This week’s bible story
Peter’s story (Based on Mark 8.27-38, Mark 14.15-72 and John 13.36-38)
Have you ever told a lie to keep yourself from getting into trouble? You don’t have to answer the question out loud, just to think about it.
Have they ever let a friend down, rather than get into trouble? Again, don’t answer outloud, just remember how it felt if they have.
In the bible, Jesus had 12 disciples – these were special friends of his that helped him. One of his closest friends was a man called Peter. Peter, even though he was Jesus’ friend, was someone who did both of those things. Read Peter’s story (Based on Mark 8.27-38, Mark 14.15-72 and John 13.36-38)
Reflection:
Why do you think Peter behaved as he did. Peter was confused: how could anything so awful happen to God’s Special One?; his fear of arrest; his fear of the palace guards; his courage in following Jesus as far as he had; his loyalty to his friend despite his cowardice.
How do you think Peter felt when he heard the cock crow. Do you think he could ever be friends with Jesus again?
Jesus meet Peter again for the first time after he had risen from the dead. He asked Peter three times if he loved him, once for each time he had denied him (John 21.15-19). Jesus told Peter then that he would have an important part to play in telling the world about him; and he did – but that’s another story!
Prayer:
Dear God,
When we are frightened:
Please help us.
When we don’t know what to do:
Please help us.
When we are tempted to lie:
Please help us.
When we let our friends down:
Please help us.
When we are sorry and want to make amends:
Please help us.
Amen.
This week’s bible story
The Son Who Left Home: Luke 15:11-32
Jesus told many stories that are recorded in the New Testament. His stories were often about everyday events that all the people could relate to, but they had a special purpose – they were told to help people understand more about God. Usually, the stories, or parables as they are called, spoke for themselves, but sometimes they had to be explained. Let me now tell you one of Jesus’ best-known parables.
Read the story of the son who left home.
Reflection:
Jesus told this story to show how much God loves us. Just like the son in the story, we often want our own way and do not think of the consequences. We make foolish mistakes and come to regret them later. Just like the father in the story, though, God never stops loving us and is always ready to forgive us when we admit our wrongdoing.
Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Forgive us, we pray, for the times when we have acted foolishly.
When we have wanted our own way and not listened to good advice;
when we have not considered the thoughts or feelings of others.
May we be prepared to forgive others when they are sorry for hurting or upsetting us, just as you are prepared to forgive us when we admit our wrongdoing.
Amen.
We’ve been gardening!
This week in nursery, our focus books have been ‘Jasper’s Beanstalk’ and ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’. Reading these books (and talking about them) has encouraged us to think about how plants grow and what sorts of foods are good for our bodies. The children have enjoyed planting seeds and beans and have predicted what their plants will look like once they have fully grown. We’ve also looked closely at flowers and have made some wonderful observational drawings using a limited palette of colours. Next week, the children will be looking at how they have changed and grown since they were babies and we would really appreciate a photograph of your child as a baby for a display in our room. We’ll be measuring how tall we are and will be talking about all the wonderful things the children have learned to do since they were born.
Dates for your diary:
Our Parent Teacher Consultation Evening is on Monday, 21st March. Appointments can be made online – please let us know if you have any difficulties booking them.
Friday, 18th March is Red Nose Day. Your child can come to nursery wearing an item of red clothing to celebrate the day.
This week’s bible story
The Unforgiving Servant: Matthew 18: 21-35
Have you ever broken anything? It could be a toy or a plate from the kitchen or even a bone in your body. Some things that are broken cannot be mended, but it is often possible to mend things that we have broken. If we care for our environment, it is a very good idea to try to mend things rather than always throwing them away and then buying new things. For example, what might use to mend the following things if they were broken: a hole in the toe of my socks? a ripped page in a book? a handle that has come off a mug? a puncture in my bike tyre? a cut finger?
What could you do about mending a broken friendship?
When you fall out with one of your friends, you can’t mend that friendship with a needle and thread, or some sellotape, or superglue or a puncture kit or a sticking plaster. Read the story about the Unforgiving Servant.
Jesus explained to his friend Peter that God is like the king in the story: Christians believe God forgives us every time we tell him we are sorry for the wrong things we have done, and he wants us to treat our friends in a similar way – forgiving them each time they say ‘sorry’ to us.
Reflection:
What would you say was the key word in that story? The key word could be ‘forgiveness’.
Have a think about these questions:
‘What does it mean to forgive someone?’ (KS2) or ‘What kind of things do you need to say sorry for? (KS1).
At the end of the Bible story Jesus tells us that, if we have done something wrong, we need to say sorry to God and then he will forgive us. In a similar way, if you have fallen out with a friend, two things often need to happen: if you know you have done something wrong or upset someone, you need to be brave enough to say sorry to that person. The person to whom you have said sorry then needs to forgive you.
So, going back to the questions at the beginning of the assembly:
What might I use to mend a broken friendship? A good answer to this question would be ‘forgiveness’.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for today’s Bible story about forgiveness.
Thank you that if we say sorry to you, you give us a fresh start.
Please help us to be forgiving people here in this school.
Amen.
