In support of Anti-Bullying Week, children across the school have been involved in projects relating to emotions, behaviour and their well-being and safety – whether at school, in other social situations, or (for older pupils) on the internet.

Teaching Assistant, Abigail Hills, has been doing some improvised drama with Year 4 pupils from Ocean class, using tableaus to create an awareness of how body language plays a part in communication with others. The exercise involved looking at the power of individuals and groups when projecting a similar feeling or action - such as blaming, ignoring, or welcoming.

Here’s what some of Ocean class had to say about the exercise:

“We pretended to ignore and blame as part of the lesson to see how it would feel to do it. In real life it wouldn’t feel nice to me to ignore someone as they would get upset and that would make me feel bad.”

“Welcoming someone was more fun than ignoring someone, not just for them but for me. If you make them feel happy you feel happy too.”

“If you are welcoming to someone and nice then they might be more nice to other people too. It’s like passing on a chain of happiness.”

Pupils in Mountain class (Years 1 and 2) have begun a science project about the changing seasons which is also helping them explore the Buddhist concepts of change and impermanence.

“Mountain class are being ‘Mindful of Change’ and we have been on a field trip to Stanmer Park in Brighton to witness the changing seasons and the way the weather affects animals and plants.The children looked for evidence of animals preparing for the change of season and noted the colour changes of the leaves, and they are making mandalas and leaf lanterns from natural resources.”

- Caroline Woods, Ocean class teacher

National Poetry Day is a national celebration of poetry held each year on the first Thursday of October. Today, pupils, parents and teachers have been sharing their favourite poems and writing their own. Here are some poems written by pupils from Mountain class (Year 2):

Where Are You?

Where are you Cat?
Where are you Dog?
Oh there you are cat and dog!

Penguin

You are so small - where are you?
Come here now
Little penguin

The Sack

The sack is big
It could fit a cat in it
It could fit a dog in it
It cold fit lots of rats in it
It could fit a whole man in it
It is a very very big sack

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