We enjoyed a day exploring our faith and our foundation scripture through the format of a whole school spirituality/prayer explore day.

A Whole School Visit from Prags

Prags has visited our school every year for a number of years...until covid hit! It was a joy to have her with us, supporting our children in developing an understanding of some of the beliefs and traditions of other world traditions of other world faiths. Prags is a Hindu, and will be sharing with us how her beliefs as a Hindu impact upon her life.

Children in KS2 all had the opportunity to have a Henna tattoo and to learn a short Hindu dance routine, whilst children in EYFS/KS1 learnt a traditional Hindu dance. We were all given the opportunity to try a handmade vegetable samosa and take part in an assembly led by Prags.

A Visit to the Jewish Museum and Synagogue

In February, and as part of our RE unit on Passover, Year 6 visited the Manchester Jewish Museum and Synagogue. We learnt so much about the life of a Jews and Orthadox Jews. We were able to visit  the synagogue and see where all we had learnt about takes place, which made us have a fuller understanding and made it all become very real!

Preparing for Christmas

As part of our Year 6 study, we look at what and how we prepare for Christmas. This year (Christmas 2021) we were so thrilled to reciev a personal message fron Gemma Hunt:

How I am preparing for Christmas. 

It feels like Christmas preparations start in the summer! I have a large family who live all over the country (and some in France) so we have to get our diaries together early on in the year to find out what everyone’s plans are for Christmas. My husband and our 5 year old daughter have spent Christmas in the past at our home, or away somewhere else in the country as I often perform in Panto at Christmas, but, not this year. We arranged with family to come and visit us this year, as I am at home and LOVE hosting & cooking so wanted for everyone to visit us this year. 

So, now my planning is getting busy. I like to write lists to stay organised so am writing out when people are staying, what meals they are coming for and how long they are sleeping over for. We all like to eat good food so I will probably end up cooking at least 3 Christmas dinners!

I have a list for presents too so am trying to buy gifts and write them on my list as I get them. I will then spend a whole day watching Christmas movies and wrapping presents in a couple of weeks time before I have to start delivering or posting gifts to family and friends further away. 

I am also very involved with my local church and we have lots of things planned for Christmas. So I helped the children to film some of their nativity the other day, a friend of ours has a barn that we used so it looked really authentic with a host of angels (boys & girls!) meeting Mary with the good news of Jesus’ arrival. It was really special. We are also going to the Carol service on Christmas Eve, so I have just booked our family in to that service at church. 

We spent last night putting up our Christmas tree and choosing the colour scheme; we have a choice of baubles; white, turquoise & gold, silver & pink or red & gold. We went for red & gold this year, which looks really festive. I love the smell of the real Christmas tree and like to come down and switch on the twinkly lights first thing in the morning - after opening advent calendars, what a treat to have chocolate for breakfast during advent!

I’ve also been working on a new family prayer resource called Lectio For Families, which you can download from the App Store & Google Play. I’ve been working with the team at 24-7 Prayer to write this and it’s available now. I’ve written and am hosting this week which is all about advent. It’s a great way to remember why we celebrate Christmas and ask questions about how we can learn from Jesus and the stories in the Bible. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very blessed new year. 

Merry Christmas 

Gemma :o)

A Mosque Visit

In November, Maple class visited the Raza Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre. We were priveliged to have the head of the Academy take us around the mosque and teach us more about life as a muslim and how Islamic beliefs are lived out in our own community.

Life As A Journey

Letters of Love

As part of the Year Six unit on preparing in Advent, we wrote to others to ask how they were going to prepare for Christmas in a very unusual period in history! Look at the responses we received: