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'Learning to Spell or Spelling to Learn?'
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Spelling tests - a perennial part of the weekly Primary class timetable. A tiny part of the assessment process, they seem to hold disproportionate weight in the minds of some pupils and parents. This can probably be explained by the fact that the spelling test has traditionally been one of the very few times that children in a Primary school are given a raw score based on their performance. Scoring a test in this way is problematic in itself, and it has been long recognised that rote learning of an isolated list of words is very unlikely to lead to lasting spelling improvements in independent work. So is there still room for the spelling test in our already jam-packed class schedules?
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Importance of Regular Physical Activity & Exercise
It is no secret that physical activity and exercise are vital for the physical health and wellbeing of us all, especially children as they grow and develop rapidly, however at a time like this we should also be very aware of the emotional and psychological implications of a quarantine. Having to sit at a laptop for hours each day is clearly not an ideal environment for learning however we need to adapt and adjust to this, something I believe our students have been great at. To ensure our entire health and wellbeing, not just our physical bodies, is taken care of I would encourage everybody to participate in some sort of physical activity or exercise each day. This could be Yoga, Dancing, playing with a ball, going for a walk/run/swim (where possible) or anything else where you take yourself and, more importantly, your mind away from classwork/work and the stress and worries they may cause.
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Primary Blog - Acceptance
Throughout the last six months, we have all had to experience change that none of us could ever have imagined. This huge shift has meant that the defining boundaries between the different areas in our lives and our relationships have been scrambled and we have been presented with many challenges. For most of us, our natural instinct, when faced with change of this level, is to avoid it. Just as we automatically recoil when we unexpectedly happen upon a dangerous animal or we instinctively pull our hand away from a hot stove, we naturally try to put upsetting thoughts and feelings out of mind. However, we cannot escape the reality of what is happening and we cannot resist the change that has occurred in all of our lives, instead we need to actively accept that there are many things that are out of our control and surrender to this change. As the pandemic that many thought would pass within weeks stretches on into the foreseeable future and becomes our new reality, we are faced with how to cope with the mental health effects. When life is not exactly as we want it to be, it can be helpful to turn our minds towards acceptance.
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