Just a reminder that the last day of this academic year is Friday 16th July and children return to school on Thursday 2nd September (with Reception children staggered across the Thursday and Friday).

Good Morning Brown Clee!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and managed to dodge the showers!

Today I want to continue with our theme of Compassion and Empathy – as now that we have had lots of discussion and experiencing identifying emotions it is important that we understand why showing empathy is important – as once we have seen someone feeling sad, for example, we need to know how to respond compassionately.

I am going to show you quite a grown up video about a fox, a bear and an antelope with a narrator describing empathy.  In the video it says that empathy has 4 stages:

1. Taking the perspective of other people (eg putting yourself in their shoes!)
2. Staying out of judgement (eg not criticising or judging)
3. Recognising emotions in other people (noticing how people are feeling – and you showed last week that you are all very good at this one!)
4. Communicating emotion (this is the tricky bit – knowing how to respond in a helpful way).

Have a watch and listen and see what you think – Which animal is sad?  Which animal shows empathy?  and why?  Which animal doesn’t show empathy?  and why?

A very grown up video – but could you work out which animal was sad? – The Fox.  Which animal was showing empathy – the bear!  The bear didn’t try and fix the sadness of the fox – the bear listened and made a connection; the bear understood the feeling but didn’t simply try and ‘look on the bright side’ or reply by saying “At least….”

What about the antelope?  Was the antelope really bothered about the fox feeling sad?  I think the antelope didn’t like seeing fox sad, and tried to make things better by saying nice things – but the antelope didn’t show empathy – he didn’t show that he knew how the fox was feeling – he didn’t connect with the fox.

Who would you be – the bear or the antelope?

I want you to imagine that you are really, really sad….you’ve lost something that’s very special to you – and then think how you would want your friends to behave towards you.  For example, if I had lost my dog I would definitely be feeling very sad.  Do you think I would be happy if my friend just said “At least you had a dog” or if they said “Don’t worry, you can always get another one!”.  I don’t think this would make me feel better – as that person isn’t showing that they understand why I am so sad – they just want to make me feel better.  But if I had lost my dog I think it would take a bit of time before I felt better – and I think it would be ok to feel sad.  I think what I would need would be someone to show me that they care about me feeling sad as they know what feeling sad is like…so they might listen to me or lend a friendly shoulder to cry on or offer a hug.  Does that make sense?

Empathy is complicated and tricky – if you can try and put yourself in your friends shoes when they are feeling sad then that’s the first big step!  We all need to be that person that friends can lean on in times of trouble.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God

We thank you for our friends and for the happy times we share with them.

Help us to be a good friend to them.

Teach us how to play fairly and to share.

Help us to recognise sadness in others and show friendliness towards them.

We know that you are our friend and will be with us always.

Amen.

We are sad to inform you that Mrs Welch is leaving us at the end of this term for a change of career direction.  Mrs Welch has been a highly valued member of the team and we are going to miss her very much!  We wish Mrs Welch all the very best in her new career and know that she will shine – and hopefully she will take some very happy memories of Brown Clee School with her!

We would also like to let you know that we have a new member of staff joining Class 1, alongside our new Friday teacher – Mrs Morris.  As of September, Miss Burton is joining the Fireflies, to work along side the team supporting all the Reception and Year 1 children.  I am sure you will join with me to make her feel very welcome and part of our Brown Clee team.

We thought parents would like to see some of the photos and videos from our Sports Day yesterday – enjoy…..

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This week we have been continuing on our journey thinking about our feelings – we have discussed how many different feelings there are, we have considered why we need to control our feelings and regulate them, we have practised identifying different feelings in other people and reviewed what we mean by empathy.

We know empathy is important – that if we can’t identify and understand what feelings our friends have – that we can’t help support them and we can’t show compassion. Yesterday, we had another lovely assembly outside altogether where we had some enthusiastic children miming different feelings whilst everyone else guessed what those feelings were!  We also realised that different people express feelings differently – for example when George is excited – he runs around in circles waving his arms around, whilst Rosie squeezes her arms close and grips her hands tightly whilst beaning a massive smile!

