News
Concern over school meals at Darlington school

Wyvern Academy, a secondary school in Darlington, County Durham, has recently received complaints from many concerned parents over the quality and quantity of their school dinners.
Parents have complained that their children are going hungry as the meals the school provides are too small. On occasion, the school reportedly has even ran out of food supplies leaving some pupils without lunch.
A parent, who wished to remain anonymous, reported to the Chronicle Live that “they regularly run out of food,” and her daughter now takes a packed lunch “so she isn’t hungry for the rest of the day.”
These claims of insufficient portion sizes and quality have worried parents. This is particularly worrying for parents whose children are on free school meals. Another parent told Chronicle Live “my child, along with other’s are eligible for free school meals [but] now I’m having to provide her with a packed lunch.”
The Government’s Free School Meals scheme offers children free lunches at school if their parents are eligible and meet the criteria. This criteria includes those who receive income support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Child Tax Credit and Universal credit.
These claims about inadequate quantity of school dinners are disappointing and distressing for parents/guardians who were promised free school meals for their children.
According to The Guardian, one in three children in North-East England are on free school meals. This follows an increase this year of 160,000 more children being eligible for free school meals, taking the total to 1.9million, according to January figures.
The north-east of England has the highest rate, with 29.1% of school pupils eligible for free school meals whereas the south-east of England comparatively has the lowest rate with 17.6% eligible.
Wyvern Academy, who were rated “requires improvement” by Ofsted in all areas on their latest inspection in November 2019, released a form for parents on their twitter account on Monday 6th June.
This form includes questions on the quality, quantity, availability, and choices of school dinners as well as questions on further dinner arrangements and time allocated for meals with a 5-star system. It also provides a comment box for parents/guardians to suggest improvements to the school meals.
What are your thoughts, follow us on Facebook and join in the conversation….
Featured
Odds on the next Sunderland manger – who do you think will come in?

Sunderland late last night sacked Tony Mowbray as manager, they expressed gratitude to Tony and his assistant Mark Venus for their positive contributions over the past two seasons, stating that they will always be welcome back at the Stadium of Light and wishing them success in their future endeavors.
Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman praised Tony’s impact, acknowledging his high regard among players, staff, and supporters. Speakman highlighted Mowbray’s role in guiding the team to the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs and his significant contribution to team development. He emphasized that while a difficult decision, it aligns with the club’s ambition and strategy.
Sky bet have released the odds for who the next manager may be, let us know on our Facebook page who you think will be the next manager and join in the conversation…
The North East Youtube channel has launched a weekly Premier League Prediction show. Based at the Geordie Star in Newcastle we invite Adam Pearson in to both go through the talking points of the last weeks premier league fixtures and then give our predictions for the week ahead.
You can test your football knowledge against us, get your premier league predictions in before the first premier league game kicks off to be counted and anyone who beats r team we will credit on screen. Make this new feature a part of your weekends pre premier league tradition and get involved!
You can see our predictions for game week 15 below….
You can see our thoughts on the upcoming SAFC vs NUFC derby game below and Adam discussing winding up SAFC fans recently
Follow the channel to stay fully up to date, for some big local videos and to support us!
You can now download our FREE new app to stay fully up to date with all North East related news – https://linktr.ee/northeastupdates
News
Premier League Prediction Show – Compete against us on YouTube + Adam Pearson

The North East Youtube channel has launched a weekly Premier League Prediction show. Based at the Geordie Star in Newcastle we invite Adam Pearson in to both go through the talking points of the last weeks premier league fixtures and then give our predictions for the week ahead.
You can test your football knowledge against us, get your premier league predictions in before the first premier league game kicks off to be counted and anyone who beats r team we will credit on screen. Make this new feature a part of your weekends pre premier league tradition and get involved!
You can see our predictions for game week 14 below….
You can see our predictions for game week 15 below….
You can see our thoughts on the upcoming SAFC vs NUFC derby game below..
Follow the channel to stay fully up to date, for some big local videos and to support us!
You can now download our FREE new app to stay fully up to date with all North East related news – https://linktr.ee/northeastupdates
Featured
Sunderland AFC has announced the departure of Head Coach Tony Mowbray

The Club expressed gratitude to Tony and his assistant Mark Venus for their positive contributions over the past two seasons, stating that they will always be welcome back at the Stadium of Light and wishing them success in their future endeavors.
Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman praised Tony’s impact, acknowledging his high regard among players, staff, and supporters. Speakman highlighted Mowbray’s role in guiding the team to the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs and his significant contribution to team development. He emphasized that while a difficult decision, it aligns with the club’s ambition and strategy.
Emphasizing the commitment to their long-term strategy for sustainability and success, Chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus thanked Tony for his hard work and affirmed the club’s focus on implementing a high-performance culture and a strong playing identity.
The club reiterated the importance of fan support in their progress and invited supporters to the Stadium of Light during the festive period and into 2024.
During the interim period, Mike Dodds, supported by the existing coaching team, will oversee the first-team’s training and match preparations until the appointment of a new Head Coach is finalized.
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See our Interview with Newcastle United Youtuber Adam Pearson after he wound the Sunderland fans up following the news of the derby…
Click the image below to watch the video…
See the full video below…
See our thoughts on the draw….
We are supporting the Warm Christmas meal appeal – you can donate a warm Christmas meal to someone in need in Newcastle and the North East below..
Warm Christmas Meal Appeal North East – Help a Local Person in Need – NEoffers.co.uk
Follow our YouTube for some big local videos and to support us!
You can now download our FREE new app to stay fully up to date with all North East related news – https://linktr.ee/northeastupdates
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