The Homework Task:

Before Christmas, Maynard, one of our Y4 pupils, wanted to make a difference. He wrote to the council to raise a query about the condition of one of the local buildings and also asked the council to raise awareness of climate change and recycling. The letter was read by the elected Mayor and she responded. Maynard got a reply and the council came into school to lead an assembly about recycling. This inspiring pupil has made a difference because the elected Mayor knows that young people care about the world we live in and 450 Very Important Pupils now know more about recycling. This is the idea behind the (optional) holiday homework.

We would like our pupils to reach out on an issue that matters to them, to recognise people that make a difference, raise awareness or to be the person that makes a difference. There isn’t a set way to do this homework; we don’t want to put a ceiling on who pupils contact and what they decide to do. Please don’t be afraid to be creative and ambitious with this homework. To give you some ideas, examples might include:

· Handwrite and post a letter/note to someone who you look up to who has made a difference. It could be someone you know like a young carer, coach, dance or music teacher, Beaver group leader or someone famous like Greta Thunburg, David Attenborough, a famous scientist, a TV personality, a sports person, a musician, an actor or Youtuber that has made a positive difference. Let them know about our holiday homework and how and why they have inspired you; you could invite them to visit the school or to reply to your letter. You will need to find out where to send your letter to (that is part of the homework). Please take a copy/photo of your letter and print it off/email it to the school so we can read it out to your class.

· With help/support from your parent/carer, you could  email, message or tweet someone who you know can make a difference– it’s easier than ever to contact them via email/social media. You could contact someone you know like your family, friends, teacher or Headteacher. However, don’t be afraid to be more ambitious. You could contact a Faith leader, Local MP, the Mayor, a politician, the Prime Minister, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner, the General Secretary of the UN etc. THINK BIG! Let them know about your holiday homework and what you think they could do to make a difference; you could invite them into school or to reply to your letter. Copy the school into your email or message or take a screenshot and print it off/email it to the school so we can read it out to the class.

· The school email address is Info@marineparkfirst.org.uk if you want to email us your homework (it is also on the school website) or you could stick a copy of your letter/reply into your homework book.

· We will give at least one special family credit worth 3 for every person that completes the homework and, with the consent of families, may decide to share some of the most interesting letters/emails and replies within and outside the school.

Good luck with your homework and quest to make the world an even better place!

Year Group of pupil

Summary

Response to date

Y4 Pupil

Worked with ITV Weather  Presented Ross Hutchinson to make a piece about climate change

Watch it here

Y4 pupil

Grandma been diagnosed with Dementia so organised a community Bake Sale to raise money for Dementia UK.

Raised £119

Y4 Pupil

Wrote to the Mayor of  North Tyne Combined Authority

Dear Mayor Driscoll

My name is Joseph.  I am 9 years’ old and I go to Marine Park First School in Whitley Bay.

I am writing to you because I am concerned about the climate emergency.  This is something we talk about at school and with my family at home.  I am worried that we are destroying our planet.  I believe that we need to do something about it because we should be looking after this planet for future generations and the other creatures who live here.  Humans are the main cause of the problem so I think it is our responsibility to do something about it and make changes to stop climate change.

At home, I try to help by recycling, by turning electrical devices off when they are not being used, by walking to school and by taking showers.

I have heard that climate change is a big deal for you too and I would like to know what your plans are for the region to tackle climate change.  I know that all my friends at school would like to hear about this too.  Would you like to come to my school one day and talk about this?  We would be delighted to have you.

Yours sincerely

Joseph

Reply from Mayor Driscoll

Y4 pupil

Wrote to Bear Grylls and her Scout leaders to thank them.

Y4 pupil

Wrote to Sir David Attenborough:

My name is xxx and I am 9 years old. I go to Marine Park First School in Whitley Bay. For my

holiday homework I had to write to someone who inspires me and I chose you.

