On Monday our very talented and dedicated Deputy Head Pastoral, Ally Linney, launched the start of Children's Mental Health Week with an assembly on the national theme of 'Know Yourself, Grow Yourself', which aims to give a voice to all children. The week has seen a wealth of empowering activities to encourage self-reflection and equilibrium. The assembly used the characters from Pixar's 'Inside Out' to guide children to accept that all the emotions they may experience are valid and important. As Joy says to Sadness, 'Wherever I go, you go too' and Sadness recognises that 'Sometimes you just have to feel sad to feel better later.'
At Vinehall we pride ourselves on the Life Skills curriculum that Ally has created, a huge part of which helps children to connect with their feelings and behaviour and recognise when they need support. We aim to provide spaces where children can feel safe to share their thoughts and feelings and we have a healthy platform for the 'pupil voice'. We encourage pupils to be children for as long as possible and appreciate the huge importance of a happy childhood with the freedom to run a bit wild and have fun.
To our whole community, I share a wonderful quote from Christopher Robin - 'Promise me you'll always remember you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.' I offer my public thanks to Ally for all that she contributes to the well-being of our pupils and for the hugely positive way in which she works with our equally able whole pastoral team.
Joff
Children's Mental Health Week: Know yourself, grow yourself!
Ally Linney - Deputy Head (Pastoral)
This week is Children's Mental Health Week!
Place2Be teamed up with Disney and, this year, we have focused on holding space for our range of emotions through the inspiration of the film 'Inside Out 2'. The film teaches us that anxiety, ennui, embarrassment, and envy have their place, too, and we must learn to be mindful of our feelings while learning to master and control them through self-regulation.
We encourage children to 'sit with their feelings' by naming the emotions, exploring them without judgement, noticing body sensations, and allowing them to pass. The Zones of Regulation is a helpful tool we use from Pre-Prep right the way through to Year 8. Taking time to practise breathing techniques (as learned in Life Skills 'Calm Me' sessions) helps with self-awareness and self-esteem and promotes a healthy mindset.
In Form Time this week, we have explored our emotions (6PW), tuned into 'Here4You' and watched a short film hosted by Roman Kemp that tackles young people's mental health (8L & 8T), had Yoga Bananas sessions with Ms Linney (3E & 4B), and explored our personality islands (7P) - to name a few activities.
Next up is this weekend's optional prep: watch 'Inside Out 2' as a family!
Choose Respect!
Ally Linney - Deputy Head (Pastoral)
Last term, Ashton, Paxton, Rushton and Saxton were tasked in their House Meetings with coming up with a song or rap for our Anti-Bullying Week theme "Choose Respect".
Little did we know that some of our House teachers have hidden talents in the Rap & Hip Hop industries as they led their House pupils with some "sick beats".
We loved watching the long-awaited video in Assembly this week! Many thanks to our House Captains and our House Teachers for leading us to success in this challenge.
And remember, be
nice,
nice,
nice!
Be kind,
kind,
kind!
Choose Respect!
Nursery - Impressions of Winter by Claude Monet
Sarah Wolford - Head of Nursery & Kindergarten
This week our Little Vines children took inspiration from looking at pieces of art by Claude Monet. We have been learning about Winter and how it makes us feel. We used descriptive language to describe the cold and then explored different media and materials to create our own pieces of wonderful Winter art. The children demonstrated a great sense of curiosity and creativeness as they explored the different media and had lots of sparkly fun!
Kindergarten
Cathy Fuggle - Kindergarten Teacher
This week we have been continuing to learn about owls, with a focus on the book 'Little Owl’. In this story, we learnt how Little Owl was afraid to fly, but was brave and didn’t give up. We used the book as a springboard to think about times when we have had to be brave. We talked about how even adults feel scared sometimes and have to be brave.
Sticking with the bird theme, Kindergarten were most excited when a family of ducks waddled into our playground and we rushed out to say hello and look at their beautiful feathers. What a lovely surprise! I think the ducks wanted to listen to stories about their feathered friends too!
Reception
Holly Newton - Reception Teacher
This week we have been busy finding out what it means to double a number. We looked at some dominoes and had to double the number that we could see on one side, by repeating the pattern on the other side and recording the total. We are remembering that 4 add 4 makes 8. Now we are working to remember that double 4 makes (equals) 8 too!
Margaux wrote a super letter to Mrs Whittaker asking for some new Phonics cards. We needed some bigger ones so that when we do Phonics altogether everyone can see what is on the card clearly. Mrs Whittaker agreed to buy us some new cards because she thought Margaux’s letter was so lovely. Thank you, Margaux for helping us!
We have also been busy learning how to sew. We learnt how to use a running stitch to attach the front and back of our Penguins together. Then we added some stuffing to show how he or she looks when they are full up from eating squid, fish and krill! We are very proud of our hard work and think they look fabulous!
Year 1
Jacklyn Garwood - Year 1 Teacher
The day of our ‘ Dinosaur Museum’ arrived this week! The children stood like statues and then ‘came alive’ as members of the audience ‘pushed their button’. The children moved like dinosaurs as they recited facts about their dinosaur with great confidence, entertaining the audience in front of them! At the end of the show the children proudly read their fact files and exhibited their fabulous dinosaur dioramas explaining the reasons behind them. Well done Year 1 for being brave like Maisie Monkey to perform such an amazing show !
