This week in our Jigsaw lessons, we have been learning more about bullying, focussing on direct and indirect bullying.

Direct bullying: when the bullying is done directly to the person 
being bullied. He or she might be pushed, hit, tripped, texted/
emailed, or told, “No, you can’t play with us”, having signs made at 
them, etc.

Indirect bullying: bullying that happens behind someone’s back, 
(spreading rumours, whispering, making signs to each other, 
stealing or damaging things without the person knowing who is 
doing it, excluding someone indirectly, e.g. making up excuses 
about why they can’t come rather than telling them directly).

Throughout these lessons, we encourage the children to think about their own actions and how they can be powerful in ensuring that bullying is not taking place in our school. We also talk about the various sources of support that can be accessed if you think you are experiencing bullying or see it happening to somebody else.

After weeks of line learning, song practice and epic DT sessions making all the props, Pine Class performed their WWII play first to the other children in their forest, and then to their delighted parents.  All the children did exceptionally well, performed their lines and sang the songs beautifully.  They should all be very proud of themselves.

This week year 5 participated in the first of 6 food education work shops with Mrs Caplan.  They learned all about how much sugar is in everyday food and how to make informed decisions about their sugar intake.  They measured spoonfuls of sugar in Cola, ketchup and frosties and suffice to say they were all a little shocked at how much sugar these items contain.

We learned about how much sugar is recommened daily and also how to substitute some overly sugary snacks with some healthier alternatives.  We enjoyed tasting the alternatives to digestive biscuits even if some agreed it would be better with a nice cup of tea!

Today, Luke from Stevenage FCF, who does a range of fantastic work with us at Fairlands, delivered a workshop to Year 5 children entitled 'Say No to Racism.' The children learned about what it means to be an ally; someone who is willing to act with or for others to create equality. We talked about playing our part in helping to challenge racism and discrimination and learned about how our own behaviour can impact others in positive ways. We were also lucky enough to meet two Stevenage Borough players - Luther James-Wildin and Terence Vancooten - who talked about their own experiences and gave the opportunity for the children to ask them questions.

In our English lessons we have been learning all about biographies. Biographies tell the story of a real persons life. As it is black history month, we each chose an influential figure in black history and wrote a biography all about their life. We had to organise our paragraphs into the correct subheadings. Some of us even worked hard to publish our biographies! We are hoping to make a display in our corridoor for all to see.

Yesterday, in Year 5, we had a Dogs Trust assembly and workshop. We learned lots of new facts about dogs. Did you know that the top three most poisonous foods for dogs are grapes, raisins and chocolate? Or that a dog's sense of smell is so powerful that it can detect the level of sugars in a person's blood? They really are amazing creatures. We also learned lots about how to treat dogs with respect and how to behave safely around these wonderful animals that we share our environment with.

As a school, we have been working really hard to improve our joined up handwriting. We have been having three handwriting sessions a week to focus on the formation of our letter and perfecting our letter joins. If you would like to practise more at home, please use these details to log on to the letter join website. 

Letter join log in:

www.letterjoin.co.uk

Tablet log in:

Username: qr8527

Swipe code: a capital L shape starting at the top left 

PC log in:

Username: qr8527

Password: home

The whole school participated in a kindness seminar this week and we were all encouraged to spread kindness by our actions.  Pine class produced some beautiful cards for their friends, family and even teachers!  I can definitely confirm that their efforts produced a great burst of happiness across the school.

This afternoon, in Spruce Class, we have been learning all about having a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be changed and developed throughout their lives. This is true - our intelligence is not fixed and our brain is a muscle that will continue to grow if it works hard. We will be working throughout the year to build our resilience to setbacks and to challenge ourselves to allow our brains to grow!

Throughout the past few months, a number of children across Year 5 have taken part in the Brilliant Club Scholars Programme. The children worked weeklywith a PhD university tutor on the topic of 'What is Fairness?' They completed a final assignment to showcase what they had learned during the sessions and to discuss this philosophical concept. Today was their graduation ceremony, where they received their certificates and grading for their assignments. Two of our children also read speeches about their experience on the programme during the ceremony and did a really amazing job of representing themselves and our school. We are so proud of all of the children who took part in the programme and demonstrated hard work and dedication.