Year Groups 

In Nursery, we foster building positive relationships and making strong connections with each other and families. When these relationships are well established children feel safe and more comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. 

Our classroom puppets ‘Mr Fox’ and ‘Gerald’, have a large presence in our daily Nursery routines. Puppet play is effective because it helps the adult to enter the learner’s imaginary world and allows learners to relate to the feelings of others. This promotes early empathy development, and models social behaviour and conversation skills.  In turn, the children enjoy manipulating the puppets as a way of expressing themselves in their independent play. We use restorative conversations to support, maintain and repair relationships in the Nursery environment. In this way we model how to manage and communicate our feelings.

We are fortunate to have a wonderful outdoor learning space and understand the importance of time spent outside running, jumping, rolling, climbing,  balancing and stretching, which positively impacts well-being and happiness. Regular time spent outdoors helps to reduce stress levels, improves mood, diminishes worry and improves sleep patterns. 

During 'Wellbeing' week, we have continued to focus on how we use breath to relax our bodies and calm our minds in our daily mindfulness sessions. This is an extremely valuable skill for children as they learn to self-regulate. The highlight of ‘Wellbeing’ week was a visit from the therapy dog, Rocky. We all loved saying hello and learning how to safely approach and pat Rocky.

The Kindergarten learners are eager to learn more about self care  and  wellbeing.  Last week was a chance to explore further activities and opportunities in this area.  We were very excited to learn about therapy dogs and what they do and absolutely loved having Rocky, Elsie, and Toby visit us in our classroom spaces.  

We continued our daily Mindfulness sessions in Kindergarten, last week,  where all learners take 20-30 minutes to rest their minds and bodies.  When we engage in Mindful activities and stories to help release some of the busyness of each day and reset ready for the afternoon.

We encourage our learners to be balanced in all that they do, they make choices in their learning and activities.  A new choice this term has been to plant some seeds and tend our own garden beds in our lovely outdoor playground, this is certainly a therapeutic and very grounding experience for us all. 

Lastly, we take time to reflect on each day spent at school with the boys and girls sharing a highlight, talking about a friend who was particularly helpful, or something new that they enjoyed trying at school that day.  

Wellbeing Week was a great way for us to revisit, reflect and build on learning from our first unit of Inquiry into how ‘Choices affect our wellbeing’. The learners were thrilled to meet the therapy animals and enjoyed asking questions to learn more about our furry friends. The daily mindfulness presented by our counsellor, Ms Zanthe, reminded us of the importance of taking time for ourselves.  We also thought carefully about the role friendships play in wellbeing. Developing social skills and learning strategies to resolve issues effectively is a key focus for Year 1. Team building activities, collaborative learning opportunities and play encourage learners to develop their communication skills. The learners understand how sharing and talking about challenges during restorative conversations helps us to heal and build trusting relationships with our friends and teachers. We enjoyed seeing the learners challenge themselves to think of new ways to be “bucket fillers” and were impressed with some of the learner-led action last week, such as making thank you cards for people who help us around the school  and creating new games.  Wellbeing Week ended on a colourful note with the hub becoming a kaleidoscope of different colours  as the learners dressed in outfits that make them happy.  

The Year 2 learners had an exciting week in terms of promoting wellbeing, with the visit of the animal-assisted therapy dogs to our learning hub. The presence of these furry companions brought a sense of comfort and joy to our learners, as you could hear some squealing in excitement as they got up close with the peaceful four-legged friends. Already familiar with mindfulness practices such as breathing exercises, we welcomed the time to ‘down tools’ and listen to three new meditation techniques by Ms Zanthe over the PA system. The Progressive Muscle Relaxation session taught learners how to relax certain muscles and enter a state of calm, while the sessions on using visualisation methods or their five senses showed different ways to steady one’s mind and shut out distractions. Very helpful during a busy day. To end the week with a  positive state of mind they enjoyed the story “The Rabbit Listened” by Cori Doerrfeld, a nice reminder on how sometimes lending a listening ear is more golden than words. All the learners were involved with various mindfulness activities, sharing their appreciation for moments of happiness, drawing appreciation cards for the people close to them, these cards certainly showed their love and gratitude through their efforts in them, and took part with painting, colouring, deep breathing exercises or relaxing to calm music, in each of their learning spaces. 

We are excited to announce as part of our Sharing the Planet unit of inquiry, where we are exploring how ‘people’s actions impact living things and their environment’, We will be going on a field trip to Sungei Buloh. Our learners will have the chance to observe and learn about the natural wetland reserve, the habitats and biodiversity; discovering, and exploring the wildlife that live in the environment.  We hope that this experience will inspire our learners to develop a greater appreciation for nature and to take an active role in protecting our natural environment. Look out for those permission forms.

When the teachers in Year 3 met at the start of the school year, we devised our own vision, mission and values. We stated that we wanted to ‘nurture and support learners to develop into independent and compassionate members of our community’. We said we would do this by ‘responding to the needs of each unique learner’. This was connected to our values of ‘equipping, guiding and empowering our learner’. It is a huge shift moving from Year 2 to Year 3. Not only is it literally a shift from level 1 to level 7, but the changes that begin to occur emotionally, academically and socially are huge. We wanted to ensure our learners felt supported to make this transition the best we could.

