Awards - Autumn 2 - 2023/24

ARTICULATION

You can be such a mature, articulate young lady when you speak. You are always keen to share your answers during class discussions and have made great progress with ensuring that others are also given time to think and have their say. You use an incredibly rich vocabulary when speaking and also evidence this in your writing; especially the lengthy, detailed stories which you choose to create during Busy Time and at home for me to read. You take feedback on board well and are always eager to improve and develop your work to make it the best that it can be. You have a lot say, and you say it well, having put so much effort into developing a positive attitude to school life. I am so pleased to see the hugely positive impact that this has had. Keep it up!   

CONFIDENCE

From the start of the year, it has been so pleasing to see your confidence grow in many aspects of school life - not just in the classroom. You are never afraid to be yourself and have fun but also know the boundaries of what is right and what is wrong. The way you interact with the younger children, is wonderful to see. If someone is hurt and upset, you will go out of your way to ask if they are OK. One aspect I am particularly proud of though, is how you have fully embraced the opportunity to come to train regularly with the rugby squad these last few weeks. One week, when several of the older children were either off sick or playing a netball game, an opportunity came for me to take several of the younger children. I wanted to take 8 – but only one wanted to come – you! You jumped at the opportunity, even though you were going to be the only one from your class. You were not afraid whatsoever of playing against children four years older than you. Since that time, you have come every Tuesday and Friday, getting bumped into, tripped up and flattened – but it has not dented your confidence one bit. You have gone from being the little one of the group, to being one of the most valuable members of the squad, even playing on the main team on a few occasions. Your confidence has grown no end, as have your skills, but you have remained humble throughout. Well done.

FORGIVENESS

Last half-term, you had to show real kindness and understanding when things had really upset you. When you were hurt, you chose forgiveness over resentment. We are so proud of the way you chose to continue caring those around you, even when it became difficult. The forgiveness you showed really highlighted your strong, brave and resilient attitude towards life. You have demonstrated tolerance and patience with all of your friends and have set an example for all of the others to follow.

GENEROSITY

You are well-deserving of the award for generosity because of the kindness and compassion you share for others consistently. Your caring and nurturing nature is often noticed by members of staff around school. One example is when you recently gave up part of your playtime to look after a younger child who had hurt themselves, making sure that an adult was told about what had happened. You insisted on waiting inside with the child after they had been treated to keep them company and to reassure them. It is noticed how your caring nature is also generously given to your little brother. It is clear how much you care and love your brother from the way that you walk in with him through the school gate every morning, taking him to his class. You are also very generous with your forgiveness towards your classmates. When there have been fallouts, you have listened openly to apologies and been willing to move on and rebuild your friendships. We are very proud of the deeply caring person you are and for sharing your compassion for others so generously. This means you are a great friend to have and a fantastic role model in our school.

HAPPINESS

If I were to search for the word ‘happiness’ in a picture dictionary, I would be very surprised not to see an image of your face. You are the very definition of a ‘ray of sunshine’ and it has been so lovely to see your confidence develop since you began school back in Reception class, and your happy personality truly show. You contribute to class discussions with confidence and a smile on your face, embracing any challenges that come your way. Although you may find elements of some subjects tricky, this does not stop you giving it your best shot with a solid growth mindset and ‘can do’ attitude. Your smile and attitude are infectious and help to make our classroom such a happy place to be.

INDIVIDUALITY

You show individuality in so many ways and are not afraid to be different to others and make your own choices. You always make your own decisions with such decisiveness and are never influenced by anyone else. Your personality really comes to light every day and you always enter the classroom with a smile on your face and always ready to learn.  You are also developing an incredible sense of humour and are eager to make people laugh at every opportunity or cheer them up when they are feeling down. You really are a great friend to others in your class and always go out of your way to help people in any situation. You have also developed a lot of confidence this year and this has allowed you to become more positive with the decisions you make and the effort that you put in to every single subject. Keep up everything that you are doing and keep being the amazing individual that you are.

