Every once in a while someone comes up with a new list of things children should do whilst they are young.

What do you think of this new one? See below. Ten things to do by the time you are ten years old. We looked at it during reflection time in our assembly video today.

Leave a comment below telling me if you have done any of these. Which is your favourite?

Which ones have you NOT done? Are any of them an ambition of yours?

What do you think should be on this list that isn’t on there?

Which ones can you do at Lawford Mead?

1. Join in competitive team sports
2. Play an instrument
3. Learn to swim
4. Take part in drama and performing arts
5. Visit the seaside and the countryside
6. Experience museums, galleries and heritage sites
7. Take part in camping trips and overnight residentials
8. Learn to ride a bike
9. Take part in debating
10. Use a library

In Friday assembly’s reflection time, we thought about last week’s historic SpaceX mission. What made it special was that the team of four space travellers, who were named Inspiration4, were NOT astronauts! They received SOME astronaut training but it was the first ever mission into space where no one on board was a fully trained astronaut! How amazing for those 4 people, their dreams have come true!

This made me realise that if any Lawford Mead pupils dream of visiting space when they are older, it could be a real possibility, even if they don’t become astronauts. It got us talking in assembly, about the big dreams and ambitions that we are aspiring to achieve in the future.

Here’s what some of the children said…

“I want to take care of sick animals.”

“I want to be a paramedic.”

“I want to earn lots of money so I can help people with it.”

“I want to be a singer but I am nervous on stage.”

For that last one we discussed how we could build confidence and find opportunities to sing at Lawford Mead!

What are YOUR ambitions for the future? Leave a comment below.

No dream is too big! Reach for the stars!

In assembly last Friday we talked about Emma Raducanu, the brilliant young British tennis player who has shown amazing resilience this year. Back in June, Emma had to pull out of the Wimbledon tennis tournament as she wasn’t feeling confident. But she went back to training and worked very hard to prepare herself for the next tournament.

And last week she BOUNCED BACK and made it into the FINAL of the US Open! Did you see what happened in the final match at the weekend…? As we saw in this Tuesday’s assembly…

…SHE WON!

CONGRATULATIONS EMMA, FROM ALL OF US HERE AT LAWFORD MEAD!

Emma had to show resilience in the final too, as right near the end of the match she slid over and cut her knee. But she stayed calm, her knee was bandaged and she bounced back to WIN!

Just 18 years old, Emma broke many records with her big win, including being the first British woman to win a major tennis tournament in 44 years!

What can we learn from Emma Raducanu? When have you showed resilience? When and how will you show it next?

Leave a comment below.

During an assembly last week, we watched the BBC’s closing montage from the Tokyo Olympics. You can watch it again below.

We thought about how the athletes would have felt when they won their medals – and how it would motivate them to keep going and achieve even MORE!

We also thought about the athlete’s families and how they would have felt watching from home and when they were reunited at the airport like we saw in the video.

We agreed that by aspiring to achieve our best, all learners at Lawford Mead (and their families) can capture those same feelings of pride.

What will you do this term to capture that feeling of pride, for you and for your family?

Leave a comment below.

In our first assembly of the term we looked at how well the sunflowers in our school garden have done over the summer break. Look how tall they got!

During the assembly we talked about how pupils might want to grow this year. We didn’t mean how TALL you will grow though, did we? We meant what do you want to work hard at so you improve, make progress and ‘grow’?

Do you want to grow as a writer by working on your handwriting or spelling? As a mathematician by working on your times tables? Do you want to grow as an scientist? As an artist? Historian? Athlete?

Leave a comment below telling us your plans for growth this year…and tell us how will you do it!

Mr Poyton