Thank you to Aesop’s Theatre Company for the brilliant pantomimes performed to children this week.  Early Years and Key Stage 1 loved the story of The Hare and the Tortoise and Key Stage 2 enjoyed their play about Henry VIII!  There was fantastic audience participation throughout. Oh yes there was!

In today’s assembly we talked about our value of resilience.  We looked at dictionary definitions of the word…

Then we watched this video below, a dramatic clip of an determined bear cub and the inspirational example of resilience it demonstrates in its attempts to get back to its mum.  We discussed what challenges we might face when we could think of that bear cub and be inspired to persevere and not give up.

Can you leave a comment below this post and tell us when YOU will show resilience like the heroic little bear in the video?

Mr Poyton

Two passionate and well organised pupils in Year 4 ran their own anti-bullying writing competition for pupils.  Here they are with the winner and here is her winning poem, voted for by our School Council…

 

YOU SHOULD NOT BULLY

 

N o bullying because it’s mean

O ne should not start

 

B e kind and don’t hurt

U se kind feet and hands

L ove is what we need, not bullying

L ight side is the right thing not the bullying side

Y ou should not bully each other because it will hurt someone’s feelings

I n school or anywhere you shouldn’t be mean

N owhere is the place to bully

G o to someone like your teacher if someone bullies you

 

Thank you to all the parents who attended our NHS workshop on Childhood Illnesses.

For those who could not make it, you can find more information here and we highly recommend downloading the Mid Essex Child Health app on your phone or tablet.

We will contact families again if we are able to host another, similar workshop in the future.

 

Mr Poyton

Thank you to the Parents Association for organising the fantastic cake sale last week.  Thanks too, of course, to everyone who provided the cakes!  £175 was raised for the school.

Find out more about the Parents Association here and ask at the front office if you would like to get involved.

 

Mr Poyton

 

A message to all Lawford Mead pupils!

We hope to have another online advent calendar on our website this year but we need YOUR art to make it happen.

Give your winter and Christmas themed art work (ideally on A4 paper) to your teacher or to me and one day in December it could appear on the advent calendar and help people get excited about this holiday season!

Only 28 ‘sleeps’ to go!

Mr Poyton

 

Thursday of Anti-Bullying Week was #STOPSPEAKSUPPORT Day, a time to focus on how we treat each other online.

Here is a video with advice for older children, Year 5 & 6 particularly,  about what to do when ‘banter’ online turns negative.

Remember, whether online or face to face, it’s not ‘banter’ if…

1. You would be upset if someone said it to you.
2. It’s hurtful.
3.  You’re not friends.
4. Someone has asked you to stop.
5. The target isn’t laughing.
6. It focuses on someone’s insecurities (things they worry about).

And before you post something online, THINK…

1. Why am I posting this?
2. Am I being kind?
3. Would I say this to their face?
4. Could it be interpreted differently?
5. Do I have permission to post this?
6. Will I feel good about this later?

 

Mr Poyton

Our assemblies today were about anti-bullying week.  Yesterday we started the week in style when we celebrated our differences by wearing odd socks.

Today we talked about what bullying really is and what we can do to tackle it.  We  talked about the ‘STOP’ rule for recognising a problem and then solving it…

 

Bullying is when someone is  hurting or unkind to the same person…

S everal

T imes

O n

P urpose

When that happens we need to…

S tart

T elling 

O ther

P eople

Adults in school will always be ready to listen and help you.

The theme for anti-bullying week this year is ‘Choose Respect’.  Lucky for us, RESPECT is one of our values!  I asked Reception and KS1 how we can show RESPECT to others.  They had some brilliant answers…

• care for others
• use kind words, hands and feet
• say sorry
• play kindly
• play with people who look sad
• don’t fight
• think about others
• take care of people’s things
• listen to each other

Let’s all remember these things and work as a team to make sure everyone feels safe and happy at school so they can do their very best learning.

Have you got any other top tips for each other?  What anti-bullying motto and promises did you and your class come up with this week?

Mr Poyton

There was a lot to remember in our celebration assembly today!

Anti-Bullying Week 2018: Choose Respect

• Next week is National Anti-Bullying Week.  The theme this year is ‘Choose Respect’.
• To kick things off, on Monday, pupils and staff at schools across the country (including Lawford Mead!) will be wearing odd socks to show that we celebrate and value our differences. No donation required.
• There is also an Anti-Bullying writing competition.  You can write whatever you like, a poem, a story…as long as it has an anti-bullying or respect theme. There can be an element of drawing, especially for younger children.  You can hand your entries to Miss Cope, Miss Dearing or a member of School Council.  The deadline is next Friday, November 16th.

Children In Need

• Next Friday is also Children in Need day.
• Wristbands (£1) and bookmarks (10p) will be on sale in the playground during break and lunchtimes throughout the week….until we run out!
• Friday is our spotty/polka dot themed non-uniform day.  Please bring donations of at least 50p.

It’s going to be a fun week. What are you looking forward to most? Thank you to School Council for all they are doing to organise these events.

Remembrance

School Council have also been selling poppies and we were very proud of all the children this morning when we all held a respectful and thoughtful minute’s silence in assembly.

 

Wishing all our families a fantastic weekend,

Mr Poyton

Check out this brilliant poem Jess and Elsie from Year 6 wrote and read out to the whole school in celebration assembly for our reflection time…

 

Reverse your fear

And keep your mind clear.

Never have anything that could interfere.

Make sure your face is decorated with a smile.

No matter what people say

Wear it with style.

Wake up stronger than yesterday.

 

Face your fears and wipe your tears.

Face your fears with things you enjoy.

This might even be playing with your favourite toy.

Remember to always count your friends as a team.

Doing this, you will be able to live your dream.

Confront your fears

Because then they won’t be your fears any more.