Enabling Spirituality to Flourish Going Forwards - July
Each year we try and provide the Year 6 children with the opportunity to explore their spirituality and moments to reflect, as they begin their journey to prepare for secondary. In this booklet (sourced from The Bible Society), each page features a calming mindfulness picture to colour and contemplate, alongside a matching quote to explore from several books of the Bible.
We hope it will provide the children with some well earned ‘stilling and reflection time’ whilst focused on the scriptures as they begin their busy transition ahead.
Immersive Learning by Rich Experiences - July
Shabbat Shalom!
On Thursday 11th July, a special visitor came to work with Year 1 and 2 to talk about the Jewish time of Shabbat. Mrs Wrapson very kindly visited us from Ne've Shalom Reform Synagogue in Hull, bringing with her the special challah bread and grape juice. We all made kippahs to wear to show our respect to G*d and learnt about how the mum of the family welcomes shabbat into the home with a special blessing over the two candles.
Together we learnt about how the home is prepared for the day of rest and how on Friday evening, the Jewish family come together to share a special meal. Children listened carefully, enjoying the delicious bread before asking deep and thoughtful questions such as "Why did the Romans detroy the Temple in Jerusalem?" from Elliot Year 2 and "Does praying make you happy?"
Living Well Within the Church School Community - July
On July 11th, St Mary's in Barton again hosted another wonderful workshop of events along the theme of 'Light'. Several workstations led by Deacon Helen, Teachers, Bishop Visitors and more helpers provided a rich programme of events for all children to engage in.
Mixed into groups of children from varying church schools in the surrounding area including Barton St Peter's, Wooton and ourselves, children had the chance to engage in singing and crafts such as designing a stained glass window and decorating a glowing light. A final celebration of the learning and service was performed at the end to celebrate 'Let Your Shine" Matthew 5:16.
We can't wait until next year!
Providing and Sustaining a Rich and Inspiring Curriculum - July
It is easy to allow the traditional subjects of Maths and English to dominate a curriculum, such as we all know how important they are. However, here at JHS we also take seriously our role in developing the whole child and do this by carefully planning into our curriculum, opportunites for our children to explore their spirituality and develop personal wisdom.
One such example is the recent glorious flower festival held from the 4th-7th July at Barton Trinity Chapel on the theme of 'All Things Bright and Musical!" Brilliantly organised by our ever present Bishops Visitor, Angela Kipling drew all the schools togther to visit, participate and reflect over several days and here are some of the super displays.
Making RE Real - June
'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.' Matthew 28:19
What does this mean? This month Year 1 held a wonderful baptism for 'Baby Jack' with the help our Rev. Nichola who so kindly led the service and let us explore the Methodist Chapel. Having already explored the story of John the Baptist, Rev. Nichola led us is in song, prayer and words to help us understand the significance of baptism to the church family.
What a wonderful time we had!
As we move on, we will be looking at how a Musilim baby is welcomed into the family and comparing our findings.
Year 2 have also been exploring Holy Trinity Church as 'Christian symbol detectives.' Children had not noticed some of the symbols in the lovely stained glass windows before such as the Shepherd and Lamb of God. We talked about what this meant back in class, delving deeper into the parable of the 'Lost Sheep' and having a moment to reflect on this to the hymn 'The Lord is my Shepherd'.
Luke 15:1-7
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Living Well Together with the Community - June
The first weekend in June saw the second Better Barrow weekend in partnership with MAAT (Methodist and Anglicans Together). Year 5 worked hard with Mrs Hassall to explore the stories of Moses and develop these with Deacon Helen. The result was another wonderful display in the Methodist Chapel and Holy Trinity Church and a superb weekend was had by all.
Thinking Outside the Box - March
Can you see Moses among us or maybe you can see Adam and Eve?
We are the new set of ‘storystack’ characters that will help reinvigorate Godly Play in an exciting new way as recommended in REtoday. Can you tell what the Bible story is in the second photo which was a recent lesson in Year 1?
Investing in Resources for KS1 - February
In February 2019, KS1 have taken delivery of a new set of excellent books exploring religions through the eyes of Aled and Sian. These books are recommended by NATRE and children are enjoying asking 'I wonder questions' already.
Experiencing Cultural Diversity and a Living Faith - February
Year 5 and 6 have been lucky enough to enjoy a visit from Mr Ahmed from the Pakistan Islamic Centre this term, having enjoyed a wonderful visit to the Mosque in the Autumn term. Children were able to further their learning on the topic of 'The Golden Age' of Islam by asking questions from an expert! An excellent session.
Mr Ahmed then paid a short visit to Year 2 to see what they had been learning in their Islam topic and he was astounded at their superb knowledge regarding the 5 pillars of Islam. He said it was the best class he has seen!
We look forward to welcoming Mr Ahmed back into school around Eid.
Making RE Relevant - Holocaust Memorial Day January
At 12 years old, Helga Weiss was still a child when she was transported to Terezin concentration camp in what was, Czechoslovakia. A talented artist and confined to her barracks, Helga asked her father, Otto what she could draw. His reply was simple "Draw what you see." The pictures outline what many words cannot and give a unique insight into the tragedy that was camp life and the cruel treatment of the Jewish population.
Year 5 and 6 used these moving pictures to really 'look' through a viewfinder and see what Helga saw and understand the horrors of the holocaust. The reflections by the children show how effective a lesson this truly was.
Developing Subject Knowledge - Staff too!
January
On Tuesday the 15th of January 2019, Gillian Georgiou (RE Advisor for the Diocese) delivered another excellent training event for all staff based on the core beliefs of Judaism as well as an overview of the new SIAMS framework. This followed on from the Islam training session last year and will help us deliver even higher quality lessons for our children.
The Big Picture of Christianity - September
This year has seen the first full launch of using and embedding the widely acclaimed resource of Understanding Christianity, to further improve the quality of RE. It has been a great success with a recent staff meeting in the summer term to review via evidence of impact and asking for staff requests going forward.
Below you can see one of the sample ideas put into practice for Year 1 to explore a visual 'Christmas trail' with reflection points alng the way.
As such, we have booked Hinduism training by Gillian Georgiou for September 24th 2019 in order to balance and support the teaching of others faiths and continually support CPD.
