St. Paul’s take their reading corner straight outside.
We were pleased to award St. Paul’s Catholic Primary School (Cheshunt) an English Award to set up an outdoor library. The award includes a large, wooden reading corner (shed), a map of the world rug, beanbags and a wide range of books to stock the shelves.
Donna Rolt (Assistant Headteacher) explained the need for the facility:
"Our school has limited space for a library and we use widened parts of the corridors and nooks at the moment. A large wooden outdoor library would enable us to give a platform where our teachers can support and facilitate children to make meaning while reading. We can transform the physical space of the outdoor library to create a conducive, lively and inviting space for reading for all of our children.”
Donna went on to point out some of the benefits of the space:
“…it can promote and support leisure-time reading, contribute to the social development of the students in our school and provide a place to study and do homework. It can provide a safe haven for all students to think, create, share, and grow.”
Hillshott set their sights on a great range… of books.
We were pleased to award Hillshott Infant school an English Award for an excellent range of books to promote diversity and wellbeing. Sarah Murdoch (School Business Manager) explained the project, its benefits and how it fitted in with the school’s updated reading schemes:
“As part of the school's development plan we want to support the social, emotional and developmental needs of children by creating a nurturing, holistic approach and encourage children to value the processes of learning.
This will be achieved with nurturing a lifelong love of reading to support children's learning of the English language. Part of this objective is to ensure the reading materials we offer children are relevant, inclusive and representative of the communities in which we live. In the last academic year all of the reading schemes were reviewed and replenished with relevant texts. The final stage of this project is to do the same for the school library.
The award would ensure all children in our school community have access to reading materials that are relevant, inclusive and representative of the communities in which we live. Offering children books that are of interest to them ensures we nurture a live long love for reading.”
Hobletts Manor build back better with books.
We were pleased to award Hobletts Manor Junior School an English award to build a library of resilience books. We are very aware of the potential difficulties that children will face when they return of children to school and, in some cases, unhappy times during home schooling. Kelly Smith (School Business Manager) explained:
“All the book titles have been carefully selected with strong messages for the children to feel empowered covering a wide range of emotions.”
Bids that have been put together based on research, experience and/or training have a head start in terms of achievable benefits for the children. Hobletts book choices have this advantage:
“A group of Teachers are undertaking the Back on Track training course run by Herts for Learning which focuses on getting pupils back into achieving following the period of School closure. As a result of the training recommendations from the course are to build a library of resilience books which support both English curriculum and the pupils’ wellbeing.
These books have been recommended by trainers of the Back on Track programme and also cover some activities like cookery to further promote wellbeing. … some of which come with Audio CD's for whole class reading activity.”
Holy Family School swap lock-down for the great outdoors.
We are very pleased to award the Holy Family Catholic School a grant towards creating an outdoor learning area. The project will include many wonderful elements such as a fire-pit, a pond, class seating, raised beds, a bug hotel, bird boxes, children’s tools and plants.
Jackie Willcocks (School Business Manager) explained the benefits:
“This would be available to the whole school to enable and encourage teaching outdoors.
The children would benefit from this resource as many of them do not explore the outdoors with their families. It would really help them to discover and learn about nature and show them how to continue their learning outdoors. The children would benefit from collaborative working and provide positive healthy benefits both physically and mentally and assist with gross and fine motor development, it will help children who struggle emotionally and find it difficult to express their feelings and help them develop a lifelong love of the outdoors. The benefits of having an outdoor learning experience can help children grow in confidence, forge relationships and increase their self-esteem.”
Jackie also explained that the outdoor area will not only benefit their children but also…
“We have a school that is right next door to us, there is a fence dividing the 2 schools, we want to put a gate up at the end of the field so that they can enter the back of our school field to use this facility.”
Harvey Road raise wellbeing with a downward-facing dog!
We are pleased to award Harvey Road Primary School a grant for a 5 week programme of Yoga workshops, lesson plans and teacher coaching. Clare Wallis (School Business Manager) coordinated a strong application, beginning with the identified need:
“We have identified an increase in the number of children who have suffered increased anxiety levels over the past couple of years. In addition to this, children have encountered emotional, social, and physical challenges during the pandemic.”
Clare then explained what the workshops and coaching will cover and how it will benefit the children, including addressing our “longevity of benefit” criteria:
“The Yoga teacher will provide a programme of activities that will improve the children’s competency and confidence to perform Yoga, in an enjoyable way, whilst encouraging their commitment both in school and at home. The workshops will focus on mental and physical wellbeing and will involve activities such as:
• Developing fine and gross motor skills through games, asana practice and meditations
• Improving social and emotional development through developing friendship groups and empathy
• Using spoken word to express emotions and understand how feelings can influence behaviour, which will also include learning elements of Sanskrit.
• Relaxation and mindfulness through breathing techniques and various Yoga poses to help manage anxiety and to improve focus
The coaching that will be provided to the teachers will enable them to create their own Yoga sessions as well as incorporate Yoga into their lesson plans, across the curriculum. This will ensure that future cohorts of children will also benefit from this investment.
The children will be provided with tools and techniques to help understand and regulate their emotions as well as increasing their level of physical activity in a safe and secure environment. These disciplines can be used throughout the children’s lives by providing them with coping strategies to manage the challenges that they encounter.”