Tuesday 9th June

Hello you lovely lot! How are you all today? Did you enjoy all the pictures of cakes yesterday?

Today we welcomed back some of our year one children, I was so excited to see them and I got the impression they were pretty excited to see us as well. There was an absolutely beautiful moment when the children were waiting to go into school, as soon as we lifted the barriers they ran straight up the drive towards their school grown-ups and into their magical bubble. It was one of those moments where, before Covid19, you would have put your arms out and embraced each other. I am happy to report that the children were able to do this with their home grown-ups when they left school.

There are many reasons why the government asked schools to start bringing more children back, and one of those reasons was the importance of the social aspect of school. The main purpose of a school is to educate children, but it isn’t just about reading, writing, maths, geography and all of the other academic subjects (can you name them all?); it is also about developing your character, encouraging you to make the right choices, to be confident and to build positive relationships (I am sure you can think of lots more examples). Humans are social animals and we often enjoy communicating with each other. Year one certainly did today, they have not stopped talking!

As part of the school curriculum, it is important that we are developing your social skills. Social skills are important because they are the foundation for having positive relationships with others, including your family, friends, teachers, and in the future, your employer (yes, you will all have a job one day).

Social skills come with an increased ability to understand people and to sense how they feel, as well as their wants and needs. Social skills aren’t just about talking, they are far more complex than that! It is the ability to display good manners, communicate effectively with others, be considerate of the feelings of others and express personal need. For example, if you saw a child crying on the playground you would know that the child was upset (this is your ability to recognise emotion in others), being the kind children that you are I know that you would then go over to the child and offer to support them (this is your ability to show care towards others). Supporting other children when they are upset shows that you have developed your social skills.

Displaying good manners is something that we all learn to do from a very young age; please and thank you are often some of our first words as babies. Good manners isn’t just about what we say, it is also about how we act. Do you hold the door open for other people? Do you clean up after yourself? Do you offer to help others? These, and many more, are all examples of good manners.

Being with other people allows you to develop your social skills, and you can need different social skills in different contexts. Social skills are complex and take time to master. We will all have strengths and areas for development when it comes displaying good social skills. Our expectations of ‘Ready, Respectful, Safe’ are strongly linked to social skills - your own self-awareness and your awareness of others. Are you good at managing distractions? Listening to others? Taking turns? Joining a conversation? Asking for help? Handling peer pressure? Knowing when to apologise? These are all examples of social skills.

We also display social skills by how we physically connect with each other - if you deliberately hurt someone every time you saw them by punching them on the arm - that would not be displaying good social skills. However, a high-five or a handshake shows a good physical connection. Hugging is another social skill that we often display, and it is certainly something we learn from a tiny baby - a hug can express many emotions - comfort, joy, excitement. At the moment, we are only able to hug those who live in our households. Mr Priest has recommended a lovely book, ‘While We Can’t Hug’ by Eoin McLaughlin - it gives lots of suggestions of alternatives to hugging. Click on the link to view it.

Sending you all a virtual hug. We miss you.

Stay safe.