I live near the sea and your programmes about the damage being done to the sea and its creatures

has inspired me so, so much. I pick up as much rubbish as possible and use a lot less plastic than I

used to.

At school I was chosen to be one of the school counsellors and we are collecting plastic lids to do

some art and crisp packets to recycle to teach people about waste and recycling.

I have watched a lot of your programmes and have some of your books and think the work that you

do is amazing and I have learned so much from you.

I would love it if you could write back to me

Thank you so, so much

Y4 pupil

Sent a letter to Sir David Attenborough

Dear Sir Attenborough

My name is xxxx, I am 8 years old and I go to Marine Park First School in Whitley Bay. My half

term holiday homework is to write to someone that I look up to who has made a positive difference.

I have decided to write to you, as you have done lots of TV programs about saving wildlife, endangered

species, climate change and you have shown us how humans have damaged our planet.

In our family we try to help the wildlife by leaving food and water in the garden for the hedgehogs and

the hoglets. We also feed the birds and we collect litter from the beach and bring it home. We also

recycle as much rubbish and waste as possible, our recycling bin is always jam packed – we need a

bigger one!

I love your series called Dynasties, the penguins were my favourite. I’m looking forward to your next

documentary.

Y4 pupil

Wrote to actor Millie Bobby Brown to show appreciation and thank for work she does with UNICEF. Invited Millie into school or to reply.

Y4 Pupil

Wrote to the school and put leaflets through the door or neighbours to persuade them to be more hedgehog friendly.

School checked that grounds were hedgehog friendly. Y4 pupil invited to do an assembly to promote how gardens can be more hedgehog friendly./

Y4 pupil

Wrote to the school to raise concerns about the use of plastic straws in milk cartons.

School organised a conference telephone call between pupil and Coolmilk (school milk provider) Options and practicalities were discussed and further solutions are being sought. In the short, the Y4 pupil advised all children (in an assembly) to push straw inside carton so whole unit was recycled together and to reduce risk of loose stars getting into the environment.

Y4 pupil

Contacted the council to suggest a large scale litter pick.

Y4 pupil

Wrote to grandma to encourage her to recycle.

Y4 pupil

Wrote to thank the creators of Lego Masters

Y4 pupil

Wrote to Blue Peter to try and receive a Green Badge for work he has done to help save the environment.

Y4 pupil

Wrote to author Jeff Kinney to thank and suggest he includes climate themes in his future books.

Y4 pupil

Wrote to Youtubers Karine and Ronald

Y4 pupil

Wrote to the school to ask us to do more to reduce pollution

Y4 pupil

Wrote to Sir David Attenborough to raise her concerns about the world. Invited Sir David Attenborough

Y4 pupil

Wrote to Steve Backshaw to show appreciation.

Y4 pupil

Wrote to the RSPCA

Received a very detailed reply. Planning to issue information to class and try to arrange speaker. Possibly sponsored event in the class.

Y4 pupil

Wrote to Sir David Attenborough

Y4 pupil

Wrote to Sir David Attenborough

Y4 pupil

Wrote to Owen Farrell to show admiration for rugby skill.

Y3 Pupil

Tweeted and shared a video message to thank Julia Donaldson for inspiring her

Y3 Pupil

Wrote to her dance teacher to thank her

Y3 pupil

Wrote to Prof. Dr. Jörg Wiedenmann, University of Southampton to thank for involvement in Blue Planet and work to protect the oceans

Phoned and emailed the school. Keen to offer something to the school.

Y3 pupil

Messaged Ariana Grande to show her appreciation and invite her into school

Y3 pupil

Wrote to the teachers:

Dear Teachers

I  think you make a difference because you help people to learn so they know things when they grow up. Children are happy because they know things and all children only learn if they go to school. Helping children to learn will make a big difference. You always make sure children are kept safe. They are learning very well and everyone will think that's nice and I'm sure that people love to learn! A happy and healthy school makes everyone smile and the dream work just like Marine Park First School. 

