Sleep & Feeling Ready – Supporting Healthy Routines in KS1

6th May 2026Laura Parsons

This week in our Key Stage 1 community meeting, we explored another important part of our guiding question: How can I be the healthiest version of me?

Our focus was on something simple but powerful—sleep—and how it helps our brains and bodies feel ready for the day ahead.

Why Sleep Matters

We began by thinking about how it feels when we are really tired. The children shared lots of honest and relatable ideas—feeling grumpy, slow, a little bit silly, and sometimes finding it hard to concentrate.

This helped us understand an important message:

Sleep helps our brains and bodies get ready for a new day.

Tired vs Well-Rested

To bring this to life, we acted out two different learners:

  • One who was tired—yawning, not listening, struggling to focus
  • One who was well-rested—standing tall, smiling, ready to learn

The children quickly noticed the difference and were able to explain why sleep helps us to be focused, kind, and ready for school.

What Happens When We Sleep?

We talked about what sleep does for our bodies in a simple, child-friendly way:

  • Helps our brain grow and learn
  • Supports our mood (less grumpy!)
  • Gives us energy
  • Keeps our bodies healthy

We described sleep as a way of recharging our brains—just like an iPad charging overnight!

Building Healthy Bedtime Habits

We then discussed what helps us get a good night’s sleep. The children shared some fantastic ideas, including:

  • Having a calm bedtime routine (such as a bath or story) 
  • Turning off screens before bed 
  • Going to bed at a similar time each night 
  • Creating a calm, quiet space 

It was lovely to hear how many children already have positive routines in place.

A Moment of Calm

We finished by practising a simple breathing technique to help our bodies feel calm and ready:

  • Breathe in slowly
  • Hold
  • Breathe out gently

This is something the children can use at home as part of their bedtime routine or whenever they need a moment to reset.

Our Key Message

We reminded the children that sleep is one of the best ways to help us feel ready for school. When we are well-rested, we can learn better, feel happier, and be the best version of ourselves.

We were so impressed with how thoughtfully the children engaged in this conversation. Why not ask your child what helps them feel ready for school—you might discover some great ideas to try at home together!

Thank you for your continued support.

Being the Healthiest Version of Me – Healthy Eating Community Meeting

29th April 2026Laura Parsons

This week, we came together for a Key Stage 1 community meeting as part of our guiding question: How can I be the healthiest version of me?

During our time together, we focused on how the food we eat helps to keep our bodies strong, healthy and full of energy. To get us thinking, we began with a simple question—holding up an apple and a piece of chocolate:
“Which one helps our body grow strong?”
The children quickly recognised that while some foods are better for our bodies, we can still enjoy a balance. This helped us introduce an important message: healthy eating is about balance, not restriction.

Learning About Healthy Foods

We explored the different types of food our bodies need:

  •  Fruits and vegetables help keep us healthy
  •  Carbohydrates (like bread and pasta) give us energy
  •  Dairy helps build strong bones
  •  Protein supports growth and repair

The children enjoyed sharing their own ideas, talking about the healthy foods they already love and eat at home.

Healthy or Not?

We then played a quick game of “Healthy or Not?” where children responded to different foods using actions:

  • 👍 Hands on head = healthy most of the time
  • 👎 Hands on knees = sometimes foods

This was a great way to reinforce that some foods are everyday foods and some are sometimes foods—and that both have a place in a balanced diet.

Reflecting Together

We spent some time thinking about how healthy foods help our bodies. The children shared brilliant ideas about how food gives us energy, helps us grow, and keeps us feeling good.

We also linked this back to our wider learning:

If we want to be superheroes in our community, we need strong, healthy bodies!

 Making a Healthy Pledge

To finish our community meeting, each child made a simple, personal pledge about how they can make a healthy choice:

  •  Eat more fruit and vegetables
  •  Drink more water
  •  Try a new healthy food

This moment encouraged the children to take ownership of their choices and recognise that even small changes can make a big difference.

 Our Key Message

We reminded the children that being healthy doesn’t mean being perfect. Instead, it’s about making small, positive choices each day that help our bodies grow, stay strong, and feel their best.

We are so proud of how engaged and thoughtful the children were during this session. Ask your child about their healthy pledge—you might even be inspired to make one of your own!

Thank you for your continued support.

Our Power, Our Planet – Earth Day Community Meeting

22nd April 2026Laura Parsons

This week, we came together for a special Key Stage 1 community meeting to celebrate Earth Day. This year’s theme, Our Power, Our Planet, helped us to think about how even the smallest actions can make a big difference to the world around us.