Today I would like you to watch and listen to the story of “The Invisible Boy”. He is called Brian – and I want you to put yourself in his shoes throughout the story – how do you think he feels in each page….also don’t forget to notice the beautiful illustrations!!!

Did you enjoy the story?  How did you feel as Brian before Justin arrived at school?  How did you feel as Brian when Justin praises your drawing? And what about when Justin invited Brian to join in with the activity with Emilio?  What other feelings did Brian experience, do you think?

Who showed empathy throughout the story?  …..Justin definitely did – what about Brian though – did he?  How do you know?

One last question – did you notice the illustration of Brian – what changed throughout the story?…………..did you spot that to start off with his picture is without colour – Brian is just black and white at the start – why does he change do you think?

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Please help us to value the people around us,
our family, our friends,
the people we meet every day of our lives.
Help us to realise that we are all special,
that we all have feelings
and can feel hurt both outside and inside.
Amen.

Can we please remind parents of the procedure if a member of the household has one of the official symptoms of coronavirus:

• a new, peristent cough
• a temperature
• loss or change of sense of taste and/or smell.

If anyone in your household has one of these symptoms:

• the whole household has to isolate
• A PCR test needs to be booked (these are not the LFD tests that are carried out at home – you need to go a centre).
• If the test result comes back negative then  the household can stop isolating.
• If someone else in the household develops symptoms later, then the procedure needs repeating – as everyone with symptoms needs to have a PCR test.
• Please keep the school informed via email of tests and test results as soon as you know.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This week we are continuing to think about Compassion and Empathy – and we have learnt that to show empathy we need to be able to identify and understand feelings that we all have – and to actually realise how many there are – loads!

Today I want us to think about something that Megan said in last week’s live assembly – that we need to learn to take responsibility for our own feelings too – we need to learn to manage them when our feelings get too BIG – this is known as self-regulation – and it is something that we need to learn!  Have a watch of this video which gives you suggestions what to do if you’re feeling angry, low or sad…

So one important thing you can do if you’re feeling angry, sad or frustrated is tell someone – don’t just expect people to understand (empathy takes time to learn!).

A really BIG thing we all need to do is learn how to self-regulate our feelings – Self–regulation is the ability to manage disruptive emotions and impulses, and to think before you react – and it takes conscious effort to do it – but we all can!

Ask yourself  – have you ever got really angry with something or someone and shouted or stormed off?  Have you ever cried, really cried and wailed, when something went wrong or didn’t go your way?  These are examples of NOT self-regulating.

SO how can we help ourselves to self-regulate?

Remember learning about the Zones of Regulation? – they are there to help you manage your emotions….

So why not try some self-regulation today – if you feel your emotions going into the Red, Yellow or Green Zone – can you identify what emotion it is you are feeling – and can you do something to get back into the green zone?

Here’s the Cookie Monster – who has learnt how to self-regulate –

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
You have made me with a will and the power to make choices,
and you have given me the responsibility to choose how I will live.
Please make my will strong so that the choices I make in my life are good and wholesome.
Amen.

In case you hadn’t seen our Reflection Time last week, we have decided to go with class names in September in stead of numbers.  After much deliberation and discussion the theme is Creatures that undergo a Metamorphosis and change as they grow and develop. Therefore, the class organisation as of 1st September is as follow:-

Mrs Fox/Mrs Morris teaching Reception and Year 1: Fireflies                                            Email: fireflies@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk

Mrs Morris/Mrs Cains teaching Year 1 and Year 2: Grasshoppers                                    Email: grasshoppers@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk

Mrs Heath teaching Year 3 and Year 4: Dragonflies                                                  Email: dragonflies@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk

Mr Harley teaching Year 5 and Year 6: Scorpions                                                        Email: scorpions@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk

Chartwell’s have asked us to apologise on their behalf for the incorrect menu being served today as we had another cook covering in the kitchen.  The children had beef burgers today and will now be having fish fingers and wedges on Monday.  Once again apologies on their behalf.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This morning, I am changing our focus a little and want us to think about the importance of names!  We all have one!  I wonder what they mean?!?