                                                    Thank you for making a difference!

Replied to message.

Y3 pupil

Tweeted Oti Mabuse from Strictly Come Dancing

Tweet was liked by Oti

Y3 pupil

Wrote to the school to say that they enjoyed raising money for WWF Australian Bushfires. She asked if we could raise money for charity every month.

Mr Easton replied and also passed the email to Mrs Robertson, School Council Lead

Y3 pupil

Wrote to the Mayor of North Tyneside:

Dear Mayor of North Tyneside, 

I am worried about how much litter there is in Whitley Bay. Can you help please? I was thinking if you could help build any more bins or dog bins. I was also thinking every fortnight to have a litter pick. Could you help with this?

Y3 pupil

Wrote to his dad to ask if they could help people in cities across the world like homeless people and protests in Hong Kong.

Y3 pupil

Wrote to the council to ask them to visit and invest in the Whitley Bay Islamic Cultural Centre.

Y3 pupil

Wrote to Mr Alan Campbell to ask if more could be done for homeless people.

MP Alan Campbell has  offered to visit the school.

Y3 pupil

Messaged Terry Deary to say how much he loves his books.

Y3 pupil

Wrote to MP Alan Campbell to ask for improvements to the environment,

MP Alan Campbell has  offered to visit the school.

Y3 pupil

Made a difference by planting snowdrop for the National Trust

Y3 pupil

Wrote to Sir David Attenborough and made posters about environmental change

Y3 pupil

Wrote to climbing instructor

Received a reply

Y3 pupil

Wrote to the WWF to see what could be done about damage to forests.

Received a reply. Class are planning to create “Get Deforestation Off Our Plates” placards and send them in to WWF in order to promote law changes.

Y3 pupil

Wrote to local shopkeeper to thank for using less plastic and invite into school.

Y3 pupil

Wrote to Matty Longstaff at Newcastle United FC

Received a reply and signed photo

Y3 pupil

Messaged Steve to thank for presenting Deadly 60.

Y3 pupil

Wrote to Tunnocks to ask them to stop using palm oil in their biscuits

Y3 pupil

Wrote to her Grandad to thank her for looking after Nanny Carol.

Y3 pupil

Emailed fishing hero Cyril Chauquet

Y3 pupil

Wrote to the Girl Guiding Community to ask why boys can’t join the guides, brownies and rainbows when grils can join scouts, cubs and beavers.

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to MP Mary Glindon

Dear Mary

My name is xxx and part of my home work for  School  holidays  is to talk  about making a difference . I  like  to make a difference by keeping healthy  and active to help me not to be sick. This  includes me eating a  healthy diet and doing lots of exercise  including walking to school, riding my bike, swimming, gymnastics and running.

I would like to know how do you keep healthy and active ?

I would appreciate a response as this would get me a family credit at school.

Kind regards

Received reply:

Dear xxx

Thank you for your email.

MPs are very busy and don't have a lot of time to be healthy because we can't always have our meals at regular times.  However, we do get a lot of exercise walking around in Parliament all day as it is such a huge site and we have to go to meetings across the estate!

Even though I don't have regular mealtimes, I think it's important to eat healthy food.  I have a healthy breakfast before I go to work and include a salad and fresh vegetables in my main meal.  At weekends, and in my free time, I like to take a long walk with my family.  I also think it is important to have a good night's sleep.

Kind Regards
Mary Glindon MP

Y2 pupil

Wrote to the school to ask if he could arrange a toy swap

Toy swap for class or the pupil that wrote to school organised for 3.3.2020

Y2 pupil

Contacted Joe Wicks Body coach to invite him into school.

Joe sent a video message

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to thank someone for taking care of the homeless cats and dogs in Lanzarote

Received a thank you reply.

