We do hope the readers of ECN are well and are handling the many additional challenges we are facing right now – we know life is tough for people in different ways. We hope you are managing to find little pleasures where you can – playing a board game, enjoying a walk around the village, exercising with Joe Wicks or puzzling over who the masked singer is.
This isn’t the start of the year we wanted at school but it has been brilliant to see children, families, teachers, TAs, admin officer, cleaner all working so hard to support each other inside and outside school.
Learning has continued digitally, reaching our children in the safety of their homes, and with critical worker children at school. Eastington School is stronger as we work together – the children will clearly benefit in the short and long term too.
Our school has a really strong emphasis on the five ways of well-being:
● Connect – Talk and listen, be there, feel connected;
● Give – Give your time, your words and your presence;
● Take Notice – Remember the simple things that give you joy;
● Keep Learning – Embrace new experiences, see opportunities, surprise yourself;
● Be Active – Do what you can, enjoy what you do, move your mood.
We are fortunate to have started our journey with Andy Lewis (British gold medalist para-triathlete) in Summer 2019 when he worked with our older children. He inspired us all and since then we have explored well-being in many different ways.
In Autumn term when we were all working on site, our children enjoyed outdoor learning with wonderful Ms Levan & Miss Colleen with a focus on ‘taking notice’ and sports afternoons with our brilliant sports coaches, Mr Meloscia (football and rugby) and Miss Mills (dance) focusing on ‘being active’.
‘Giving’ is one of the five ways of well-being and the children in the two hubs at school have made some cards and written some lovely messages to critical workers who are in our locality. They thought carefully how important each business in the community is and how they play a vital role. We hope giving a little treat of a heart-felt card and some chocolates will make a few more people smile in a difficult time.
This Letter to Great Oldbury House Care Home (formerly The Grange) reads:
Thank you for taking care of the elderly when they need it! You try so hard to keep them safe but some don’t make it. Thank you for the night shifters for staying up all night and the long day shifters for getting up early for them. I hope you get paid a lot for working really hard! You put in a lot of effort for the old people. Last year was tough but we made it through. Thank you so much
Keep looking after yourself and each other.
From all the children and staff at school
You must be logged in to post a comment.