Here are some thoughts for you to reflect on – what does your name mean to you?  Has it got a different meaning?  As we journey through life we are always learning – maths, reading, about the world, but also about ourselves!  We are constantly growing and developing – inside and out.  Have a watch of this assembly by the Pace Trust all about names – and reflect on the importance of names…

What did you think?  What do our names say about us?  What do you want them to say about you?

Names are important – they are part of our identity – and as a school we have been thinking about the names of our classes.  We don’t think that the names “Class 1” or “Class 3” say anything about us – we think they’re boring!

So staff have been putting some thought into the matter – as we appreciate that names are important, and we want our class names to reflect our vision – that “We are a learning community that nurtures and empowers every individual to be the best person that we can be”, and we also want our names to reflect our motto of “Aspire, Believe, Persevere, Succeed”.

It has taken a lot of thought and deliberation but we have finally come up with the theme of metamorphosing animals – because these animals undergo a change on the journey from birth to adult – they grow and develop, just as we do on our journey through school.  So do you want to know what your new class name will be in September???

Here we go…in September

Mrs Fox’s and Mrs Morris’ Class will be the FIREFLIES!

Mrs Morris’ and Mrs Cains’ class will be the GRASSHOPPERS!

Mrs Heath’s Class (she is back in September!) will be the DRAGONFLIES!

Mr Harley’s Class will be the SCORPIONS!

I hope you like them – they sound much better than 1,2,3,4!

Prayer of the Day

Lord Jesus,

Thank you for your special name and that it tells us that you came to help us.

Thank you, too, for our names that were specially chosen for us.

Amen

We have some exciting news about Class 1 – that we have appointed a new teacher who is joining the team and who will be teaching in school on a Friday.  She is called Mrs Morris (a different Mrs Morris from Class 2’s teacher!) and she will start in September working alongside Mrs Fox teaching the Reception and Year 1 Class.

We look forwards to you all meeting her and welcoming her to the Brown Clee Team!

We would like to send our heartfelt love and prayers to the family of Jim O’Grady who has sadly passed in the early hours of today. Jim has been one of our school bus drivers for so many years – but he was much more than a bus driver!!  He was a superstar to the children who he delivered and collected to and from school!!

He really cared and worked so closely with parents and school to ensure that the children were happy and safe.  I know that there will be many families and children who have appreciated his professionalism and care – he was a real super hero and will be so very sorely missed.  I personally will miss his morning wave, greeting and chat – always so positive and such a gentleman!

Our warmest wishes and thoughts go out to his family who have lost a shining star today – he will always be remembered!

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we held a live assembly on the playground – where we were altogether in what felt like a long time!  We talked about the importance of assemblies and why we have them – and your thoughts were lovely to hear: “It’s when we are together.”, “It’s when we worship and praise God.”, “We learn about the world.”, “We learn about Respect and different values.” – and so much more!

We also continued our thoughts on the Christian value of Compassion and how empathy is an important part of this – and I was so impressed with how everyone had a unique idea or thoughts – all of which were valid and true!  We talked about how it was important to try and put yourselves in other people’s shoes – to understand how they are feeling – and if they are feeling sad, upset, or angry – how can we help them.

We also talked about the first steps to empathy is being able to recognise feelings – so have a watch of this short video called “One Small Step” – and see if you can identify the many feelings that are expressed in it.  It is about a girl and her father, and her hopes and dreams –

How many feelings did you notice and identify – I spotted the following:

Joy, excitement, happiness, frustration, anger, sadness, worry, fear, love, hope, awe….and I am sure there are many more!

The first step to having empathy is learning to notice how other people are feeling – so see if you can notice your friends feeling as you go through the day.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for all the feelings we have and that each one has its place.
It’s right to be scared if we’re in danger.
It’s great to be happy when we can.
Please help us to control our bad feelings and not be overwhelmed by them.
Amen.

Post: Teaching Assistant (Level 3)

Start Date: September 2021

Grade and Scale Point: Grade 6 (SCP 7-11)

Hours: 31.5 hrs per week

Status: Fixed Term: Until July 2022 in the first instance.

We are seeking a Teaching Assistant with previous experience of supporting pupils with complex Special Educational Needs as well as experience of offering general classroom support.  There will also be some lunchtime supervision cover within the role. This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic, flexible and committed professional to join our thriving School and work with a hard-working and happy team.

