Supporting you to support each other 21.4.20

As I spent my Easter holidays in very different times this year I came across lots of great advice and support for us all in such times of unknown and times of real change. A great piece of writing I came across was in the Glasgow Times which provided super ideas and advice on how to support yourself and others during Lockdown. I thought it would be good to share some of these ideas with you this week as part of our Health and Wellbeing weekly posts over the next two weeks.

 

The ideas shared range from special breathing exercises to ways of talking about feelings. I’ll share 4 of the strategies and supports the Glasgow Times discussed today.

INFORM

Provide clear, age appropriate information and reassure. Be led by what your child talks about. Talking will help reduce anxiety.

CONNECT

Encourage talking to friends and family through technology. Connection supports positive wellbeing.

SOOTHE

Spend time doing fun and positive activities together, laugh, sing, dance, try out relaxation and breathing exercises together.

CONTROL

Focus on what you and your child can do like handwashing, eating well, exercise, learning a new skill.

Some great advice and know that we are also hear to support you in these times and to stay connected to you and yours. Tomorrow we will look at further advice that was shared in the post which supports Acknowledgement and recognising feelings.

Have a great day in the lovely sunshine everyone and keep making memories.

Mrs Docherty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WELCOME BACK EVERYONE!

Good morning everyone,

We hope you have all had a lovely Easter break with your families!

Yesterday was the start of a new term of learning and adventures. Your teachers have been busy planning and preparing some learning activities for you to work on this week. Remember to do just what you can when you can. If you are unsure of anything just drop your teacher an email or send us a message via the class blog pages, we are all here to help you.

It looks like the sun is going to be shining brightly today so please take time to get outside if you can for some fun in the sun!

Today our staff team wanted to send you all a message at the beginning of this new term as we are all missing you:

Have a great week everyone and stay safe!

Mrs Smith & Mrs Roy

POSITIVE SONG FOR THE WEEK 20.4.20

Welcome back after the Easter break. I hope you have had a lovely time with your family and that you have made many memories to cherish at this time.

As we return to our New Term albeit a very different start to our final term I think the message we need to continue to focus on is that we are all in this together. We will get through this with the help of our friends and the support of each other. On this note the Song for the Week has been chosen by James in P3/4. It is a great song with a very strong message of Hope and Friendship which is what we are all relying on at the moment. It’s You’ve Got a Friend in Me from Toy Story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNi02gxTI1M

 

The lyrics always make me smile and help us realise that at St Ninian’s we stick together and share everything along the way as good friends do. One of my favourite lines is:

And as the years go by

Our Friendship will never die

You got to see it’s our destiny

You’ve got a friend in me

Please know we are missing you all greatly and missing the smiley faces  but also know  that when we are all back together we will continue to make great memories and build on our amazing Friendship as it is one that will last a lifetime even as the years go by. Have a good week everyone,

 

Mrs Docherty

Positive thought for the week 3.4.20

Good  morning everyone. Well done on another successful week of learning and making memories in our new normal routines and with our distance learning.  Life has certainly changed over the past few weeks and as we adjust to this new normal we hope that it will be for a short period safe in the knowledge that we will weather this together.

On that note my positive thought going into the weekend is:

 

As we all adjust to this new way of life it is important that we try to find alternative ways to make memories and make the most of all the wonderful things we have.  It’s important to make memories that will last a lifetime, laugh at the smallest of things, dance to the music and care for each other holding close in our hearts our loved ones.

One of the most uplifting things I heard this week was a Scottish grandma’s advice to her grandchildren. It brought both a tear and a great big smile to me all at once. Her inspirational message reminds her family  that it’s finding a new way to dance in the rain that will get us all through this to the warmth of the sun and each other. She even made National News and GMB.

You are all doing amazing things from home and we appreciate all you are doing and the contact you are keeping with us. It means a lot.

I’ll end my post with a beautiful poem Mrs Scott shared with me and the staff team called At Home. Please read it as it is truly magical and heart warming and sums up a beautiful positive message of how well you are all doing. Thank you Mrs Scott.

https://www.freechildrenstories.com/at-home

Have a lovely weekend and a wonderful Easter holiday as you switch off and spend time together with your loved ones whether that is in your home or via the phone. You truly deserve a magical time. Keep smiling and dancing!

Happy Easter everyone,

Mrs Docherty

Daily update – 3/4/20

Good morning everyone,

It felt strange waking up this morning on this last day of term, we should have all been having family tea and toast together at school before our Stay, Play and Learn Outdoors morning. It would be great if families could still take part in this today and spend a little time in their gardens or perhaps go for a short walk together.

Here are some ideas for outdoor learning that you might want to use:

Nature-Play-Leaflet

Remember it’s also Funky Friday, so get the music on and get dancing!

Today would also have been our last Hot Chocolate Friday of the term so today we nominate………ALL OF YOU!!! Join us at 11.15am for a hot chocolate in recognition of all your hard work these last few weeks at home.

As we approach Holy Week let’s also take time to prepare ourselves for Easter. The Archdiocese of Edinburgh have some useful guides and activities for families to do:

Notes-for-parentscarers-catechists

Holy-Week-Day-by-Day

Stations-of-the-Cross-for-Children

We have also provided some additional materials for over the Easter holidays if anyone is looking for some activities to do as has West Lothian Council:

Easter Holiday Activities

https://www.westlothian.gov.u k/article/51911/Learning-at-home

All that’s left to say is have a restful, relaxing family break for the next 2 weeks and enjoy Easter when it comes. The teachers will be logging off today for their Easter break too and will be back online on Monday 20th April.

Stay safe everyone, take care!

