Whole School Harvest Celebration
This morning, we celebrated Harvest with a very special worship service at St Barnabas Church, led by our wonderful WOW group and Mrs Araujo. It was a joyful celebration filled with singing, gratitude and reflection. A huge well done to Reception, Year 1 and Year 3, who did a tremendous job of sharing what they have been learning in their RE lessons. Reception bravely opened our worship by singing ‘Thank You for the Harvest’, followed by Year 1, who expressed their gratitude to our farmers for all their hard work with a lovely rendition of ‘Thank You to the Farmers’. We also heard from Year 3, who shared beautiful prayers expressing their gratitude for all that we have, as well as leading us in a shared prayer using Makaton. We are incredibly proud of all the children for their thoughtful contributions. This year, we are supporting DARE, RotaKids and The Bishop’s Appeal. A heartfelt thank you to our school community for your generosity in donating non-perishable food items and pre-loved winter coats. Your kindness and support make a real difference to others. Looking ahead, please remember that we will be taking part in the Big Barney’s Assault Course Challenge on Friday 6th November to raise money for the Jehovah Rapha Healthcare Centre in Liwolo. The funds raised will help ensure that people can access essential healthcare. We would be very grateful if you could ask family and friends to sponsor your child and support us in this important mission. Finally, thank you for your continued support throughout this half-term. We wish all our families a wonderful and restful half-term holiday!
Year 2 RE- The Torah
This week in RE, Year 2 explored the Jewish Holy Book, the Torah scroll, discovering how it is read in the synagogue and treated with the utmost respect. The children also learned about Simchat Torah, the annual celebration that marks the completion of the yearly Torah reading cycle, and enjoyed participating in their own Simchat Torah-style festivity. Well done, Year 2!
Year 2 RE- A Visit From Rev Ben
Today, Year 2 enjoyed a wonderful visit from Rev Ben as part of our learning about the Bible. We explored why the Bible is special to Christians and discovered that it is often compared to a torch, honey and gold. Through thoughtful discussions and sharing our ideas, we concluded that the Bible is like a torch because it helps Christians find the right path in life. It is like gold because it is special and precious, and it is like honey because it is full of sweet stories about kindness and love. We then had the opportunity to ask Rev Ben some fascinating questions. We asked him about his favourite Bible story, how long he has been a vicar, why God created the world and how old the stories in the Bible are. Rev Ben also shared some of his own Bibles with us. We had the chance to look at one he received when he became a vicar, one he reads with his family and another that contains a different reading for every day of the year. We showed great respect and handled these special books with care. Rev Ben warmly invited us to visit St Barnabas Church on a Sunday, where a different Bible reading or story is explored each week. He also told us about Palm Tree, where children come together to learn more about the Bible, that runs alongside the normal Church Service. A huge thank you to Rev Ben for visiting us, answering our questions and helping us deepen our understanding of why the Bible is so special to Christians. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and learned so much!
Year 3 - RE: Preparing for Harvest
To finish our Harvest unit in Year 3, we created a class prayer about thankfulness. Miss Craig and Lenny helped us all learn how to sign some parts of our prayer with Makaton so that we can perform it in church next week.
Year 3 - RE: Born to Lead
In their new RE unit, the Year 3 class will be taking a walk through the Bible and a walk through history to learn about the story of Moses and his connection with Ancient Egypt. This week, they began learning about Moses’ early life and how God was preparing him for a special job. They explored significant Bible verses from the book of Exodus and created storyboards to recall the most memorable parts of the story so far.
Year 1 RE: Harvest Hamper
🌽Year 1 RE: Harvest Hamper 🥫 Year 1 collected food items to donate in our collective Harvest Hamper. This will go to families in need. We will be giving our hamper at St Barnabas Church on Sunday during the Harvest Family service. We can't wait to see as many children as possible singing songs of thanks. Thank you for all of your generosity! If any other year groups would like to donate any tins, packets or cans of food, please send them into school over the next couple of weeks as we are collecting for those in need locally.
