When we think about being healthy, we often think about our bodies. Whilst it is important to look after our bodies, we must also look after our minds. We learned that our mental health is how we are feeling and the thoughts we are having. It is normal to experience a range of emotions each day and how we feel can affect our behaviour. When Colour Monster handed round compliments, we noticed that we felt happy. There are many options for maintaining a healthy mind: having sufficient sleep, dancing, playing a board game, singing, drawing, sharing a book, painting, playing with family and friends, exercising outdoors, baking a cake. When we have feelings that make us feel uncomfortable, we know that we can talk to a trusted adult and they will help us.

Maths – developing our spatial reasoning by selecting and rotating shapes

This week, the children have had the opportunity to explore the attributes of shapes and select them for a purpose. They have been encouraged to explain why they have chosen a particular shape and why other shapes would not be suitable. We have been rotating shapes (noticing that they are still the same shape whatever their orientation) to fill a given space. It was fun to find the shapes that we needed to make our pictures.

It was also fun working in teams to solve a tangram square puzzle. We completed the challenge with such confidence that Mrs Shipley took the picture away to see if we could remember how to fit all of the shapes in the square. We were very proud of ourselves when we were successful (even if a few of us cheated – you know who you are!).

Jigsaws offer a brilliant opportunity to develop our spatial reasoning skills If you do not have one at home, you can make one from the front of a cereal box, a photo or a drawing.

Happy half term, everyone.