Today we celebrated Positive Noticing Day!

The children took time over the day to positively notice each other, focusing on boosting each other up and spreading positivity.

After lunch positive noticing tags were written and delivered across the school - it was heart-warming to see the children writing down such thoughtful messages to each other. 

We hope that the children take away the message that positive noticing is quick, but long lasting, and every day can be an opportunity to positively notice those around them.

Together with Finstock Primary School, we raised £119.50!

Children in Need supports children in the community across the UK. They fund amazing people in family centres, community spaces, youth clubs and refuges, homeless shelters, hospices and helplines.

This year, we fundraised for Children in Need by asking children to wear something spotty in exchange for a suggested donation.

Throughout the day we took part in Children in Need maths challenges, and the Bluey Dance Mode challenge! Every time someone yelled ‘dance mode!’ everyone had to get up and dance for 10 seconds!

Year 1 took full advantage of this and surprised Miss Dixon to a dance party in her office!

Olympus Class

Olympus class shared a class assembly about the theme Respect linked to anti bullying. 

We talked about bullying being a repeated unkindness e.g words or physical actions. The children explored differences and similarities when looking at the odd socks worn to school today. They realised that although they were all different, we are still a class family together. 

We played games to recognise that we can like different things but still be kind and still be friends eg sit down if you like pizza, wave if dogs are your favourite animals. 

The children then went off to play an activity with the child sat opposite them - this was a lovely opportunity to play with a new friend.

Blencathra 

Blencathra learnt about the life long consequences of bullying. They started by all having a plain piece of paper and were asked to screw it up. Their task was to put the paper back to how it was before. This was an impossible challenge!

This taught them about the impact of bullying and how the damage of it may never go away. As a class they made a friendship chain to show that they can be bigger and stronger when they are kind and work together.

Everest 

For anti-bullying week, Everest Class has focused on the theme “choose respect”. Together, they created a respect display for the classroom wall. To celebrate Odd Socks day, they shared their socks and celebrated their uniqueness and individuality.

Scafell Pike

We spoke about what respect means to us.  We discussed different scenarios around respect and how we could change them to be kinder. For example, 'a new classmate is sitting alone at lunch time and a group of children walked past and giggled and made comments about them being alone.'

We had discussion about why we wearing odd socks and how we are all different.

We made anti-bullying posters and wrote poems about respect. 

Pupil Voice

'Respect means not saying bad words. Respect means not bullying'  - Juanita 

'Don't bully, be kind' - Bethany

'Respect is like if someone is sad and you can make them happy' - Leani

'Respect means no bullying and respecting other people's beliefs' - Mia-Rose

Snowdon 

Pupil Voice

"Being different is okay because everyone is different " Katie 

"It would be boring if everyone was the same " Pleasant 

"It's good to be different because you might have different skills" Finley

 

This year, our Year 4 children visited Witney Methodist Church to 'Experience Harvest'.

The visit enabled us to explore traditions of harvest from around the world, the importance of it and the history associated.

The traditions explored included: harvest of the oceans, grain, flocks, gardens and the ground. Finally, they focused on the Jewish festival of Sukkot and Thanksgiving.

The children shared their experiences from the activities. They then thought of lots of different foods and drinks based on colours - this proved quite tricky! We ended the session with a discussion on how thankful they are for all of the food and drink they have at Harvest time.

Pupil voice: 

"I enjoyed learning how the grain is made into flour, we tasted some bread too." Freddie

"We thought of so many different foods, we had orange and yellow. We thought of 22 different ones." Ruby

On Thursday 10th October, we celebrated World Mental Health Day by taking part in 'Hello Yellow Day', supporting YoungMinds. YoungMinds is the UK's leading charity championing the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. Driven by their experience, YoungMinds creates change so that children and young people can cope with life's adversities, find help when needed and succeed in life.

In total, we raised £50.30!

Reception:

We learnt about mindfulness as part of Hello Yellow Day. They explored different breaths to help regulate e.g ice breath and ninja breath.

They discussed how friends can support us and how we can support our friends e.g making pasta friendship bracelets, making a card and sharing an activity with a friend can help when we are sad or feel a little bit anxious.

