Righteous Anger?
Our worship theme this week is taken from the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. We hear that, shortly after praising him, the crowd in the synagogue are enraged by Jesus because he refuses to work miracles for them and points out that many prophets are called to spread God's message far beyond the walls of their own town.
It gives us an opportunity to explore the reasons behind our own anger and frustration. Is it righteous? Do we use our anger to help transform the world around us for the better?
We have spoken to the children about the idea that the Holy Spirit can be understood as a spirit of holy unrest - pushing us to see and respond to the problems in our world and not let injustice continue unchecked.
Building a Church
Reception have been learning about our local church in RE and, after visiting St Mary’s, the children became inspired and made their own church outside. They remembered all the important features such as the lectern, altar, font (with holy water) and pews.
They thought about celebrations that happen in church and had their own sacraments of weddings and baptisms!
The Sound of Success
This week in Science, Year 4 were looking at the difference between a high pitch and a low pitch. To prove how these types of sounds are created, the children devised their own scale using empty glass bottles, filling them with different amounts of water. Finally, the groups had one more challenge: learning and performing the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!
Transforming Anger
In Witness Worship this week, Miss Longman helped us to think more deeply about the theme of anger. She explained that all feelings are valid and that there are lots of healthy ways to channel our anger (we even tried some breathing exercises).
She shared with us the story of Benjamin Waugh - the founder of the NSPCC. Benjamin was horrified and outraged by the poverty and injustice that he witnessed in Victorian London. He felt that someone ought to do more to change the lives of children who were suffering...so he turned his outrage into action and the legacy of his hard work, the NSPCC, is still helping children across the UK today.
Spiritual Journaling in Year 5
It has been a really powerful week talking about the theme of anger. In Year 5, children have been able to explore and express (with great humility and sincerity) the times that their anger boils over and the times during which their anger has been put to more productive use.
Children were able to identify positive actions that have been borne from anger experiences: Greta Thunberg is an excellent example of a modern day witness whose anger about climate change helps her to inspire and motivate others.
Children were also very considerate when thinking about the injustices they face in the world and how these can cause friction with our relationship with God. However, through prayer and patience, we can often see the opportunities that exist - even in the darkest situations - to let God's light shine.
The Point of Year 3
In Art this week, Year 3 are learning about the artist Georges Seurat and exploring his technique for painting - Pointillism. After mixing colours to create a colour wheel, the children experimented with different medium (felt tip pens, crayons, charcoal, watercolours and oil pastels) to create tiny dots which the human eye blends together.
They evaluated the mediums used and then created their own pointillism picture of a London Landmark. It was lovely to see children practising the technique and taking time to complete their picture.
Serious Science Alert!
Having spent many weeks getting to grips with the human circulatory system, here are some rather gruesome but fantastic photos of year 6 exploring pig's hearts. They could not believe how heavy they were and loved seeing all the arteries and veins. The smell was... something else!
Children also spend time making their own representations of blood. They did this to show the proportions of the different components contained within blood: red blood cells, platelets, plasma and white blood cells.
Speaking Out
After a beautiful worship from 2O this morning, about the importance of speaking out and making our community an even better place, it was a joy to award Witness certificates to the following children for channeling their emotions into positive actions around our school:
Martin
Alexandra
Luna
Harper
Congratulations to you all!
Police Commendation
And, in a surprise visit at the end of this morning's worship, we were thrilled to congratulate Esme for her Police Commendation.
PC Bennett attended the school, along with trainee police dog Wilber, to award Esme a special certificate for her confidence in speaking out to help report a local crime.
Esme's courage and confidence were rewarded with a framed and signed commendation from the local police commissioner - what an amazing end to the week! Congratulations Esme!
