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.
Year 3- Art- Weaving inspired by Anni Albers
This afternoon in Art, Year 3 explored weaving techniques inspired by artist Anni Albers. Using thick card as their base, the children created woven pieces with wool and ribbon. To deepen their understanding, the children watched short video clips demonstrating various weaving methods and their historical significance: 'Carpet Weaving' 'Hand Weaving' 'Palm Weaving' These clips highlighted the long tradition of weaving, which has been practiced for thousands of years, using a wide range of materials, from natural threads to modern synthetic fibers. Before starting their projects, the children referred to the mood boards. They carefully selected a colour that matched the themes or emotions reflected in their boards. When weaving, they alternated the wool and ribbon strips in an under-over-under-over pattern, ensuring each piece was pushed tightly into the weave. They continued this process, repeating the pattern, until all the strips were integrated into their designs. They were thrilled with the outcome and in awe with they created.
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'.
Year 3- Class Worship- Love- Christmas Cards
In today’s worship, Year 3 enjoyed learning about the history of Christmas cards, from when the first postcard was made to how they’ve changed over the years. We talked about how things like rising postage costs have led to more people sending digital or hand-delivered cards. The children shared their own family Christmas traditions and thought about the real meaning of the season, focusing on the story of Jesus’ birth. Lyla ended the worship by reading a prayer, thanking God for all the joy and excitement that Christmas brings.
Year 1 English- Constructing Sentences
This week in Year 1, the children have been constructing sentences to retell the events of the Great Fire of London. They have been many groups of words that they have had to form into sentences. To do this, they needed to think about starting the sentence with the subject (who?) and learnt that this could be the name of a person, place or a thing and follow this on with what the person, place or thing is doing (doing what?) to create effective sentences. For example, Thomas Farriner left a spark in the oven and Saint Paul's Cathedral burnt down. Once they had put the words into the correct order, they had to write these sentences into their books ensuring that they used capital letters for the proper nouns.
Year 4 Roman Britain - Did we guess what the artefact was?
Following on from last week’s lesson when the children attempted to identify various Roman artefacts, the children found out what each individual item actually was. Not many of us guessed that artefact 1 was an oil lamp as we actually thought it was either a vase or a toilet! Following on from this, we watched a Horrible Histories clip which highlighted what the Romans actually brought to Britain which included roads, walls, food including olives and wine as they didn’t like the beer that was most popular with tribes.
Year 4- What do artefacts tell us about life in Roman times?
In our fifth session on Roman Britain we focused on analysing artefacts. Our success criteria was to describe an artefact, make observations about the artefacts and make deductions about Roman life. The children looked at various objects answering questions about each and their answers were really detailed and thoughtful.
Year 3- Big Debate Club- Can you ever truly know what happened in history?
The children had a big debate about whether we can truly know what happened in history. Some said we can, because we have things like old letters and pictures, and scientists can figure out how old things are. Others said we can't know for sure, because sometimes things get lost or people might not tell the whole truth. It's a tricky question, and it makes us think about how we learn about the past.
Year 4- Why was the Roman army so successful ?
The focus of our history lesson today was to find out why the Roman army was so successful. We looked at why the Romans needed a powerful army, identifying the equipment of a Roman soldier and Roman fighting formations. We learnt lots of new things including; that the Romans had the largest fighting force in the ancient world, they were the best trained, had the best weapons and were so good that even when they fought against armies that were ten times their size, they still won!
Year 1 History & Art- The Great Fire of London
This week in Year 1, we set the children a challenge to act out the Great Fire of London in our Role Play Area and decorate a Tudor style house in our Creative Area during their independent learning time. They absolutely rose to the challenge and wowed us with their knowledge of the Great Fire of London and their super drama and creative skills. Well done Year 1!
Year 3- Guided Reading-A Poppy is to Remember
For our guided reading session today, Year 3 listened to a story "A Poppy is to Remember" by Heather Patterson and Ron Lightburn. This story helped the children understand the significance of Remembrance Day and the symbolism of the poppy. We reflected on the sacrifices made by soldiers for peace, listening to John McCrae's poem, In Flanders Fields.
Reception: Birthdays
As part of our celebrations topic, we are focussing on birthdays this week. The children have enjoyed making birthday cards, birthday cakes, bracelets and birthday crowns too. They have been focussing on their fine motor skills to complete their challenges and also have been working really hard when writing their names. Well done!