Mrs Roy and Mrs Smith

 

Reading Advice and Support 2.4.20

Good morning,

Today we will complete our Reading advice for this week. I hope you have found the hints, links, strategies and resources helpful. Please look back for these posts for all of the information and as always remember I am here to help so please leave any comments or questions.

A great website to use for ideas and book recommendations is Book Trust. The site is split into ages and provides recommendations of books for all ages.

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/search/#!?cat=&type=Booklist&q=&sortOption=MostRecent&pageNo=1

On this page you will find lists of books for your children depending on their age and stage of reading. I loved looking through it as my children are older so it keeps me in touch with what’s out there! Some new books added to my reading list!

A great resource on the Book Trust website is the link to Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell BookTrust Home Time. I have included a word document which explains what this amazing initiative is all about. It is very exciting and offers a digital hub  with a wealth of resources to support reading and illustrating. Definitely worth a look.

childrens-laureate-cressida-cowell-launches-booktrust-home-time-final

We will revisit Reading and Spelling support in the coming weeks. The next focus I will be supporting is writing.

Have a great day everyone,

Mrs Docherty

Daily update – 2nd April 2020

Good morning,

Hope you all had a good night’s sleep and feel ready for the day ahead! Mrs Docherty has been posting some really helpful information about the importance of sleep for our wellbeing via the blog.

It has been lovely seeing some of our families at the HUB on a Monday and then talking to pupils via the blog or TEAMS.

The theme we have been working on in school for Building Resilience is ‘Talk things over’ and never has there been a greater time to do this! Mrs Smith and I have been calling parents to check in for a chat and we will continue to do this today and tomorrow. We are also available via email each day for any questions or concerns.

Have a good day everyone, we have almost made it to the Easter holidays!

Mrs Roy and Mrs Smith

 

 

Mindfulness 2.4.20

Good morning everyone,

You are all doing so well with our new normal and engaging so well in all of the activities and learning online.

In these times we also need to remember that it is equally important to look after our wellbeing. Last week I posted helpful hints on mindfulness with ideas and strategies to help us have that all important downtime.

Thursdays are now such important days where we all stop at 8 o clock and thank our NHS. This is a time for reflection. These times are important for ourselves and our own wellbeing daily also. Today I have included a link for a great resource to use with your children at this time.

There are 5 themes to explore on this site. They are Calm, Focus, Kindness, Sleep and Wake up.  Your child will be introduced to simple fun breathing exercises, how to practise a relaxed precise kind of focus, will be taught about openness and generosity, how to get a good night’s sleep with relaxed mindfulness activities. These simple meditations will help your child start the day of right.

http://www.headspace.com/meditation/kids

 

As today is Thursday I have also included a Mindfulness NHS Heart picture to colour as a family and to say thank you. This is a little challenge from Mrs Docherty and one I’d love to see you share. I’m going to do one and display it in my house to remind me about what  the most important things in life are and to remind me to stop and have quiet time.

NHS Mindfulness colouring

Please take times in your day to stop and think about you. Take time to stop and switch off and take time to relax your body and mind.

Have a lovely day everyone. I’m thinking of you all,

Mrs Docherty

 

Sound Sleep 1.4.20

Good morning,

Following on from yesterday’s blog post on sleep today’s focus will be sleep behaviours.

When reviewing our sleep patterns and ability to have a good night’s sleep there are specific questions we can follow to help us build up a picture of what our sleep behaviours are. There may be things we can amend or change that will help to support good sleep routines and patterns. Some of the questions we can ask ourselves over a two week period  are:

  1. In the past two weeks how often have you felt tired or sleepy during the day?
  2. In the past two weeks how often have you stayed awake until after midnight?
  3. In the past two weeks how often have you gone to bed because you could nit stay awake any longer?
  4. In the past two weeks how often have you watched TV or played a console, used a phone or tablet in bed?
  5. In the past two weeks how often have you felt tired or sleepy during the day?
  6. In the past two weeks how often have you found it hard to fall asleep?
  7. In the past two weeks how often have you felt tired or sleepy during the day?
  8. In the past two weeks how often have you woke up during the night and found it hard to get back to sleep?

Try and build a picture of your sleep routines using the questions above over a 2 week period. If you can find things that are regularly coming up try and change some of the routines and see if that makes a difference to how you get over to sleep and how good a sleep you have.

Have a great day.

Mrs Docherty

Reading Support and ideas 1.4.20

Good morning,

Welcome to April. This week’s focus has been Reading with helpful hints on how to support reading and reading for meaning.  As we are all at home I have included some helpful hints on how to create a reading environment and continue to foster a love of reading in our own houses.

  1.  Routine: Make reading part of your daily routine. This links in well with our Sound Sleep advice. It could be part for our evening and downtime hour to allow us to switch off in preparation for sleep.
  2. Read at home: Reading regularly at home promotes a love of reading and supports your child in becoming a great reader. Your children could even read to their siblings, pets and even toys!
  3. Make a special reading spot: Designating a special reading spot for your child to read with you is not only fun, but is also a great way to create a distraction-free zone where they can concentrate.
  4. Be a great reading partner: As parents you could read aloud and track the words with your finger as you are reading.  Read the story over and over and try using different voices to do this. Ask questions as you are reading. You can find hints on how to do this on yesterday’s reading blog.
  5. Bring books everywhere: Bring books wherever you go. In the car, on a picnic, in the garden
  6. Be a positive example: In school we have ERIC time which is everyone reading in class, this includes the teacher.  A good way to continue this is by us as parents being caught reading and also during that downtime hour reading our own book as our child reads theirs.

Have a great Wednesday and as always stay safe.

Mrs Docherty

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