Living and Learning – Friends and family

Wednesday 03 December 2025

This week, in Living and Learning, we’ve been exploring what it means to feel happy and how we can recognise happiness in ourselves and others.

We talked about what happy faces and bodies might look like and how we can tell when someone might be feeling good inside. The children also thought about what makes them feel happy, from spending time with friends to enjoying their favourite activities.

We compared happy and sad faces and added new vocabulary the children suggested. They were brilliant at thinking about their own experiences and how feelings can change.

As part of our learning, we spent time getting to know Elmer, the colourful patchwork elephant who loves to make others smile. In the story, Elmer starts to worry when he thinks the other elephants are laughing at him but soon realises they are actually laughing with him because he brings so much joy to the herd.

The children coloured in their own elephants and we celebrated that each one was joyful and unique.

Help at home by labelling some happy moments at home – feel free to share! Our year 1 are becoming experts at recognising and talking about emotions.

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