12th May 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
The children have continued to enjoy all the learning opportunities available to them at school. Some pupils had their coronation celebrations this week and two classes paraded around school in the crowns they had made after enjoying a coronation themed sensory story. There has been progress in the pool with a number of pupils achieving their swimming certificates for swimming different lengths and strokes. In communication work, one child has been happily wearing their hearing aids all week, which is fantastic progress! Another chose between two photos and was very happy with their choice! One child has been repeating back lots of language; numbers, colours and animal names whilst another has been naming farm animals. In literacy learning a pupil has been writing lots of fantastic new words whilst another has been enjoying mark making on different surfaces and in different materials. Some of our Explorers visited the Sealife Centre to look at the sea creatures they have been learning about as part of their “Beside the seaside” topic. The children were amazing and were a credit to the school. They particularly enjoyed their trip as evidenced by lots of happy looking faces. Our Engineers are immersed in filmmaking and a number have been in role this week as ‘directors’! One child contributed excellently to the narration of their class movie and others have been undertaking acting roles. We cannot wait to see the finished products at the cinema! Finally, a child as tried to drink from their bottle independently. It is great to get to the end of each week and feel inspired by the variety of learning the children have undertaken! We are so proud of them all
Attendance Focus
For the week commencing 1 May, the classes with the best attendance were;
- Explorers hub – Llama class & Ladybird class both with 100%
- Investigators hub – Gorilla class with 100%
- Engineers hub – Sloth class
Upcoming dates:
June 21 and 22: Summer term parents’ evenings
June 23: INSET day
Safeguarding Spotlight
Senior Mental Health Lead
You may be aware the UK government have recommended that all schools in England appoint a Senior Mental Health Lead (SMHL) by 2025. It is known that taking a coordinated and evidence-informed approach to mental health and wellbeing in schools leads to improved pupil emotional health and wellbeing, which can help readiness to learn. Our school’s SMHL is Kaarina Dougherty who along with Sophie Milner-Smith (Assistant Head and Wellbeing Lead) is helping raise awareness so mental health and wellbeing is something the whole school community can contribute to.
What is Mental Health?
We all have mental health. Mental health is about our feelings, our thinking, our emotions and our moods. Looking after our mental health is important. We all have ‘small’ feelings every day. These are sometimes strong and overwhelming, whether happy or sad, but they go away before too long. Sometimes we experience ‘big’ feelings that are strong and overwhelming for a longer period of time. They stop us doing what we want to in our lives. 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England.
Some key ways to remove any stigma associated with mental health are;
- Talk openly about mental health – making conversations about mental health a part of normal life and talking openly about it
- Equality between physical and mental health – understanding the facts about mental illness and that it is no less serious than a physical illness such as heart disease
- Show compassion for those with mental illness – model compassion; a simple act of kindness can make such a big difference
- Avoid self-stigma – do not hide away in shame or isolate yourself
- Don’t equate yourself with your illness – you are not your illness
Mental health is a big issue for children and young people too with as many as 1 in 5 children aged 5 to 16 being identified as having a probable mental health problem. This has a big impact in adulthood with one-third of mental health problems in adulthood being directly connected to an adverse childhood experience. Adults who have experienced four or more adversities in their childhood are four times more likely to have low levels of mental wellbeing and life satisfaction.
There are many charities and organisations offering help and advice and Kaarina is able to listen or sign-post you to help you get the support that is right for you.
Mental Health Awareness Week runs from 15th to 21st May and the theme is anxiety. Anxiety is a normal emotion in us all, but sometimes it can get out of control and become a mental health problem, in fact, it is one of the most common mental health problems we can face. Lots of things can lead to feelings of anxiety including relationships, big life events but also those related to money and meeting our basic needs, like heating our home or buying food.
The Mental Health Foundation provides information and advice to help understand anxiety and things that can prevent it from becoming a problem.
If your feelings of anxiety are not going away, are having a negative impact on your life, or often prevent you from doing things you need or want to do, seek support. Speak to your GP or healthcare professional about support available or contact a helpline service.
- Mindfulness www.mentalhealth.org.uk/mindful
- Exercise www.mentalhealth.org.uk/physical-activity
- Cost of Living www.mentalhealth.org.uk/cost-of-living-support
- Nature www.mentalhealth.org.uk/nature
- Diet www.mentalhealth.org.uk/diet
- Helpline services www.mentalhealth.org.uk/get-help
This week’s sign of the week is sun cream.
Have a lovely weekend!
Very best wishes,
Catriona