Ocean class have been making some portraits from natural found objects from the school grounds:

“We walked outside and found conkers, leaves, feathers and stuff that we could make faces with. It was fun because things I thought were just one thing like a leaf or grass could become part of something else, like they could be hair or a mouth on a face. You can change them into other things.”

“Things that are dead and even dirty that you might walk on if you weren’t looking out can be good for making pictures.”

- Ocean class pupils

 

Ocean Class and teacher Ross Young have recorded a song to mark the beginning of term which is all about making new friends. It’s called “We’re Gonna Be Friends” and was originally recorded by The White Stripes: “We wanted to use mindfulness skills like perseverance, interdependence, collaboration and empathy to create a song together with a clear message of friendship and open heartedness. Each part of the song created by the children has made the whole!” say Ross.

Ocean have also produced some drawings and paintings about friendship which Ross has used to make a video to accompany the song. Here’s what pupils had to say:

“I liked singing the song and drawing a picture of me and my friend. There are some new people [in our class] now and it was good to sing all together to help us be friends.”

“Sometimes when you sing or are just quiet together but not talking it helps you feel part of the whole class instead of feeling on your own or just being with your own friend.”