In Nursery, we support learners' wellbeing through daily mindfulness sessions. During Wellbeing Week, we have continued to focus on how we use breath to relax our bodies and calm our minds: this is an extremely valuable skill for children to learn.

The idea is that when we pay attention to breathing in and breathing out, we start to feel calm inside. Through short stories and actions, we teach fun breathing techniques. For example, this week we have been pretending to be snakes in the jungle and sharks swimming in the sea. We believe that teaching children these important life skills will help them throughout their time at school and home. The skills are transferable to many situations and have numerous benefits. They help children to listen and attend, self-regulate their emotions, and support their social and emotional development. When children are relaxed, is when they learn best!

This week for our Wellbeing Week activity, we scheduled a water play afternoon. As well as being a fun off-schedule activity, it was a nice prelude to our new Unit of Inquiry for next term on Water. The boys and girls were excited to share with their parents what they needed to bring to school for this session. We love the independence and confidence we are seeing develop in our learners.

As part of our daily routine, we also take time to practice mindfulness for our personal wellbeing in Kindergarten. We turn out the lights, play some calming music and start these relaxing sessions after lunch. Our learners are taught how to disconnect from their busy day and let their bodies reset, to empty their minds of distracting thoughts and focus on their breathing or a calming scene described by their teachers. We have a daily reflection time, at the end of each day, when we ask the learners to talk about what they have enjoyed at school that day, what they are grateful for or to talk about someone who has helped them. We are constantly surprised by the insight and depth of the reflections our learners share with us before leaving school for the day.

What a wonderful way to end the term, a myriad of creative fun engagements, starting off with our learners going to see the performance of Mary Poppins Jr. They laughed, clapped, danced, and joined in with fun songs, thoroughly enjoying the show. The week has included revisits from familiar stories about wellbeing, emotions and looking after yourself. A firm favourite being ‘The colour Monster’ by Anna Llenas and ‘Mind Hug' by Emily Arber. Wellbeing Wednesday had our learners visiting other class spaces to participate with activities including; pebble painting and yoga, positive affirmations and breathing techniques, mindfulness painting, cloud drawing and puzzle problem solving.

In line with Global Goal #3 Good Health and Wellbeing the learners have explored how wellbeing can look very different to different people. “I enjoy painting”, “I like doing cosmic kids’, “Hama beads make me feel calm”, “I don’t really like mindful colouring, but I do like reading in the book area”. The week has provided an added opportunity to share during circle times thoughts and feelings reiterating to everyone that it's ok to have big feelings and it's important that we express our emotions.

Wellbeing Week has been a great way to end Term 3! A highlight was attending the dress rehearsal for Mary Poppins Jr. The show was also a wonderful end to our current Unit of Inquiry into how stories are told in different ways. The learners enjoyed discussing how the music, setting, costumes, and props contributed to the storytelling in the performance. Back in the classroom, the children reflected on the things that contribute to their own wellbeing. They participated in activities such as making dream catchers, writing positive affirmations mandalas, creating mindfulness arts and crafts and practicing yoga. However, we were particularly proud of the thought the learners gave to the actions they can take to benefit others. They did a super job completing the daily 'Acts of Kindness' challenges.

We hope everyone has a restful and enjoyable holiday and look forward to a fantastic Term 4!

What a lovely way to finish off Term 3 with a school wide focus on wellbeing. In Year 3, we brainstormed what wellbeing meant and then came up with a list of things that we do to help our wellbeing. We had a very diverse list that included sports, arts, reading, time with friends, laughing and watching movies.

In class this week, the learners participated in a few wellbeing activities. Learners chose from pastel drawing, mindfulness, origami, friendship bracelet making, music appreciation and creating ojos de dios. It was a wonderful way to calm our bodies and minds and do something to make us happy! We wish everyone an enjoyable break and hope that you take some time to slow down and focus on your own wellbeing.

As we come to the end of a busy and bustling term, Year 4 learners have re-focused on our year long 'Who We Are' Unit of Inquiry which is focused around wellbeing. Learners have shared their ideas about practical ways to support their own physical, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing and during the week learners have found ways to put some of their ideas into practice.

It has been wonderful to see learners confidently take action to provide mindfulness activities for their classmates. These activities included playing a musical instrument or singing a song to their class; running an exercise session or sports activity for others; sharing an art activity; creating a relaxation session; running a quiz game for their class and teaching others how to make friendship bracelets or a new game. Alongside this learners have written poetry exploring friendship and happiness and considered the things we are grateful for that make their world a special place. It has been a week to reflect, relax, refresh and refocus - a week to enjoy being with friends and have fun learning together. We wish all our Year 4 families a very happy holiday.

Wellbeing is such an important part of life and learning at Nexus. This week has been a wonderful opportunity to be even more intentional about how we can support our own wellbeing and that of others. On Monday, members of the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) facilitated drama and wellbeing workshops for our learners. Activities connected to and complemented our previous unit of inquiry 'Who We Are'. These encouraged learners to reflect on their identity, strengths, values and aspirations. It was heart-warming to hear stories about what was so important to them.

In our home rooms learners engaged in a variety of daily activities that support, encourage and nurture their wellbeing. Examples of these include: mindfulness colouring, guided breath exercises, calming music, yoga brain breaks, growth mindset activities and reflections on being grateful, kind and caring. We also use our reflection time to develop our social skills through conversations about relationships and activities to strengthen social and emotional intelligence. Complimenting others and valuing individual strengths contributes to a culture of care that is important to us.

'Be kind, unless you can be fantastic. Then be fantastically kind!'

Year 5 wish our learners and families a safe and restful holiday break.

What a wonderful week we have had as we focused on our own well being and helping others. On Monday, year 6 was very lucky to have members of Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) visit us and run some workshops supporting us in our growth as individuals. We talked about who we are and who we hope we could be in the future. The members of SRT helped us to identify and think about many different aspects of our lives, as well as how to express ourselves through a variety of forms. It was a great start to a productive week where we continued our inquiry into ‘How The World Works’. We have been exploring energy transfer and transformation through solids, gases and liquids.

We encourage all learners and their families to explore our inquiry learning outside the classroom over the holidays. The Science Centre in Jurong East is a fantastic place to continue this exploration if you have the opportunity.

Save the Date - Exhibition Kickoff

We would like all parents to be aware of our Year 6 Exhibition Kickoff coming up in week 3 term 4. We will confirm the date very soon, however we are aiming for either a Tuesday or Wednesday morning on the week of the 18th April. We aim for the initial assembly to run for approximately one hour from 8:30 to 9:30am. We will be recording the event for those who are not able to attend. Further details will be forthcoming.

We hope everyone has a lovely break.

The Year 6 Team!