Blogs

Steven Carbutt, Deputy at Star Primary School

Published on 03 December 2021

At Star, Fridays are not only the end to a busy week but a great time to get fit. We have embedded in our school culture a whole school focus on the health of our bodies and minds.

We identified the need to add a new opportunity to motivate our pupils (and staff) to get active, try something new and pay attention to their own well being. As a response to the poor diets, limited space and low aspirations of our community we wanted to inspire our pupils to be naturally more active.

Over the last 4 years we have successfully embedded FIT Fridays. Pupils and staff have protected time to reset themselves through a sport, try their hand at a new skill or take part in an activity that develops mindfulness and well-being.

Pupils rotate through a timetable of sessions over the year set by our Physical Education team. Sessions have included yoga, tai chi, cup stacking, dance, zumba and jogging. Often the sessions are run by our enthusiastic team, or we’ve sourced providers to offer new skills.

At Star we are committed to FIT Fridays so have introduced a FIT Friday t-shirt and hooded tops for pupils that they come to school in. To increase the buy-in, one t-shirt is given to every child, and as they move through the school they are available to be purchased and personalised with pupils initials on. Staff also wear staff t-shirts and tops, emblazoned with the words FIT FRIDAY and ‘nurturing and growing together’, our school ethos.

Our experience to date, relating to the impact of FIT Fridays:

• Improved attendance on Fridays;

• Increased focus on wellbeing and physical health for the whole school community;

• Improvements in stamina and wellbeing in pupils and staff

• Pupils feeling positive and calm as they enter the weekend

• Improvement in staffs skills/staff trying new physical activities

Our families have faced challenges over the last two years that have had a negative impact on both their physical and mental health. We believe that FIT Friday provides an opportunity for our pupils to learn the joys of being active and in the long term help them manage their own wellbeing.

Natasha Ttoffali, Head Teacher at Park Primary School, Newham

29 November, 2021

CAT Day

At Park, CAT days occur when the class teachers have their planning, preparation and assessment time (PPA). At Park, PPA is 1 day in 10 and therefore the children have their CAT Day 1 day per fortnight. On CAT Day, the children are taught by specialist teachers in their field.

The children rotate through three subjects in three parts of the day.

CAT subjects for YR to Y6 are:

• Drama and Performance Poetry- teaching teamwork, interdependency, confidence, memory for recital, use of one’s voice, performance and presentation skills etc

• Thinking Through Texts – a Park generated curriculum area which hones creativity and empathy through the use of high-quality texts (usually thematic picture books). Children will discuss themes etc and will create an outcome that may be written, recorded or made.

• Spanish and Musical Appreciation – children will learn to appreciate language creatively and to experiment with it. Through musical appreciation, they will explore genre and culture.

Dog Day

Dog Days occur in the alternate week to CAT week. Dog Day is the day where children are taught by the three different teachers in the year group for a third of the day. Dog Day is part of our provision so that:

Teachers have the opportunity to be with other children for a part of their working fortnight, allowing relationships to be built across the year group;

Children have the chance to be with teachers other than their own (and the CAT teachers) so that 

1. they get to build relationships and be with a range of adults;

2. this is important for there to be multiple opportunities to find adults who can see their ‘light’;

3. teachers have the chance to be a master of a particular subject area; to be the ‘specialist’ in that field;

4. teachers get to see the difference in the classes ‘make up’ and thus will be better placed when team planning so that planning reflects the needs of all learners in all 3 classes;

5. the children start to appreciate that their behaviour and learning behaviour needs to be consistent even if the expectations of the teachers/ their personalities are different;

6. it actively supports children through their transition points at every stage; they are better prepared for building multiple relationships.

Our experience, to date relating to the impact of CAT and Dog Days is:

• improved relationships across the year group;

• increased understanding of each class’s nuances;

• improved planning which is increasingly bespoke due to deep understanding of the entire cohort’s needs;

• a perception of ‘specialism’ which leads to increased facilitator confidence and credibility.