Positive Health and Emotions: Laughter

We have been learning about the positive health and wellbeing benefits of laughter.  We spent some time this week watching a tedtalk and some videos all about the science behind laughing and its positive impacts.  Then we actually got down to the business of practising some laughing yoga.  We learned some new facts about laughter and how it impacts on our bodies and our minds.  

                                                        Here's some of what we learned:

Outdoor Classroom Day

Thursday was "Outdoor Classroom Day." 

Some ākonga started the day with a Character Strength hunt around the school. They worked with younger students to find posters placed around the school. It was wonderful to see the Curiosity, Leadership and Zest. 

Students have been using their creativity and imagination, channelling Andy Goldsworthy by creating environmental artwork. Students have been interacting meaningfully with their surroundings. They are developing the strength of Appreciating Beauty and Excellence.

Some students worked on their mapping skills and made treasure maps around the school.

Some students used the Te Reo for the gardening which we have been learning.

Students made fitness circuits for younger students with a goal to improve their Positive Health. 

There are so many benefits for children to play and learn outside. Research shows that it improves children's mental and physical health. Find out more: https://outdoorclassroomday.com/about/

'Ta Da' Goals to Enhance our Wellbeing

We have been thinking about ways to enhance our Positive Health. We started to make our own "Ta Da" lists. These are lists of things that we will try and do every day to enhance our wellbeing. We are taking small (Kaizen) steps to achieve our goals.

'Kaizen' is also known as continuous improvement or a 'change for the better'. Kaizen is a philosophy we implement at Worser Bay School. Kaizen is a Japanese word. Kai, meaning change and Zen meaning good. The type of change is small and incremental. Small changes in the right direction add up and eventually we are able to meet our big goals.

The "Ta Da" list idea was inspired by Sue Langley, a leading advisor in the practical application of positive psychology. In her 'Walk and Talk with Sue' podcast she discusses “How do small actions and behaviours propel us towards reaching our overarching goals? Research shows that being accountable in one area of our life, leads to improvements in other areas too. Creating a ‘Ta-Da’ checklist of 10 things for 10 days is a great way to start!”

Here are some of the things that ākonga added to their "Ta Da" lists: 

Drink 7 glasses of water

Do 3 star jumps

Run 100 steps

Do 4 burpees

Do 10 push ups

Eat 2 pieces of fruit per day

Do 5 finger breathing at least once

Practise my handwriting for 5 minutes

Practise my typing for 5 minutes

Do 5000 steps

Add 3 new Māori words to my Māori book

Read for pleasure at least 10 minutes

Say 3 things I am grateful for

Write down one Art idea every day

Do 10 minutes of yoga

Do something kind for someone

Help mum and dad with a chore at home

Practise my Maths skills for 5 minutes

Run for 200 steps

Practise the trumpet for at least 10 minutes

Work with someone different in class

Eat all of my lunch every day

Tell my parents what went well at school

Go to bed early (without complaining!)

Practise gymnastics for 10 minutes

Do 10 minutes of walking

Walk to school, instead of going in the car

Draw

Spend some time in nature

Spend some time each day in the ‘Flow’

Climb a tree

Have cuddles with my dog

Attempt the splits

Spend 5 minutes in the garden

Tell my friends a joke

Go rollerblading for 10 minutes

Limit my device time to 20 minutes

Get my heart rate up for 10 minutes

Make sure that I sweat

Bounce on the trampoline for 10 minutes

Practise my spelling words for 5 minutes

Dance!

Parent Wellbeing Workshop

Wellbeing Workshop.

Thanks so much to all the parents who came to the Wellbeing Workshop and participated with such enthusiasm and energy. What a buzz there was in the room with all the character strength discussions, the breathing exercises to enhance positive emotions, looking at Kaizen steps to break down the goals for a positive purpose, recognising the benefits of positive relationships when solving maths problems, being positively engaged by working collaboratively to construct a house, understanding the schooldocs, recognising the advantages of exercise and meditation for positive health and accepting the challenges involved in positive accomplishment when using chop sticks to move around a range of strangely shaped objects. Plus all the motivational speakers and discussions.

It sure took a while to unwind from the excitement and get off to sleep that night, but so positive to be realising the message is reaching the children from both home and school.

Thanks for coming! Shona

Cosmic Kids Yoga

Our students have been running their own "Wake up the brain" yoga sessions. They have enjoyed the Cosmic Kids Yoga sessions. You can access them: https://sites.google.com/a/worserbay.school.nz/matarikiwbs/morning-wake-up/yoga

Speaking of Wellbeing and Positive Education, here is a note from last week's newsletter: 

Student Wellbeing Parent Workshop - Tues 22 August

Our Student Wellbeing Parent Workshop is coming up fast on Tuesday 22 August at 6.45pm.

Student wellbeing, or actually wellbeing in general, is being talked about, written about, thought about wherever we turn. Wanting our children to grow up resilient, adaptable, open to new experiences and feeling good and doing good has to be something we all want. It's not just a grab bag of feel good 'stuff' - there is a science behind this.

Eighteen months ago we introduced what is known as Positive Education. “Positive Education is the bringing together of the science of wellbeing with best-practice teaching to enable individuals to thrive.” We are looking forward to sharing a bit of background, the model we use and some of the outcomes we have had with you on the 22nd.

We will hear first hand from some children, get to experience some of the activities and a couple of our parents will also be linking this with life outside school. Plus, Board members will introduce you to our Online School Policy site 'Schooldocs', many of which link in some shape or form to student wellbeing.

I'm sure you will have plenty to contribute to the discussion. It's a great chance to chat about what you do at home already in this sphere and also learn from others. That's what a community is all about. Let's grow and work together to build a strong foundation where our children can flourish.

We aren’t making a choice between wellbeing or academic pursuits as there isn’t a choice to be made!

Positive Health: LEARN- An acronym for keeping yourself healthy

At Worser Bay School, we promote Positive Health as part of our well-being programme. We have began to think about this during "Wake up the brain" and in our goal setting. We are learning to use the acronym, "LEARN".

Today We did boot camp for wake up your brain. 

We learnt "LEARN" L is for Learn to give yourself feedback. 

E is for exercise. 

A is for attitude. 

R is for rest (this includes stretching, meditation and sleep). 

N is for nutrition. 

By Alba