There were opportunities for chatting in the sunshine,
perhaps some games or that final fine tune to the talent show act.
Then came learning about and preparing for Mass.
Father Mark gave Mass in the chapel and was brilliant with
the children, explaining the theology and history behind the prayers and
rituals during the Mass, making complex ideas very simple and well, obvious.
Even the adults came away thinking: ‘So that’s why we do that’ or ‘I never
thought of it that way before’.
The Talent Show
The evening started off with a rendition of ‘My Lighthouse’
by the Year 5 resident Boy-Band with everyone off their feet joining in with
their coordinated moves and grooves.
Then some breath taking gymnastics ; mesmerising magic from our own man
of mystery; a brilliant solo dance display to ‘Count on Me’; powerful singing
with vocal dexterity homage to Imagine Dragons; and finally we all went wild
when an impromptu duet led us all through the routine for ‘Hold my Hand’.
After prayers it was bed.
In the words of Dinah Washington: ‘What a difference a day
makes’. The children were begging to go to bed and a much quieter (and restful)
night was had by all.
Friday Morning:
Earl Birds
We’re all packed up. There is time for a few activities, a final explore and play before lunch and home.
The children have had a fantastic time. The setting has been breathtaking. Good, wholesome meals and above all, fabulaous staff here at SPEC who have made our stay one that will bring lifelong happy memories.
Breakfast over, it’s time for meditation and prayers. A very
calming experience and for several of the boys – eyes closed, drifting away
listening to the gentle strains of waves
upon the shore proved to be too much after last night’s exertions and they had
to be shaken from their slumber at the end
of the meditation.
Next it was learning about the Mysteries of the Rosary which involved identifying certain mysteries to complete their own Rosary Beads. Then came artwork based on discipleship. Lunch and then more fun and games where the children had their latent, inner child of the 60s or 70s awakened and enjoyed the delights of running around playing tag or similar in the woods with not a an electrical device in sight.
That worked up our appetites!
Some work on the Beatitudes now before preparing for
tonight’s Mass and of course taking some time out for rehearsing for the Talent
Show.
After some time in the chapel, it was time for the campfire
with cocoa. The children joined in with
some rousing songs followed by a haunting melody played on the harmonica by one
of the children displaying their talents as if by way of a prelude for tonight’s
talent show.
We got the children as tired as we could but now we
could not put off the moment we adults had been dreading- bedtime! Nineteen
boys in one room, 14 girls in another, away from home for the first time. What could
go wrong?
To allay any fears, we told them they could, in an emergency, reach us instantly, at any time in the middle of the night, by pressing the doorbell to our rooms. We gave them the definition of emergency outlined by the Oxford Dictionary:
EMERGENCY – ‘a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action’ Oxford Dictionary:
However, something was lost in translation-
The Year 5 definition of emergency:
“I heard some of the other boys talking”; “I know you said
we could use the toilet but I just thought I’d check”; “Is it time to get up?”; “I’m not sure about my toe.”
Needless to say, there were no emergencies (adult definition) and although lively, the children were all happy; safe and sound and there were no tearful situations in the night.
The atmosphere was buzzing as we embarked on our journey. The sun was shining and everyone was looking
forward to SPEC and wondering if, in reality, it would be as pretty as the photos. Upon
arrival, it felt like we had landed in Eden! After a brief orientation session,
the children were shown to their rooms.
The day consists of sessions in small groups punctuated by
periods of down time where the children can relax in the grounds or play
football.
Relaxation and free time
Orienteering:
Spiritual Sculpture
Outdoor Drama
Meals
Mealtimes can often be a flash-point with children being notoriously picky eaters. Not so year 5. A healthy appetite everyone.
A bit of football to work off the meal then some games, chapel and the campfire before bed.
I will be holding a meeting for parents to give an outline of the trip and answer any questions/concerns you might have.
Venue : Year 5 Class
Date : Tuesday 7th May
Time : 6 pm.
Hope to see you there. If you are unable to attend, please feel free to see me for clarification on any issue. I will put any materials used for the meeting on the Year 5 web page.
In the meantime, please complete the health /diet questionaire that your child will collect on Monday and return to me as soon as possible.
This topic explores the importance of memories. A main focus is the feast of Passover (Pesach) for the Jewish people and how this is where they remember how God enabled their ancestors to escape slavery in Egypt to become free.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Believers who respond to God’s word and become members of Christ’s Body become intimately united with him: “In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe, and who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ in his Passion and glorification.’ This is especially true of Baptism, which unites us to Christ’s death and Resurrection, and the Eucharist, by which ‘really sharing in the body of the Lord, we are taken up into communion with him and with one another.” (CCC790)
The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called:
Eucharist, (Thanksgiving) because it is an action of thanksgiving to God.
The Lord’s Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion.
The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meal, when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread, above all at the Last Supper. It is by this action that his disciples will recognise him after his Resurrection.
The memorial of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection.
The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Saviour and includes the Church’s offering.
Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body.
THE BIG QUESTION – Why do we need memories?
RE HOME LEARNING (SACRIFICE)
– In the story of Moses, ten plagues are unleashed on the Egyptians. Find out what these plagues were and in what order they occured. Perhaps you could produce pictures showing the plagues. (The deadline for this is 18th March 2022)
JANUARY 2022- OUR TOPIC – MISSION
RE Home Learning
Lent Term-Part 1
Our Topic to
start off this term is ‘Mission’.
This topic
is rooted in the areas of Local Church and community. In this topic we learn
about Jesus’ Mission and how the 12 Apostles were called to continue his
mission. Today, the Catholic Church, through its parishes and dioceses, carries
on this work today. The children reflect
on their role in this and how, since being baptised, they have had a mission to
spread the Good News through word and action.
