Registered Charity No: 1141329
This week I heard lots of questions being asked by the children and this got me thinking. I then came across an interesting article about the power of children's questions. As parents we can become exasperated with the seemingly constant stream of questions that our children ask from morning until night, but research has evidenced the power of these questions for the acquisition of knowledge and understanding and for making meaningful connections. As teachers of young learners, we harness the power of asking children questions to activate prior learning, scaffold new learning, promote thought and as provocations for learning, but conversely children generating their own questions is a vital part of their learning and development and demonstrates their curiosity and innate need to make sense of the world around them. A piece of research from the University of Belgrade identified three types of questions. Cognitive questions where children are seeking new information borne out of curiosity. These might be about themselves, the world around them and activities. Social questions connected to interaction, such as agreeing or disagreeing or validating their thoughts and ideas and operational questions where children might be asking for our help or permission. Children subconsciously recognise the need to ask questions and the importance of answers. Further studies have also shown that children are able to distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources of answers and these influence their ability to
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ask effective questions. As teachers and parents, we can support the use of questions by ensuring our children can express themselves with good oracy skills and by giving time and space to ask questions and for us to answer them revealing children’s interests and curiosity for learning which further drives motivation for learning. We need to embrace each and every question, even the tricky ones and to say when we don’t yet know the answers. This week we have continued to teach the children about our three ‘Be’s; Be Safe, Be Respectful and Be Ready. These help the children to make positive choices for themselves and others in school and beyond. We have an action for each statement and hopefully your children will be able to demonstrate these to you at home. We are praising the children for using these and it’s been so encouraging to see them making good choices. I am so heartened that so many children, without any prompting, are greeting the staff and their peers each morning as they arrive at school. Small gestures mean a lot and help to build our school community where everyone is seen and valued.
Our annual visit by student teachers from Linz University in Austria began this week. The twelve students are here to observe and support teaching and the staff and children always benefit from
their visit and the opportunity to share their insights. We hope that they will deliver an assembly about Austria whilst they are with us.
A wonderful part of my job is being able to drop into classrooms and for the children to share their learning which they are always proud to do. Yesterday, I saw children in classes working hard on the challenging and often frustrating skill of writing. This is one of the most difficult skills to learn as a young child as it involves multiple demands- handwriting, spelling, sentence structure and composition to name a few, but I was struck by the progress children make as early writers and the importance of us as adults remembering the complexities of writing. Last year, we began a project to further improve writing and we are now seeing the impact of this. It is all about the process and quality and not about the volume, as this will come with time and confidence where some of the cognitive load will be reduced as handwriting and spelling becomes more automatic, giving space for other aspects such as creativity.
As week three of the term draws to a close, I am reflecting on a great week at St Peter’s 2-8 and the breadth and depth of learning. I hope you have a restorative and enjoyable weekend.
Friday 22nd September 2023
DIARY FOR WEEK COMMENCING
25th September 2023
School Council
Year 1 Cricket*
Year 1 Animals & The Environment
Year 2 IT
Year 2 & 3 Football*
Year 3 Cookery
Year 1 Lets Get Moving
Year 2 STEM
Year 2 Cricket*
Year 3 Swimming
Year 3 Tennis*
Year 2 & 3 Dance Club*
Year 1 Football Skills*
Year 1 Yoga*
Year 2 & 3 Choir (CANCELLED)
Year 1 Board Games
Year 1 Ball Skills
Year 2 Tennis*
Year 2 Art
Yeat 2 & 3 European Cultures
Year 3 Hockey
Year 3 STEM
Year 1 Lexia
Year 1 Street Dance*
Year 2 & 3 Lioness Football*
Year 2 & 3 Running Club
Year 2 & 3 Board Games
Year 3 Cricket*
This week some students from St Peters 13-18 came to talk to the Year 3’s about the Brilliant Breakfast
What is The Brilliant Breakfast?
The Brilliant Breakfast is an annual, nationwide event raising funds for The Prince's Trust. Whether it’s a simple tea and toast at home with family and friends, or a workplace breakfast with a difference, you can help change young women’s lives. The money you raise from your breakfast could help disadvantaged young women get into work, education or training and turn their lives around. Together we can celebrate how successful women can be with the right support and opportunities.
When - Anytime between 9-15th October.
We are encouraging Year 3 students to create a ‘brilliant breakfast’ at home for friends and family and to ask for donations towards the Brilliant Breakfast campaign. Details of how to donate any funds raised will follow.
The sixth form students that visited Year 3 brought recipes ideas for chocolate chip pancakes and blueberry muffins and a template for students to design their own ‘brilliant breakfast’.
Designs and photos of anything the students create can be submitted to school and prizes will be given after the event.
