Author: Mrs Hayes

We have had a lovely December and enjoyed many events while journeying through Advent in preparation for the celebration of Jesus’s birth on Christmas Day!

The Year 5 children led the class brilliantly in a celebration of the Word that focussed on Advent and the meaning of this important season.

A creative group called Electric Umbrella came to school to lead us in song and it was a great way to celebrate diversity and have fun together.

Rock Steady performed their Christmas concert and we all thoroughly enjoyed joining in with the Christmas tunes.

Finally, Father Christmas found out that we had all been nice, not naughty this year and so deserved a visit from him during our Christmas party day. What a smashing way to get ready for Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone and we wish you a very Happy New Year!

The children performed brilliantly in their Christmas play this week and they should be very proud of their enthusiastic singing and wonderful acting. Every single line was delivered clearly as the children reflected on the true meaning of Christmas and had great fun too!

We are enjoying journeying through Advent with lots of different ways to show that we are preparing for the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day,

As part of an exciting workshop on Hinduism, we listened to a story about Ganesha and learned about puja (worship) in the home. We learned how to dance with a partner using sticks and loved dressing in saris, prayer shawls and turbans. It was a great day for everyone.

This week, the children were very respectful as they marked Armistice Day during their class Celebration of the Word. They reflected upon the sacrifice that soldiers and their families had made during times of war and watched Kier Starmer as he laid a huge wreath with President Macron. After sharing the two minute silence with people all over the world, the children said their own prayers as they placed their poppies onto our prayer focus.

As part of our learning about Other Faiths, we explored Hindu prayer at home. We found out that Hindu prayer is called puja and were fascinated by all the different statues and flowers that are part of the Hindu shrines.

We had great fun on Children in Need day, wearing our spotty or Pudsey themed outfits. We looked wonderful and were proud to support this worthwhile charity as part of our Catholic Social Teaching unit of learning about the Preferential Option for the Poor.

This week, we have been learning about Walter Tull. Born in 1888 he was one of the first black professional footballers (playing for Tottenham Hotspur) and the first black army officer in the British Army. We had great fun in our role of historians when we explored an old suitcase and imagined what objects he might have packed when he went to the front during the war. Walter Tull experienced racism as a footballer and we were very angry about this as we believe that everyone has the right to be the person that they want to be. Sadly, Walter Tull died in World War One and we will commemorate his sacrifice as part of our class Remembrance Celebration of the Word on 11th November.

Thank you so much for the huge number of items that were contributed to the Feed Foodbank as part of our Harvest Festival Celebration of the Word this week. The Year 2 children sang brilliantly and they joined in with the actions very enthusiastically, showing that they really can sing ‘All things bright and beautiful’.

This week, two Caritas Ambassadors visited the Year 2 classroom to teach the children about the rosary and how it can be used for prayer. The children reflected on their use of a rosary and the Year 6 children helped them to pray a decade of the rosary.

Parents and carers are warmly invited to our Harvest assembly next week at 9am on 25th October, when we will be performing our harvest song. We would be very grateful for donations to our collection of items for the Feed food bank in St Albans which can be brought in at any time over the next week. Details of items that Feed would love to receive can be found below:

We all love to spend time outside and there are lots of things to do in the playground to boost our wellbeing. Here are some of the ways that we have fun out and about during lesson times and at playtimes!