Good morning, Prep School,
It’s Wednesday! Half way through the week!
How are you all feeling this morning? Did you have a lovely day yesterday? My day yesterday was full of Zoom meetings with adults – they were nowhere near as much fun as the Zoom lessons that I join you in! Maybe I need to up my Zoom meeting game and start today’s staff meeting with a scavenger hunt or everyone coming in a disguise. . .
Apart from meetings and school work, I did very little yesterday. I put a load of washing in the machine and put it in the ironing basket when it was dry and ate my lunch! I also helped Mr Bennett put a box in the loft! Seriously my day was so exciting!
We did go on a lovely walk though just as it was turning dark. It was about 9pm and it was still really warm and muggy in Nottingham, the house was hot and it had just started to cool a little outside, so we decided to go for a wander around our village – it was verging between dusk and actual night darkness. Everywhere was really, really quiet – hardly any cars, we didn’t see any other people and there were no birds singing. It was so peaceful. The streets were lit from the street lights. We couldn’t see the moon or the stars (as it was cloudy here yesterday, not like the clear blue skies you had). There was an occasional break in the clouds and we were treated to a glimpse of the moon. It was such a relaxing and calming walk. I don’t often go walking in the dark in the summer months – I’m usually in bed – but I am going to try and go now on a regular basis. It gave me time to think and reflect on the day. It gave me time to get my thoughts in order for today and it just enabled me to clear my head of things that had been swirling around in there throughout the day! It was a really lovely end to a day that had been average until then.
It is really important that we take a little time in our days to do something that makes us feel really happy. It could be anything! It is sometimes really hard to do this as well with all the work we have to do and our busy days. I know that if I have had a particularly long day at work, I sometimes just want to come home and do nothing. Sometimes doing nothing is great, but I also know that I personally feel better if I do some sort of exercise – it doesn’t have to be running marathon – it can be a brisk walk, a 20 minute session of yoga, running circuits in your garden, climbing up and down your stairs 50 times, kicking a football around. . . .anything that makes your heart start pumping the blood around your body.
Any physical activity can help improve our mental fitness. It helps us sleep better. It makes our moods happier by realising hormones in our bodies that make us feel good and it gives us more energy. Physical activity also helps us manage our thoughts – it gives us time to focus on something else, to allow us to be in the moment. I mean, how often have you seen an unhappy Miss Upham or Mr Sneekes? Very rarely as they both are very active people who do plenty of activity throughout their days. So next time you are feeling a little bit out of sorts, try doing a little bit of exercise and see how you feel after it.
Kindness Challenge: Can you say a polite hello and smile to people that you meet if you go on a walk today? You might be the only person they have seen in days. A smile might make their day.
Wellbeing activity: Can you do some family yoga?
So each day I promised I would be sending you a life skill task to complete and also a joke, poem, picture, fact or reflection. Here we go for Wednesday 20th May 2020:
Life skill of the day: Can you learn how to wrap a present that isn’t square or in a box!
Day of the year themes: More interesting today than yesterday. . .
‘Pick Strawberries Day’, ‘World Bee Day’, ‘Quiche Lorraine Day’, ‘Weights And Measures Day’ and ‘Be a Millionaire Day’.
Thunk of the day: Remember, Thunks are unusual questions that are designed to make you think. There are no right or wrong answers -just your answer. The only rule is that you must be able to justify and explain your answer. You cannot just say the first thing that comes into your head. Really think about the question and discuss with your family!
Question: If we end up without enough water for all the people in the world, is that because there is not enough water or too many people?
TOPS activity of the week: Can you find a famous painting that you like and try to recreate it at home using only things you have in the house (not paints, crayons or felt tips)? Maybe you can make Monet’s Waterlilies out of socks or Van Gogh’s Sunflowers out of LEGO?
Quote of the Day: “Look for something positive in each day, even if some days you have to look a little harder.”
Sleeps til Santa: 219
Have a lovely Wednesday – make sure you wear sun cream; it’s going to be hot!
Take care and enjoy the beautiful weather,
Love
Mrs Bennett 😊