With all that in mind, where do mistakes or poor choices come into it? How do we equip, guide and empower learners in these circumstances? In Year 3, we believe it’s our mission to support learners to take responsibility for their actions and to develop a greater sense of community. This can only be done through strong relationships between learners and teachers, and understanding that we all make mistakes. Our teachers lean heavily on the restorative approach to ensure learners are given the chance to reflect and take ownership of their choices in a fair and respectful setting. In New Zealand, where I’m from, we talk about a person’s ‘mana’...their inherent value or worth. We strive to ensure the mana of each learner is protected and honoured when confronting mistakes made. This improves the likelihood that the learner will make lasting change in their choices, while maintaining and even strengthening their relationships with their peers and teachers. When learners can reflect on their actions and have compassion for others, we believe we have met our vision. 

Our 'Who we are' Unit of Inquiry into 'Informed choices support well-being' is a year-long unit. In August, learners shared their ideas about ways that social, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being can be supported. Throughout the year, we have built on these ideas through workshops, class lessons and Circle Time learners have delved more deeply into questions such as:-

• What is a balanced diet?

• What strategies can I use to manage my emotions?

• How can I develop my collaboration skills?

• What can I do to advance my self-management skills?

• How can I develop my communication skills?

• How can I keep myself and my device safe when I am online?

Learning to form, maintain and develop relationships is an important aspect of social and emotional well-being.  From time to time, friendships may hit a rocky patch, or collaboration breaks down as children learn to navigate the social world around them.  In these situations, we use a restorative approach. Learners are encouraged to share their perspectives of a situation and listen to the perspectives of others. They are encouraged to consider the effects of the incident on all parties involved and consider ways that relationships can be restored.  As the year progresses, we are seeing our Year 4 learners become more resilient, confident and independent as well as developing great teamwork and collaboration skills as they demonstrated on the Year 4 residential trip this week.

Well-being week was the perfect opportunity for Year 5 to go on their annual Residential Trip to Loyang. This camp is one of our major learning engagements that provide a platform for learners to take action that is connected to our unit of inquiry.  While on camp learners were able to focus on ways to manage their Well-being (Responsibility) and reflect on the impact of their choices (Causation).  Activity groups, sleeping groups and activities are designed to support the development of learners social and self-management skills. 

Learners positively engaged in all activities, as they applied their communication and thinking skills.  During raft building learners discussed ideas about how to build their raft and encouraged each other to work together to keep it afloat.  Shelter design required compromising and negotiating to create a model that would keep all of their group safe. Learners loved the Orca Challenge. There was so much excitement as they encouraged each other to complete 2 minute challenges provided by camp leaders. These included scavenger hunts, balance challenges and trying to untie your group from a human knot. 

All of our learners missed home and their family while they were away. Managing themselves with greater independence overnight and supporting each other through this was such a great way to build relationships and community. All learners did really well and we are very proud of their resilience and positive attitude.  A big thank you to all of our Year 5 staff, Mr Russell, Mr Rene, Mr Charlie, Mr Sam and Mr Paul for joining us. 

Over the next two weeks we will continue to inquire into Well-being. Learners will be selecting an area of Well-being that they would like to develop or improve in. They will take action as they set themselves goals and use their research skills to find out how they can achieve this.  

The term is in full swing as we transition from our 'How the world works' unit of inquiry to now looking towards our 'Sharing the planet' inquiry. Linking to this, last week, we held an assembly for the learners to explore conflict resolution and how restorative practice can help resolve conflicts in a fair and respectful manner. The learners were able to gain a further understanding of the importance of taking responsibility for their actions, making amends and finding a resolution that works for everyone involved.

To reinforce these important lessons, we also played a game called "Crossing the Bridge". This was a team-building activity where the learners worked together to overcome challenges and reach a common goal. The game allowed us to practice active cooperation, and problem-solving skills in a fun and engaging way.

6P and 6G also did a fantastic assembly for year 3 to 6, where they demonstrated our scientific inquiry process. They were able to articulate our growth through FAIL (First attempt in learning), SAIL (Second attempt in learning) and TAIL (Third attempt in learning). The learners did an amazing job sharing our learning journey with others.

In addition, we would like to remind you about our upcoming camp to Loola next week. We have been developing our Essential Agreements for our residential trip and we will see you all on Wednesday morning in the MPH on level 1. We encourage you to help your child pack so they can be as independent as possible. Please note that there is no school programme available for learners who are not attending the camp on the Wednesday through Friday.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Best regards,

The Year 6 Team

Learning Task: LooLa Residential Trip Preparation for learners.

Packing your suitcase:

• Pack your own suitcase. 

• Please read the packing list carefully to help you know what to pack. 

• Check that you are able to lift and pull the suitcase on your own.

• Make sure all items you bring are named.

Packing your backpack:

Your backpack should contain the following items:

• Small travel game or puzzles

• Sunscreen

• Hat/cap

• Pencils

• Tissues and/or wet wipes

• Book

• Full water bottle

• Plastic lunchbox with snacks to eat on the trip to LooLa (The same lunchbox will be used again to pack the LooLa provided lunch for the return journey to Singapore)

Note: 

All learners will be wearing the Nexus School HPE uniform on the departure day (Wednesday 22 February).

When we arrive at the camp, you will be able to change into your own clothes. (Be Sun Smart with your clothing choices)

All learners will wear the Nexus School HPE uniform on the return trip to Singapore (Friday 24 February).