Pastoral Team Blog

We understand these are challenging times. The strain that managing home learning, caring for younger children, working from home and running a household can put on a family is huge.   

We, as a team, are here to support you.  We will be making regular calls to families to keep in touch and see if there is anything we can do to help.  We also welcome your calls and will work with you to support you and your family. 

Take care and stay safe.

Contact details for the Pastoral Team:

Stacy Norton (FLO) - 07395 965377  stacy.norton@park-way.kent.sch.uk

Available: Monday 8:30am - 1:30pm, Tuesday 12:00noon - 4:00pm, Thursday 8:30am - 2:30pm

Katie Smith (FLO) - 07395 965404   katie.smith@park-way.kent.sch.uk

Available: Wednesday 8:30am - 1:30pm, Friday 8:30am - 1:30pm

Karen Abrahams (Attendance and Welfare Officer) - 07395 965378  karen.abrahams@park-way.kent.sch.uk

Available: Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 3:30pm

Returning to school

Preparing to return to school. Whilst for many the return to school is an exciting prospect, for some it may seem quite daunting. The articles below might give you some helpful tips to help you child readjust.

Treasure Trails - downloadable from £9.99

Follow a self-guided TREASURE TRAIL through the winding backstreets and hidden corners of local villages and towns.

Fun Free Half Term Activities

Calling all David Walliams fans - free downloadable activities and resources.

Nail Design

Arts and Crafts A fun activity to keep little fingers busy.

Alternatives to calm down

Calm down is a phrase that I’m sure as parents we have all used at some point. As an adult it is possible you have been on the receiving end of this too. Being told to calm down can have a very negative impact. Click here to explore some alternatives.

Letting your child identify their strength

To help children thrive, recognising their strengths is just as important as working on their challenges. Here’s a cool—and crafty—way to identify your child’s strengths and connect them in a paper chain, or a “strengths chain.”

Staying safe while online gaming

Online gaming can offer many positive experiences. It can give children and young people the chance to escape into a virtual world, to learn, and to connect with others. However, there is a risk of children and young people viewing inappropriate content in games and being contacted by adults seeking to exploit them. Click here for an activity pack for parents and carers to deliver to their children exploring how they can stay safe while gaming:

Starting School

Starting primary school can be daunting for you and your child, but it marks the start of an exciting new chapter. If your little one is due to start primary school in the autumn term and you're feeling a bit emotional about it all, here are a few tips.

ADHD

ADHD When your child has ADHD, what can you do at home to help?

Transition to secondary school and lockdown

Starting secondary school is one of the most significant times in a child’s and parent’s life and getting as much information as possible can help with anxieties at this time. I have attached some links with tips and activities on how to help your child make a smooth transition while in lock down. Click here

Elmer Day

23rd May 2020 is Heart of Kent Hospice, Elmer Day. Click here for more details.

Coronavirus Advice for Parents and Carers

Click here to download the leaflet from Kent Educational Psychology Service

Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Support

Click here to access a range of support available to young people and their families

WOW - Walk Once a Week

Click here for a new WOW challenge

More Activities

Click here for a booklet of links to activities

VE Day

Click here for information VE Day activities

Online Safety at Home

Click here for links to age appropriate online safety at home activities from Think U Know.

Cheese and Pickle Parcels

Here is another fab recipe from our new TA, Mrs Dowdall, who will be working in Walnut Class.

Cooking Fun

Easy Healthy kids recipes If there is one thing I really like to do with my children, it is cooking. Anything that revolves around food has got to be a good thing. Some of my best memories are of my son, daughters and grandchildren making and experimenting in the kitchen; even if the result wasn’t as expected.

Health, Wellbeing and Personal Development

Click here for free resources to support wellbeing and personal development.

Fireworks

While you’re in isolation with children of any age, the weeks ahead will test your ingenuity to the limit. Science can be a lot of fun for all ages it can help children develop key life skills, including an ability to communicate, remain organized and focused, and even form their own opinions based on observation. I wanted to share with you an experiment my children and I have enjoyed doing as they grew up. They would become totally engrossed in what they were doing and there would be lots of fun and laughter.

FREE RESOURCES & ACTIVITIES

I've been researching and holding onto some shared information of different learning zones, stories and other sites; Feel free to access as many as you want to and enjoy :-)

ZOO

ZOO LIVE UPDATES AND WEBCAM FOOTAGE OF THE ANIMALS.

Keeping a Diary

Stay Well by Expressing Yourself

Happy child, Happy parent!

A week into isolation, many of us probably working from home. Juggling your own mental health and wellbeing with that of your childs'. I've spoken to a few parents over the phone in the last 24 hours, many of whom are wondering, am I doing this right? I then stumbled across something last night which I think captures the answer to this question perfectly...…………………………………………………..

Positive wellbeing through play

Play is one of the main ways that children learn and develop. It helps to build their self-worth by giving a child a sense of his or her own abilities and feel good about themselves. Anyone who spends any amount of time with children understand that providing them with an opportunity to play allows children to relax, let off steam, develop concentration, it encourages the development of imagination, develops motor skills, teaches self-expression and far more. Click here for ideas.

Healthy body healthy mind

Everyone's heard of Joe Wicks Online PE lessons by now I'm sure. If you haven't, then I'd highly recommend checking it out. I've been starting school work early with my boys, so throwing this into the mix at 9am is a great way to wake the body and the mind and get the blood flowing and invigorated for the rest of the day ahead. I'll be sending more links & other tools to help keep active in the coming days/weeks ahead.

Anti Bullying

Social Media

Welcome

Welcome to the pastoral team blog. Here we will be adding information, advice and suggestions which we hope you will find useful in these unprecedented times. Keep Safe.