Christmas Dinner
What an amazing Christmas dinner we have all had together. The kitchen staff have been beavering away so that we could enjoy our traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings (plus vegetarian option!) 
We all enjoyed sharing a joke or fact from our Christmas crackers.
It was great to celebrate as a whole school family.
Some of our nursery children joined us too!
Key Stage 2 all made party hats to dazzle us with. You may even spot a few sporting a moustache.
So thank you to our amazing staff!
BIG thought – a class debate
Today, in RE year 1 and 2 had a fantastic debate. Before we started we talked about respecting other peoples opinions and that it is okay to disagree with others.
I then gave the children the big thought for the day.
“Only Christians can celebrate Christmas”
The children had some fantastic opinions for and against this statement! We are very proud of how each child respected their friends opinions whilst discussing the ‘big talk’. Some children even changed their mind after listening to their friends views and opinions!
Below are some of the children’s fantastic opinions.
“Only Christians can celebrate Christmas because they go to church on Christmas day.”
“Anybody can go to church, even if they believe something else. My friend is a Muslim and she came to church with me.”
“Other religions can celebrate it too. They can learn about how Jesus was born.”
“Anyone can celebrate Christmas. We need to include everyone otherwise it’s not fair.”
“You can celebrate Christmas because it’s for Jesus’ birthday – anyone can celebrate a birthday.”
“I agree because it’s Christians celebrating Jesus’ birthday.”
“It’s about everyone and celebrating with friends and family – it’s not just about presents.”
“I’ve changed my mind a little bit. Other people can celebrate because that’s kind and including other people.”
This week’s bible story
Perseverance despite circumstances: Daniel 6:1-28 (omit verse 24)
Read the story of Daniel (omit verse 24 for younger or sensitive children)
Daniel was captured, along with many more of God’s people, and taken to live in a foreign country. In this country, they had different traditions and customs and it was not acceptable to worship God. But Daniel chose to continue serving God. Even though it meant that he was risking death, Daniel knelt down and honoured God by praying three times a day.
When the king discovered that Daniel was breaking the law by praying to God, he had Daniel thrown into a den of hungry lions. God stood by Daniel and rewarded his unwavering commitment to righteousness by protecting him from being eaten by the lions.
Reflection:
Do you think Daniel was lazy, or a hard worker?
When Daniel found out that he would be thrown into a lion’s den if he continued to pray, what did he do?
Why do you think Daniel continued to kneel down to pray instead of praying quietly in his head so that others could not see that he was praying?
How did God reward Daniel’s perseverance?
Prayer:
Dear God,
We can often end up in situations when life feels hard or difficult or when we feel we are out on a limb compared to everyone else.
Help us to persevere when times are tough.
Amen
Christmas Play
Thank you for providing all of the wonderful costumes for our Christmas play.
The narrators
Mary and Joseph
The stars
The servants
The kings
Humph the camel
The camels
Christingle
This week, the children enjoyed making their own Christingle. We spoke about the meaning of it.
We walked to church on Thursday for the Christingle Service. Some of the children read The Christmas Giving by Iris W Bray and then we all held our Christingle as they were lit. We spoke about how we had to be very careful while doing this.
Christmas Production 2021
Our Christmas Production 2021
Hump the camel
We are so proud of all the children for their FANTASTIC singing, acting and dancing. We hope you enjoy the Christmas production as much as we do!
This week’s bible story
The persistent widow: Luke 18:1-8
Have you ever used pester power to get what you want? When you keep on asking and asking and asking until the person relents and gives in? Jesus once told a story about pester power, but it didn’t feature a parent and a child. The two people in Jesus’ story were a judge and a widow. Read the story to find out what happened.
Reflection:
Have you ever pestered God? reflect on your own experiences of prayer. Were their prayers denied because of any of the reasons like in the story?
Even though some prayers appear not to work, Christians believe that God is always at work in their lives, although this may be hard to see.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you for being a God who listens to our prayers.
Help us to keep praying to you even when it seems that our prayers are not being answered.
May we never forget that, like a loving parent, you only want what is best for us.
Amen
Living and Learning: physical health and fitness
During our Living and Learning lessons we have been describing some ways we are physically active throughout the day. We thought about all the things we had done since waking up that morning and being in our lesson. The children came up with lots of ideas:
“I rode my scooter to school.”
“I walked up and down my stairs 3 times.”
“I walked to school.”
“We did Wake Up Shake Up.”
We have also been explaining why it is important to rest and get enough sleep, as well as being active.
“If we don’t sleep we will be tired at school and won’t be able to do our learning.”
“We might get poorly, like get a cold.”
“We need to sleep to grow.”
“If we don’t exercise our body won’t be strong.”
We have also discussed how an hour of physical activity is important for good health. We thought about who can help us to keep healthy and how?
“Your friends, family and teachers can help you.”
“Drink lots of water.”
“Eat healthy food and eat breakfast.”
“Keep your body and teeth clean.”
“Exercise like swimming and dancing.”
This week’s bible story
Today, we are thinking about Hanukah which is a Jewish festival. Have you ever been made to do something you didn’t want to do? In fact, you hated doing it?
How do you think David Beckham would feel if he had to do ballet? Or your headteacher if he or she had to dress up as a banana?
How do you think a Christian would feel if someone said to them at a Christmas nativity service, ‘You can’t worship Jesus, you’ve got to pray to the donkey?’
This is a story about when a whole country had to do things they didn’t want to, and how they reacted to it.
Reflection:
Quiet thought: How can you bring light to people today?
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that your light burns even longer than we hope for.
Help us to be light to others.
Amen.
Science with Skittles – observing closely, asking and answering questions
Today, we enjoyed our science lesson. We poured water onto a plate of Skittles and observed closely to see what happened. The children offered suggestions as to what they thought.
What happened to the Skittles in water?
“The colours came off and mixed together”.
“The water made them disappear”.
“They cracked in the water”.
“The water changed to brown because the Skittles mixed with it”.
“They dissolved”.