During our time together, we explored what is happening to our planet and talked about pollution—what it is, where it comes from, and how it can harm our environment. The children shared thoughtful ideas about what they already know and noticed how everyday choices can impact the Earth.

We also introduced the idea of renewable energy, helping children to understand that there are cleaner, more sustainable ways to power our world, such as using the sun and wind.

A big focus of our discussion was on what we can do to help. We talked about:

  • Using less plastic
  • Reducing, reusing and recycling
  • Taking care of our environment in simple, everyday ways

Making a Pledge

To finish our community meeting, each child made a personal Earth Day pledge. This was a really special moment, as the children reflected on how they could take action.

Each child placed a counter into the pledge they wanted to focus on:

  • Turning off taps and not wasting water
  • Making sure rubbish and recycling go in the correct bins
  • Walking, scooting or cycling more often

This simple act helped the children to feel empowered—showing them that they can make a difference.

Our Key Message

We reminded the children that looking after our planet doesn’t have to mean making huge changes. Instead, it’s about lots of small, positive actions that, together, have a powerful impact.

By working together, we can all play our part in caring for our world—because it truly is our power, and our planet.

Thank you for your continued support in helping us grow responsible, thoughtful global citizens.

🌍 Earth Day Crew 🌍

22nd April 2026Lauren Gate

This morning in crew we were thinking all things Earth Day. The seam running through our expedition this term is “protecting our planet” and so the timing of Earth Day during our expedition was absolutely perfect. We started our crew session with discussions about what we can do to help protect our planet – thinking about turning off lights, picking up litter, using reusable water bottles and using the same shopping bags all the time.

We then started to think about what the ways that we were going to try and really make a difference. Thinking of four ways we are going to try and help the planet.

🎨 Class 5 Artists – Sketching Like the Greats!

20th April 2026Laura Parsons

This afternoon, Class 5 fully embraced their role as artists as we continued exploring our guiding question:
The Blue Planet: How Can I Impact the World?

We began by reminding ourselves of our exciting final product — a reusable water bottle featuring our very own artwork. The children were buzzing with purpose, knowing their designs will help promote looking after our planet 🌍

✏️ Inspired by Beatrix Potter

We started by learning about the wonderful Beatrix Potter — a famous artist and writer who loved sketching animals using pencil. We noticed how carefully she observed real creatures and used soft, delicate lines to bring them to life.

Inspired by her work, we practised using our art pencils to create a range of tones, from light shading to darker, bolder marks. We then explored different patterns and textures, thinking about how these could help add detail to our own artwork.

👀 Thinking Like Artists

Next, we became art critics! We carefully studied a selection of model sketches and asked ourselves:

  • How has the artist used shading?
  • Where are the darker and lighter areas?
  • What techniques do we like and want to try ourselves?

One of the examples was Mrs Parsons’ own artwork… but the challenge was set — could we do even better?

Finally, we took our sea creature outlines and began transforming them into beautiful, detailed pieces using all our new sketching skills.

The concentration in the room was incredible — children carefully adding shading, experimenting with tone, and bringing their sea creatures to life. Every piece is unique, thoughtful, and full of creativity.

We are so proud of the effort and artistic flair shown today — we can’t wait to see these designs printed onto our reusable water bottles! 💧✨

Finding Our Happy – Supporting Emotional Wellbeing in KS1

15th April 2026Laura Parsons

This week in Key Stage 1, we came together for a short community meeting built around the beautiful book Find Your Happy. Through this story, we explored something really important: understanding our feelings and knowing what to do when they feel big.

At school, the children are very familiar with the Zones of Regulation, which help us to recognise and name how we are feeling:

  • Blue Zone – sad, tired, or unwell
  • Green Zone – calm, happy, ready to learn
  • Yellow Zone – excited, worried, or a bit wobbly
  • Red Zone – angry, overwhelmed, or out of control

During the community meeting, we talked about how we all move through these zones every day—and that’s completely normal. The key message we shared is that all feelings are okay, but we can learn ways to help ourselves feel safe, calm, and ready again.

Using Find Your Happy, we explored how the character experiences different emotions and discovers simple strategies to feel better. We then practised some of these together:

  • Breathing techniques – “smell the flower, blow out the candle”
  • Relaxing our bodies – tightening and releasing muscles
  • Thinking of something that makes us smile

These small strategies can make a big difference, especially when children are feeling in the yellow or red zones.

