Thursday 21st May

Date: 20th May 2020 @ 9:34pm

Morning, everyone!

Happy Thursday! I hope this week is going well for you and you are learning a lot about mental health and kindness. It really is such an important topic to learn about- especially during lockdown, and particularly for our class, as we are experiencing a lot of change this year, with the transition to high school.

Having mental health is something we all have in common- suffering from poor mental health happens to lots of us at different times in our lives, so we can recover quicker from poor mental health if we have a better understanding of what it is and how to help ourselves.

Remember when the NSPCC came in to speak to us and they brought Buddy the mascot? They talked to us all about worries and people we could talk to if we were worried. There are lots of people out there you can talk to: a few of those people probably live in your house! It might be nice if today, you researched an organisation such as the NSPCC, ChildLine or Barnados to find out what someone can do if they need to talk. 

Now, I have two shout outs to give today. The first goes to Ewan. He has worked extremely hard to design his very own mental health mascot. I absolutely love it! This is such a great idea, Ewan. Well done.

My second shout out goes to an anonymous person... This person went onto Purple Mash and created their own Mental Health Superhero. I, personally, think it's excellent. Let me know what you think! 

I'm sure you'll agree that the superhero looks like a VERY kind person! 

(If you want to have a go at this, log in to Purple Mash and type in the search bar 'mashcams'. Have some fun! There are lots to choose from.)

Just as a reminder, here is the list of activities I suggested on Monday. Perhaps today you could choose one related to an organisation which is there to help people who need to talk, like those I mentioned earlier, or you could find your own. There are LOTS of people out there who are more than happy to help if you are feeling sad, depressed, anxious, worried, frustrated or angry. Talking really does help! Choose another activity for today and don't forget to send them across. 

1. Keep a mental health journal, where you add an entry each day about how you have been feeling, if you have spread kindness or if someone has shown you kindness.

2. Write a poem all about kindness.

3. Research the effects of kindness on someone's mental health (this website might have some useful information for you: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week)

4. Write a short story with a message all about being kind to others.

5. Produce a rap / song all about mental health and how to look after it.

6. Design a poster all about the benefits of kindness on someone's mental health.

7. Produce a piece of artwork demonstrating what kindness means to you.

8. Make a list of 30 ways someone can show kindness and try to complete as many as you can.

9. Be a secret kindness ninja- each day, try to complete one random act of kindness!

10. Come up with a list of rules on how to be kind for younger children.

11. Write a recount about a time someone showed kindness to you and how it made you feel.

12. Create a mental health mascot- draw a picture of him/ her, write their special powers and how they can help other people.

13. Create an information leaflet about mental health and how it can be good and bad.

14. Speak to the people in your family about their mental health and compile a list of ways they try to make sure they are mentally healthy. (Do they have hobbies that make them relax? How do they cope with things that upset them? What do they do when they are feeling sad or low?)

15. Take a survey every day- ask every member of your family to tell you on a scale of 1-10 how happy they are. Record your results and then analyse them at the end of the week. Was there a specific day that people were unhappy? Was everyone happy all of the time? Who was the happiest? Who was the least happy? What could you do to make them happier? (As an extra challenge, you could use 2graph on Purple Mash to record your results and see them in different ways). 

BBC Bitesize lessons for today:

Maths - converting decimals into fractions and simplifying them (easy peasy!)

Literacy - write a thank you letter (this follows on from yesterday's lesson, where you drafted a letter)

Computing - what makes a good computer game

Also, don't forget to get reading every day. Serial Mash on Purple Mash is great for those of you who are running out of books or prefer to read on screen. There are activities you can complete after each chapter (you don't necessarily need to do these, but they will help your comprehension skills). 

Please keep going with Times Tables Rockstars, too! As Year 6, we should be leading the way for the rest of the school. We are the role models and so we should be at the top of that leaderboard. Come on! Try and beat me - Zoey Shellshock. 

Well guys, tomorrow is Friday. Don't forget, I won't be blogging over the next two weeks (I think you've earned a little break from me!) but I will be back, bright and breezy after the Whit half term. Hopefully, by then, we will be seeing more of each other! 

Stay safe and be kind,

Mrs Naylor