Harold and the Life Education Trust

We were super lucky to have Harold and the Life Education Trust visit us this week. For all of us this was our first ever time in the bus and meeting Harold the Giraffe. We had 3 sessions that were based around how to be a good friend and recognising and responding to our emotions.

Life Education is a charity that educates and empowers children to make healthy choices so they can live full and healthy lives.

Junior Swimming Sports

Last week we had our Junior Swimming Sports. The children participated in a rotation of activities that practiced new skills learnt at our lessons all the while having fun in the water with our friends.

Junior Assembly

Last Friday was junior assembly. It is an opportunity for the children to share some of their best work with parents and the rest of the school. It is also an opportunity to celebrate our stars of the week and any other achievements worthy of a certificate. Our room 6 children decided to share their little versions of themselves that we made during our pre-school transition programme and also the goals they have set for themselves this year as part of our 'Best the best you can be' topic.

Goal setting for children is important because it gives them a sense of purpose that can improve their confidence and build their self-esteem. It also helps them to focus and make better decisions.

Swimming Term 1

During the first 2 weeks of school this term, all the children traveled down to the Oamaru Aquatic centre to participate in swimming lessons. Each child was placed in a group and over the hour session that had a half hour lesson and an opportunity to practice their skills through play.

Swimming is part of the curriculum and is another way we can be active whilst learning about water safety

The skills we developed were:

• Water confidence
• Swimming technique
• Water safety
• Endurance and fitness

Here is a video about swim safety in the pool and ocean.

Enjoying practicing our skills

Learning safe water entry

Swimming lessons

Pancake Day

We started our day today learning all about why we have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, how people use up ingredients in their cupboards ready for Lent. Then we sang our pancake song to remind us what ingredients we needed to make the pancake batter. We also learnt about how different countries eat their pancakes. 

Following the recipe, we worked together to make the batter ready to cook. We were very skillful (and careful) at flipping our pancakes.We had some very full bellies and some very jealous children from other classes that had caught a whiff.

Ardgowan School, where learners grow!

Welcome back to those who have rejoined from last year and a big welcome to those who are new this year. Some of you may have noticed a few changes from last year, the main one being the addition of a new wall to divide the year 1 classrooms. It is going to be great for the children to have their own space as well as the quiet that comes with it. This year we have started with a lovely class size of 7 and expect to only grow to 14 between now and July.

This term we have lots of fun things to look forward to and lots of opportunities to share our learning with families. The best part about this age group is the growth you can expect to see in your child's abilities. Each day they'll learn and develop and will be reading and writing in no time. I look forward to supporting your child in their learning journeys this year.

Tracking our growth.

Just keep swimming

Our swimming lessons this year couldn't have come at a better time! With 6 new children, it was the perfect opportunity to have some fun together is a different environment other than the classroom. Within our hour block we had a 30 min lesson and 30 mins to play and develop our confidence.

Swimming is an important skill to master and a difficult one. The children showed excellent resilience and perseverance with some of the challenges they faced during our lessons. By the end of the four sessions all children were able to put their face in the water and blow bubbles and some were even confident diving to collect weights from the bottom of the pool. They were all excellent listeners and had a good understanding of how to be safe around water.

A big thumbs up!

We're ready to roll

Practicing moving in the water to collect toys and bring back to bucket

Some confident children going under water

A team effort