Today we were at the church for Holy Communion. In R.E. we have been learning about the kind of world Jesus wants. We’ve read Matthew 4:18-20 and really discussed the terms “Fishers of Men” and what the word “Gospel” mean. Helen & James were kind enough to spend some time afterwards talking to us about how they try to live out Jesus’ teachings and make the world a better place.
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Year 2 have been learning about the religion of Islam and what it means to be a Muslim. To support our learning, we were very lucky to have a Muslim visitor come into class to answer some of our questions. One of our Year 4 children who is a Muslim also came into class to share their knowledge and beliefs. The year 2 children asked some very thought-provoking, theological questions which were expertly answered by our two visitors. Thank you so much for joining us! The children loved hearing about your first-hand experiences.
This afternoon, Year 5 had a workshop session with Taiye from the Red Cross. He explained to us about the role of the British Red Cross. We talked about the key vocabulary of empathy, migration, refugee and asylum seeker. We learned that empathy is the ability to imagine, understand and share the feelings or perspectives of others. By developing empathy, it can help us increase our awareness and understanding of others, our willingness to support others, and create more inclusive, resilient communities.
We listened to the account of Hamza’s journey as he was seeking asylum and wrote a feeling story and thought about how we would feel if we were in Hamza’s shoes. We also wrote a letter to someone who was new to our country.
As our final task, we considered if we were to do one thing differently about how we treat others from today, what could we do?
Many of the children had some very thoughtful ideas about what we had been working on and were a credit to St Alban’s as always.
During our end of day prayer, Esme said she had chosen The Ukraine as our place in the world to focus our thoughts because she had chosen a prayer that she believed was fitting. I hope you agree with Esme’s choice.
Prayer for the Afraid
Dear God,
Take care of those who live in war zones:
Afraid of noise,
afraid of silence:
Afraid for themselves,
afraid for others:
Afraid to stay,
afraid to go:
Afraid of living,
afraid of dying.
Give them peace in their hearts,
in their homes
and in their land.
Amen
Our lovely Sinai House leaders Annie and Preston visited our EYFS and Key Stage 1 classes this afternoon to read the children a bible story. The house leaders did an excellent job using their “story teller” voices to engage the children. All children listened attentively to the stories and answered questions well. Children in Year 2 were able to read along using their own bibles. Well done Sinai leaders!
Today Huw Thomas from the Diocese of Sheffield, presented Bibles to year 2 and 3 children at St Alban’s Church.
Children in year 2 were presented with a picture bible that they will take home at the end of key stage one.
Children are presented with a different Bible when they move in to the juniors (year 3). This Bible stays with the children as they move classes and they take it home when they leave St Alban’s.
How will we use the Bibles?
Children use their Bibles in collective worship, religious education and engage with it weekly in class.
It was lovely to see so many parents, grandparents and friends at the service- the perfect finish to a busy week.
Thank you,
Mrs Gurner
Today, Year 5 were lucky enough to have a visitor. Sabreena came to talk to us about her life. We asked lots of questions. We made links between the lives of Muslims and our own lives. We also thought about the Islamic Pillars.
There are many similarities between the lives of Muslims and the lives of Christians. Both believe in one God. Both believe in charity and both have Holy places they try to visit. Both pray, Muslims fast and Christians give up things for lent.
Thank you for visiting us today. We learned a great deal.
I hope that you’ve all had a lovely Easter.
Please find attached further information about the Coronation Picnic that we have planned for Friday 5th May- weather permitting!
Thank you,
Mrs Gurner
This weekend, Ava and Sam took a little piece of St Alban’s to London. They laid a card with our school prayer and some flowers from the school garden in remembrance of Queen Elizabeth II.
Thank you Ava and Sam
