Message from the Headteacher

Dear all, 

Welcome back to a shiny new term. Happy New Year to you all. I hope you enjoyed the festive break. 

After every school holiday we take the time to remind the children of our expectations and the school rules ‘Be kind, Be safe and Be ready’. We also talk to the children about why we have these rules and ask the children to think about what they look like in practice. You might want to start using the same language at home. We always reinforce the behaviours we want to see rather than those we have noticed. For example ‘please stay safe and walk’ rather than ‘stop running’. We always reward the children verbally and with ClassDojo points to make sure the children can feel proud that they are following the school’s expectations. This half-termly ‘reset’ really helps the children and staff know and understand how important it is that we are consistent in working together to have a safe and happy school. 

This week we have also met for the first time with our ‘Kindness Ambassadors’ who have a very special role in our school; to be role models, displaying acts of kindness and looking for others who are being kind and nominating them for 5 ‘Being kind’ dojo points. 

When sharing with the children how being kind is important, we have used the idea of being a Bucket Filler. The idea of being a Bucket Filler is based on the idea that everybody (adults and children alike!) carries an invisible bucket around with them, all day, every day. The bucket represents our emotions/feelings and is affected by our everyday experiences. So, for example, when lots of things happen which make us feel good, our bucket becomes full (of positive emotions) and when things happen to us, which make us feel less great, our bucket becomes less full. Negative experiences and feelings 'dip' from our buckets. Life is all about balancing this and keeping your bucket as full as possible - but it's not all about just focussing on your own bucket, because by filling other people's buckets, you top your own up, too!

Thank you for your continued support. Have a restful weekend ( I am secretly still wishing for some proper snow). 

Thank you for your continued support.

Kerry Devane