Category

Mental Health

Year 6 Design and Technology

By Design Technology, Mental Health, Year 2, Year 6

For DT, Year 6 needed to make a product for a client.  Their clients this year were Year 2 children.  The Year 2 children were asked to create a character for their Amygdala (the part of the brain that controls the fight, flight or freeze reactions).  Their designs would be brought to life by the Year 6 children completing a textiles project to turn the designs in to a soft toy.

Throughout the process, the children have had to have client meetings to discuss designs and fabrics etc..  They learned about different types of stitches, seam allowance and different finishings such as embroidery.  With help from their families and friends, the year 6 children spent an afternoon sewing the products.

The Year 2 children have finally received their products and they are over the moon with them.

Here are some examples:

       

Empathy plus Migration in Year 5

By Collective worship, Community, Equality, Mental Health, Religious Education, Year 5

This afternoon, Year 5 had a workshop session with Taiye from the Red Cross.  He explained to us about the role of the British Red Cross.  We talked about the key vocabulary of empathy, migration, refugee and asylum seeker. We learned that empathy is the ability to imagine, understand and share the feelings or perspectives of others. By developing empathy, it can help us increase our awareness and understanding of others, our willingness to support others, and create more inclusive, resilient communities.  

We listened to the account of Hamza’s journey as he was seeking asylum and wrote a feeling story and thought about how we would feel if we were in Hamza’s shoes. We also wrote a letter to someone who was new to our country.

As our final task, we considered if we were to do one thing differently about how we treat others from today, what could we do?

Many of the children had some very thoughtful ideas about what we had been working on and were a credit to St Alban’s as always.

During our end of day prayer, Esme said she had chosen The Ukraine as our place in the world to focus our thoughts because she had chosen a prayer that she believed was fitting.  I hope you agree with Esme’s choice. 

Prayer for the Afraid

Dear God,

Take care of those who live in war zones:

Afraid of noise,

afraid of silence:

 

Afraid for themselves,

afraid for others:

 

Afraid to stay,

afraid to go:

 

Afraid of living,

afraid of dying.

 

Give them peace in their hearts,

in their homes

and in their land.

 

Amen

KS2 Sports Day

By House Carmel, House Jericho, House Jordan, House Sinai, Mental Health, Physical Education, Sport, Sporting Excellence, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6

Congratulations to everyone who took part in Sports Day today. We certainly showed our sports values of Teamwork, Passion, Self-belief, Respect, Determination and Honesty.

We began with a warm up.

The scorers got ready for their important job. 

Throwing Event

Long Jump

Athletics

  

This year, the winners were Jericho.

Thank you to all the helpers who ensured everything went so smoothly.

 

 

Dancing in the corridors

By Collective worship, Community, Glee, Mental Health, Music, News, PSHE

Over the past three weeks, our corridors have been filled with uplifting gospel music. And now, we have transitioned to exploring the world of jazz. Through this musical journey, our goal is to familiarise our children with different genres of music and broaden their musical horizons.

 

Rest assured, despite our newfound musical enthusiasm, we are still maintaining our commitment to orderly behaviour in the corridors. We continue to encourage our students to walk smartly and responsibly. However, you may notice a slight swing in our step as we embrace the rhythms and melodies of these captivating genres!

By exposing our children to a diverse range of musical styles, we aim to ignite their curiosity, and expand their appreciation for music.

Attendance – Education Welfare Officer

By Community, Equality, Letters to Parents, Mental Health, News, Newsletter, Policies, PSHE

Dear parents and carers,

We are pleased to announce that DSAT now have an Education Welfare Officer, Alison Hallewell.

Alison’s main role will be to monitor attendance across all of our schools and support families to develop good attendance. Alison can also support with Early Help referrals.

After half term, she will be organising regular parent drop-ins on a Wednesday afternoon. More information to follow.

Thank you,

Mrs Gurner

Warning Frog- The App

By Community, Mental Health, Online safety, PSHE, Safeguarding

South Yorkshire Police and Social Care have received concerning information regarding a new social media App called ‘Frog’.  The App is aimed at a Primary aged audience and has recently exploded in popularity.  Police have significant concerns as the App is primarily targeted at primary aged children.  The App has very limited identity verification requirements.

Specialist Police partners have seen significant information suggesting there is a legitimate risk to Primary aged children being groomed.

Mental Health First Aider

By Community, Mental Health, News, PSHE, Safeguarding

Introducing our first Mental Health First Aider. Last week, Mr Thompson completed a two day course learning how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis. He is the first of many staff to complete this training.

At St Alban’s we support children’s mental health through teaching them the skills they need to recognise and deal with their emotions, and help those with difficulties get the support they need.

If you would like any further information about how we support children’s mental health, then please get in touch.

Thank you,

Mrs Gurner