Rev Matt’s Worship: God’s Great Creations
Rev Matt began his worship this week with a challenge for us all to vote for “the best one for the job”. He showed two people or animals and asked which would be the best runner, the best fire fighter, the best world leader etc. He then read a poem from the Bible about nature and how precious God’s creations are. We spent some time discussing our favourite creations and how we could take care of them.
W.O.W. Group - Spiritual Garden
The W.O.W. group began to see all their ideas and planning coming to fruition on Wednesday when they started work on our new spiritual garden. The area had kindly been dug out by Mr Ham and so W.O.W. got to work laying the membrane and spreading stones. They will be adding to this area each week, so keep a look out for their progress.
Reception: Refugee Worship
Today our Ducklings had a worship focussing on refugee week. We discussed what a refugee is and how they may feel. Harry said they may feel sad, Percy said they might be hungry, Callie said they might be worried and Phoebe said they might be scared. We remembered why we donate to DARE and how important it is to be kind and to help others. We discussed what we could do. Olivia said we could donate, Skye said we could buy them a present and Haydn said we could give them a hug to make them feel better. We are lucky to have such kind Ducklings, well done for all contributing to a very thoughtful worship. At the end we sang my lighthouse about how God will always look after us and guide us to safety.
Year 5 - What happened after Pentecost?
Today, Year 5 have been exploring what happened after Pentecost. The children looked at the significance of five Bible Acts and how life was affected after the Holy Spirit arrived using Bible Gateway. The children looked specifically at: Acts 2:43-47, Acts 3:1-10, Acts 4:1-22, Acts 4:32-37 and Acts 5:12-42. These acts all demonstrate the positive effects the Holy Spirit has and how the mindset of people changed to believing in Jesus.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Jesus is Our Compass
This week, Rev Ben joined us for worship to talk about seeking the truth. He began with a true or false quiz in which the options become progressively more difficult. We discussed why sometimes it’s hard to know what’s true and how it feels to feel lost. We learned that Christians believe that Jesus will always guide them to the truth if they put their trust in him.
Year 3- Collective Worship- First impression
We discussed this week's story about first impressions during our class worship. The children shared what first impressions mean to them and talked about times when someone had the wrong impression of them or when they misjudged someone based on appearances. They also discussed occasions when they try to make a good impression, such as when meeting visitors at school, new students, or their new teacher. We then explored the biblical story where God told Samuel that He had chosen a new king for Israel, who would be one of Jesse's sons. Jesse assumed it would be his eldest son, but God chose David, Jesse's youngest son. This story teaches us that God does not judge by outward appearance but by the heart. Learning the facts rather than making assumptions based on first impressions is important. We concluded by thanking God for giving us the wisdom to see beyond first impressions.
Year 4 Class Worship - Is it fair to judge others based on first impressions?
In our class worship this morning we used Picture News and looked at if it is fair to judge others based on first impressions? We discussed the all girls football team from Bournemouth who were undefeated all season in a league dominated by boys. We shared our ambitions and goals with each other and looked at how we can exceed expectations.
Year 6- Islamophobia Workshop
This week, year 6 took part in an islamophobia workshop. They discovered what islamophobia is, why we have islamophobia and how we tackle the issue. The overriding theme from the workshop is that it exists from a lack of education around the Islamic faith and it can be tackled through education. This will allow the children to make informed choices as they go out into the world.
Year 3- Religious Education-Which of the ten commandments do you think are the most important?
During our R.E. lesson today, we discussed a child-friendly version of the Ten Commandments and talked about their impact both in the past and now. The children shared which commandments they think are the most important and why. We also considered if any of the commandments could be left out, with pupils arguing for and against particular ones. The children felt that all of the commandments were still relevant. They thought that if God sent a new set of Ten Commandments today, the original ones would be kept the same, but new ones could be added. Some suggestions for new commandments included being humble, being kind, and not bullying.
Year 2 & Year 4 - RE: The Church
Our pupils in Years 2 & 4 had a walk down to St Barnabas Church this week. Both classes are currently studying the church in RE and Rev Ben was kind enough to invite us into church to explore symbols within the church. For Year 2, this built on the children’s learning about important features found in a church, and for Year 4, this gave a starting point for comparisons with churches from other denominations of Christianity. The children were very knowledgeable and loved exploring the inside of St Barnabas Church.
Rev Matt’s Worship - Pentecost
Today Rev Matt came in to lead a worship all about Pentecost and being filled with the Holy Spirit. As a challenge, a group of children were chosen to blow up a balloon as large as possible in 30 seconds. He told us about the events of Pentecost and how the disciples received the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is considered the birthday of the church.
The W.O.W. Group - Planning for our Spiritual Garden
The W.O.W. Group have been working hard on planning for our new spiritual garden. We successfully secured some funding to be able to create a peaceful area with multi sensory features and an eco friendly environment in which children can spend time on calm activities. We hope to attract local birds and insects too. Look out for ways in which you can support us to create this new area over the coming weeks.