INTEGRITY

We are all proud of the integrity you have shown to your core beliefs of right and wrong. Recently, you were faced with a situation where the easy thing would have been to ignore what was right, and instead do what was easy. Other children believed you had done something you shouldn't have. They were wrong but it would have been very easy to go along with what those people thought. Instead, you demonstrated the strength of your character by not letting the voices of other influence your own decisions. You stuck true to your beliefs and the beliefs we hold dear in this school. Whilst it may not have seemed like much to you at the time, your decision to act with your head and not your heart is something we are all proud you chose to do. Well done. 

JOY

You are an absolute joy to have in class. Your infectious smile, cheeky grin and positive attitude towards school life makes you a joy to be with. Every day, we look forward to your cheerful entrance into the classroom, when you greet everybody with a happy 'good morning'. You appear to be everybody's best friend, and I am sure that this is because of the joy that you spread daily. Even when you are faced with something that is difficult, or you might be feeling ill, you always seem to be smiling. Because of your kind nature, you are always the first to check on the welfare of others and then to befriend them should they need a comforting shoulder to lean on. This is another way in which you spread happiness and joy. Thank-you for bringing joy to our classroom and for being such a positive force in life. 

JUSTICE

Throughout your time at school, you have always shown a strong sense of justice. You always ensure that things are done fairly and you make the right choices about telling the truth. Naturally, you will always take turns, play by the rules and not take advantage of anyone. Whenever an issue bothers you, you approach us with your concerns and you show a great deal of justice for your classmates. You can be relied on to always tell the truth, to help your friends, to make the right choice and above all else, to be trusted. Well done.

KINDNESS

You have to be one of the kindest little girls I have ever met. As well as greeting everyone with a smile, you are the first one to notice if someone is a little bit sad. Without hesitation, you will touch that person on the shoulder or rub their back and ask them if they are OK or if they need something. If this wasn't wonderful enough, you are also this kind to adults - I often feel a little tap on the shoulder only to get asked if everything is alright. When the lady came do eye tests on the children in reception class, you said to her, "It was lovely to meet you, would you like to stay for dinner with us?" Kindness just comes very naturally to you - a beautiful girl inside and out!

RESILIENCE

You have shown amazing resilience in many areas throughout your time at Barton St Lawrence. You are a very level-headed young man who is always willing to have a go at new activities and push yourself to achieve to the very best of your abilities in your work and in your play. You set high standards for yourself and on the odd occasion that a challenge has not been met, you are able to dust yourself off and have another go. Few people in school will know that you were born with a cleft lip. This resulted in numerous operations throughout your childhood, the first taking place ten years ago this month when you were just five months old and the final operation taking place last November. We were all amazed with the tenacity and resilience you showed throughout the operation and recovery. You were nothing short of amazing, returning to school quicker than expected and managing the pain with your usual strength of character. On your first day back in school, just a week after having bone removed from your hip and grafted into your upper gum, you came down to the office to tell Mrs Higham that you were in pain. You were insistent that you did not need or want to go home early but perhaps some Calpol would help! After a quick phone call to mum, the medication was administered and you retuned to class to get on with the rest of your day. This incident and the way you coped over the following days, was the topic of discussion amongst the staff in school. We are all incredibly proud of you and can think of no-one more deserving for this term’s Value Award for Resilience. 

SERVICE

For years now, you have given up countless hours for our school both during the day and after school. You have been a great help to other teachers in their respective classes and are highly thought of by staff in school. During sporting competitions, whether it's football, rugby, athletics, gymnastics, hockey or triathlon - your commitment, drive and focus to being the best you can be to help your team and the school achieve the best result possible is to be admired. Since October, you have given up your lunchtime break to help to support other children in a range of sporting activities.  You have ensured we have the right equipment for each activity, you help to set up various activities whether that's football or athletic based activities and act as a role model to the younger children. Your help and input has really been invaluable. Even though we hadn't planned to start activities till next week, we approached you twice this week and asked you if you would come and help organise some football games. Without hesitation, you helped in the organisation of two games of football with two different year groups ensuring everyone was included. Thank you for everything you do for our school – you make a huge difference to us all!