How you can support at home

You might like to continue these conversations at home by:

  • Asking your child which “zone” they are in
  • Talking about what helps them feel calm or happy
  • Practising simple breathing together
  • Reminding them that it’s okay to feel all emotions

By using a shared language between school and home, we can help children to better understand themselves and build the skills they need to manage their feelings with confidence.

Our key message

We reminded the children that being in the green zone all the time isn’t the goal—because that’s not realistic for any of us! Instead, it’s about learning how to recognise our feelings and find our way back to feeling safe and ready.

We are so proud of how thoughtfully the children engaged with this important message. Ask them about how they “find their happy”—you might even learn a new strategy yourself!

Thank you for your continued support.

📚 World Book Day 2026 📚

6th March 2026Lauren Gate

This year our World Book Day had a Dr Seuss theme – a cat in the hat inspired crazy hat! Boy did the children deliver!! We had everything from gardens to space helmets and minions to globes – the children’s hats absolutely blew our socks off! 👒🎩

In crew this morning, Y2 created their very own crew murals inspired by their favourite books. We took time thinking of a way to represent our favourite books, drawing them and then sticking them all together to create our collaborative artwork.

We also spent some time with The Cat in the Hat himself this morning – we watched the story and then had a go at drawing our very own Cat in the Hats. What a great day!!!

A Cup of Compliments

4th March 2026Lauren Gate

Over the last few weeks in our “Wise Wednesday” crew sessions, Crew Hamilton have been thinking all about our mental health and having a positive mental attitude. This morning we spent our crew session filling each other’s cups with compliments. Some highlights included:

“You work really hard”

“You are very funny”

“You always help people”

“You show courage”

“You are caring, helpful and kind”

It was lovely to see all the amazing things that the children had noticed in each other.

Building Belonging Through Story: A Powerful Community Meeting

4th March 2026Laura Parsons

There are moments in school life that remind us why community matters so much.

This week, our Community Meeting was one of those moments.

We gathered together to share the beautiful and thought-provoking picture book The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig. It’s a gentle but powerful story about Brian, a quiet boy who often feels unseen by his classmates. Through simple illustrations and subtle storytelling, we watch how small acts of kindness begin to bring colour into his world — quite literally.

Why This Story?

In our setting, we place huge value on belonging. Before children can truly thrive academically, they must feel safe, valued and visible. The Invisible Boy gave us a shared language to explore:

  • What does it feel like to be left out?
  • How do small actions make a big difference?
  • What does kindness look like in practice?
  • How can we notice those who might feel “invisible”?

The story created a calm, reflective atmosphere. You could have heard a pin drop.

Respectful Conversations in Action

What made the meeting so powerful wasn’t just the story — it was the discussion that followed.

Children spoke with honesty and empathy. They listened carefully to one another. They disagreed thoughtfully. They built on each other’s ideas.

At one point, as we reflected on how Brian was treated, a child confidently said:

“Well that wouldn’t happen at our school.”

Another child added simply:

“They aren’t being kind.”

Sometimes the clearest insights are the most powerful. The children recognised unkindness immediately. They were able to name it. They understood it.

Some children reflected on times they had felt invisible. Others spoke about moments when someone had made them feel included. Many identified simple actions they could take — inviting someone to join a game, noticing who is alone at lunchtime, using kind words.

From Words to Action

Stories give us a mirror and a window — a mirror to see ourselves, and a window to understand others. This Community Meeting reminded us that creating a culture of belonging is not about grand gestures. It is about noticing. Inviting. Including.

If we want every child to feel seen, it starts with each of us.

A smile.
A kind word.
An invitation.

Sometimes the smallest actions bring the brightest colour.

Becoming Story Up-Levelling Experts! ✏️📖

24th February 2026Laura Parsons

Today we carried on preparing to write our own hunt story!

We revisited what adjectives, verbs and onomatopoeia are and why they make our writing more exciting. Then we split into three teams, each focusing on one type of word. As we listened again to We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, we became word detectives, spotting examples in the text to add to our anchor chart.

Next, we helped Mrs Parsons up level a very simple sentence. We added powerful adjectives, exciting verbs and even some onomatopoeia to make it come alive! Some of us even realised we could use commas to make our sentences flow even better — very impressive!

After that, we used our steps to success to improve our own sentences. We became “feature finders”, highlighting where we had used each writing feature — and adding more if we thought we could make it even better.

We now have lots of exciting new vocabulary and brilliant up-levelling skills ready for when we start planning and writing our own Doncaster hunt story! 🐾