Daily Poem (Safety Week)
To fit in with our safety theme this week, our daily poem has been about crossing the road.
We have shared this poem every day and would like you to enjoy it at home too!
Help at home by asking your child to read the poem with ‘prosody’.
You’ll be impressed!
First Aid Workshop in Year 1
This week we were lucky enough to have a visit from an experienced first aider. The children discussed what they thought first aid was and when they might need to use it.
Many of the children reflected on incidents that have happened and discussed how first aid was administered. We talked about who the first aiders are at school and when we might need to approach them.
The trainer introduced the children to dummies on which they could practice their first aid. Each child was able to rehearse what they should do if they found someone in need. They were taught to follow these steps:
- Shout for help / alert a near by adult.
- Check to see if the individual is awake.
- Check to see if the individual is breathing.
The children also practiced applying a plaster to the dummy.
By the end of the session the children were confident that they would know what to do if another person was in need.
Living and learning: RSE, boundaries and consent.
Over the past few weeks, years 5 and 6 have been learning about relationships and sex education. The pupils have taken to this unit incredibly well, offering up a variety of questions and ensuring the classroom is a safe space, comfortable space for all children to feel happy, healthy and safe. Children have left these sessions feeling much more aware and informed of how their bodies may change as they grow older, particularly through puberty. We have used an ‘Ask-it Basket’ to allow children to write anonymous questions at any point, so that they feel comfortable knowing all the answers they need as they grow.
We have also touched on relationships in other lessons, too. Our reading fluency focussed on boundaries and consent, using the book ‘Respect’ by Rachel Brian. The children understood and felt comfortable knowing that not all boundaries are the same for everyone, and it’s ok to make your own limitations as you are the one in charge of your body.
Help at home:
Check in with your child and ask about their learning during their relationships and sex education lessons. Allow your child to ask any questions that they may be unsure of/uncomfortable with, particularly around puberty. Ask your child whether they are happy with the relationships they have formed in their lives, and perhaps make up some scenarios where boundaries might change (use the image above to help).
Staying safe week
The RNLI – staying safe around water
As part of our staying safe week, we have had a visit from Alan from The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution).
He gave a brief introduction to the work that The RNLI carry out. In the last 200 years, they have helped to save over 146,000 people from drowning! The RNLI is a registered charity that is able to run through voluntary contributions – it costs £188 million to run the service each year!
Alan spoke to us about how to keep safe when around water (coasts, rivers, canals, swimming pools, baths, paddling pools in the garden).
It only takes a little bit of water to get into trouble.
Willow Y4
Useful advice to stay safe:
- At the beach, swim between the yellow and red flags.
- Stop and think before you enter the water – can you spot any dangers?
- Stay together
- Float on your back like a starfish, with your ears in the water.
- Call 999/112
The children have each been given a Water Smart leaflet to reinforce the important messages they have learnt today.
Help at home – Read and complete the Water Smart leaflet at home. What do the different coloured flags mean? What number should we call if we see someone in danger in the water? What is the best way to float?
Staying safe week
First Aid – staying safe
Our children have learnt about how to deliver CPR to someone who may be unconscious and not breathing.
We learnt:
- to check to see if the person will wake up;
- to shake and ask if they are ok;
- to check if they are breathing;
- to shout for help/call 999;
If the casualty is not breathing then we start CPR – 30 compressions: 2 breaths.
We would continue CPR until help arrives, we can’t go on any further or the casualty wakes up.
The children also learnt about stings and burns and what to do should we experience either on these.
Help at home – ask your child what to do should a bee sting them. How long should we cool a burn? How do we cool a burn? Is there anything we can put on a burn?
Staying safe week
d:side – staying safe online.
Today, we had a visit from Dave from d:side.
Dave talked to us about how to stay safe online. Firstly, he discussed posting things online and how it is important that we think carefully before we share. He taught us that once we have posted something online, it is there forever and can’t be deleted. This may lead to problems for us now and maybe in the future. We know we must tell a trusted adult if we are unsure about what to post.
This is called our digital footprint.
Tommy-Lee Y4
If you share, do it with care.
Share smart, share safe, share kind.
d:Side Dave
Dave went on to talk to us about social media. Most of the social media platforms have a guidance age-rating of 13, whereas WhatsApp has a guidance age-rating of 16. He recommended that we make our social media private and use safe sites, such as YouTube Kids.
Some things are age appropriate, some things are age inappropriate.
