Surrounding Children With Items of Wonder That Will Ignite Their curiosity

It is widely known that getting enough sleep can significantly benefit memory, learning, attention, mood, behaviour and physical health so, in this week’s assembly we read the story “Can’t you sleep Little Bear” and shared ideas for how we could help Little Bear have a good night’s sleep.  The children were amazing and came up with lots of ideas both for bedtime and the time leading up to bedtime. 

Following our e-safety lessons the children remembered how not using screens for an hour before bedtime helps their minds to relax, and having a warm bath or a cup of warm milk helps them to feel relaxed.  The boys and girls had lots of top-tips for Little Bear including having an energetic day so you feel tired at bedtime, having a cuddly toy or blankie to snuggle with, listening to a story or relaxing music, thinking or writing down five good things from that day, reading a book and having cuddles with Mummy or Daddy. 

We also discussed bedtimes and that a bedtime between 6.30-7.30pm is ideal for a lot of our children in order to gain the NHS’s recommended hours of sleep every night (3 – 5 year olds: 11 – 13 hours,  5 – 9 year olds: 10 - 11 hours). Finally, we discussed how not having enough sleep can affect our mood so we can feel more grumpy or irritable and find our learning and friendships more challenging if tired, reinforcing how sleep is important for mind and body.

This week, it has not only been the children who have been learning but the teachers too! On Wednesday, we hosted the Heads of Pre-Prep from all over the South West, sharing our wonderful school and good practice with them. On Thursday, Miss Wadman and Mrs Manchorova attended a professional development day lead by ‘We Are Little Wonders’, focussing on surrounding children with items of wonder that will ignite their curiosity and fill them with questions that need exploring, and on Friday, Miss Wells and Miss Coker-Harris travelled to Bristol to join Pie Corbett for a day of Talk for Writing.  We are passionate about developing the strengths, knowledge and passion of our team so  we can continue to be at the forefront of education, providing your children with the best possible start to their lives and academic journey.

The week ended with a brilliant performance by our Year 2 children in their Review.  The children sang and danced with courage and confidence, demonstrating how ready they are for the step up into Year 3!

Finally, today we said goodbye to Miss Watson who is packing her bags to jet off to Kenya where she will be working with local communities and schools.  We have loved having Miss Watson as part of our Pre-Prep team and are filled with mixed emotions - she will be hugely missed by the children and staff but we know she has many exciting adventures ahead!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing you for the last week of this half term.

With best wishes,

Hannah Strugnell