Whole School Worship - Epiphany
To continue our Epiphany celebration, in worship, we learned about the significance of the wise men’s gifts. We were entertained with some fantastic acting from a few of our Year 6 children as they acted out the story of the wise men meeting Herod on their way to visit Jesus. We all joined in with actions for repeated sections of the rhyming Bible story too. As the wise men presented their gifts it was revealed that each had a specific significance: gold to represent the King, frankincense to represent God, and myrrh to represent the great sacrifice to come. Following this we took the time to reflect on the true wonder of this significant event and then enjoyed singing We Three Kings together to bring this festive season to a close.
Year 4 - RE: Beliefs About Jesus
Our Year 4 Bible explorers also became defence lawyers today in our mock courtroom trial. The question was “Is Jesus the Son of God?”, their task was to defend Christians and provide evidence from the Bible, from the miracles Jesus performed. After taking time preparing their arguments, the children presented their evidence and put up some strong counter arguments each time the prosecution attempted to refute their evidence.
Year 3 visit the Rose Garden
It was a lovely morning as Year 3 followed the church service with a walk to the rose garden. The children took great pride in spotting their own artwork and their siblings' pieces.
Whole School Christmas Church Service
This morning, our whole school enjoyed a joyful and reflective visit to church to celebrate the Christmas season together. During the service, children from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 confidently shared the work they have been doing in class, exploring the true meaning of Christmas and the special joy, hope and kindness that Jesus brought to others. Their contributions helped everyone to pause and reflect on the importance of love, generosity and togetherness at this special time of year. We also enjoyed singing a selection of our much-loved Christmas carols, filling the church with festive cheer. A highlight was watching our whole-school Christmas video, which captured many of the wonderful activities and celebrations from the past couple of weeks. The children thoroughly enjoyed seeing themselves on screen taking part in the festivities and were especially delighted to see members of the school staff joining in and having fun. It was a warm and uplifting celebration that truly reflected the spirit of Christmas and brought our school community together. A huge thank you to Parents and to all who attended to celebrate with us. We wish you a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Year 4 - RE: Hanukkah
In the Year 4 RE session this week we had a special visitor. A member of our school family came into class to share her Jewish faith and the story and customs of Hanukkah celebrations. We also had the opportunity to ask some curiosity questions.
.jpeg)
Reception class visit the Rose Garden
Reception class enjoyed their visit to the Rose garden. They looked at all of the Advent art and some of the children were proud to see their artwork. The children sang carols together and they all went to the playground as a special treat.
Year 1 RE: Advent Trail
This afternoon Year 1 took a visit to Whitehall Park so that we could see all of the Advent Art created by our school, which fit nicely into our RE topic surrounding the true meaning of Christmas. As we walked to the park, we thought about the Nativity story. Once we arrived, we discovered that the Wise Men brought Jesus three special gifts: gold (to show respect that Jesus was a king), frankincense (to show that people would worship Him) and myrrh (to show that Jesus would understand suffering). We tried to see if any of the artwork showcased the Wise Men. We discussed that most precious gifts are not expensive, but they have thought and meaning behind them. We also thanked God for the most special gift of all, Jesus.
Whole Class Worship - Joy
This week of advent, our focus is Joy. We began by recounting the advent themes we have explored so far: Hope and Peace. Mrs Ham chose Lyla from Year 4 to come to the front to light the three advent candles and she highlighted some of the ways our school family have brought joy to others over the past few weeks. It was heartwarming to hear about some of these, including the Reception class nativity, Year 1 and Year 2’s Christmas Cracker, the choir singing at Acer Lodge care home, and Year 4 writing letters to the residents, plus all of those who have been supporting our latest charity campaigns. We reflected on what true joy looks like and how we can sometimes forget about the simple things when our minds are preoccupied with expensive gifts and the hustle and bustle of the season. Our focus was brought back to the gift God sent - his only son - and how Jesus’ incarnation was the joyous gift that changed our world forever.
.jpeg)
Year 5 - RE
Year 5 have been practising their presentation of learning for Friday’s church service. The focus is on peace and how the message of peace can be found in the two nativity stories in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. We have already made triptych drawings telling the stories and the script compares Luke’s message of a humble saviour to Matthew’s message of a king descended from Moses and David.
Reception-R.E
The children listened to the story of Simeon and Anna and the joy they felt meeting the Son of God. The children discussed why Jesus was so special helping people and changing people's lives. They talked about how they would feel meeting Baby Jesus.
.jpeg)
Year 6 - Class Worship
Year 6 took part in a thoughtful class worship exploring Herald the King and what it means to live out God’s Big Story in our daily choices. The children reflected on themes of hope, kindness and responsibility, discussing how they can shine God’s light in school and at home. To celebrate this special time of year, the children created ‘wishful stars’, each one expressing a personal hope or commitment inspired by the worship. These stars now serve as a gentle reminder of the messages shared and the values we choose to carry forward.
Year 3- R.E- Nativity Story Reflection
This afternoon in R.E., Year 3, focused on the Nativity story, reminding ourselves of the sequence of events. We paid attention to the moment the world first heard the news: when angels appeared to the shepherds in the fields, who then hurried down to visit the special baby. The children then used their imaginations to become investigative reporters, brainstorming and recording the imaginative questions they would ask the shepherds about what they saw, how they felt, and what it was like to meet the baby Jesus. It was a wonderful exercise in empathy and curiosity!