More amazing learning.

I hope this latest blog finds you well and safe. Last week we were inundated by the amazing work that we were sent in by the children. Thanks so much for sending this in, it makes the staff so happy to see you all and to look at what you've been doing. We had cooking, writing, drawing, reasearch and even a ransom note! I've attached these to this blog.

Please remember that the most important thing at the moment is to keep yourselves well and healthy. It has been great to hear from parents and carers asking questions and giving feedback.

The situation with schools opening and how this will happen remains very fluid. When we have definitive guidance, we will let all parents know. Please keep your report comments coming in, we've had some fantastic comments from the children about school that we can't wait to put on reports. 

Weekly Wellbeing: Breathing can be a great way to reduce stress and anxiety. The NHS website has some exercisises here that you could try. They never fail to relax me and my family.

Action for happiness have also released some resources for “Meaningful May”. There are lots of different ideas for wellbeing and mindfulness here. https://www.actionforhappiness.org/meaningful-may

Riddle Three: What is as big as you but never weighs a thing?

The weekly assembly this week is based on beach safety, ready for when we can enjoy our glorious surroundings again. 

The staff are always happy to answer questions. Please stay safe. This link https://vimeo.com/408869000 is also very useful for guidance if things are getting a bit tough at home. 

Mr Whipps

RNLI Assembly 4th May 2020

We are really lucky living where we do that we have access to so many amazing beaches. This week we would have welcomed the RNLI into school to update us all about beach safety. Sadly, with the lockdown and schools being shut this couldn't happen. 

This week's assembly is all about staying safe at the beaches. The website here is full of fantastic ideas, information and advice that will keep us safe when we can finally visit the beaches again. 

Have a look at the assembly and then maybe try one of these activites:

• Create a short film about making the right choices at the beach. 
• Make a poster about the flags that could be displayed at the beach.
• Paint/ draw a picture linked to the topic. 

Wellbeing and Health

As we enter another week of social distancing, I wanted to highlight the ways that we could look after our own mental health and wellbeing. These are very strange times and all the staff know how difficult it is juggling children, jobs and home learning. We have loved seeing the learning and activities that have been going on from cooking, model making, hairdressing and spelling. 

I have been trying to try different recipes out and have been trying to keep up with Joe Wicks (without much success). 

Thank-you to all of the people who have emailed the teachers about their learning along with requests for help. I also know that there are several of you out there who got the correct answer to my first riddle! For those of you playing along the second one is: What type of bell can't you hear in springtime?

One thing that I would like to share with you as a way to practise mindfulness is making a "Positivity Jar". Each day spend a few minutes as a family and write down all the things that made you smile that day. It could be the sunshine, a joke or what you saw on a walk. Soon you will be able to see all the positive things that have happened over the course of time. 

Alongside the wellbeing page on the website here, I have included some links that may be useful for helping with mental health and wellbeing. If you know of any more, please let me know. 

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

Healthy body: https://www.sportengland.org/stayinworkout Healthy Mind https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/

Keeping safe online: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/support-tools/home-activity-worksheets?utm_source=Thinkuknow&utm_campaign=03cb8440df-TUK_ONLINE_SAFETY_AT_HOME_24_03_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b54505554-03cb8440df-64756705

For children who enjoy cooking :https://www.jamieoliver.com/kitchen-buddies/

PE: Joe Wicks on YouTube is very rewarding. 

Please stay well in these times. 

Mr Whipps. 

BBC Bitesize Daily

I hope this blog entry finds you and your families well. The purpose of this update is to let you know that today, the BBC launched "Bitesize Daily". This is a section of their website where each year group has a selection of lessons each day. They are aimed at the correct curricular level and cover all the core subjects and others such as science, history, geography and also wellbeing. 

They are well worth looking at and asking the children to have a go at if they feel able. There are a host of famous people helping to create the content including Sir David Attenborough, Danny Dyer and Dr Who to name a few. 

Again, please complete the work that you feel able to. It can be done alongside the work set by teachers on the blog pages. Staff are happy to support through email.

Please stay well. 

Mr Whipps

Updates and Thanks

I hope this blog finds you and your family safe and well as we enter the second week of the summer term.

Many thanks to all those parents and carers who have taken the time to sit with their children and to sent in the comments for the reports. It always brings a smile to our faces to find out what you have enjoyed most (from playing with friends, using the drones or the maths sessions) and how much you enjoy your time at school!

It has also been wonderful to recieve so many photos and examples of work that you have been doing. Spellings, arts, crafts and writing have all featured highly in this regard. I am hoping to be able to share some of these with you on this page, so please keep them coming in. 

With at least another three weeks of the lockdown in place, we are recieving daily updates from the trust and Department for Education. I will share these with you in this section as well. We are still unsure when school with re-open but when we have more information about this, we will pass it on.

In the meantime, I am going to set some challenges on this page to see if you are able to complete them. Keep your answers at home and share them with me once school opens again. 

Riddle One: What can be broken but still be right twice a day?

The wellbeing of the children is important to all of the staff at Darite. To this end, if you are able please have a go at the home learning that will be updated on the class pages weekly. The staff are always happy to help answer any questions you have. I will also add a mindfulness excersise on this page weekly that you can have a go at with the children.

Mindfulness Activity One: Find a quiet place to sit. Set a timer for one minute and close your eyes. Listen to your surroundings and think about the sounds, smells and other things you notice. After the minute is up, open your eyes. You can always draw one of the things you heard. 

Please stay healthy and stay in touch if you need us.