Author: Mrs Taylor

New SEAL theme

We begin the school year with a focus on New beginnings.

As we start the new school year, our SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) theme focuses on new beginnings.

‘I make someone feel welcome’ is the first SEAL statement to launch the theme.

New Beginnings allows children the opportunity to discuss and reflect on how they or others may feel in a new situation or setting. This SEAL theme offers children the opportunity to see themselves as valued individuals within a community, and to contribute to shaping a welcoming, safe and fair learning community for all.

During the theme, the key areas of learning are empathy, self-awareness, social skills and motivation.

Through discrete SEAL lessons, circle times and across the curriculum, children will explore feelings of happiness and excitement, sadness, anxiety and fearfulness, while learning (and putting into practice) shared models for calming down and problem-solving.

New Beginnings supports the development of a learning community in each classroom where all members feel that they belong. Class contracts, produced at the start of the year, allow children to contribute to how they feel they can achieve a safe and fair learning community.

10 minute shake up

Change4Life and Disney have teamed up to help your kids have fun and move more this summer.

Change4Life and Disney have teamed up to help your kids have fun and move more this summer.  Sign up for the 10 Minute Shake  Up Pack and you’ll get a FREE stopwatch, fun activity cards,  Disney themed wall chart and stickers – all inspired by your kids’ favourite Disney characters!

The 10 Minute Shake Up games are a fantastic way to help your kids get the recommended  60 minutes or more of physical activity they need every day. Being active helps your kids maintain a healthy weight and helps their heart and bones  stay healthy. Visit the 10 Minute  Shake Up Zone for loads of fun game ideas.

 

 

11 July 2014

This week’s whole school homework is creative following our themed week, Staying Safe.  It should be returned by Wednesday 16 July.

I know how to stay safe.

Throughout this week, a variety of visitors have worked with classes to deliver key learning about different aspects of safety.  These include:

  • water safety (lifeguard – Mr Glass and RNLI)
  • scooter training (Mrs Strange)
  • bike maintenance (Edinburgh bicycle cooperative)
  • skateboarding (sk8 safe)
  • trampolining (Roundhay high school)
  • food/kitchen safety (school kitchen)
  • first aid (British Red Cross)
  • e-safety (One day creative)
  • road safety (Leeds City Council)
  • drug education (dside)
  • safety within engineering (Mr McDermott)
  • bike security (police)

Alongside these external visitors, children have been learning other aspects of safety within their class.

The creative homework is a great opportunity for your child to demonstrate their learning from this week. They could:

  • write a poem
  • produce a quiz
  • create a comic strip
  • produce an information leaflet
  • create a crossword
  • …or anything else they can think of.

 

Inspired by the Tour de France?

If you have been inspired to get on your bike then next week we are having a bike, scooter and walk to school week alongside our Staying Safe week.

What an amazing spectacle the Tour de France has been this weekend.

If you have been inspired to get on your bike then next week we are having a bike, scooter and walk to school week alongside our Staying Safe week.

Each day this golden lock will be placed on a random bike or scooter, in our storage area.  If it is your bike or scooter you will be the lucky winner of a £20 voucher, kindly donated by the Chapel Allerton branch of Edinburgh bicycle cooperative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday, from 8:30am, Edinburgh bike cooperative will be visiting school for a Dr bike event.  Children who bring their bike to school can have a free bike maintenance check to ensure their bike is in its best condition.  Edinburgh bike cooperative will be with us all morning checking bikes and also providing bike maintenance sessions for Year 5 so they can maintain their own bikes.

Would you like to explore cycle routes across the city?  Leeds City council have produced a series of local cycle maps. Additionally, Go:cycling offer a range of free cycling services.

 

Tour de France

After going to have a look at the amazing bikes at the front of school…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 1 wanted to find out some more about the Tour de France.

  • ‘Did the first race start in France?’
  • ‘Why is it so long?’
  • ‘What colours will the bikes be?’
  • ‘How many people will be part of the Tour de France?’
  • ‘Why are girls not allowed to ride?’
  • ‘Who is taking part this year?’
  • ‘Who won the Tour de France last year?’

So we decided we needed to ask the experts: Year 4.

Year 4 came to teach us lots of facts and information from their Tour de France topic.  They had even written quizzes and made leaflets for us to take home.  Thank you Year 4 – you were great, well-prepared teachers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farewell to Nothing

Today, we said farewell to Nothing by having a celebration of the time he has spent with us.  There were party games and food and a chance for the children to say a message to Nothing before he left to return to his family.

  • ‘Hope you have a nice time with your family.’
  • ‘Hope your family look after you.’
  • ‘I hope you have enjoyed visiting our school.’
  • ‘I’m sorry that you are leaving.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children have thoroughly enjoyed the Nothing project and have shown great understanding and learning.

  • ‘I know we don’t pick things up and eat them.’
  • ‘We need a healthy diet.’
  • ‘There are things we need and things we want.’
  • ‘Don’t talk to strangers.’
  • ‘All medicines are drugs but not all drugs are medicines.’

Thanks for coming to visit us, Nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 June 2014

This weeks’ whole school homework is Talk Time and also involves completing the pupil health questionnaire sent home with your child.

I can share my views about health.

Emotional health and obesity are our two main health targets to further our healthy schools status and the questions are linked to these areas. They include:

  • Are you happy at school?
  • What do you enjoy most about playtimes and lunchtimes?

Please support your child to complete the health questionnaire in order to find out their views on some of our key health issues at school.  This should be returned to your class teacher by Wednesday 25 June.

 

Our new SEAL theme for this half-term is…

‘Changes’. We starting with a focus on manners. I can use good table manners.

…’Changes’.

We begin the half term with a focus on manners: I use good table manners.  Adults in school, including lunchtime supervisors, will be looking out for children who show good table manners – not talking with their mouth full and using their cutlery correctly.  What other table manners can you think of?  Ask your child to add their suggestion to their class SEAL box.

Following this, the Changes theme aims to equip children with an understanding of different types of change, positive and negative, and common responses to change.

It aims to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in three key social and emotional aspects of living and learning: motivation, managing feelings and social skills.

The key ideas and concepts behind this theme are:

  • Change can be uncomfortable, because it can threaten our basic needs to feel safe and to belong
  • Change can also be stimulating and welcome
  • Both adults and children can experience a range of powerful and conflicting emotions as a result of change – for example, excitement, anxiety, uncertainty, loss, anger, resentment
  • Worries about change can be made worse by uncertainty, lack of information, or misinformation and lack of support from others
  • People’s responses to and ability to cope with change are very variable, and might be influenced by individual temperament, previous experience of change, and the nature of the change – chosen or imposed, expected or unexpected, within our control or out of our control

Some children may welcome most forms of change and dislike routine and predictability. Other children may find even small changes very difficult.

Within school, children, who are coping with or have undergone significant change, are supported in a variety of ways:

  • Our positive ethos within school
  • Support systems, from staff and peers, for children who have undergone change or who maybe new to the school
  • SEAL and circle time sessions where children feel safe to talk about their feelings
  • Class SEAL boxes for children to record any concerns
  • Preparing children wherever possible for planned changes for example, a change of class teacher, Key Stage or even school