East Hoathly Church of England Primary School
Achievement for All, Learning Together, Learning for Life
At East Hoathly we celebrated and themed our learning around mental health, wellbeing and connecting with others. Each class completed different activities and session across the week following a whole school assembly on Monday.
Our wellbeing garden is really developing in the playground and the children are enjoying playing with the new resources.
Mr Lulham created a beautiful sign for the garden and Mrs Wicks ordered lots of sensory and wellbeing-based toys and resources for us to use. We now have some lovely puppets to promote communication and language, sensory toys such as our glitter bottles and mindful mazes, books which help us to think about our mental health and games that involve practicing sharing and turn-taking.
Mr Gray is going to be making us a sensory board and some planters for the wall which will be using to grow plants that we can smell!
We have been thinking about ‘wellbeing’.
We learnt in an emergency you call 999. We also explored first aid, and made our own doctors roleplay area. We explored feelings and emotions and thought about the ‘Zones of Regulation’, making our own feelings cards and thinking about what events make us feel.
We thought about the importance of handwashing, and watched some videos about Malawi where they are working hard to have running water to do this.
We talked about why it is important to wash our hands and did a hand washing yoga story!
On Wellbeing day Squirrel class did some first aid. Jacob S said ‘I put a bandage onto my friend’ and Harry said ‘I like to put a sling onto my friend’.
Also, we learnt about the importance of handwashing. Lily said ‘if we do not wash our hands we might spread germs and make people sick’. Also, we learnt about the Zones of regulation. Ralph said ‘If I am happy, I would be in the green zone’.
Foxes class had a busy wellbeing day. First, we made a ‘which zone are you in?’ chart to help the children be more aware of their feelings. If they were not feeling so good, they could think about anything that might get them back to a happy place. Next, the children learnt about first aid and what to do in an emergency. Miss Roberts showed the class how to make a sling and how to bandage a head injury. Lastly, we looked at how a charity called Starfish Malawi ensures people have access to clean water. We also learnt about how they are promoting the importance of washing your hands properly. The children designed a poster for Wash Your Hands Day to promote this message.
Owls class learnt some basic first aid, including what to do if someone has possibly broken their arm, what to do if someone bumps their head and what to do if someone gets a cut or graze.
They explored the zones of regulation and different feelings they experience in school, learnt about the importance of handwashing around the world and thought of tips to help them with wellbeing.
On Tuesday 12th November, the children took part in ‘Odd Sock Day’. This event was created to be celebrated during Anti Bullying Week and is a very creative way to show how unique everyone is and how it is okay that we are all different. The children clearly had a fun time choosing which socks they would wear. There are some very interesting pairings!
In total, we managed to raise £33 for the Anti Bullying Alliance. Well done everyone and thank you for donating!
On Monday, we held our termly PALs assembly (Progress and Learning) where we celebrated all of the fantastic learning which has taken place in Term 1. The children really enjoyed sitting with their friends in other classes and sharing their achievements. One of the wonderful things about this assembly is seeing children beam with pride when one of their peers recognised how their learning and skills had moved forward. It was great to listen in to the conversations that the children were having. We also recognised that the hundreds of books that began the term with empty pages, were now filled with a vast amount of learning experiences.
Jess in Year 4 said “Max M in Year 2 learnt about the Creation story in RE.”
Maxym in Year 5 said “Maisy in Year 2 has been learning about parts of the body, which is helpful if she wanted to be a doctor.”
Spencer in Year 3 saw that Hector in Year 5 had been learning about the story of Jesus in his RE sessions.
Well done everyone!
In Reception, we read the story of ‘The Mood Hoover’ and we talked about our different feelings.
We then used different materials to create feeling faces to help us think about how we should be feeling.
Please see the links below for local support and services for all. (These links were sourced through East Sussex County Council) Further Links can be found on www.eastsussex.gov.uk/socialcare/healthadvice/mental-health/directory/help
Get Well, Stay Well, Prevent Crisis – People who have their own lived experience of mental health challenges who will offer support alongside you to take control of your mental health and stay well available across East Sussex
Children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are made up of specialist teams offering assessment and treatment to children and young people up to age 18 who have emotional, behavioral or mental health problems.
www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/service-east-sussex-community-teams
Get Well, Stay Well, Prevent Crisis – Drop in support for adults (aged 16 years +) available 5 days a week. Find more information about this service on 1Space: Southdown Wellbeing Centres
Hailsham:
Uckfield:
Boost your wellbeing and take ownership of your health by borrowing a wellbeing box from your library. Each box contains interactive resources, local service information and literature about different areas of wellbeing, using the Five ways to mental wellbeing. To reserve a box talk to a member of library staff or book online. Family Wellbeing boxes and Teen Wellbeing Bags are also available to borrow for free.
Available across East Sussex
The free NHS service for residents of East Sussex experiencing stress, anxiety or low mood. Our skilled therapists provide the support you need to feel positive and in control again. Rapid access courses, secure online referral, one to one therapy, by phone, online and face to face.
Available across East Sussex
This helpline can be reached in East Sussex between 5pm and 9am and all day during weekends and bank holidays
If you, or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, the Samaritans run a 24 hour helpline
On Monday 1st April, the children took part in a Progress and Learning, Sharing assembly with a focus on the Christian Value of compassion.
The children shared their work with one another to comment on the Growth Mindset and progress within their work.
Charlie said, “Oscar (Year R) has improved in his maths and knows his odd numbers.”
