Healthy Lifestyles Week

Southfield Primary School Headteacher: Dr Darren Jones

Monday 14th -18th June 2021

‘Ex Corde Vita’

Healthy Lifestyles Week For the very first time, the pupils of Southfield Primary School took part in Healthy Lifestyles Week. All the children participated in a wide range of fun, educational workshops across the whole school to promote a healthy way of living.

These workshops included: Morris dancing, Circus skills, Tai Chi, Steel Pan playing, Martial Arts, Yoga, Cricket, South American dance and Olympic dance. It was a fun, filled week that the children enjoyed and they learned how to look after their bodies and minds.

HOUSE CUP WINNERS Alongside the fantastic workshops, the children collaborated in their house teams to win points for the coveted “HOUSE CUP”, working on their presentations for their chosen class country and participating in sporting activities.

We are pleased to announce that the winners of Southfield’s first Healthy Lifestyles Week is: Hogarth House!

The week ended with the children receiving their Healthy School’s Week medal on Friday afternoon – they loved them!

An enormous thank you to the PTA for donating money towards our healthy breakfast morning – it was a huge success!

Read on to see how much fun the children had during the week.

WORKSHOPS Reception During the Heathy Schools Week, Reception started each day with the morning ‘Shake Up’ with Ms Green, energising their bodies and getting into a positive frame of mind for the day ahead. Each day, both classes took part in different workshops, including Morris and Olympic Dancing and Circus skills.

Every afternoon, they focused on their minds and practised yoga. The classes spoke about what being healthy means to them and how they keep healthy at school and at home. Their focus country was Poland so they learned lots of facts and the traditional dance called ‘Oberek’. They all worked very well in their House teams and collected plenty of tokens!

Year 1 Year 1 had such an exciting week! The children spent the whole week trying a variety of physical and mental activities, as well as learning about what it means to live a healthy lifestyle.

With such great weather, they loved being outside for activities such as Morris Dancing and Thai Chi. During the Morris Dancing workshop, the children had bells attached to their ankles and worked hard to dance in time with the music.

They particularly loved their circus skills workshop and were engaged from start to finish, listening carefully and following instructions. By the end of the session there were 30 spinning plates!

The children also had the chance to make music and sang with a live Steel Pan ensemble, creating a Caribbean twist on nursery rhymes that we all know and love.

Year 2 Year 2 had a fantastic time participating in all of the events that promoted and advocated for a healthy lifestyle. Throughout the week, each class took part in a wide range of different, action packed workshops and activities, including: Morris Dancing, Tai Chi, Martial Arts and D.R.E.A.M (Deep breathing, Relax, Engage and Meditate), every day for 10-15 minutes.

Year 2’s favourite day was ‘Carnival day’, which was filled with entertaining events for them to take part in, including a whole school dance shake up, mask making, costume designing, colouring, headdress making, steel pan playing, Zumba and song writing. The children even made musical instruments from recycled materials! The last part of the day was a food tasting session where they had the opportunity to taste foods from around the world while celebrating all the countries and cultures that they had been learning about.

Year 3 What a wonderful time Year 3 had celebrating Healthy Lifestyles Week. This week we have participated in a plethora of workshops which include learning, circus skills, yoga, South American dance and even hula hooping. In the mornings the children all took part in a 10 minute shake up in the playground to invigorate them for the rest of the day. It definitely got their hearts beating and was a lot of fun. They also kept their minds healthy every afternoon by meditating and carrying out deep breathing exercises.

On Thursday, Year 3 all enjoyed a healthy school breakfast in the playground. It was delicious. Every day, they have had the opportunity to learn more about their diet and are now more aware of healthy food choices and the importance of drinking lots of water – especially in this hot weather! The week culminated in a steel pan workshop followed by a whole school carnival where every class got to present a cultural dance based on their country. The children had an amazing time!

Year 4 Year 4 have had such an eventful Healthy Lifestyle Week: it has been so much fun! The children took part in a number of wonderful activities and house competitions throughout the week. The classes participated in workshops every day - their favourites were Hula Hooping and Martial Arts. The teacher from Hula Hooping workshop was also a circus teacher….she was amazing!

At the end of the day of each day, the children had DREAM Time; they stopped what they were doing and got time to focus on their breathing, meditate and reflect on our day. It was so relaxing!

Everyone had a brilliant time during Healthy Lifestyles Week and wish they could do it all over again! Year 4 have learnt that keeping fit and healthy can be so much fun!

Year 5 Year 5 had a fantastic time during Healthy Lifestyles Week. They had a jampacked timetable filled with a wide array of activities. Some of the more physical activities included Hula-Hooping, South American dance, Cricket and Martial Arts; these really got our hearts racing! The children also had some activities that helped them to focus and centre themselves, such as Yoga and Tai Chi. Throughout the week they worked on their specific country/culture presentations that they had researched over half term: New Zealand (5S) and Hawaii (5P). They learnt so much about these locations and their cultures and really enjoyed creating their own dances to go along with their presentations. The children also used this opportunity to put their computing skills to good use by creating interactive presentations. Thank you to Ms Green and all the instructors for providing them with an exciting and memorable week!

Year 6 Year 6 have had an energetic, wholesome and self-reflective week (sugar free) jam-packed with a multitude of activities and positive initiatives! They’ve enjoyed a variety of workshops that have both raised their heart rates - such as hula hooping, salsa dancing, cricket and martial arts - and enabled them to take a step back from the everyday hustle and bustle of their busy lives and calmly focus on the moment through mindfulness activities and yoga. They’ve also analysed their daily consumption habits and set themselves positive targets to take progressive steps towards healthier day-to-day lifestyle choices! The week culminated in a country and creative dance presentations from the school Houses - with 6 Beethoven and 6 Vivaldi representing Ireland and India respectively. The children developed their teamwork, organisation and planning skills to create stylish presentations on their countries and they performed their own choreographed version of their country's national dance.

Our week in Pictures

What a fantastic Healthy Lifestyles Week we have had thanks to our wonderful Southfield pupils’ enthusiasm and hard work and our dedicated staff team! A wholehearted thank you to all of our parents and carers for supporting them, and us, in making this year’s Healthy Lifestyles Week a success – and to the PTA for our wonderful Healthy Breakfast!

Without you, it would not have been possible.

‘Ex Corde Vita’ Email: admin@southfield.ealing.sch.uk

Southfield Primary School Southfield Road Bedford Park London W4 1BD

Tel 020 8994 6173 or 020 8742 3127