Following on from last week where we watched a clip from Inside Out that showed Sadness appearing and changing the girls laugh (Joy) to a cry, we began to discuss the feeling of ‘Sad’. In partners we discussed some of the things that have made us sad. The children were very open and we realised that lots of people get sad about the same thing. It was discussed that we will all feel sad at some point, but it is important to know what to do when we feel sad. We listened to a story called ‘When I Feel Sad’ and realised that the character in the book cried, got a hug and made sure that he talked about what was making him sad so that he could move on.

The children identified adults in school, family and home and friends that they could talk to if they need.

This week in the Green Unit we have welcomed some University Students who are joining us as part of their teacher training journey. They have made a good start this week and are busy getting to know the children. The student teachers are fully supported by our teachers and they are working in specific classes with the aim to plan for teaching and learning with support.

STAR ASSEMBLY CLASS: Congratulations to P1M who worked well in partners discussing our topic of Sadness before sharing their ideas with the rest of the children.

STAR PUPILS: Congratulations goes to our Star Pupils. It was great that one of our pupils was awarded a certificate for her kindness to others and her ability to make others happy – this is very much in line with our emotion learning as we realised today that other people can have an impact on how we feel!

On Monday 18^th February assembly was very busy! To begin with we continued our learning about feelings. This week we focussed on the character Joy from Inside Out. We watched a small clip to show the ‘Birth of Joy’ and the effect that Joy had on Riley the girl in the movie.

After some think, pair, share time, we shared our ideas on the effect that feeling happy has on the body. We also shared things that made us happy.

We were then treated to something very special which made us all feel happy for a Monday morning! The Cults Glee Club came to perform their songs that they have been working very hard on. Their dancing was excellent and the singing too.

We then introduced our new unit leaders to the P1s and P2s and they were presented with their very own Unit Leader badge.

At the end of the assembly we discussed the playground and the children were clearly told that all stones should be left in the playground and not played with or thrown. There are some big stones in our playground and this can be dangerous to throw them. Our unit leaders met for the first time 2 weeks ago and they would like to focus on the playground and ensuring everyone is safe and happy.

Star assembly class: The trophy went to P2W this week as I have seen a significant improvement in their listening bodies and they were a great audience when the Glee club performed their songs.

Star Pupils: We had a lot of star certificates go to pupils who have been trying their very best and improving in reading. It is great to see pupils putting in the effort to improve in their learning.

Miss Catlow

In Assembly this week we continued to learn about our mental health by naming a range of feelings. We began to use the feeling characters from the movie ‘Inside Out’ to help us group our feelings. The feeling characters from Inside Out are Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust and Fear.

Lots of children have seen this movie and were quite excited! We watched a short clip where we met the Inside Out characters and saw the effect that the feelings had on the behaviour of the main character. For example when the girl was playing a game building a stack of cards she accidentally knocked one over and the feeling of Anger kicked in. We the then saw her smash the whole thing up because she was so frustrated. This led to a discussion about how our feelings can impact our behaviours. We will continue to explore this.

BARTS and CASPER children have now got a signposted meeting point in the Green GP area and a visual guide has been created to encourage the pupils to register, then find a seat in their area, have a chat to their friends and wait patiently until all children are collected. The area can get quite busy with the P2 children lining up to go home and reinforcement of these rules from parents of the afterschool club pupils is greatly appreciated.

Star Assembly Class: Congratulations goes to P2M. I saw some fantastic listening and the class is working well as a team.

Star Pupils: Congratulations to our star pupils for this week! The teachers are very proud.

This week we revisited the rights of a child, making links to our learning with Miss McKay in Term 1 and 2. We will now focus on the following rights; Article 17 (right to get information that is important to your well-being) and Article 24 (right to the best health care).  As a unit we began to discuss the difference between our physical health and our mental health.  This work will continue and will look further at our feelings and how these impact our mind and actions over the next few assemblies. It will lead into a focus on resilience.

At home any discussions about feelings (naming them, recognising them, knowing what it does to our body in terms of how we feel and look) and how we manage these feelings looking particularly at coping strategies for resilience building, would be very useful.  I will share the strategies we focus on in school!

The P2 pupils have been offered the opportunity to put themselves forwards as leaders for the units. I will be looking for 2 pupils from each P2 class and these will be chosen in class by the rest of their classmates. Some have been chosen already! I really look forward to working with the small group closely and will ask the children to share what they are doing through my blog so that you know what they are up to!

Star Assembly Class: Congratulations goes to P1/2 this week! As a team they sat very well and we had one of their classmates up as a volunteer which was very appreciated! It was hard to choose a class this week as they are all working hard in assembly!

Star Pupils: Congratulations to all our star pupils this week. I am very proud to see people working hard in their learning and trying their very best.