Sophia said, “Alexandra has got better at her timetables.”
Robert said, “Malakai has improved the types of words he is using.”
Lotte said, “Beatrice has moved from going on the warm challenge and at the end of her book she is working on the spicy challenge.”
Destiny said, “Willow has improved her sentence writing and her drawings have improved.”
Lexi said, “Poppy has got better at solving multiplication problems.”
The children also asked one another how they have used compassion within their lives.
Ruby-Jean described compassion as meaning “reassuring people it will be okay.”
“It means being kind to others.” said Tom.
Sophia describes compassion as “sometimes putting others before yourself.”
Esther shared a time she displayed compassion in school. “I cheered Oscar up when he was feeling sad.”
What a great assembly it was! It was lovely to hear so many positive comments and see such high quality work being shared!
Well done, East Hoathly!
On Monday this week, the children took part in a PALs assembly. In the PALs assembly, children sit next to someone in a different year to them and they look through each others’ books to see what progress has been made in the term.
The children look forward to these assemblies and it is lovely to see the children be so supportive towards each other by pointing out what great achievements have been made.
Matthew in Year 5 noted when he saw Max W’s book that Max, Year 1, is now starting to write with more detail. Well done, Max!
Pearl in Year 3 showed her book to Matilda in Year 5. Matilda said “Pearl can write longer paragraphs and she joins up her writing more.”
Last week was Children’s Mental Health week, and across the school each class completed activities linked to the theme ‘Healthy Inside and Out’. We also had an assembly using ideas from the charity ‘Place 2 be’ which encouraged the children to think about what they can do if they are feeling down and how they can use 3 key factors to help them stay healthy inside and out :
Attached to this newsletter is also some top tips for home.
In Reception, the children made posters to share how they keep healthy. Delilah says “you need to eat lots of vegetables and sleep.”
In Year 1 and 2, they thought about kindness and how you can be kind to others.
In Year 3 and 4, they discussed the importance of mental health and how they can help improve our own. They thought about what they are good at and what they liked about others.
In Year 5 and 6, they had a dedicated circle time to think about being themselves and valuing each other. They created a kindness and wellness wall with positive quotes and thoughts.
If you have any worries or concerns about your child and their mental health, please see their class teacher.
For more information about supporting your child’s mental health and wellbeing, please speak to your child’s class teacher. Some further information can be found at youngminds.org.uk
The school participated in activities while reflecting on mental health and what it means to take care of yourself.
One of the most notable points that the KS2 children came up with was that “if you feel like you can’t cope, tell someone you trust.” What great advice!
KS1 had an afternoon talking about positivity and what we can do to make ourselves feel better. They all chose a word to describe themselves, some of their favourites were friendly, caring, kind and unique.
On Thursday the 24th May, the entire school came together to celebrate the learning they had done over the past two terms. Each child was paired with another from a different year group and they had the opportunity to show each other their work and talk about what they had learnt.
Sid,in Year 6 shared with Darcey in Reception that he had been learning about inverted commas and where to use them. Darcey showed Sid the work she did when she made a puppet of how Jesus gave back a man’s sight.
Lucas in Year 1 showed Charlie from Year 5 that he had been learning about explorers by showing off his drawings of penguins, killer whales and seagulls. Charlie showed Lucas the great work he had been doing in maths and that he had been learning about adding and subtracting decimal numbers.
Alongside showing off their work, the children discussed the theme, which this term was friendship. The children discussed what it meant to be a good friend. Tom in Year 5 said to be a good friend you need to “help them and make them feel confident”. Ruby in Year 5 said “if they doubt themselves, tell them they will be great,” and Leo in Year 6 said “if they are upset, help them and build up trust.”
The children were then asked if they could discuss times that they—or their partner— had been good friends. It was great to see that everyone had something to share! Coen in Year 6 said “Max helps Lorenzo and Archie feel better if they are sad.” Catherine in Year 1 said that “George encourages his friends.” Tyler in Year 6 said that “Malakai is friendly to others.”
This week, we have actioned choosing reduced sugar cereals in Breakfast Club and from next Monday, we will have brown bread instead of white, for toast.
We will be working with the children to find out what makes a healthy breakfast and try different foods that are healthy and a great start to the day.
You may have seen in the news recently the Change4Life campaign which aims to cut down sugar intake in children.
There are many benefits to eating fruit at break times, including extra vitamins to fight off those germs!
Please ensure that if your child has a snack at break time, it is a piece of fruit.
You can visit the Change4Life website for more information.
On Tuesday the 3rd of January, Pioneer staff took part in a Wellbeing INSET day.
We had visitors come in to show us how to promote our vitality and reduce our stress to be the best we can at our jobs.
We were split into three groups and for the day, we rotated into different activities.
One activity looked into nutrition and how going sugar-free can be beneficial to the body. We found some great recipes for sugar-free snacks that we really enjoyed!
The second activity showed us how our heartbeat reacted to emotions and to combat the more challenging emotions we might experience, we learnt different breathing techniques to calm our heartbeats.
The third activity was a brilliant yoga session. This showed us that exercise is a great way to clear the mind and relax. As a result, there will now be a staff yoga class weekly.
We learnt a lot during these sessions, especially about how important our wellbeing is and how having a good state of mind can really affect our work for the better.
We will be developing the technique of mindfulness with the pupils. There is a yoga class at Chiddingly Primary every Tuesday after school. If your child is interested in taking part, please speak to Miss Dutton in the office.
