Bolsover Church of England Junior School

Growing Together with our Buddies

Soft, stuffed-toys are amongst the most played-with toys of children.  It also seems that the relationship we develop as a young child with our favourite soft toys can be beneficial even into adult life. Research shows that there are many benefits to having a soft toy:

• It provides comfort in unfamiliar environments and times
• Helps to release the hormone Oxytocin which leaves us feeling calm and soothed
• Holds great sentimental value
• Encourages nurture
• Reduce stress and anxiety
• Provide a sense of security and protection

Your child will be able to bring into school a soft cuddly buddy (a cuddly toy). This buddy will help your child explore their thoughts and feelings and support with transition into their next phase of learning, whether that be back to school full time or with some continued home learning.

The school’s Growing Together with our Buddies work aims for our children to:

• Restore relationships
• Restore and re-engage the love of learning
• Develop a good understanding of themselves
• Strengthen the community

Growing Together

Through this work, we aim for our school community to grow together again in order for children to explore emotions and be equipped with the strategies to regulate them. We need our children to be resilient (both emotionally and physically) in this challenging yet exciting world in which we live and we want to grow together in the different levers of recovery: relationships, community, metacognition, transparent curriculum and space.

Over the coming weeks, we are going to explore with your child different situations they have experienced and the emotions which come with these. We will, through lots of quality discussion and activities, grow together in confidence and ability.

Our video launch for this work has been shared with the children today so your child should come home all excited and ready to choose their cuddly buddy to bring into school. Whether your child is in school or not, you will receive sessions each week for you to work through should you wish at your own leisure. We will also provide a top tip sheet to support the discussions you may have. 

SESSIONS

To access the planning for each session, click on the rainbow picture. For the video, click on the film icon.