Year 2
Louise Hawtin - Year 2 Teacher
On Tuesday Year 2 went to Hastings to visit the Shipwreck Museum. The children were shown old lifeboats and looked at models of ships as well as lots of different artefacts retrieved from various shipwrecks.
They tried using different pulleys, then learned how to fire a cannon; they were shocked to discover that children as young as 10, known as Powder Monkeys, had to help.
We also went to the Lifeboat Station to look at a modern lifeboat and were lucky to have a volunteer available to answer our questions, before watching the lifeboat being pushed out on the beach as part of a training exercise. What a fun day!
Year 3 - Soakers and Drainers
Carina Everist - Year 3 Teacher & Religious Studies Teacher Years 3-6
Year 3 had great fun in Science this week, when they planned a fair test to find out which soil absorbed the most water and which soil was the best 'drainer'. They had to read the finely calibrated measuring cylinders which took a bit of getting used to!
Year 3 - Suspicious Letters?
Year 3 are continuing to enjoy their Humanities and English themes based on Ancient Egypt and Tutankhamun. They wrote letters in role as Horemheb or Ay trying to 'bump' Tut off the throne. Thanks to Karen Walker for transforming the paper into ancient, burnt offerings!
Year 4 - Bug Hunt – Science
Louise Barrett - Head of Juniors
4B went looking for bugs this week. They had a wonderful time and enjoyed using the Pooters to suck up the bugs!
Year 4 – Spellings
One spelling task this week was team teach. One child in a group is the teacher; they test and check the others in their group.
Year 7 Life Skills: The Lunar Hotel Challenge
Ally Linney - Deputy Head (Pastoral)
In our 'Dreams and Goals' unit, we have focused on skills for the future in our Year 7 sessions recently. The pupils watched an informative video called 'The digital future of work: What skills will be needed?'
From there, they accepted the Lunar Hotel Challenge. They worked in teams to create a 'hotel' that could withstand the direct hit of a meteor strike (aka a heavy book released from 5 feet high). They were given 50 index cards, a role of tape, a ruler, felt tips and 20 minutes! Effective communication (speaking AND listening), creativity, work ethic, resilience and systems thinking were put to the test!
After the meteor strikes, the pupils reflected on their skills and how the experience could apply to their abilities in a collaborative workspace.
Sport
Matt McKinnon - Director of Sport
The senior girls played their penultimate netball match of the season against Skipper's Hill. Unfortunately Skipper's could only field one team, which meant a number of girls missed out on playing, but still enjoyed a competitive game against each other and a hearty match tea.
The Colts AB girls played their first football matches away at Dulwich. John Newman was pleased with their effort and they were unlucky not to score any goals, after creating a number of chances.
The boys continued their good form on the hockey fields, with a closely contested block fixture against Bede's. Zac Atwood was very happy with the performances of the Colts teams, with the B team putting in a great performance to edge their evenly-matched contest 2-1.
On Tuesday the senior girls' swimming team took on Mayfield in another closely-fought contest, winning 41-39. Derek Guy and Katie Walker were hugely appreciative of their efforts, especially as some were not feeling very well.
On Thursday the Year 3 & 4 girls took on Marlborough House and Claremont in a triangular in their last hockey matches of the term. The boys travelled to Bede's in Eastbourne for a short but enjoyable afternoon.
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Public Speaking Competition
Emily Platt, Head of English and Anna Webb, English teacher
Anna Webb and I were pleased to accompany three of our senior pupils to the Rotary Club's “Youth Speaks“ public speaking competition at St Richard's Catholic College in Bexhill on Monday evening.
Tymofii L, Poppy O and Ronen Z represented Vinehall, speaking on the topic of the American gymnast, Simone Biles.
Tymofii did an excellent job as Chairperson and Poppy O delivered a confident, informative and inspirational speech about Biles, her gymnastics journey, and how her path to success was not an easy one. Ronen rose to the challenge of closing the proceedings and giving the vote of thanks.
Vinehall achieved third place out of the intermediate teams judged, and received very positive feedback from the organiser who told us that the pupils had "done Vinehall proud".
The three pupils, wearing their debating club badges below, will be given Headmaster's Commendations and each will be receiving a credit for confidence and courage for participation in this prestigious competition.
Congratulations and thank you to the pupils for their participation, commitment and unwavering enthusiasm. Thanks should also go to the pupils' parents for their support!
Forest School – Year 3
Carina Everist - Year 3 Teacher & Religious Studies Teacher Years 3-6
What would we do without Amy and Laura?
What a fantastic morning the children in Year 3 experienced this week. An array of activities awaited us: den designing, creative kitchens, fire steel sparks, beating batter, pancake perfection, seed cakes for our feathered friends and more.
Thank you so much for your expertise and wrap around care when we join you down in the woods.
As it got cooler we went in and the children rehearsed their acts for the evening talent contest. We saw some very good dancing, guitar playing and a hilarious play with magic included. After showers we put a movie on and settled in for the evening with some tuck.
Sunday was bright and sunny. After lunch we went down to Eastbourne to play minigolf and had the world's best ice creams on the beach. Then it was time to get ready for the week. It was lovely to be out in the sunshine even if it was a little chilly.