Years 1 and 2 had an opportunity to try out some cheerleading training with Cressy who runs Stortford Cheerleaders. Cressy put them through their paces starting with a warm-up session and then practised a few classic moves to songs from the Lion King. By the third session the children were able to follow Cressy to perform a short sequence. It was a great experience and certainly a good way of building stamina and fitness.

ST Michael's took part in the first ever 'England Does The Daily Mile' today. The Daily Mile is an initiative set up by Elaine Wyllie a former primary school head teacher, with the objective to get children fit for life and fit for learning. It has been adopted by over 70 countries in the world and today was England's chance to show our support for this fantastic initiative. It is so important for both the physical an mental health of our children especially helping children to cope at this challenging time. The aim was to get 1 million children doing The Daily Mile across the country today. We did our bit as you can see below.

Once again we have been very lucky to have had a visit from Mike Mullen from the BMX Academy to deliver a workshop and display to the Year 5 and 6 classes. Mike talks passionately about his sport and how it turned his life around.

BMX Academy is my concept of using BMX, and what it's taught me, to help school pupils to develop stronger mindsets, build resilience and improve wellbeing.

(The workshops are) designed to empower children, encouraging them to use a growth mindset to push their comfort zones and self motivate to achieve each trick challenge.

Both classes had a fantastic day and most of the children were confident enough at the end of the workshop to have a go at some of the tricks Mike had demonstrated to them in his earlier display.

Although we haven't be able to run any clubs or participate in the normal Birchwood Sports Partnership Competitions, we have still managed to keep active in our PE lessons, our weekly yoga sessions and using The Daily Mile Track. Natasha sadly left KAS at the end of last term but we are very lucky to have the fantastic Aran and Jenna as our lunchtime Sports Coaches now. We have also been really lucky to once again have Mike Mullen from BMX Academy coming into school to do workshops with the Year 5 and 6 classes.

This year we are lucky enough to have Natasha from KAS Sports Coaching to be working with us at lunchtimes. Natasha works with all the classes on a rotational basis, taking the children through a series of fitness and games based activities.

We have once again had Sara Thompson from The Wonder Tree to take us through some well-being and mindfulness techniques. Each class had a 30 minute session with Sara and it was so popular that Sara will be coming back to teach yoga on a regular basis in school.

Well done to our fabulous cheerleading squad who took part in the annual BSP competition at Birchwood School. Cheering, chanting and performing their way through a series of amazing acrobatic feats, they performed brilliantly and although the trophy eluded us for another year they certainly showed Bishop's Stortford what St Michaels's girls are made of!

We started the year's sporting fixtures with a team from Year 6 representing St Michael's at the annual BSP Sportshall Athletics Competition. There was a range of activities for the pupils to take part in including hurdles, relay and javelin.

On Friday 7th February, Years 1-6 took part in workshops delivered by Fit4Kids aimed at promoting fitness, healthy living and well-being. The workshops covered healthy eating including looking at the daily levels of sugar we are advised to eat and how many portions of fruit and vegetables we should eat to stay healthy. The pupils then took part in a series of fitness circuits and games with their class mates.

We took a team of Year 2 pupils to the BSP Multi-Skills Festival run by the Birchwood School Leaders from years 7-9. It was a fun-filled noisy morning with all the children involved having a great time and joining in fully with the activities on offer.

As part of our week focusing on Mental Health, the classes all took part in yoga sessions run by Mrs Thompson who is both a parent and yoga teacher who runs yoga classes for children through her company The Wonder Tree. She also runs a club in school on Wednesdays. More information or to sign your child up for these classes please contact the school office.