The class looked at emotions cards and wondered how the people were feeling and why. They used emotion fans to explain how they were feeling and began to decide how a character in a story might be feeling - moving the character up or down on the narrative map depending on how they thought they may feel.

They explored resources in The Colour Monster calming corner e.g bubble timers, books about emotions and different resources to manipulate to focus and calm with.

Children talked about how their grown ups at home and school can help them and how it is nice to ask our friends how they are feeling and if they need any help.

Pupil voice:

Ava-May: I liked the blu-tac best. I can use it when I am cross and stretched it out this big!

Marc: I like the bubble timer - it looks like volcanoes

Avisha: Maxine is my friend

 

 

KS1

We discussed the meaning of mental health and how we can boost our wellbeing. We did mindful colouring and positive affirmations listening to meditative music. 

Pupil voice:

Ellie: Mental health means your mind and feelings being okay. Sometimes you're not okay and that's alright.

Mahmoud: I liked when we all put butterflies in our hair. It made me really happy. We all look really cool like the Ben Hope familes!

KS2

What we learnt on World Mental Health Day:

'There's lots of things I need to take care of for my mental health:

1. We need to calm down. If you're freaking out, don't worry and stay calm

2. If you're stressed out, chill and relax

3. If you can't concentrate, read a book, sleep, draw, paint, do some handwriting, or just and relax your mind.'

Zoe, Year 5

Today, we followed this advice and took some time for ourselves, taking part in mindful colouring and reflection time. 

Empowering Children To Find Inner Calm 

Mind Marvels are working with our Year 3 and 4 classes in supporting their mental health and wellbeing through practical tools and calming strategies to promote resilience, confidence and develop an “emotional toolbox” for life.

 

 

Our Year 6 children attended a Junior Citizen's workshop at Oxford Fire Station. The children experienced a range of safety scenarios where they were taught a variety of skills and suggested ways to safely deal with a situation which could arise during daily life.

Each safety scenario gave the children the opportunity of recognising and dealing with danger in a realistic way and one which they will remember, should they need to cope with a similar situation in real life.

Ella, Joella and Katy wrote up their memories of the day:

Ella - It was my favourite thing in the world apart from my dog and my birthday!

We went through different rooms with different tasks. There were phones in each room to call 999 (not a real 999 call!). The rooms felt realistic and we were in control of our actions.

The best part was the room with the fake alleyway. It felt realistic and scary. We felt like we were in a real situation and had to take control of the situation.

We learnt the most important person in these situations and that we had to take control.

We would recommend this experience to the next year 6. We found it entertaining and it helped us with future challenges that we will face as we get older.

 

If you are in year 5, don't continue reading! You will experience this next year!

 

We were set off into groups of 6and then sent off to the rooms. The first room we experienced was the alleyway. There was a man who tried to get our names and give us a strange looking parcel, then we had to make a 999 call.

The second room we experienced was a train incident with a (fake) body on the tracks. It looked like a train was coming and we had to make another 999 call.

The third room we experienced was an internet safety video. It was very interesting and had a good message, then we had to answer some questions about internet safety.

The fourth room we experienced was a realistic living room and we had to spot the hazardous items.

The fifth room we experienced was a kitchen, where the oven was smoking and the smoke alarm was set off. We had to go and pull the fire alarm, then make a 999 call.

The sixth room was a river where one person from our group had to pretend to drown and we had to rescue the drowning person, then make another 999 call.

The last room was a bike incident. We had to search the area and make the 999 call.

Forest School takes place in our wonderful woodland environment and supports the development of relationships between our learners and the natural world. Forest School is a play based, child initiated approach to learning suitable for all ages. Learning is achieved through playing and exploring as well as teaching skills and knowledge. Forest School is delivered by the amazing Nicky who brings passion and engagement to every session.

Regular Forest School offers children opportunities to achieve and develop confidence, self-esteem and promotes positive mental well-being. Sessions are planned loosely based on the interests of the children and development needs; we support free-play opportunities and encourage natural curiosity and scaffold this learning through deeper questioning and experiences.