Y2 pupil

Sent a letter to Greta Thunburg

To Greta

I feel bad for the environment because people just ignore the fact that climate change is attacking our world and drop their litter on the floor instead of recycling, reusing or just putting it in the bin. Its also attacking sea animals because they caught in nets and other plastic things and turtles also mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them. So just keep recycling and doing what you're doing right now. Please can you come to our school and talk to some of the kids at my school about how we need to recycle.

Y2 pupil

Write to manager at Waves Swimming Pool:

Dear manager,

I help clean the litter from the beaches of Whitley Bay with the Waste Squad.  I do this because  I love Whitley Bay and it helps our planet.

I swim at Waves swimming pool and one day I noticed there was loads of litter outside the building. It is bad because it can go into the sea and plastic can get caught in the animal's bodies or can trap the animals. This is sad and I want to help stop it happening.
I wonder if you could get some litter pickers at Waves so people like me can help pick up the rubbish from outside the building. I would do this when I go swimming with my family. It would stop the rubbish blowing into the sea and on to our beaches.

You could help save our town too and I would help you do this.

I can give the litter pickers back when I am done with them.

I hope you can help!

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to Hello Professor Florian Krammer- Professor at the Department of Microbiology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

I am xxxx and I am in Year 2 of Marine Park First School in Whitley Bay, United Kingdom. The reason I am writing to you is because mummy and I read that you are working on vaccines for the Covid-19 virus.

I do hope you will find the cure for the virus soon. Mummy and I also read that the virus is spreading very quickly and many people are falling sick and dying. This makes me very worried. I will not be able to travel on a planned trip to my birthplace in Malaysia if this epidemic persists. It makes me think of other people who can't visit families or get locked down in quarantine.

Anyhow, we really appreciate the work you are doing and wish you all the luck in the world.

Kind Regards 

Received a replt:

Dear xxxx,

Thanks for reaching out. My lab and I will hopefully find vaccines and a cure soon. Many other researchers are working on this too. Don't worry too much, the virus doesn't seem to cause much disease in kids. But take good care of your mum!

Best,

Florian

Y2 Pupil

Emailed Harry Kane to tell him that he inspires him and invite into school.

Y2 pupil

Wrote to Life Boat Crew to thank and ask questions

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to the council to ask for more plastic to be recycled

Received a  letter about recycling

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to Sean Longstaff at Newcastle United FC

Received a letter back with signed photo

Y2 pupil

Wrote to Sir David Attenborough

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to another parent to thank her for volunteering time working with elderly people

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to mum to thank her for looking after her.

Y2 pupil

Tweeted Mind to say how important it is for parents and teachers to be able to get help for children when they need it.

Y2 Pupil

Emailed Beaver Leader to thank

Received a reply

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to leaders of School of Black belts to thank

Y2 pupil

Wrote to a teacher in school

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to Max Whitlock because he inspired him.

Y2 Pupil  and Y1 pupil

Wrote to Rainbow’s leader to ask them to help the Rainbows learn about/take action on dog waste.

Leader is looking into group doing street tidy badge.

Y2 pupil

Told us how he makes a difference by visiting Grandma and talking to other residents in a care home.

Y2 Pupil

Wrote to Beaver leader to ask  them to hep the Beavers learn about/take action on climate change.

Y1 and Y3 brother and sister

Wrote to the Jam Jar Cinema to thank

Tweeted a letter to Ben Schwartz to thank for creating Sonic the Hedgehog

Y1 pupil

Wrote to the Foodbank to ask them to come to school to lead an assembly about their work.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to his MP to ask for more homes for the homeless

Y1 pupil

Wrote to Extinction Rebellion North East Samba band to invite them into school.

The Samba Band are interested in coming in to school. Watch this space.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to Edinburgh Zoo:

Dear Sandie

Hello my name is xxx and I am 6 years old. I go to Marine Park First School in Whitley Bay near Newcastle. My holiday homework is “Reach out Make a Difference” and email to Someone who Makes a Difference. I really love pandas .I’ve been to see your beautiful pandas at Edinburgh Zoo. I thought that they were very very happy and cute. I want to know how to save pandas please can you help me. Can you tell me how I can help? Can you possibly come into my school and teach my friends to as well as me.

