On 16^th January, to kickstart our new Science unit all about Space, Year 5 visited the National Space Centre in Leicester. We took part in a workshop all about the Earth, Sun and Moon and learned about the different phases of the Moon. Later, our minds were blown by the experiments we witnessed in the ‘It IS Rocket Science’ live show and the amazing planetarium show. We made sure to spend plenty of time looking around the museum itself, where we got to take a look at some rocket prototypes and even at a chunk of the Moon!

We re-launched our school house system this term with an inter-house poetry competition.  There were forty-eight entries in total.

The house captains read all forty-eight and came up with a short-list of the best poems from each phase.  Our school governors then chose the winners and those who would be highly commended.

Well done to all those who took part and thank you to parents for your support.

Over the spring term there will be further opportunities to gain house points for your house.  Look out for a letter when we return after Christmas for examples of behaviours that will gain house points.

Miss Beal will also be launching the spring term competition which comes with a house point for entry, lots of house points for the winners and maybe even some prizes to take home.  Watch this space!

For now, congratulations to our poetry winners:

KS1—Sukie J

LKS2—Sophie C

UKS2—Kaitlyn  D

Highly commended:

Kathyayani A, Katelynn D, Daisy D, Eleanor C, Evie DGM

At Burwell Village College Primary School, we recognise the importance of promoting positive mental health and supporting the emotional wellbeing of our children and families. We aim to create an open culture around the discussion of mental health and wellbeing through the implementation of the Zones of Regulation curriculum. We teach our children to identify emotions in themselves, and others, and provide them with strategies to help regulate their emotions and improve their wellbeing.

Self-regulation can be described as the ability to adjust your level of alertness (including your senses, emotions and impulses) to fit the situation you are in and express this through socially appropriate behaviours.

The children learn different strategies to cope and manage their emotions based on the zone they are in. They are taught to be able to self-identify how they’re feeling and categorise it based on colour – blue, green, yellow and red.

What are the different zones?

Blue Zone: when your body is running slowly, such as when you are tired, sad, sick or bored.

Green Zone:  when you are ready and good to go.  You may be feeling happy, calm, feeling okay, focused.

Yellow Zone:  when you begin to feel more intense emotions, such as when you are frustrated, overwhelmed, worried, silly/wiggly, excited, anxious or surprised.

 Red Zone:  when you have extreme feelings such as terror, uncontrolled anger, aggression or elation.

The children are taught that everyone experiences all of the zones at different points. It will be explained to them that the Red and Yellow zones are not necessarily ‘bad/negative’ zones and that we may experience all of them at one time or another.

Aims

As a school we aim to help the children:

• Increase their emotional vocabulary so they can explain how they are feeling.
• Recognise when they are in the different zones and identify a range of calming and alerting strategies that support them.
• Recognise when other people are in different zones, including reading facial expressions, to develop empathy.
• Develop problem-solving skills, resilience and understand how their actions can affect other people.

Understanding Zone Tools

You can use the resources below to support children with sensory devices and calming techniques to help them move between zones.

How will my child learn about the Zones of Regulation?

At Burwell Village College Primary School, we are using The Zones of Regulation as a whole school approach which allows us to develop a common language across the school in which to discuss emotions and behaviours.

All classrooms have the zones on display and the children can move their name or show a card to an adult to show how they are feeling. Depending on the zone they are in, and the child’s need, time will be given to help them regulate. This includes talking with an adult and using tools from the classroom. We want to help all children recognise when they are beginning to feel uncomfortable and have a toolbox of ideas to help them regulate themselves.

How can I help my child use The Zones of Regulation at home?

• Discuss together ways they can feel settled in the zone they identify in. Use yourself as an example. ‘I’m in the Yellow Zone and feeling worried, I could use some breathing techniques to help me feel calmer’.
• Create a list of strategies together. Remind them that everyone is different and the strategies do not have to be the same each time.
• Remind them that we will experience all zones and there are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ zones. Being able to regulate our emotions depends on us recognising our emotion, understanding it and putting a support strategy in place.
• If they are unable to identify their emotion, try using a curious approach by asking, “I wonder if you are in the yellow zone at the moment, you seem a bit worried.’ This may then open up the discussion.
• Support them with identify their feeling, “You seem frustrated, am I right? I can understand why you may feel like this, would you like to talk about it or do you need some time to self-regulate?”

Other ways to help

• Identify your own feelings using zones language. For example, ‘I’m frustrated. I think I am in the Yellow Zone.’
• Modelling to show how you use tools to regulate. For example, ‘I’m going to make myself a cup of tea and sit down quietly, because I am in the Blue Zone’ and afterwards tell your child how using those tools helped you.
• Create your own family Zones of Regulation chart.
• Discuss which zone a character in a film / book might be in.
• Discuss the different zones and tools they can use when they are regulated / calm to ensure they are ready to listen and regulate.

On Wednesday 29th November, Year 1 and 2 hosted a picnic for our Reception children as part of their food and nutrition DT unit.

Throughout the unit, the children worked carefully to plan, design, create and evaluate different picnic foods in order to find the perfect lunchtime snack for the Reception children. Whilst practicing their skills, the children followed a design criteria which stated their picnic must have: 1 savory item, 1 sweet item and they must include all aspects of the eat well plate.

After testing and evaluating different recipes, the children decided on a pasta salad and strawberry flapjack as their final design for the picnic. The Reception children thoroughly enjoyed their picnic trip and there were lots of clean plates!

On Monday 27th November, Year 1 completed their Geography field work to explore the village of Burwell. They were looking for human and physical features that make Burwell a good place to live. As part of our Burwell and Beyond theme, we have been learning all about the features of villages, towns and cities. We have practiced using maps and compasses, which the children were then able to use when on their walk. We walked up to Burwell windmill and spotted lots of other features including the post office, opticians, vets, fish and chip shop, garage, café and shop.

Now that we have collected our primary data, the children will present their ideas and come to a conclusion to answer their fieldwork question.

Year 3 enjoyed a fantastic trip to Flag Fen where they handled historical artefacts from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Romans. The children had the opportunity to make Stone Age pottery and they saw the remains of an ancient causeway.