Holocaust Memorial Day Worship
Our first collective worship of the week had a serious and somber tone as we held in our thoughts and prayers all of the Jews who suffered in the Holocaust. We looked out of our spirituality windows to learn how the Nazis did not show love to their Jewish neighbours like God commanded but instead treated them really badly during World War II. We watched a BBC interview with a Jewish survivor, who described some of the personal tragedies he faced at the young age of 6 when his family sent him away to save his life from the Nazi regime. He shared how he travelled on the Kindertransport and a British family showed him love and compassion and became the light in the dark. Through our spirituality mirrors we were able to reflect on how hearing of these events made us feel, and how the Jews must have felt back then. Finally, through our spirituality doors we learned of the many survivors who have worked tirelessly to make people aware of the devastation that was caused so that it would never happen again. We reflected on how we should always love our neighbours regardless of whether they look like you, pray like you, speak like you or think like you and stand up to anyone who is being mean to others.
Whole School Worship - Who Is My Neighbour?
In our collective worship, we were considering the question, “Who is my neighbour?” We discussed what it means to love your neighbour as yourself (as mentioned in parts of the Bible such as Leviticus and the Gospel according to Mark) and that there are times when it can be incredibly difficult. In hearing about the life of Martin Luther King Jr, as today is Martin Luther King Jr Day, we discovered that, even when it feels impossible to love our neighbour, when we are mistreated, ignored or disrespected as he and other black people have been, we must try harder to follow God’s greatest commandment, just like Martin did. Our children considered this and spent some time reflecting on the Christian Values that Martin demonstrated and the ways that they would like to make the world a better place and make a difference. Some of the children’s examples included: protecting nature, making peace when we have disagreements, putting a stop to pollution and eradicating poverty. We finished with prayers thanking God for Martin Luther King Jr and all that he did to the make the world a better place and asked Him to give us the courage to stand up for what is right. Rev Ben finished with a special blessing and we sang 'I can make a difference'.
India Mill Winners Disco
Well done to our children who are in India Mill House Team. Their team won the most Values points this half term and were rewarded with a non-uniform day and a disco. The children enjoyed some sweets, danced lots and played musical bumps too.
Year 4 Adventure Art and Trail Quiz Walk
Year 4 have had a great day today taking part in the Advent Art and Trail Quiz Walk. We walked to the Rose Garden first where we did the Advent Trail Quiz and the children worked really well to follow the clues and answer the questions. Next we walked around the garden admiring the beautiful pieces of artwork that the children from St Barnabas had completed. After that we walked to Mrs Gardner's home to enjoy hot chocolate, marshmallows and cream or a hot vimto with a side of chocolate biscuits. Finally, we walked back to the park and went on the playground before heading back to school. The children were great at showing the 4 Bs both in and out of the classroom and it was lovely to watch them all with huge smiles on their faces too.
Year 4 - Linking Schools: Who Are We?
In Year 4, we have been spending some time exploring what makes us who we are. We started creating identity maps ready to send to our link class at St Matthew’s. We can’t wait to receive some work back and find out more about our new friends.
Year 6 - Class Worship
This week, in our class worship, year 6 discussed what it means to feel included. We explored a new incentive from the FA to raise participation of disabled people in football and expressed how we felt about this. The overarching views were positive, but we also explained how this incentive could have happened sooner. We then linked this to school life and spoke about what it means to feel fully included. The word that epitomises this is ‘belonging‘.
Year 4 - Class Worship: How Do We Know Who We Are?
We had an extremely thought-provoking class worship today. We found out about Amur, a Muslim boy in Denmark, using Lyfta. He shared a small snapshot of his daily life and explored the question “Who am I?” The discussion which followed was the perfect opportunity for us to practise our talk tactics and listening skills as we shared our opinions on who Amir is as a person, whether or not we thought he was a good person, and how we could tell. There was a lot of agreement among the children with some building on others’ ideas, and a couple of respectful disagreements.
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Whole School Thursday Worship with Rev Ben and Pudsey
In our Thursday Whole School Worship,Christine Baldwin, Community Champion from Asda Bolton kindly brought Pudsey Bear to visit us and say a big THANK YOU for our fundraising for Children in Need. They are currently working on a Fuelling Food Programme so that no child will grow hungry in the school holidays. Asda Bolton have raised ver 34 million pounds for Children in Need. The children were very excited to hear all about the project as well as meeting Pudsey. Following on from the visit, Rev Ben took over and we all showed respect by putting ourselves in our reflective prayer place. We began with the Trinity and focused our first discussion on what does it mean to treat someone with respect. Our answers included: being kind, treating someone just as you would like to be treated,when you are ok with difference and treating people equally. Our Bible story today was - A Jar and A Jug. The story focused on Elijah - Gods special messenger and his struggle with the drought. He trusted God that he would get through it with help from the widow and her son. The widow who believed in another God, didn’t believe they would live until she trusted in Elijah and his promise. God saw the widow as someone important and gave her a special job- to look after Elijah. It means listening to others, caring for them and seeing them how God sees them. We then looked at the important message “ Do to others as you would have them do you” Luke 6;31 We finished our Thursday Whole School Worship with a prayer and then we sang ‘ I can make a difference’
Year 6 - Anti-Bullying Live Lesson
At the beginning of this week, Year 6 took part in a PSHE lesson and a CBBC live lesson that focused on Anti-Bullying Week. The theme this year is ‘Choose Respect’. Year 6 were made aware that disagreements are actually a natural part of life and that we can’t avoid them. However, what we do have control of is the ability to be respectful when we have a disagreement. If we manage to do this, a resolution is easier to find.
Odd Socks Day at St Barnabas
To launch Anti-Bullying week, we celebrated Odd Socks Day in style today with some brilliant demonstrations of uniqueness. The children showed off their odd socks to their peers and shared reasons for their choices that really showed off their different preferences and personalities!
Whole School Worship: Anti-Bullying and Respect
Our worship today introduced the theme of Choose Respect for Anti-bullying Week. We heard from primary school children from around the country talking about the effects of bullying, the importance of respect and how we can change the way we speak to others. Mrs Ham invited up some of our pupils to act out various scenarios so that we could identify the potential bullying problem and suggest ways to correct it that benefit everyone involved. The children had some fantastic suggestions, which we can all try to use on the playground to resolve conflict. We spent some time reflecting on the meaning of respect and on how others may feel when they are treated with disrespect.
Year 3 - PSHE-Odd Socks Day for Anti-Bullying Week
Today, our school celebrated our unique differences by wearing odd socks to launch anti-bullying week! Year 3 joined the live assembly in class, where we learned about the importance of kindness, respect, and a future without bullying. The assembly shared inspiring messages, guest speakers, and interactive activities where children had to discuss scenarios and develop solutions in pairs. This follows from our school worship led by Mrs. Ham, where we explored similar themes.