Year 4 - Class Worship in the Spirituality Garden
We took advantage of the beautiful sunshine and gathered for our class worship in the Spirituality Garden today. This half term, our collective worship theme is the Lord’s Prayer, so we drew some symbols to help us remember and understand it. We then used the symbols to help us recite the prayer. We finished by retelling some of our favourite stories from the Bible.
Year 5 - Year of Prayer
Today, Year 5 took part in their Year of Prayer, focusing on following the guidance given by Jesus. As part of the reflection, the children followed a series of lines and various markings on the playground that symbolised the path Jesus sets for us. This activity represented different aspects of His teachings—such as love, forgiveness and courage—encouraging the children to think deeply about how they can follow His example in their daily lives. This meaningful activity helped them reflect on the choices they make and how they can strive to live life in all its fullness—by showing kindness, compassion and remaining faithful to their values.
Year 4 - Year of Prayer: Following Lines
The Year 4s are loving this week's prayer theme. We have been thinking about walking the right path and remembering what Jesus taught us. They followed the line markings on the KS2 playground and thought about how we can walk the right path in our daily lives. I think their favourite part was jumping at the end and shouting, "Amen!"
Whole School Worship - Exploring Prayer
Today’s worship marked the beginning of an exploration of prayer: what it is, why people pray, how, when and where they pray, and why it is an important part of faith. We started by reciting the Lord’s Prayer and signing parts using the Makaton symbols we already knew. Jesus told his disciples this prayer twice when they asked him how to pray. We watched a short video explaining that prayer is simply talking to God and that there are no specific rules when communicating with God. We also learned that he is never too busy to listen to us. The children spent time recapping some of the ways they have prayed including through the Diocesan Year of Prayer, and thinking about what they might want to tell God. We then had some quiet time to say our own prayers to God. Some children said thank you for God’s wonderful creations, some said sorry for making wrong choices, some were thankful for their family and friends and some were grateful for their homes and food. We finished by singing our special Lord’s Prayer song with our Makaton actions.
Year 1- Year of Prayer- New Life
This week as part of the Diocesan Year of Prayer, Year 1 planted cress seeds. As we did this, we prayed to Jesus to say thank you for the new life that He brings at Easter. We enjoyed some beautiful prayers to say thank you for the baby animals such as the chicks, rabbits, lambs and calves that are brought into our world. We also said thank you for the beautiful plants that are in bloom, including those that provide us with food.
Year 6 Class Worship
Today, year 6 took part in a class worship and discussed moments when they have felt genuinely surprised, shocked, puzzled, amazed and confused. These are emotions that Mary would have undoubtedly felt when she discovered the empty tomb and heard Jesus saying her name. We then heard from Bishop Phillip who spoke about how Jesus won victory over death and that means Christians can be friends with him forever.
Year 1 RE- Exploring the Symbols of Baptism
Today in RE, Year 1 explored symbols of baptism. First of all, they explored a chatterbox of items which were revealed one by one e.g. a bible, a certificate, a cross, a candle and a christening robe. The children then had to think about what could connect all of the contents in the box. Once they had worked this out, Year 1 then explored the meaning of the Christian symbols of baptism. They learnt that the water symbolises cleansing, the robe symbolises new life, the candle symbolises the light of God, the certificate symbolises belonging, the oil symbolises the Holy Spirit and the cross symbolises protection.
Reception: Special Places in RE
In Reception, we launched our unit special places. Today we focused on our world, which was a great day to start as today is Earth Day. We first thought about different things we were thankful for in our world. Ava said flowers, Willow said stars, Oliver said the beach and Cassius said the sun. We then focused on water, grass, sand and rocks. We discussed where we would find these objects and looked at how to describe them. We then thanked God for all of his wonderful creations.
Whole School Worship- Year of Prayer
During our first whole-school worship after the Easter break, the children explored the power of prayer and how it can support us during difficult times. This week the focus for our Diocesan Year of Prayer was the 'robes of righteousness'. As part of the reflection, two children were gently wrapped in robes to symbolise that God is always with us—surrounding us with His love, comfort, and protection. This visual reminder helped the children understand that even in challenging moments, we are never alone. Through prayer and faith, we can experience hope, peace and life in all its fullness.
Whole School Easter Service in Church
This morning, we celebrated our last day of the Spring term with a fantastic Easter church service. Our KS2 classes showcased their Easter artwork and our teachers led the service ‘’The Greatest News Event Ever” in the style of news reporters. Thank you to those who could attend and we wish you all a fantastic Easter holidays.
Year 6 Visit to the Rose Garden
Year 6 enjoyed a peaceful visit to the beautiful Rose Garden at Whitehall Park to appreciate all of the wonderful Easter artwork that children have produced. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and the children really enjoyed some time to reflect.
Year 3 - Class Worship-Role Models, Faith, and Online Safety
During our class worship today, we reflected on this week's story about Sir Gareth Southgate, the former England football manager, who offered advice on the qualities needed to be a good role model. He also expressed his concerns about the challenges young people face online and the importance of having positive influences in their lives. We connected this to the roles of Head and Deputy in school, discussing how vital it is for leaders to demonstrate our school's Four Bs and uphold our Christian values. The children shared thoughtful ideas about what it means to be a good role model and how we can lead by example. We then explored what the Bible says about role models, focusing on how Jesus is our role model and he sets an example of how to live a life of love, kindness, and compassion. This conversation is also linked to online safety, with a discussion around Instagram. It was encouraging to hear that most children weren’t familiar with the platform. Cassidy read a prayer, thanking God for sending Jesus to guide us and show us what true love and compassion look like.