The Forest School approach is that of a holistic one and aims to develop the whole child. Many Forest School activities provide opportunities to problem solve and develop resilience, this approach helps children celebrate their journey rather than just the outcome. 

Some activities in Forest School have a certain element of risk, children are taught how to manage these risks, and this helps children to become confident independent learners. As Forest School continues throughout the year, children learn about the different challenges this can bring and how to overcome these barriers. 

We provide waterproof clothing and wellington boots and recommend children wear old, comfortable clothes as it can be muddy!

Blencathra's forest school Autumn term

Blencathra class has thoroughly enjoyed their Monday morning Forest School sessions and have settled into the woods with growing independence and enthusiasm. The children particularly love getting creative in the mud kitchen, whipping up some wonderfully messy "recipes." They also love in going on exciting bug hunts, using their bug cards to identify different creatures they find along the way. These activities have sparked curiosity and teamwork, making Forest School a much-loved part of the week.

Pupil voice

"I love jumping in the muddy puddles and having a hot chocolate to warm me up afterwards"

"I like going on ladybird hunts and counting all their spots"

"Cooking in the mud kitchen is fun, although I don't think I would eat it"

Celebrating the child's voice from this week's session:

'I found a big stick and I am writing my name with it.'

'I love to run and splash in the big puddle!'

'I am washing my hands in the muddy puddle. I have made the water ripple.'

'I climbed up this tree to find a bird's nest'

'This is the highest I have ever climbed in a tree.'

Olympus reception class:

We love the freedom that Forest School provides. Areas to climb and challenge ourselves physically, hammocks to relax and take turns in and mud kitchens to be creative and imaginative in. We love the arts and crafts that Nicky sets up each week. We develop friendships, confidence and language skills and build on our physical gross and fine motor skills.

Pupil voice:

I like the cuddlies best when they are hiding and we have to find them!

I like hot chocolate and I always say thank you.

I really love the rope swing and can go high now.

Our Year 5 children attended an Easter Experience Workshop at Witney Methodist Church. The Children took part in a variety of group activities. Each activity focused on one aspect of Holy Week, from Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, his washing of the disciples feet, the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane, his crucifixion and then Easter Day.

  

  

  

Pupil Voice

“We walked to the Church and we were introduced nicely. Firstly, we were told about all the activities that would take place. Then, we were told about the five sections of Easter during Jesus’ last days on earth. During the first section, we were taught about how the Roman’s treated the Jew’s unfairly and we were told that the Jew’s had hopes and dreams for a new king. In the second section, we were told that Jesus was a servant of god to regain the people’s soul back to him, and that he washed the feet of the disciples and told them to watch over and serve the people who would be crucified. In the third session, we were taught that during the Passover, Jesus told them about his last supper and he took the bread which represented his body, and wine which represented his blood. During this session we got to try grape juice and a piece of dried bread to honour his last meal. Then, we learnt about how Jesus prayed to God before he was arrested alone. Finally, in the fifth session we were told that Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested. He died on the cross for our sins. After all of these we were given Easter Eggs by the kind people in the church to remember Easter.”

 

We are very fortunate to have ukulele lessons from Create Music. Keith teaches whole class lessons to Snowdon and Etna classes, focusing on playing in time, playing basic chords and notes, as well as learning the names for the different parts of the ukulele. 

Keith also delivers small-group paid lessons to children across the school, in guitar and ukulele. These lessons allow the children to develop a deeper knowledge of their instrument and the skills involved in playing them, such as reading music.

On Friday 21st June we celebrated World Music Day with a rich range of activities across school.

 

Olympus class had a mix of structured activities and open ended provision activities over the day:

• The children came into school to calming classical music and we talked about the instruments that were playing and how it made us feel.

• After assembly we had a musical yoga session before getting ready for Forest School.

• Mrs Wavish and Mrs Olive shared some of their favourite music including songs from the 1980s, Abba and some Take That!

