This week’s ‘junior reporter’ is Summer from Ocean class: “For ‘Talk for Writing’ we wrote down the story of Noah’s Ark and we are now doing our own stories to represent Noah’s Ark. It’s a helpful way of learning because we think it, say it, write it, then read it. My favourite lesson this week was art; we made shadow stick puppets for the ‘Buddha’s Life’ play we are doing for the Xmas Factor at the end of term. Soon we are going to a museum to learn more about the Buddha’s life. We are also doing sessions about what meditation can help with. When you close your eyes to meditate you notice your breathing and can send good thoughts to people. We learnt that meditation can help us not see things through angry eyes; if we want to change how someone is behaving to us then changing ourselves and how we are towards them could help them change too.”

Phil, our Acting Teaching Head, discusses the learning technique, Talk4Writing: “If you attended a Friday puja a few weeks ago, you would have been entertained by Lotus children’s spirited oral account of the notorious Manchester Ridgeback dragon. And if you had been present last Friday, you would surely have been impressed by their writing on subjects such as the various other dragons they have spotted, or the industrious habits of the beaver. These presentations are the result of a technique called ‘Talk for Writing’, which aims to show how the quality of children’s written work can be transformed through their participation in meaningful oral activities before the act of writing. This approach is well established in Ocean and Lotus classes, and is being incorporated into the curriculum in Dragonfly and Mountain. Staff members will happily give an equally spirited demonstration of the process to all who may be interested. Let us know if this appeals to you!”

Photo: Ocean class self-portraits of meditation practice