Friday 22nd March
Neurodiversity Week
We have been learning about Neurodiversity this week and celebrating the fact that we are all different. We have learnt about ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia/DCD (Developmental Co-ordination Disorder).
We learnt that people who have these differences can find some things tricky and be really good at other things. We discussed that we should encourage our friends when they are finding things tricky. We should congratulate each other when we do well. Most of all, we decided that we have the power to make a positive difference to some one else’s day by being kind.
Mental Health Week - Gateshead Libraries – My Voice Matters
On Thursday, we had a visit from the Children and Young People’s Team at Gateshead Libraries. Maria and Joanne were amazing! This is what the children had to say about it:
Wilf and Charlie: We had a visit from Maria and Joanne at Gateshead Libraries.
Lana: They read us a book called Whisper, Shout, Let it out!
George: We used our voices in different ways.
Alice: Loud, quiet, low, high and funny voices.
Darcy: Then we read some pages from The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse.
Finlay: We each made a paper chain.
Pen: We wrote about KINDNESS to other people and to ourselves.
Oscar: Then we wrote about BRAVERY and thought of a time that we had been brave.
Thomas: Lastly, we wrote about a place we felt safe. Our HAPPY PLACE.
Daisy: We learnt so much and had great fun!
The children were so engaged and came up with some wonderful ideas which showed super understanding of the key points. They learnt not only about kindness to others, but how we can all be kind to ourselves. They remembered a time when they had been brave and realised that if they’d been brave once, they could be brave again. They also thought about a place where they felt safe and happy and realised that they could think of that place if they were feeling scared or unhappy. All the children came away with some great tools to help their mental wellbeing.
It was a wonderful morning! Thank you so much to Maria and Joanne!
Our school is completing different projects to be awarded the 7 different Olympic and Paralympic Values which are: equality, excellence, inspiration, courage, respect, determination and friendship.
The project that Year 3 have completed this week is linked with Equality. The children learnt that this means “Ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents.” They really understood this concept and had some wonderful discussions and ideas.
The year 3 children were tasked with designing a front cover for the 2024 Gateshead Schools Dance Festival programme. The Olympic/Paralympic value of equality had to be included in the design. Many schools in Gateshead will be entering this competition.
The children put a huge amount of effort into designing their front covers. Have a look at a selection of their amazing work.
The winning entry will become the front cover of the Gateshead Schools Dance Festival 2024 Programme which will be given to all attendees at the dance festival! The pupil who creates the winning design will be invited to the annual Gateshead School Sport Awards to showcase their design and win an award! We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed that maybe one of our designs will be chosen.
Wishing you a Happy New Year and Welcome Back!
It’s been so lovely seeing our friends after the holidays and finding out what presents everyone got for Christmas. In addition to this, it has been so lovely for Miss Rochester to spend time with the children and get to know them better; they’ve all been superstars this week.
To begin our week, we took part in the first session for our ‘Healthy Minds Project’. This project will be happening over the next three weeks and allows us opportunities to relax, be mindful and to learn techniques to keep our body and mind calm.
During the session, we talked about the word ‘CLEAN’ and what it stands for. ‘C’ stands for ‘Connect’; for this we created a class Mandala with our bodies by connecting our hands and formed circles. The ‘L’ stands for ‘Learn’, we learnt how to do a yoga tree pose. ‘E’ stands for ‘Exercise’; we got our hearts racing by doing a short high-intensity workout. ‘A’ stands for ‘Acts of Kindness’, we wrote something kind on a piece of paper and passed it on to a friend in our class – the messages were so thoughtful. Finally, the ‘N’ stands for ‘Notice’, for this activity we stopped and noticed our breathing and how it felt in our body.
We had such good fun and can’t wait for our next session. Take a look at the photos of us in action below!