Some questions of ‘Meaning and
Purpose’ addressed through this topic:
What
inspires people in their mission?
What are the
joys and demands of accepting a mission?
Why do people want to help others?
Our Big Question – Do we all have a mission in life?
‘God has created me
To do Him some definite service.
He has committed some work to me
Which he has not committed to
another.
I have my mission.’
John Henry Newman
Key Vocabulary in this topic:
Mission,
bishop, ecumenism, cathedral, apostle, disciple, Good News, diocese, inspirational,
Baptism, Christian Unity, Gentile
Homework
Activity
In the
Mission topic, we study ecumenism.
Each year in January and or Pentecost, there
is a week of prayer said throughout the Dioceses for Christian Unity.
12 For
just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body,
though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For
in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or
free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Corinthians
12
HOME WORK TASK Design a poster based around Corinthians 12. Include some of the words and phrases. (To be handed in by Wednesday 2nd February)
Year 5 RE Topic Autumn September to October – OURSELVES
The
first RE topic we will study in Year 5 is called ‘Ourselves’.
At
the end of the topic, the children should be able to answer the question : ‘Who
am I?’
They
will learn that each person is made in the image and likeness of God. To know ourselves
and to appreciate that our value is central to our well-being.
From
the Catechism of the Catholic Church: ‘Knowing the unity and true dignity of
all. Everyone is made in the image and
likeness of God.’
Scripure
From the book of
Genesis, a Greek word meaning ‘becoming’ or ‘beginning to be made’. It is the
very first book in the Bible and tells us about the beginnings of the world. In
it we are told that God made us all just to be like God – made in God’s image
and likeness.
Then
God said: “Let us make people to be like ourselves.
Men
and women who can know and love me
and
know and love one another;
and
I will give them charge of the fish of the seas,
the
birds of the sky, and all the animals wild and tame
and
all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth.”
So
God created men and women
who
could love and care for the world and everything in it
and
could love and care for one another;
men
and women who could know God
and
love and serve God.
God
blessed them and said to them:
“Fill
the world with people; look after the world;
look
after one another;
take
care of the fish and the birds, the animals and the
reptiles,
the
trees and the flowers and the plants.”
And
so it was.
God
saw all creation and indeed it was very good.
Suggestions
for homework activities
Make a collage using family photographs of all the significant family members—grandparents, parents, children, aunts, uncles etc. who show God’s love (Include those who have died. )
Write underneath it
“We show God’s love to one another.”
It would be nice if the children brought in their collages for a classroom display.
DECEMBER 2020
OUR TOPIC : HOPE
REVEAL
Advent is a time when
we appreciate the love in our lives and prepare to celebrate love becoming a
reality in the person of Jesus. Christians at Christmas celebrate the gift of
Jesus, given by God as a sign and expression of God’s love. Giving and receiving
reflects the truth that all life is given by God and life is given meaning
through the gift of Jesus.
Word
of God
“This is what love is:
it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be
the means by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, if this is how God
loved us, then we should love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we
love one another, God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in
us.”
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
(1 John 4: 10-12)
“Christ’s whole
earthly life – his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his
manner of being and speaking – is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can
say: ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’, and the Father can say: ‘This
is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ Because our Lord became man in order to
do his Father’s will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries manifest
‘God’s love … among us.” (CCC516)
Homework Task
In class we we will make our own Jesse Tree. I must confess that this was something of which I had never heard when I was at primary school. Attached are instructions and background information on making a Jesse Tree which you could use to make your own at home (this homework is optional).
Year 5 RE Topic Autumn October to November – Life Choices
This Topic looks at the Sacraments of Marriage and Holy Orders. As part of the topic, they will have to explain the symbolism and underlying Catholic Catechism pertaining to marriage. I have produced a sheet with notes and some prompt questions. Children do not need to produce written answers for this homework but should make themselves aware of the body of the text and be able to discuss it.
Some of the ideas in the text are quite challenging and you may wish to discuss them with your child to support them in their understanding.
Imagine you were asked to write a Class Charter of about five rules or guidelines.
Write and decorate your Class Charter .
Think about ( for discussion), why you chose these rules and guides and what actions should be taken if someone breaks the rules.
Following on from our work on the memories the Jewish people hold regarding Passover, our Topic is Sacrifice which looks at the message s from the Last Supper and the how we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us during Holy Week through the Eucharist.
Lent Term-Part 2
Amidst all the work we are conducting on Holy Week in class, I would like the children to conduct some extra research on Baptist Christians. To help them, I have given them a proforma which they can use. A copy is attached below. I would like this completed by Wednesday 3rd April and have not given any English homework in order to facilitate this.
In the Sacrifice topic, we will be thinking about the sacrifices we make during lent and how we can avoid temptation. The task I have discussed with the children is to prepare a lenten calendar to be handed in for Wednesday 27 March.
Here are some examples of the sort of things your child could do.
We have had an incredibly busy term and I was still cracking the whip on the last day of term. Having said that, there has always been room for our daily music ‘ bangers’ and the usual Christmas time activities.
It’s Christmas and I can’t bring myself to set an official homework but I have put a couple of optional suggestions on the Year 5 homework post.
Please let me take this opportunity on behalf of Mrs Brunt and myself to thank you all for your lovely cards, wishes and the incredibly generous gifts and vouchers which are all most appreciated.
Please enjoy the break and I wish you a happy and holy Christmas.
O my Divine Saviour, Transform me into Yourself. May my hands be the hands of Jesus. Grant that every faculty of my body May serve only to glorify You. Above all, Transform my soul and all its powers So that my memory, will and affection May be the memory, will and affections Of Jesus. I pray for You To destroy in me All that is not of You. Grant that I may live But in You, by You and for You, So that I may truly say, With St. Paul, “I live – now not I – but Christ lives in me”.
