Year 4 - RE: Rosh Hashana
We began our RE unit about Jesus by exploring a bit about who He was. We investigated some Jewish artefacts and talked about Jewish festivals that Jesus would have celebrated. We found out about the festival Rosh Hashana and how it is celebrated today. We lit candles, listened to the shofar and tasted apples dipped in honey whilst we talked about our hopes for a sweet year.
Whole School Worship: Paralympic Values
We began our Monday worship with a race this week, except the race wasn’t very fair. One person was running the race, one was hopping and one was blindfolded. We discussed why this wasn’t a fair race and then we watched some athletes’ performances from the Paralympics. We were amazed to see people with no arms playing the piano, flying aeroplanes, brushing their teeth and driving cars etc and then we reflected on how we can learn from the Paralympians and have a 'yes, I can' attitude. We learned about the Olympic and Paralympic values and how some of the values are the same or similar to our Christian Values., We discussed how we can do anything with hard work, determination and self-belief and read in the Bible that with God, all things are possible.
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Year 4 Picture News Big Celebration Assembly
This morning we got the chance to take part in a virtual Picture News Big Celebration Assembly. We started with a picture which we had previously looked at in our class worship on Wednesday which showed the volunteers that had come together to clean up after the recent riots. We linked this to how we serve our school community and discussed British values. We always make sure that we welcome our community by showing our 4 B’s. Following this we heard from Boston St Nicholas School in Lincolnshire who highlighted how we can shine our light in so many different ways . It was lovely to share this special time to reflect and pray and we look forward to highlighting how we really do matter within our special school community.
Year 5 - What is the Bible?
Year 5 have been exploring the key question, what is the Bible? The children have gained a deeper understand of the library of the books the Bible contains and how this has helped Christian’s all over the world. We looked at how it influences our decisions and helps guide people in times of difficulty.
Class Worship- How can communities help each other in times of difficulty?
During our class worship, Year 3 looked at a story about the summer when riots occurred in England and Northern Ireland, causing damage to cars and buildings. We defined the term 'communities' and discussed the importance of everyone feeling welcome and safe within their community. The children reflected on their differences and similarities, recognising that our school community is special because it is made up of so many different individuals with unique interests. We discussed our British value of mutual respect and tolerance, considering how our words and actions can impact others. We then sang ' When I needed a neighbour' and ended the worship by thanking God for our school community.
Whole School Worship: Jesus the Good Shepherd
We were all so happy to have everyone back for our first day of the school year. In our first worship we recapped and celebrated all of the amazing ways we live out our school vision and what Jesus meant when he said we should have life in all its fullness. We heard about His teaching of the sheep and the gate and learned that He wished for all of us to use Him as our gate to God; that we can have a good life if we follow His word. We then recapped our 4 B's school rules and our Christian Values. Our teachers will be looking for our children to demonstrate these in order to gain values points each day and get on our 'time to shine' board. We reflected on what we are looking forward to this year and how we will achieve great things and live life in all its fullness.
Year 3- First Day in Year 3
Year 3 had a wonderful first day back at school and were full of excitement about joining the juniors! We began the day by writing prayers for the new academic year, with children expressing their hopes for sharing love and kindness, supporting their families, and fostering a caring school community. We also built upon our school’s 4 B’s — Being Kind, Being Respectful, Being Safe, and Being Ready — with thoughtful ideas from the children, such as walking safely around the school and avoiding swinging on chairs. They practised lining up in alphabetical order with great enthusiasm and did an excellent job! In the afternoon, we explored our science unit on Light, where the children explored and compared natural and artificial light sources. It was a fantastic start to the year!
Staff Team Holy Communion Service
What a wonderful way to start a new school year with a special service of Holy Communion for our staff team this morning. Thank you so much Rev Ben for leading the Eucharist today and for saying special prayers for our new school year. We also enjoyed listening to the Bible reading of John 10 and reflected on our role in looking after and protecting our children and enabling them to achieve great things and live life in all its fullness.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Talents
Today, Rev Ben set a task for our volunteers: to carry a balloon from one side of the hall to the other without using their hands. He shared the story of Paul and the shipwreck and talked about the Christian belief that it is their task to share the good news of God and His Son, Jesus. We also considered the talents God gave us and how these talents can be used to serve God and others.
Year 1 RE- Joseph
In RE, Year 1 have been learning about the story of Joseph. They have learnt about Joseph being a dreamer, a prisoner and eventually a ruler. In their most recent lesson, Year 1 discussed what they had learnt from this story and a couple of the things that the children said that they had learnt was that God is always with you and will support you in achieving your dreams and it is worth being resilient and overcoming challenges to achieve something that you really want. It tied in really nicely with the whole school worship that we had on Tuesday morning about growth mindset. To end the lesson, the children thought about their own dreams and shared these with their friends.
Year 4 - RE: Symbolism in the Methodist Church
We ended our final RE unit of Year 4 with a class trip to Springvale Methodist Church. The children had the opportunity to explore the church, looking for symbols of Christianity and they listened attentively as Rev Elizabeth explained all about the Methodist faith. The children also had a chance to ask some questions and comment on the features they had noticed. We were impressed by the children’s behaviour and their thought-provoking questions.
Rev Matt’s Worship - Seeking Truth
Rev Matt shared with us the fantastic news of his recent ordination. Some of the children even helped with a little re-enactment. He explained that his duty as a Christian is to live a life of truth. We listened to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; three men of faith who were punished for refusing to turn their backs on God in order to worship an image of the king. Rev Matt spoke about how it isn’t always easy for us to stand by our beliefs and we discussed times when this might be particularly difficult.