Beyond The Curriculum
At Brackenwood Infant School we believe that it is vital to provide all of our children with the opportunities to understand the world around them and how to make a positive contribution to it as active citizens. This page is designed to show our families our children’s experiences beyond the national curriculum.
Science Week
British Science Week was a great success! Children in every class completed varied scientific activities exploring the theme ‘Connections’. During the week, a whole school assembly was led by Mrs Milton which explored the different connections we make across the world such as the connections between animals and humans and the connections we make with each other. Classes were also encouraged to find out about the work of a living scientist. Some activities across the school included exploring and categorising plants as well as a very unusual experiment, still underway where some underpants were planted!
Science Week was a great opportunity to promote scientific learning and inquiry at Brackenwood and hopefully continue to develop the children’s love of science, technology, engineering and maths.
Children’s Mental Health Week
From 6th to 12th February, we celebrated and focused on the Children’s Mental Health Week theme, ‘Let’s Connect’, as a whole school and within our own classes. During the week, we talked about what healthy and meaningful connections to family, friends and others are, and how important they are for our well-being.
On Thursday 9th February the children came into school wearing a wide range of colourful outfits to express themselves! As a school, we have raised £99.30 for the mental health charity ‘Place2Be’.
A huge thank you for all your donations and your continued support.
Mrs Lamprou
How does Mental Health link with literacy?
We’ve long known that a love of reading and writing can help children flourish at school and go on to succeed at work. But we now know that reading and writing for enjoyment can also play a vital role in helping children lead happy and healthy lives. A research from National Literacy Trust about Mental well-being, reading and writing, found that children who enjoy reading and writing in their free time have significantly better mental well-being than their peers who don’t.
Black History Month
Black History Month is an annual celebration which takes place in the UK during the month of October. This is a special time where we recognise and promote knowledge of black history, culture and heritage.
Alongside our core British Values, we will encourage children to reflect on previous work, and explore ideas that promote respect and understanding of one another. We will also consider important historical events as we learn about Black History whilst taking the opportunity to celebrate the lives of positive black role models and the positive contribution they have made and continue to make.
The Woodland Trust Award
This year, our Eco Team have achieved a silver Woodland Trust Award. As part of the award, schools are rewarded for completing environmental projects such as tree planting, recycling and raising awareness. As well as improving our school grounds and helping the environment, we hope to inspire our children about trees, woods and wildlife.
Anti-Bullying Week
Children in Need
BBC Children in Need is a charity which raises money for disadvantaged children and young people across the UK. The end goal for Children in Need is to make sure that every child has a safe, happy and secure childhood and the chance to flourish.
We had a non-uniform day and children took part in lots of activities and learning. Charity plays an important part in our school life and we view Children in Need as a great opportunity to teach children the importance of helping others, being kind, developing empathy, having a broader sense of social responsibility and empowering them to be change agents to make a difference to the lives of others.
This year we raised £196.75. Thank you.
Year 2 Para Olympic Festival
Para Olympics Recount
Written by 2D
On Wednesday 7th July, we had a special visit from Jo and Gemma from Clare Mount Primary. First of all, we sat down in the hall and we were told that we were going to do some paralympics. At first, we were confused about what was going to happen and what this involved but after some explanation we felt really excited and a little bit nervous at the same time. The first activity involved us being blindfolded and our partner acted as a guide. Our guide had to help us to cross the finish line by making sounds to help keep us safe. This helped us to understand what it might feel like to be a blind person. At first, it was really difficult but we managed to work well as a team. Next, we were asked to balance a ball on a racquet with our non-dominant hand. This was really tricky because we used the hand that we don't write with. After that, we played a game of target throw with varying hoop sizes. It was really difficult to get the beanbag in the smallest hoops but we didn't give up. This helped us to understand how people with visual difficulties might have to adapt to carry out daily tasks. Finally, we rolled out a giant rainbow canopy which we used to play a game. We had to work as a team to make the ball travel from one end to the other without it falling off. This was our favourite part! This taught us how important resilience can be and how we can all play an integral part of a team.
Thank you to the ladies from Clare Mount. All of 2D.