Shrove Tuesday
As today is Shrove Tuesday, Mrs Ham bought our whole school family pancake bites to eat to symbolise the start of Lent tomorrow. They went down a treat and many of the children were excited to have pancakes at home this evening too. We are looking forward to seeing lots of different ways that we can all give this Lent through demonstrating our Christian values of service, friendship and generosity.
Rev Ben’s Ash Wednesday Worship
This morning Rev Ben led our Worship. First he lit our special candle and we had a moment's silence to pray for the families in Turkey and Syria who have been affected by the devastating earthquakes. Rev Ben asked us who was the greatest out of four celebrities, Marcus Rashford, Taylor Swift, Princess Kate and Rishi Sunak. The children had a discussion with a partner about who was the greatest and why. We had some super answers and several reasons why each one was the greatest. We then watched a video about the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee which was a story that Jesus told to some people who thought they were great and looked down on others. The Pharisee thought he was the greatest and looked down on others but the tax collector was actually great in God's eyes as he asked for help and forgiveness. Rev Ben explained that Ash Wednesday is when Christian's ask for help and for their sins to be forgiven by God. Rev Ben then talked to us about Christian greatness and we had some time to reflect and discuss what Christians think being great is all about and how we can put that greatness into practice. Again we had some brilliant answers such as showing kindness, friendship, generosity and service to others. We finished our worship with a special prayer led by Rev Ben and sang and danced to My Lighthouse, to symbolise that God is always there to hear our prayers of help and forgiveness.
Reception- Shrove Tuesday
The children in Reception have tried some pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. All the children tried the pancakes and enjoyed them. We discussed that Pancake Day is also called Shrove Tuesday. We talked about how Jesus went to the desert for forty days and forty nights with no food or water.
Reception: Muddy Monday
Today the children explored the changes of weather and different areas of Whitehall park. The children commented on how the weather can be sunny, cloudy, rainy, foggy and windy. The children explored the waterfall and other forest schools sections. They showed the Christian value of courage as we had to walk up a steep hill and walked a long way around the park.
Whole School Worship: Shrove Tuesday and Lent
To begin our worship, we lit a special candle and prayed for everyone in Turkey and Syria. As we entered worship, we watched a video all about when Jesus spent 40 days in the desert. Tomorrow it is Shrove Tuesday. On Wednesday, our altar will change to the colour of purple as we enter Lent and prepare for Easter. Mrs Ham asked the children ‘what makes you you?’ Neve said her freckles, Oscar said playing the piano and cello, Jake said his fingerprints and Grace said her flexibility. Our personality, emotions, behaviour, clothes, family and belongings all make us unique. Mrs Ham then asked ‘what made Jesus Jesus?’ Eliza said he was the son of God, Grace said his abilities to perform miracles, Ella said that he came down from heaven, Finn said his kindness and Leonora said when he rose from the dead. On Wednesday, Lent beings where we remember how Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. We watched a video all about this time. Jesus was tempted by the devil during his time but he trusted in God and didn’t give in to temptation. Jesus knew there was a plan for him. He knew that he was going to die on the cross so that all of our sins can be forgiven. During our reflection, we had a think about what we could do or give up to help us to feel closer to God. Eva said she is going to give up chocolate, Elsa said sweets, Carter said fizzy drinks, Isaac said he will give some of his toys to charity and Declan said his clothes to the charity shop. We also thought about how we could show kindness and which Christian values we could show during Lent. We finished our worship by singing ‘our God is a great big God’.
Reception - Children’s Mental Health Week
We have really enjoyed children’s mental health week. The well-being warriors visited our class and told us a story about being kind to ourselves and each other. We then designed our own kindness jars. We also created pictures of ourselves and discussed how we are similar and how we are different and what makes us special and unique. On Friday, it was Express yourself day. We all chose clothes and accessories that represented our personalities and interests.
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Whole School- Celebration Worship
Wow! We had lots to celebrate today. During our Celebration Worship this morning, the class teachers celebrated by presenting a value award to the children who have been demonstrating our Christian Values. This week, our overall house values point winner was Darwen tower with 258 points. We also celebrated Years 3 and 4 for their winning at sportshall athletics. Well done to the reception class and Year 3 for this week's best attendance. We also celebrated the children that have taken part in extracurricular activities, well done to everyone! We finished our worship with Rev Ben leading a prayer.
Reception - PE
In PE this week we started with a warm up. We practised balancing on a beam, crawling and jumping over hurdles, and climbing on our climbing frame. We were very brave and enjoyed using all of the climbing equipment.
Reception - Understanding Of The World
This week, we have looked at floating and sinking. To start, we discussed what we already knew. We then gathered a range of items and investigated if they would float or sink. We made predictions about what would happen, and named some of the materials the items were made out of. We really enjoyed putting the items into the water to check if they would float or sink.
Reception - Maths
This week we have been exploring numbers to 10. We looked at how to do this quickly using ‘5 and a bit’. We practised grouping 5 children together, so we knew not to keep counting them! We then counted on from 5 to make our total number. The children then used cubes and our part whole models to make different numbers. In continuous provision, the children also looked at writing numerals, counting objects and 1 more/1 less. They have worked so hard, well done!
Wellbeing Warrior Workshops for Children’s Mental Health Week
As part of Children’s Mental Health Week 2023, our Well-being Warriors have been going into Foundation and Key Stage 1 to deliver workshops around mental health. They have looked at the story ‘Lucy’s Blue Day’ and highlighted how it’s ok to have good and bad days. The children then completed an activity on a feelings jar which they loved.
Reception- Safer Internet Day
In class we read a story for internet safety day, it was all about Smartie the penguin and how he could keep safe when using his tablet. The children listened so well and came up with some super ideas of how Smartie could keep safe and what he could do in certain situations. We had a discussion all about stranger danger and said that the best thing to do if something pops up on our tablets that we aren’t sure about is to tell parents, carers, grandparents or another trusted adult they know who could help.