Shae Y3
Finally, Dave spoke to us about gaming and why games have a particular age rating. He introduced the PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) age rating system.
He explained that games such as Roblox and Minecraft are age rating 7 and why games such as Fortnite (age rating 12) and Call of Duty (age rating 16) have higher age rating and are not appropriate for younger children.
Help at home – How is your child keeping themselves safe online? Are accounts private? What date of birth is assigned to the account? Are we checking with an adult before we post something online?
Staying Safe Week
The Dogs Trust – staying safe with dogs.
Today, Mrs Hill from the Dogs Trust joined us to talk to us about how to stay safe around dogs.
We learnt three important rules when approaching a dog:
- Ask the owner for permission to stroke the dog.
- With your hands by your side, ask the dog if they are happy to be stroked.
- Calmly approach the dog and stroke gently from the side.
Mrs Hill taught us how to stay safe if a dog comes towards us:
- Cross our arms across our chest.
- Look the other way.
- Lift our arms higher if we feel that the dog may jump up to our face.
We then worked as ‘Doggie Detectives’. We thought about how dogs might feel in a variety of different scenarios and how to make the situation best for the dog and the people involved.
There are lots of children in our class who either have a dog(s) or see dogs regularly around our community. We learnt so much that we can’t wait to share with people back home.
Help at home – Ask your child about important rules when approaching a dog or if a dog approaches them. How can we keep ourselves safe? What actions can we avoid to keep a dog calm? What do The Dogs Trust do?
Safety Week: Road Safety/Library Visit
It’s Safety Week in school!
This morning, Year 1 walked down to Wetherby Library. This was a great opportunity to learn about staying safe when crossing a road. Before we set off, we shared safety suggestions about walking through the town and crossing the road.
It was an absolute pleasure to escort the children to the library this morning and they were a credit to our school!
Hold your partner’s hand.
Wear a hi-vis jacket.
Stay in a line so that other people can pass.
Stop at the roadside and look both ways.
Cross at the crossing and NEVER between parked cars.
Look and listen at all times.
At the library, the class enjoyed some stories read by Mark (the librarian).
The children had time to choose some books, relax and read them.
Over the summer break, the library is holding a Reading Challenge event.
Join the Marvellous Makers Summer Reading Challenge at your local library!
For more information please visit https://wearechildfriendlyleeds.com/2024/06/25/join-the-marvellous-makers-summer-reading-challenge-at-your-local-library/
Yo-ho a Pirates life for me!
This week our focus story has been ‘Pirates love Underpants’ by Claire Freedman.
We’ve been practicing our best pirate voices and searching for treasures around school.
We made our own pirate maps and thought about the locations we could hide our treasure for our friends to find. The pirates left one for us to follow, it lead us straight to forest school. We followed the directions and found the pirates treasure!
Although sneaky pirate Miss Harvey kept pinching our treasure so we had to chase after her!
Help at home: Can you draw your own treasure map? Hide some treasure around your house and see if your grown-ups can follow the directions on your map!
If you have any photos of your treasure maps, please send them in so we can have a look at them during ‘snack and chat’.
stjamesnursery@spherefederation.org
Our garden has been busy growing our peas and runner beans for a while now and the children were so excited when I told them the peas were ready!
We picked some, washed them and then enjoyed them during our ‘snack and chat’. They were delicious and very sweet.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Miss Ward, Miss Harvey and Miss Feldman
Living and Learning – Brilliant Bodies
In Living and Learning, we’ve been learning about identity and body image.
We’ve been thinking about the physical and personal features that make each and every one of us special. We spent some time considering how our names and appearance form part of our identity, including an interesting discussion about how life might look different if we were nameless and all looked the same…
- How would we make friends?
- How would we know who to play with at playtime?
- How would you get someone’s attention?
- How would your family know you were you?
It’s important to know that we’re all unique. It’s something worth celebrating!
It would be boring if everyone liked the same things. It’s good to share each others’ successes and interests.
Not everyone can be good at everything but everyone is good at something.
It can be hard to celebrate our physical features – sometimes, we feel insecure about the way we look. The children showed mature understanding of the physical features they can and can’t change and spent some time complimenting one another. We discussed appropriate ways to respond to compliments; a simple ‘thank you’ or a compliment in return.
Finally, we took a moment to celebrate ourselves and our brilliant bodies.
Help at home by discussing our living and learning statement with your child:
I know that people I see in the media don’t always reflect real life.
Is it healthy to compare ourselves to the people we see in the media?