We finished our last half term with a fabulous wellbeing week, organised by our PHSE Co-ordinator and Year Two teacher, Nicola Collins. It is always a great opportunity to think about ways we can look after our mental health and get pointers on how to be calm and resilient. The week gave us a chance to welcome some visitors who gave us lots of advice on how we could look after our wellbeing. Miss Collins explains: "We were so lucky to see Margot the therapy dog again. Mrs Cox took Margot to each classroom and taught them about the benefits of therapy animals. The children learned that when we stroke animals it can be very calming as it induces us to release endorphins which is a great stress buster. There was proof when everybody's face lit up as Margot came in through each classroom door! The children had the opportunity to stroke Margot and some children gave her treats in exchange for her paw." 

Margot is a Tibetan terrier, an ideal breed for therapy dogs. Mrs Cox told us: "Margot is very calm  and approachable and loves being stroked. She loves to listen to children read and regularly visits a care home where the residents are not allowed pets." Both Nate and Florence agreed they felt calmer and happier after stroking lovely Margot. Thank you Mrs Cox and Margot for coming in and talking to our children!

We were also thrilled to welcome back Tracey Butcher who delivered some mindfulness sessions to Year Three. Mrs Butcher explained what happened in the sessions: "As an overview of the session - we made a Mind Jar together and talked about how thoughts, feelings and urges can swirl around and stop us seeing and thinking clearly and what we can do to help the glitter (our thoughts etc) settle so we can see clearly and make good choices. We talked about sitting still, using our senses, our breath and our bodies to help our 'glitter' settle. We did a body scan meditation and a breathing exercise with a coloured feather where the children had to breath out slowly over the feather and keep it on their hand - I think they enjoyed the challenge." If you would like to make your very own midfulness jars, follow Mrs Butcher's instructions below. 

Year Two also enjoyed a talk with Charlie our school nurse on 'Feelings.' She discussed how we can assess and control feelings to look after our mental wellbeing.