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Reception: RE
This week in RE, as part of our "I am Special" unit, we read the wonderful story Clever Cub and the Case of the Worries. Inspired by Phil the Philosopher, who reminds us how important it is to express our emotions, the children spent time talking about moments when they have felt worried. Georgie shared that she felt worried about her leg when she fell over, Liliana talked about feeling worried when her sister was poorly, and Alissa mentioned that she sometimes feels worried at nighttime. We then reflected on who we can trust and turn to when we feel this way: Everley said God, Matthew said Daddy, and Amelia said Jesus. Expanding on who we can speak to, Noah mentioned Daddy, Louie shared Grandpa, and Everley noted that a teacher is always there to help. To support the children moving forward, we have introduced a class Worry Monster! The children can tell their worries to the monster, who safely locks them away to help everyone feel better. They absolutely loved sharing their worries with our new helper this afternoon!
Year 1 RE: Where Does Our Food Come From?
In RE, we had 6 mystery foods. The foods were banana, chocolate, mango chutney, pineapple, rice and dates. The children had to taste test each food. Then, they listened to three clues to decide where the food had come from and put the food on the map.They were very shocked to find that none of these foods originate in the UK and have to travel for us to eat them. We made sure we thanked God for the food that we had and for allowing us to try food from other countries.
Collective Worship with Rev Ben
Today, Rev Ben began worship by talking to the children about what they had done over the summer holidays. He asked them to think about the different experiences they had enjoyed, such as going on holiday, horse riding, swimming, enjoying the hot weather, watching football and going on a boat trip. Rev Ben then introduced the Bible story about the journey of Abraham. The children joined in by explaining that Abraham trusted God and that this was one of the most important things Abraham did. Rev Ben talked about how Abraham trusted God to give him a child, even when this seemed difficult to believe. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky. The children were then encouraged to think about how they could make the most of the new school year. They discussed the importance of having fun, living life in all its fullness, being themselves and following the 4B's. Rev Ben reminded the children that, just as Abraham trusted God, they can trust God to help and guide them throughout the school year. The worship ended with a prayer asking God to help us trust in Him during the school year and to guide us through the year ahead. Rev Ben also reminded the children about the Summer Weekend taking place at St Barnabas Church this weekend and the Youth Group for Year 6 and above, where children can learn more about God and Jesus. The children finished worship by singing a new song called “Every Beat of My Heart.”
Year 4 RE - Rosh Hashana
In our RE lesson this week we looked at how Jesus was Jewish and so would have celebrated Jewish festivals to honour God. We paid particular focus to Rosh Hashana which is the Jewish New Year. The children looked at how they eat apples dipped in honey for a sweet year and then created prayers focusing on their wishes for this new school year and what they’d like to leave behind. We finished by eating apples dipped in honey to celebrate all things sweet.
Year 6 - Life is a journey
Today, Year 6 began their new RE unit, ‘Life is a Journey’, with a reflective walk along Jacks Key. As we explored the surroundings, the children were encouraged to think about spirituality and the different journeys we take through life. We discussed how the paths we walk can represent the guidance we receive, with some paths being smooth and others rough, reflecting the challenges and struggles we may face along the way. The children also considered how gateways can act as guardians, representing opportunities that are sometimes open to us and other times closed. We explored how trees can symbolise lasting life and growth, while bridges can represent the helping hands and support we need to keep us on the right path.
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Year 4 - RE: Church in the Park
To complete our RE unit on places of worship, the Year 4 children learned about Peter ‘The Rock’ and how he started the Christian Church. They explored statements about the Church and decided which they thought were the most important. The children learned that the term ‘Church’ has become synonymous with the place of worship, but that most importantly, the Church is the people gathering together to worship God and Jesus. With this in mind, we decided to take our ‘Church’ to Whitehall Park. We created a short service led by the children and decided on the essentials we would need in order to deliver the service. The children enjoyed creating crosses using natural materials, listening to Bible stories, hearing sermons and saying prayers linked to these. There was a bit of time left at the end for us to enjoy the playground too.
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