Pancakes and book characters
This week has been very busy at nursery as we have celebrated two important events: Shrove Tuesday and World Book Day. We began by talking about Shrove Tuesday and why it is important in the Christian calendar, and we also read ‘Mr Wolf’s Pancakes’ to inspire our learning. The children made their own pretend pancakes and took part in some pancake-inspired activities. Whilst decorating some real pancakes, we discussed our favourite toppings and thought about the healthy choices we could make. On Thursday, lots of children (and staff) dressed up to celebrate World Book Day. The children really enjoyed creating their own books and reading their stories to the rest of the class.
We have started to look closely at the number three and will continue to explore it next week. Perhaps you could ask your child if they can spot the number three in the environment (registration plates, buses and house numbers are good places to start looking for numerals). As Spring is on its way, we will also be looking at ‘growing’ over the next couple of weeks and will be planting our own beans and seeds.
This week’s bible story
‘We should learn to forgive.’ (Ephesians 4.32)
Read this story about Omar and his friend Freddy.
Reflection:
Forgiving helps friends to be friendly again.
Forgiving others makes us happier.
In the bible, it says ‘We should learn to forgive.’ (Ephesians 4.32). It doesn’t always mean it will be easy to forgive. It is something that we need to learn and something we will get better at.
Prayer:
Let us say together the prayer that Jesus taught us: The Lord’s Prayer.
In this prayer, we are reminded about forgiveness: ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’
This means that when we do something wrong we should ask for forgiveness and we should learn to forgive others when they do things that upset us.
Happy half term
Our focus book this week has been The Gingerbread Man and the children have really enjoyed listening to the story. We have re-told the story using props and have included gingerbread men in our learning. We’ve even decorated some gingerbread biscuits to take home! The children have also been busy making their own musical instruments, creating fabulous junk-models, mixing beautiful gingerbread colours and drawing around their outlines to make ‘people patterns’. We have revisited ‘heaviest’ and ‘lightest’ in our maths and have checked our predictions using balance scales. We found out that larger objects are not always heavier than smaller ones.
After half term we’ll be celebrating Shrove Tuesday and we’ll also be dressing up for World Book Day. Which is your favourite character from a book?
All of the Nursery staff wish you a happy, healthy and safe half term. We look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday, March 1st.
This week’s bible story
The son who left home continued: Luke 15: 11-32
This half term, our bible story that Jesus told was about the son who sold his share of his father’s farm he was to inherit and went off to the city intending to enjoy himself. You will also remember that, in the end, he decided it was a big mistake and went back home to beg his father’s forgiveness. Much to his surprise, his father forgave him completely and even threw a party for him. That’s where we left the story last time, but Jesus did not end it there – he also talked about the eldest son, who had stayed at home.
Read the story of the Lost son continued.
Reflection:
Consider the feelings of the father, the eldest brother and the younger brother at each stage of the story.
How many things related to our homes and families do we often take for granted?
Prayer:
Father God,
Help us to share gladly in the success of others.
When someone does well, may we be happy to congratulate them.
When someone falls, help us to comfort them.
Forgive us when we take things for granted and help us to appreciate all the good things we have.
Amen
Staying safe
This week, we’ve had lots of visitors in school who have helped us understand how to stay safe. On Monday, we had a visit from some of the firefighters from Wetherby fire station who brought their engine with them. On Tuesday, a lady from Dog’s Trust taught us how to stay safe around dogs and, on Thursday, we also learned about road safety when crossing the road with our adults. We’ve also had a visit from a Christian organisation called Hand to Mouth and we did a special activity with them on Wednesday.
The children have enjoyed finishing off their dragon masks and have been doing lots of paintings in red and gold to mark the end of Chinese New Year. There has been a lot of mark-making in the classroom and this will help the children develop the motor skills necessary for writing their name. We’ve continued to look at the number two on a number line and have been thinking about the length of sounds in our music sessions. Next week, our focus book will be: ‘The Gingerbread Man’ and we will be doing lots of gingerbread-inspired learning.
Some important reminders:
- If your child is going to be absent from school, please can you inform the school office. It would be very helpful if you could give a reason for their absence.
- Please avoid sending anything in your child’s packed lunch which may contain nuts. This includes chocolate/hazelnut spreads.
Many thanks
This week’s bible story
Jesus is friends with Zacchaeus: Luke 19: 1-10
Have you ever heard the story of Burglar Bill – Bill goes out every night. Getting into houses through open windows and taking things. Until one night, Bill found a baby, and that changed his whole life …
There is a Bible story about a man who stole from other people. He took extra money when he gave them their tax bills and became very rich on all the money that he stole. Zaccheus was a little man and that small people can’t see in crowds. Read the story of Zacchaeus to find out what happened to him.
Reflection:
Jesus loved everyone when he lived on the earth. It didn’t matter how bad people were, Jesus was always there for those who needed him. This is true for us too – no one is so bad that God doesn’t love them. And the more time we spend with God – praying, thinking about him, finding out about him, the more we want to be like Jesus; kind, helpful and good. Just like Zacchaeus, Burglar Bill changed his ways and tried to be more like Jesus by loving those around him.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that Jesus loved Zacchaeus even when he wasn’t making the right choices. Help us to love all of those around us.
Amen