We can offer:

• A welcoming and caring school with happy, motivated and well-behaved children.
• Attractive, well-resourced buildings and grounds in a stunning rural location.
• The support of hardworking and dedicated staff team.
• A supportive headteacher and governing body who care about staff well-being and professional development.

Visits to the school are warmly welcomed and further details can be obtained by contacting Mrs Mandy Lloyd (our wonderful Administrator) email: admin@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk or (01746) 712652

Completed application should be returned to the school either by email or post.

Closing date: Friday 25^th June (midday)

Interview date: Tuesday 29^th  June

Brown Clee C.E. Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff, and volunteers, to share the same commitment. The successful applicants will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.  All support staff posts are subject to the Asylum and Immigration requirements.

Job Advert and Specification and Description

Teaching Assistant Application form

Good Morning Brown Clee!

I hope everyone had a good weekend and are rested and ready for another busy week of fantastic learning!

We would normally hold our virtual Teams assembly on a Monday but today I am busy with interviews for our Class 1 Friday teacher – so we will hold our ‘live’ assembly tomorrow – and if the weather is nice we will hold it outside!

Today though I would like us to continue to think about our Christian value of the half term – which is COMPASSION.  I would like us to link it to the quality of empathy – which we touched on last week.  Can you remember what is meant by empathy??….

……Empathy is when you can understand how someone else is feeling and when you care for them and if they are feeling down, because you understand what that feels like you want to show you care.  We talked about in order to be empathetic you need to follow 3 steps:-

1. LOOK – actually look and observe facial expressions, body language to read people’s feelings.  Ask yourself “What’s happening?”, “What’s going on?”, “What are they feeling?”
2. THINK – Put yourself in their shoes and think how you would feel.
3. ACT – Do something that you know would make you feel better if you were experiencing what was making your friend sad or upset.

It’s not easy to learn to express empathy – it is a very mature skill – but it is one that can make a massive difference!  Here are some examples of empathy to have a think about…

Shropshire Council have asked us to share the following information about walk in Covid vaccination clinics which will be running in Shrewsbury for Astra Zeneca first and second vaccinations and Pfizer 1st doses only –

The NHS are going to be running walk-in vaccination clinics at the Shrewsbury Bowls Centre, Sundorne Road, Shrewsbury SY1 4RQ from Sunday this week.

For people aged 40 and over (Astra Zeneca 1^st and 2^nd doses)

Sunday 20 – Tuesday 22^nd June inclusive 8.30am – 1pm

Sunday 27^th June 8.30am – 1pm

For 18-39 year olds (Pfizer 1^st doses only)

Wednesday 23^rd June 8.30am – 1pm

Sunday 4^th July – 8.30am – 7pm

As these are walk in clinics, there is no need to make an appointment.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This week we have been thinking about our Christian value of Compassion and linking it to the quality of empathy.  We have thought about how we all need to learn to be empathetic – to put ourselves in others shoes so that we can appreciate how they feel and then how to help them.

If we truly want to be a good friend we need to develop empathy.  Have a watch and listen to the video from The Pace Trust about Friendship…and think about what you hear….

It is really important that we put our friends first – that we look out for them and monitor how they are feeling – and if they are feeling low, identify that and try and cheer them up.  We need to think how we would feel and what would we like our friends to do to help us if we were in need.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
We thank you for our friends and for the happy times that we share with them.
Help us to be a good friend to them.
During this time when we can’t play with our friends,
Please help us to find creative ways to keep in touch.
Thank you that you are our friend and will be with us always.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we started thinking about our Christian value of this half term – COMPASSION.  We learnt how there are lots of other attidues and qualities that can be referred to as being compassionate – such as kindness, thoughtfulness, being helpful, caring for people, being positive.  We looked at lots of different words that are all linked to compassion – love, friendship, respect, patience, consideration and empathy.

Today I want us to start to think about empathy and what it means – because if we can learn how to show empathy and be empathetic, then this will help us to be the best person we can be and really show that we are about other people.

