Stargazing and meditation
30 Jan 2026The children in Form 6 were incredibly lucky (again!) to enjoy clear skies on the night of our Stargazing.
We compared the images we enjoyed of the waxing gibbous moon seen with the naked eye through binoculars and finally Mr McCarthy's telescope. We were amazed at the detail we could observe on the moon's surface, even using our basic binoculars, but the view through the telescope was breathtaking.
As the sun set, we enjoyed further good luck as Jupiter and the Galilean Moons came into view. We were able to see the bands across Jupiter and up to four bright dots of its largest moons. We tipped our caps at Orion, quaffed hot chocolate and a biscuit and deliberated on all we had learnt on this bright, clear night. Mr McCarthy and Mrs Carn agreed, it may well have been our best one yet.
In humanities this week, Form 6 has been exploring how at the heart of Buddhism lies the practice of meditation. This is a technique for training the mind to achieve a state of calm and focused awareness. They have also been looking at yoga as this also has an emphasis on physical postures and breathing techniques which share similarities with Buddhist meditation. The aim of yoga and meditation is to unite the mind and body, promoting relaxation and inner peace. The Form 6 children have benefited from learning about yoga and meditation in the context of Buddhism. Taking part in yoga sessions has helped them develop mindfulness, concentration and emotional regulation skills.
In maths this week, Form 6 have been completing an investigation involving hats and scarves. The children were tasked with forming accurate predictions when deciding what fraction of each item of clothing was covered in each colour. Realising that the fractions all needed to add together to make a whole one added more complexity to the task, which helped to form good discussions. The class finished their investigation by designing scarves of their own.