Reply:

This is wonderful that you want to learn more about the giant pandas and help to save them. One of the ways would be to 'adopt' a giant panda at Edinburgh Zoo - https://adoption.edinburghzoo.org.uk/ 

Maybe your class could fundraise to help.  Another way is to learn more about the giant panda and what is happening in our wider RZSS programme linked to China, maybe even learn about the Mandarin language! There are lots of free resources on the website beyondthepanda.org.uk which your teachers could look at and use. I have attached a programme about the lessons for your teachers. I would love to come to your school and teach your class more about giant pandas. I am really booked up and only have a few spaces left in June. Please ask your teachers to contact me to arrange a day I can come to the school. This is free and I bring lots of interesting items and games. I will also leave the school with some resources.  Many thanks. Sandie

Y1 pupil

Messaged parkrun to thank the organisers and volunteers

Y1 pupil

Wrote to Maddie Moate, presenter of “Do you know?” to thank and invite into school.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to the Chief Executive of the NHS to thank for medicines that make her well ask that medicines are available to all that need them across the world.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to coach at running Churchill Playing Fields to thank her for inspiring and coaching him

Y1 pupil

Wrote to her Irish dance teacher to thank and invite into school.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to Alice Morrison, who is an accomplished Adventurer, TV Presenter & Writer.

Received a reply

May be able to visit the school when she is back in the UK– watch this space!!

Y1 pupil

Wrote to a vet to tell her how much she loves animals and invite her in to school

Y1 pupils

Wrote to MP:

Dear Mr Campbell

Please fix the wobbly pavements in Whitley Bay. We can't ride our scooters because the bumps make us fall off and hurt ourselves. Also Nana might fall down and hurt herself if she trips.

This is part of our holiday homework to contact someone who can make a difference. We have attached a copy of the homework. Please reply to mummy and she can tell us what you said and also the school so we can tell our friends what you said. You could maybe come to our school to speak about it. Our school email is Info@marineparkfirst.org.uk

Thank you for reading this.

Received a written reply

Y1 pupil

Tweeted Chris Packham about his work to protect Hedgehogs

Y1 pupil

Wrote to thank someone that offers outdoor education experiences

Received a reply

Y1 pupil

Messaged the RSPCA to thank them for looking after animals.

Y1 pupil

Made a poster to encourage people to pick up rubbish.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to Ant and Dec

Y1 pupil

Tweeted and messaged local cafes to encourage them to change from plastic milk bottles to glass ones.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to Sir David Attenborough to raise concerns about plastic.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to the Lionesses Supporters Club

Y1 pupil

Wrote to Beavers’ Leader

Y1 pupil

Wrote a letter to explain how she makes a difference with her kindness.

Y1 pupil

Displayed a poster outside her house to help improve the environment.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to the Local MP to ask for more to be done about dog poo.

Y1 pupil

Sent an email to Stan Lee’s family to thank him for creating super heroes.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to Zambia Sunrise Trust to thank them for all their work offering schooling to children,

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Receive d a reply

Y1 pupil

Asked the school to stop use plastic straws with milk cartons.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to the council to ask why the pedestrian crossing outside Whitley Bay Playhouse doe not make a sound when it is safe to cross.

Received a reply to say that the crossing will be checked and remedial works carried out if required.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to her Grandma to tell her that she is amazing for raising money for North of England Children’s Cancer Research and for receiving an MBE for this.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to the Queen ato raise concerns about plastics, urging her to talk to other world leaders.

Y1 pupil

Wrote to Joe Wicks, body coach to  thank and invite into school.

Y1 pupil

Found a song about kindness and sent it to her Dance teacher  and her Grandma’s work