• Before lunch we had a music quiz - name that tune  ... The children were amazing and correctly identified music from Taylor Swift, Bluey, Frozen and Numberblocks, The Greatest Showman, to name a few

• In our afternoon session, we made our percussion instruments using rice, lentils, tape, small plastic pots / cups and elastic bands and boxes

• To end the afternoon we had a rhythm round up – percussion instruments to play alongside a range of traditional music and an International dance party!

Look at our amazing percussion instruments including shakers and guitars!

 

 

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Year 6

In Mount Fuji we have building up to World Music Day by running a bracket on our favourite songs. We're still in the group stages, so the winner is yet to be discovered, but so far have listened to and voted on a wide range of choices, including modern jazz, a lot of current pop, a small amount of hip hop, the odd folk song and the Ghostbusters theme song, not to mention music from Bulgaria and the Philippines.

On World Music Day we widen our musical palette by listening to a song from every continent (except Antarctica) in a different genre to anything we've heard this year. Many of the children found it strange to listen to songs sung in other languages, but danced along nonetheless.

While the listening continued, we had battle of the bands, with the children getting into groups to choose a genre, band name and logo, before competing for a winner. Fire was clearly a popular choice for logos, but the eventual winners were Ellie and Aleks with their Purple Pop Planet design, thankfully beating the less pleasantly named Dirty Daipers.

 

Year 5 - Etna

In Year 5 we celebrated world music day by listening to a selection of songs chosen by members of the class. We discussed how music can make us feel and found that some songs provide us with an irrisistable urge to dance! We also created a name and logo for a fictional band and thought about what artists and genres would be the inspiration for their music.

Blencathra and Snowdon 

During International Music Day, Blencathra class teamed up with Snowdon class for a lively and engaging celebration. Miss Southey took out her guitar, and together with Snowdon, taught Blencathra a variety of songs. The day was filled with joyful dancing, rhythmic clapping along to the beat, and the excitement of playing some musical instruments. This fun event not only enhanced our musical skills but also strengthened the bond between the two classes, making it a memorable and harmonious experience for everyone involved.

Our Year 4 children visited Witney Methodist Church to 'Experience Harvest'. During the visit the children explored the events of Harvest: harvest of the oceans, grain, flocks, gardens and the ground, with a final focus on the Jewish festival of Sukkot and Thanksgiving.

 

30 children represented Queen Emma's at the Oxfordshire 'Big Summer Sing'. The children learned and performed eight songs, including 'When I'm 64' and 'Blame it on the Boogie'. This partnership concert was a fantastic music opportunity which allowed the children to develop their confidence through performance. 

 

"I absolutely adored the Big Summer Sing. I was overjoyed to represent my amazing school. We performed for over 200 people It was the best!" - Sophia

"I loved the Big Summer Sing because I actually got to express myself and sing my heart out. I was terrified but also 'proud as an eagle's scream.'" - Jinan

"It made me feel so proud to represent my school with music at such a young age. We also got to sing with a live band." - Kelbi

 

Snowdon, Everest and Scafell Pike visited Witney Library! Each child was able to choose a book, which they then scanned to bring back to school. The children discussed getting their own library cards and the range of activities the library offers.

Today Olympus class shared a class assembly about the theme Respect linked to anti bullying. 

 

We talked about bullying being a repeated unkindness e.g words or physical actions. The children explored differences and similarities when looking at the odd socks worn to school today. They realised that although they were all different, we are still a class family together. 

We played games to recognise that we can like different things but still be kind and still be friends eg sit down if you like pizza, wave if dogs are your favourite animals. Put your hand on your head if you like Spiderman!

The children then went off to play an activity with the child sat opposite them - this was a lovely opportunity to play with a new friend.

 

Everest Class: 

During Children's Mental Health Week, Everest Class explored the theme "Know Yourself, Grow Yourself" with the help of Inside Out 2! We watched clips from the film, reminding each other of the different characters and having insightful discussions about why they act the way they do. This helped us understand how emotions shape our thoughts and actions.  

Inspired by the film, we then got creative! Each child designed their own character to represent an emotion of their choice—some drew detailed pictures, while others used junk modelling to bring their ideas to life. It was a fantastic way to express emotions, develop communication skills, and celebrate self-awareness!