Children's Mental Health Awareness Week

As a school, we have been taking part in a number of activities this week in support of Children's Mental Health Week.

Place2Be launched the first-ever Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015 to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health.  

This year, the staff and children have been discussing and completing tasks that reinforce the message, 'Let's Connect', which is focused on the importance and ways of making meaningful connections with others and the effect these have on a person's mental health and general wellbeing. 

New Play Area Open for Business

After weeks or planning and construction, our new play area is finally finished and open to the children, adding an exciting dimension to our school. 

Thank you to FAWNs and Nomow  for your hard work, professionalism and for creating an area that will be enjoyed by pupils now and for many years to come.

This week in TB - WC 30/01/23

Dare I say it...here goes...things are warming up a bit down in the wood and signs of spring are showing - the daffs are peeping, hazel has grown it's catkins, elder leaves are unfurling and the blossom on the plum trees is ready to go.  

Upper School started sessions with exploring how artists add 'value' (shading / tone) to a sketch...we looked at different techniques before having a go at shading in an outline of our magnificent oak tree.  It was wonderful seeing how the children identified light and dark parts of the subject and then applied different techniques to bring their picture to life: stippling, scribbling, hatching, cross hatching etc.  

After this, we continued work on our Inclusion / Community art pieces, finished bird-feeders and owl art designs before some of us moved on to explore bird's feet and consider Inheritance, Adaptation and Evolution - we made representations of the bird's feet in clay and considered how the 'design' of the foot enabled the bird to survive in its chosen habitat.  

Lower School children had a look at the book 'Invisible' and reminded themselves of the themes and characters therein (this is a book they have studied in the classroom).  Following this, we looked at our school and considered the things we were grateful for and the things we would like to improve.  

We took inspiration for improvements we could make at school from the characters in the book, with some children making pine-cone bird-feeders (like the homeless man) and others making planters for flowers (like the elderly lady).  

Additionally, a final few children undertook the Mary Anning fossil challenge - making their own fossils and finding real life fossils in our mud-pit. 

 

Achievement Assembly Winners!

Well done to all of our achievement certificate winners from today's assembly. Our Headteacher's Award winners have caught the eye of Mr Hull this week for a variety of reasons whilst others have impressed their class teachers in lessons earning them the Mathematics Award. Not only have these children shown excellence in their academic work, but they have also demonstrated the values and attitudes to learning that we aspire our children to have. They are all fantastic role models for the school!

A Thoughtful Experience in Trailblazer Wood

A beautiful morning in the wood  saw the children engaging thoughtfully with their book of the term, The Invisible, by Tom Percival.

The story is about a little girl who sees people within her community who go unnoticed to many but who make a difference for local people.

We then discussed how the things we do can bring about positive change for all.

 

 

Fractions are a "pizza" cake!

For the next few weeks, team Endeavour will be putting our fractions knowledge to the test. Our first task was to see what we could remember and what better way than being asked to slice pizzas into halves, quarters and eighths! We remembered the importance of ensuring that fractions should be equal amounts and also identified some equivalent fractions...before eating the pizza for a second breakfast!

The 'Unfairground'

This afternoon, the children in Team Resilience have taken part in an 'unfairground' to contextualise their learning in English. During this session, the children experienced many different activities which were unfair: games where the rules change each round, activities that only boys or girls could take part in and circus lessons which were restricted to certain children. They also experienced unfairness in the food distribution at the fair. 

At the end of this English unit, the children will be writing speeches that campaign for change at the unfairground.

They will take their inspiration from other key people throughout history who have also fought for equality and equity: Marcus Rashford, Malala Yousafzai, Rosa Parks, Emmeline Parkhurst and Thomas Bernardo. 

What the children said:

"The unfairground needs to change, all people should be allowed the opportunity to learn a new skill."

"People should not be separated for their gender. We should all be allowed to play together."

"The unfairground should not sell food unless they have enough for everyone!"

Play Area Update

The excitement is rising and the end is in sight as work continues on the new play area and Timber Trail.

Hopefully, if all goes to plan, it should be completed next week.

Crusty's New Job

The School appointed a new Headteacher this week with 'Crusty' Williams taking over from Mr Hull.

Mr William's has been so impressive with the phenomenal improvement in his reading and writing, that the governors felt he was worthy of a try in the hot seat.

 

Another Outstanding Week at KJS

This week has been about personal goals and standards, with the children challenging themselves to improve aspects of their work and play. 

Some children read more frequently at home, some challenged themselves to practise their tables and number bonds, some  worked on their handwriting and gained their 'pen license', whilst others tried to be better friends to their peers.

It has been a really positive week again, with lots of certificates, Sports and Music Awards presented in our Achievement Assembly and Team Discovery winning the Attendance Award recording 99%.