Thoughts, comments, ideas and pause for thought from members of our school and extended community.
Early Mornings
There is a stillness early in the mornings, especially in Spring and Summer. Those quiet moments just before dawn, when life is waking up (not the teenagers in my household though). The only times I've seen a fox have been then, and many hedgehogs and quite a few other creatures. If I'm lucky and in the garden, I will have a cup of tea with me.
During Children's Mental Health Awareness Week, I did some work with Y6-8 entitled the 'Cognitive Triangle'. At its heart it is based on:
THOUGHT leads to FEELINGS leads to BEHAVIOUR
One of the hardest things I've ever had to do as a parent is ask for help. The idea of admitting that I was failing, that I was not doing a good job, that I was not 'protecting' my children, was a bitter pill to swallow.
That was, until I actually swallowed it. Swallowed my pride, consumed and destroyed the idea that somehow, we are so supposed to just 'know how to be a good parent'. My guidebook must have been lost in the post!
Express yourself - Children's Mental health Awareness Week
Self-expression is such an important part of life and good wellbeing. It helps us highlight our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and allows us to build a narrative of our life. Some people express through art forms such as drawing and dance, whilst others through the things they do and what they wear.
Next week is Children's Mental Health Awareness Week. The school will be running activities and assemblies based around the theme of 'Express yourself'. The focus is finding ways of talking about and expressing your emotions and feelings, especially in creative and non-verbal ways.
The community at Pilgrims’, although distanced, is stronger than ever.
What did The Pilgrims’ School, Winchester, due to begin their Spring Term at 0830 on Tuesday 5th January do when the Prime Minister announces at 8pm on Monday 4th January that all schools were to close for the first half of term? Why, they re-launched Virtual Pilgrims’, which meant that at 0830 the following morning, 12 hours after the Mr Johnson’s announcement, 95% of pupils logged on to the Headteacher’s online assembly, including key worker boys supervised on site, numerous boys from around the world, AND two boys who were joining Pilgrims’ for their very first day! After a few resets for passwords forgotten over the holidays, all boys were logged into their first lesson of the day, following their new, virtual timetable.
Online Wellness: Part 2
Last week, we took a closer look at online wellness, and in particular the effects of using platforms like Zoom and Google Meet. We articulated some of the pros and cons linked to the use of these now ubiquitous platforms.
We are lucky at Pilgrims' to have staff with a wide range of experiences. During last year's lockdown in South Africa, the fantastic Mr Cuyler (English department) wrote a great piece which is certainly worth sharing with everyone, in two installments. Here is part one.
Ho! Ho! Ho!
My son's favourite joke (when he was little) was, ''Jesus is SO lucky to have his birthday on Christmas Day.'' He still thinks he's clever for saying it. He just retold it to me a few days ago.
From the Base - Top tips for a Wellness Christmas
Everyone loves a list at Christmas. Here are some hard-fought ideas for making Christmas better for the whole family:
For those who don't know, part of the reason my career changed direction four years ago was because of the struggles my wife and I were having with one of our children. One of my daughters developed worrying eating habits, which all turned out to be down to anxiety and low mood.
I have written about this before, but as I am currently doing a lot of work on this with Y2-Y5, I thought it might be useful to revisit it.
One definition is, "Emotional Literacy is the term used to describe the ability to understand and express feelings. Emotional Literacy involves having self-awareness and recognition of your own feelings and knowing how to manage them, such as the ability to stay calm when angered or to reassure oneself when in doubt."