Servants of Christ

In worship this week, we looked ahead to the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) and the theme of service. When the disciples ask Jesus how to increase their faith, he replies by explaining that a person only needs the tiniest seed of faith to achieve great things. The action that increases the power of that faith is service.

By making ourselves humble servants of our brothers and sisters, we demonstrate faith in action and thereby build God's kingdom. It requires us to say to ourselves, "We are servants. We are made to serve." Once we have accepted that we don't require special thanks, reward or recognition for our acts of service, then we have become true servants of the Lord. He works through us (and that is thanks enough).

C - 27th Ordinary

Call the doctor...

This week the children have had a role-play doctor’s surgery in Butterfly Class. Medical play gives children the chance to work through feelings, worries or fears. The children have been busy dressing up and taking on the role of doctors, nurses, receptionists and patients. We have encouraged the children to take turns with these roles and share the medical equipment. We have talked with the children about what the items might be used for, and the children have made some good suggestions. The children have enjoyed taking telephone messages, writing appointment cards and prescriptions and we have seen lots of mark-making and emergent writing.

In Ladybird Class, even our Superheroes love reading!

In the service of Phyllis Tuckwell

Congratulations to Oscar & Amber whose fantastic efforts last weekend raised a whopping £240 for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice! They made and decorated a mountain of cakes, cookies and biscuits to support this special local cause.

For their remarkable act of service, they were awarded Golden House Points. Well done children!

Give me 5!

This week in Maths, Year 1 have been exploring different ways to make 5. We started by thinking of two numbers that added together, and were then challenged to find more than two numbers that add together. We represented these using multilink 'bar models' and number sentences.

Questions?

Year 4 enjoyed using the scientific skills of questioning and predicting when they were presented with materials used to make a marshmallow catapult! They investigated the types of questions they could ask and then predicted which materials would travel the furthest distance. They found out the role the shape of the object plays in the distance it travels.

Old McPete

Pete the puppet can only speak in sounds so the children had to work hard to blend the sounds together to say the words. Pete had some rather funny items on his farm. Can you work out what items they were?

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The Arrival...

This week in English, Year 6 have started exploring a picture book by Shaun Tan. His creation illustrates the arrival of a man to a strange new place. A powerful metaphor for immigration and the feeling of alienation, we spoke to the children about what immigration is and the reasons people leave their native countries. We started the lesson with an unusual box full of items to give us clues about the character we were going to learn about. It taught us that even a simple object or image can give us an incredible amount of information. The children were enthralled and we can't wait to see where their imaginations will lead them...

Praying Together

In Year 2 we have been learning about what a litany is. The children wrote some beautiful litanies of their own, understanding that it is a short prayer with a response. Take a look at St William's class reciting Jacob's litany.

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Year 5 afloat!

In Science, Year 5 have been investigating Water Resistance and challenging themselves to apply this knowledge to help them design and make a safe boat which is streamline and will float.

5C Serve Us

Our deepest thanks to 5C, who served us so beautifully with their class worship this morning. The children explored the many witnesses of service that inspire us: NHS workers, charity groups like Phyllis Tuckwell and, of course, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 5C went on to explain that the Queen chose Christ Jesus as her model of service - he taught us what it means to build God's Kingdom through the love and devotion to our brothers and sister. What a powerful and inspiring message St Catherine's Class - thank you!

Witnesses to Service

Congratulations to our proud Witness Award winner this week, all of whom have demonstrated acts of services that go above and beyond the normal expectation in school this week. God bless you!

Elena
Flo
Daniel
Isabelle

Year 3 Rocks

Over the last two weeks, Year 3 has been finding out about the properties of rocks. As geologists, they tried to discover which rocks were hardest by carrying out a scratch test. First, they chose and named the rock. Then they scratch it using their fingernail, coin, and paperclip. From their results, they decided which rocks were the hardest and softer. After the scratch test, the geologists were challenged to conduct a fair test to determine which rocks were permeable and impermeable. Their excitement bubbled over when water droplets ran off rocks or soaked into the surface. Once the children had recorded their results, they put their knowledge to the test and decided, ‘Would they want a house made of chalk?’ It was a resounding no from all pupils! Can you guess why not?