The fire of london - a Ladybirds assembly

Yesterday we were treated to the delights of the Ladybirds class assembly on the great fire of London.
We met Samuel Pepys and found about his diaries, heard the baker explain how it all started and were treated to a very creative representation of the fire itself - A little bit of Kasabian and Billy Joel slipped in for good measure!

Music and movement are always a part of Mrs B's assemblies - but slipping in a little bit of rock and roll into the flames was very creative! 

Considering the fact that we are so early in the term, the children had clearly worked hard to learn their lines, all of whcih were so confidently delivered.

Lots of proud family members in the audience and a great  start to class assemblies in key stage 1.

Well done to the ladybirds!

Year 6 curriculum maths

I wonder what your favourite subject was at school?

Year 6 have been doing some data collection to seek out the answer to that question for themselves.

Autumn festival

On Saturday we all enjoyed a great day at the school Autumn Festival, the sun was kind to us as ever and it was great to see so many people gathered on the school field.

A big thank you to all the PTFA members who gave up so much time in planning and organising the event, as well as making sure everything went to plan on the day.

As ever the BBQ was a hugh success, the main stage brought a wide range of musical talent to the festival. The goldfish game was as challenging as ever, as was the complexity of the putting challenge. Coconuts were won, angry birds thrown at towers of boxes and many geusses at how many ballons in  the car were made. Finally of course the tombolla was as popular as ever.

A great day to remember and one that will have once again raised significant funds for the school

A viking assembly by 5W

An image that will last, emanated from the Hall on Monday afternoon this week. 5W were the first class of the year to complete a class assembly and those of us who were there learnt all about the Vikings.

Information on the Vikings kept flowing throughout the time we had which was interspersed with acting and singing. The costumes and props belied the fact that school had only been back a few weeks and the PowerPoint that kept order to the proceedings was masterfully created and presented.

The children had clearly enjoyed putting the assembly on. They particularly took to the song, Viking Rock, and some extremely memorable air guitar work was demonstrated. 

As a keen historian I learnt some new facts from the class and was impressed by the way that they could recount the facts, some of which would have taken some learning to understand fully.

Even the prayer, though short, was to the point, thanking God for the joy of learning about past events, something that is great to hear; that learning is a joy.

An excellent job by Mr W and his class which I know was enjoyed by pupils, staff and parents alike.

Mr P

What is faith?

On Friday in assembly we explored the background to Abraham's faith in God. What was it that made him leave his home and travel to new places, why was he so confident that God would provide?

The key we found was in his relationship and knowledge of God. His faith was based on the fact that his personal experience was that God could be trusted. He he seen God at work, an active part of his life and he had learned from this that God was faithful and would honour his promises.

We explored this in some fun ways- considering why we trust different people and how we can be confident that some one might behave in certain ways. This exploration involved chocolate bars, eggs, a marker pen and a tin of beans! If you want to find out more then you will need to encourage the children to share all.

This week we begin to consider the story of Joseph and how God was faithful to him, despite some pretty horrendous circumstances and happenings in his life. Being sold into slavery by your brothers is not something anyone would wish to happen to them, but God used this to bring Jospeh to Egypt, to save the people from famine and to use Joseph to move on the story of the people of Israel.

Hebrews 11 v 1 tells us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Abraham and Joseph certainly lived that out and their lives and God's faithfulness to them remains an encouragement to us all.

As our song in assembly on Friday and Monday proclaimed.

10,000 reasons for my soul to sing!

Foundation fun

My visit to foundation stage this morning was greeted with lots of hellos and proclamations that 'all we have been doing today is playing Mr Marshall!'  Foundation stage learning at its best, child intitiated, play led and the learning seemlessly incorportated into it so it's not seen as 'work', but learning is happening all around you.

The sunflower seeds have certainly created a real fascination - counting them, feeling them and even crushing them to make sunflower oil - someone certainly knows their cooking ingredients!

Lots of creative writing happening, technology creating many opportunities for conversation and so many examples of sharing and exploring together.

And of course the wellies are all lined up ready for the next wet playtime!

 

KS1 self portraits

KS1 have been developing their artistic skills at the start of the year by producing their own self portraits.  Looking at the display certainly makes you smile!

Faith and cobwebs

This week as we look at the story of Joseph, his journey from being his father's favourite son, to being provided with an amazing technicolour dreamcoat, dumped at the bottom of a well and sold into slavery, only to rise to be the right hand man of Pharaoh in a time of national crisis. We are faced with a story that is both a real challenge and a real encouragement.

Joseph must have wondered where God was at times, when he was alone in the well betrayed by his brothers, as well as the desperation he must have felt during the long walk to Egypt. Betrayal and false accusation by Potiphar's wife, time in jail again and all the time, away from the father he loved.

And yet God was at work and God never abandoned Joseph - but it is so hard to see that at times.



I was struck by this during my early morning walk today with my dogs in the mist and the heavy dew. Everywhere I went there were cobwebs, all brought to my attention by the weather conditions. Yet when I had walked the same path the evening before I saw none of them. Clearly they were still there, but not visible to my sight. But the morning dew changed that. Suddenly, there they were and I was overwhelmed by their presence.

It struck me that this is the same in the story of Joseph and also the story of our lives. At times we struggle to see God at work or know his presence and yet he is everywhere and fully involved in our lives. Looking back we sometimes see things differently and sometimes things are drawn to our attention that enables us to see things in a different way, to then for that moment be able to see God at work.

Just like the cobwebs on my walk - God was always there, just because we don't see him it doesn't mean he isn't there.

As we look at the story of Joseph and stop to consider our own lives, may we take the time to notice God at work, for he is there, even when we don't see him.

Poetry and pyramids

Year 4 have been learning about ancient Egypt and a delightful collection of pyramids wandered past me in the playground this morning! There were those constructed with card and plaster, but also with shreddies and gingerbread - the great british pyramid bake off! Fantastic imagination and creativity.

In addition year 6 have been inspired to write poetry and the outcome is a vibrant display of poetic language in the main corridoor. Just the place to stop and enjoy some imaginative poetry.