This week’s bible story
Keep Going! Nehemiah 1: 1-7
Perseverance means keeping on trying and not giving up even when it is difficult.
If you’ve got some blocks, have a go at building a tower of twelve blocks. Was it easy? Now blindfold yourself and try again. Was it easier to do it when you were blindfolded or did it take more perseverance? Although the game was only a bit of fun, in life, it can sometimes be hard to keep going when things seem difficult or we feel discouraged. Our story today comes from the Old Testament part of the Bible. The Jewish people had not been listening to God, and they had been living in exile, away from their own homes. As the story starts, this situation is about to change. Read it carefully and see if you can work out why the people needed to have lots of perseverance and what helped them to keep going.
Reflection:
– In the story, what three things needed rebuilding?
– What kind of things discouraged the people from getting the building work done?
– What helped them to keep going?
None of us have to rebuild the walls around our towns and cities this week, but there might be some things that we are finding difficult or occasions when we feel like we want to give up.
Have a moment of silence as we think about the things that we are finding difficult or that we are worried about.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that you always listen when we pray to you.
Thank you that you are always there.
Please help us to keep going when we find things hard.
Please help us to encourage others.
Amen.
Art trip to Leeds Art Gallery
Wow! What a fantastic visit to Leeds Art Gallery. First, we got onto the coach. A lot of the children hadn’t experienced a coach before so they were very excited. We talked about how to keep safe on a coach – especially wearing seatbelts safely.
Keeping safe on our school trip to Leeds Art Gallery
Today, we went on our Topic trip to Leeds Art Gallery. Before we left school we spoke to the children about how to keep safe while we are on the trip.
Why do we wear yellow/orange jackets? “They are bright colours so we will get noticed if we get lost,” said Emily. “So we can see and find each other and we don’t get mixed up with other people that aren’t from our school,” said Shae.
How can we keep safe when we are on our trip? “Stay together and with your partner and teacher,” said Ethan. “We need to ask before we go anywhere like the toilet,” said Emily. “We need to keep our jackets on,” said Leo. “We need to stop at the road,” said Willow.
Living and Learning – Anti-bullying Week
We kicked off our Anti-Bullying Week with ODD SOCKS DAY . Lots of children chose to wear odd socks to celebrate what makes us all unique in Anti-Bullying Week.
This week’s theme is One Kind Word. Being kind to one another and using kind words is a simple but effective way to make other people feel happier.
Our reading fluency this week talks about our school definition of bullying and how we start to tackle it.
During our Living and Learning session, we read the story Kind by Axel Scheffler. The book talked about lots of ways we could all be kind. Afterwards the children worked in pairs to think of ways they could spread the One Kind Word message.
“…smiling, hug, share.”
“Pay them a compliment, give them a hug.”
“Ask if they want to play with you.”
Scientists in the making
Our science topic this half term is ‘Working Scientifically’. The vocabulary we are learning is below. Help at home by using some of the words in conversation at home so your child becomes familiar with them. There are also lots of science experiments here you could try.
Last week, we observed closely. We looked at how coloured water is absorbed by tissue and can mix to make a new colour!
This week’s bible story
Persevering in life: Hebrews 12:1-2
Click the link and read the story all about Patrician St John.
Reflection:
Think about what you want to do this year, what you want to achieve. I’m not talking about impossible things, but maybe learning a new skill, or doing better at something, reaching the next level. What if it isn’t so easy, what if it doesn’t seem to be working out straight away – will you give up? Are you willing to fail before you succeed? If you believe in God, what difference will that make?
Just a moment of silence while we think about these things.
Bible Bits:
Listen to what the Bible says about persevering:
“Be determined and confident! Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
“Let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus….He did not give up…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, that you have given me the ability to succeed, not in everything, but in many things. Help me to play my part by working hard and not giving up. And thank you that you will give me extra help if I ask for it and trust in you. May what I learn not just help me but others too.
Amen
Remembrance Day
This week across the school, the children have been learning about the meaning of Remembrance Day. From reading activities to art, we have covered an array of learning. The Year 6s have been collecting for the poppy appeal daily and the donations have been very generous. On Thursday 11th we had a minute’s silence in the playground in remembrance and the children were all really respectful.
Topic learning – art
We are studying and comparing the artists Paul Klee and Leonardo da Vinci in our art lessons. We have sorted their pictures and learned about primary and secondary colours. We will be creating our own prints in the coming weeks.
Adjective Day!
The children have had a fantastic day dressed as adjectives. We have had children dressed up as sleepy, lethargic, sporty, spotty, pretty, beautiful, exhausted, spooky, scary and many more! We used the adjectives in our writing. The year 2’s were challenged to use two adjectives separated with a comma. They used their own adjective and a friends adjective to make a sentence.
“The spotty, sleepy girl was not very well.”
“I can see a spotty, blue jumper.”
“The magical, colourful unicorn was jumping in the sky.”
We also sung the following adjective song to help us remember what an adjective is.
Adjectives can tell you more
About a noun and that’s for sure
Ad-jec-tives
Well done, Year 1 and 2. What a fantastic adjective day!
This week’s bible story
How much can we remember?
Let’s start by asking ourselves some questions about today.
– What did you do as soon as you got out of bed?
– What did you eat for breakfast?
– How did you feel when you got to school this morning?
Next, let’s think about last weekend.
– What did you do on Saturday afternoon?
– What did you eat on Sunday?
How about last week?
Have you noticed how it becomes more difficult to remember events the further back in time they are?
These events may have happened quite a long time ago, but they are remembered because they were fun. Happy times tend to stay in our memories for a long time.
Sad times can stay in our memories for a long time, too.
Click the link to read all about Remembrance day and why we remember.
Reflection:
Have a look at the pictures of the poppy. Think about why wearing a poppy is important to people. Wearing a red poppy means, ‘We are remembering together.’
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you for the many happy memories that we have.
We are sorry that some people have sad memories at this time of year
As they remember those who have died for our country.
May we wear our red poppies with love and compassion,
And may we remember and be thankful.
Amen.