Empathy is a complex quality to understand – it has 3 different parts to it if we are to be truly empathetic.  Have a watch of this simple video and see if you can spot what these 3 parts are….

Did you spot the 3 parts to empathy?  They were…

1. You need to actually LOOK and observe how your friend is feeling.
2. You need to THINK about how you would feel in their situation.
3. You need to ASK your friend how they are feeling and ask if you can help.

So it’s Look, THINK, ASK to show empathy.

The trick is to try and put yourself in someone else’s position – empathy is when you can understand and care about how someone else is feeling.  Have a listen to Mark Ruffalo and Murray’s chat about empathy – and whilst listening ask yourself whether you have empathy?

If we don’t learn empathy – if we are unable to be aware of other people’s feelings and understand them – then we are going to have a difficult time getting on with people in harmony.  So today – try checking to see how your friends are feeling and if they are feeling low or down – ask them how you can help.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that we are made to enjoy the friendship of other people.
Thank you for the gifts of love and caring.
In your love, give us grace to be true friends, one to another.
Help us to be there to support and care for our friends.
Please give us the wisdom to know how to react when those we care about face problems and difficulties.
Amen.

Please ensure that your child brings a sun hat and a water bottle to school every day so they can stay hydrated. Please ensure that you have applied sun screen to your child before school; this should provide protection throughout the school day – but if you were particularly worried and wish to send your child to school with sun screen to reapply at lunchtime, then we kindly ask that it is labelled with your child’s name and that it is the roll-on type – not the squirty type!

Good Morning Brown Clee!

We have been doing lots of THINKing this week about the power of our words – and how important it is to ensure we only speak if we have something TRUE to say, are saying something HELPFUL or INSPIRING, if it is NECESSARY and if it is KIND.  We are trying to help everyone take more responsibility for what they say – and today I would like to continue with thinking about how important it is to take responsibility for not only our words – but our actions.

Have a watch of this video and as you listen, think about the message – of how every action you do, or words you say, will have an impact on what happens next – and how it is only YOU that can affect that outcome….so Stop making excuses and own your own action!

An interesting video – and it’s 3 main headings were…

1. Own Your Part: what did this mean – can you remember?  It means that you need to take a step back and think when there is a problem – and identify what it was that you did to cause the problem.  Like the child who chose to jump up and down in a muddy puddle – the problem was they got cold, wet and dirty and didn’t like it – but it was her choice to do it!
2. Cause and Affect: Things happen everytime we choose to say or do something! The trick is to try and think about what the affect is going to be, before you cause it – because if you want the cause to be good – then you need to choose the right cause!
3. Solve the Problem:  This is a bit like “THINK before you speak” – we need to stop and pause before we say or do something so that we can make a good choice.  We need to work to avoid a problem so that the problem doesn’t actually happen!

Ultimately – it is up to you – each one of us to make the right choice in what we say or do.  We all want and deserve to live in a happy, safe world – but we have to do our bit to make it happy and safe – so as you go through today, try and stop and think to make sure you make the right choices!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that you are always there to help and guide us.
Please help us to make good choices.
Please help us to think about other people when we are making our decisions.
Please help us to care about others in everything we do.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This week we have been thinking about the importance of thinking before we speak – as we have learnt that our words are very powerful!  We can do a lot of good with our words – or we can do a lot of harm – and we need to ensure we stop and THINK before speaking so that we use our words wisely.

Can you remember what each letter in the word THINK stands for?  See if you can!…..

Here it is – just in case you forgot!

Now I’d like you to think and reflect as you watch this video from The Pace Trust – you will recognise the toothpaste demonstration!

So today I want you to really THINK before you speak – if you have the opportunity to say something that is true, that is helpful, that is inspiring, that is necessary, that is kind, you should take that opportunity. Because, although our words can cause damage, they can also make someone’s day immeasurably better and by choosing to say that truthful, helpful, inspiring, necessary and kind thing, we add to the sum of positives in our community, and make everyone that little bit better.

Our words make a difference. Let’s make a positive difference.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Help us to think about the words we say.
Help us to say sorry when we have said unkind words, or when we have spoken words that we later regret.
Help us to try our best to ‘Think first, speak second’.
Amen.