 4th place teams all tied on 12 points.

The final was a tense match, with Carcroft threatening to steal the victory thanks to some powerful hits. But our resilient players held their nerve, securing a fantastic win. In a tense trophy reveal, XP trust comrades, Carcroft, were given the runners up medals whilst our amazing Y3/4 team secured the gold. Well done to everyone involved — you did the school proud!

A visit from Donny Dog and Doncaster Rovers!

On Thursday 22nd May, we had a brilliant visit from Doncaster Rovers Football Club, who came into school to talk to the children about the importance of resilience, belief and setting goals.

Fresh from winning the 2024/2025 league title, the team shared their journey with the pupils – how they dealt with setbacks, worked hard together and stayed focused to achieve their goal of becoming champions. The key message was clear: believe in yourself, keep going even when it’s tough and never stop aiming high.

A huge thank you to Doncaster Rovers for taking the time to visit us and share such a powerful message with our school. What an experience for the children – learning about resilience from real-life champions of League 2!

KS2 Tennis Tournament

At Doncaster Tennis Lawn Club, a team of key stage 2 pupils from NJS took part in Legacy Sport’s tennis tournament. Each member of the team played three competitive games each of them performing brilliantly: some started strong with others growing in confidence with each game.

The result of the competition surpassed expectations when NJS achieved not 3rd, not 2nd… but 1st place!

Amazing effort from all the team!

Where is Doncaster on the map?

As part of their geography case study, Year 5 have been using the internet to learn more about the United Kingdom, more specifically England and it’s major cities. 5CC began by learning the difference between the United Kingdom and Great Britain, before exploring a map of England’s counties. Year 5 lastly finished off by locating a list of the UK’s largest cities on the map, as well as plotting the location of Doncaster.

When NJS Met a Gladiator!

NJS pupils were in for a huge surprise this morning when a real-life Gladiator walked into our assembly hall!

Zac, also known as Steel from the hit show Gladiators, delivered an unforgettable workshop all about health, fitness, and achieving your goals. From mindset and motivation to exercise and healthy eating, Steel inspired us all to think like champions and strive to be the best versions of ourselves.

The hall was buzzing with excitement and energy, and we loved hearing Zac’s incredible story and advice. What a powerful start to our day—and a brilliant reminder that with hard work and the right attitude, anything is possible!

A big thank you to FONCA for providing an experience the children will never forget!

Y5/6 Mixed Cricket @ Askern CC

More success today as the Y5/6 mixed cricket team secured silver medals. Unfortunately, the final did not go their way but there were stellar performances all around. A shout out to one of our youngest team members for her incredible performances over the last two days (girls and mixed cricket tournaments): Eleanora!

Well done to both the girls and the boys teams for all their practice during lunchtimes and break times. Onto the Y3/4 cricket tournaments in a couple of weeks time!

Y5/6 Dodgeball Drama!

In a dodgeball tournament taking place at Armthorpe Academy, our Y5/6 made the final, beating every team bar one to reach the knock out stages. Each game was hotly contested, with some with the incredible shots and catches. Shout outs to Mack, Alba and Zak for their whole team knockouts – 5 whole team knockouts between them!

The final vs Owston Park
Beating Owston until the final millisecond when one of their balls hot Hollie in the back. After a group referee decision, they decided on extra time which resulted in 2 minutes extra game play. Both teams took early losses but ultimately Owston came out winners. Well done to our amazing team nevertheless!

MVP – Holly Williams

Super Sketching!

to culminate our spring expedition, ‘FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS’, year five have been busy working away on their sketches of iconic figures who have helped change the world. Following a sequence of learning about how to use of tone to create a 3D effect and learning how to accurately sketch features of the face, 5CC began to draft their sketches with the class being given a choice of three: Martin Luther King, Bob Geldof and Lord Shaftesbury. We are looking forward to seeing what their final drafts look like and how they will feature in our final product, the iconic figures calendar.

5CC Serves Up Success!

5CC kicked off the new half term with an exciting tennis lesson, focusing on agility, balance, and tactical play. The session began with fun warm-up games like knee tag and shoulder tag, helping pupils prepare for low and high shots.

Next, they practiced playing the ball into space, aiming to earn points with two bounces inside a designated area. If the second bounce landed outside, their opponent scored instead! This encouraged strategic thinking and careful shot placement.

The highlight was spike ball, where pupils demonstrated their skills by identifying space and aiming their shots. More confident players even struck the ball after the initial throw, showing great progress.

The lesson balanced attacking and defensive methods, teaching pupils how to score points while preventing their opponents from doing the same. Well done, 5CC – keep up the fantastic work!