This week, Year 1 explored the meaning and message of the Christingle. The children learned about each part of the Christingle and what it represents: The orange reminds us of the world. The four sticks represent the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). The sweets and fruit  represent the gifts from God. The candle is a sign that Jesus is the Light of the World. The children enjoyed making and labelling their own Christingles and talked about why these symbols are important. We reflected on how the Christingle reminds us to share God’s light and love with others. Here are some of the children’s thoughts: “The candle means to let Jesus in… when you light it.”“The orange shows the world.”“The sweets remind me of God’s love”.

Year 5 have had a wonderful time during Advent, preparing for Christmas. Our Mini-Vinnies prepared and sent Christmas cards to the vulnerable and lonely in our community, we prepared our classroom to countdown and wait for Christmas day, unveiled our class knitted nativity scene, visited St. Mary’s Cathedral for our Cluster Carol Service and enjoyed a daily challenge to carry out acts of kindness for one another, in preparation for Jesus to come again.

Christmas Lunch The children enjoyed their Christmas lunch on Wednesday 10 th  December. A traditional Christmas dinner was served, catering to all children’s dietary and religious needs. This was enjoyed by all!

This week, Year 1 gathered for a special Collective Worship. We talked about how we prepare for Jesus’ birthday, like decorating our homes and opening our Advent calendars. In groups we planned how we would gather, respond and go forth. Some children decorated the prayer focus and placed objects and pictures to support our reflection from the RE topic ‘Waiting’. We reflected on how Advent is a time to choose how we respond to God’s love and how we can go forth to share kindness with others. Here are some of the children’s thoughts: “I want to help people feel happy because that’s what Jesus would want.”“I will try to be kind to everyone, even if it’s hard.”“I want to share my toys so people don’t feel sad.” As we continue through Advent, Year 1 are thinking about ways to bring joy and peace to everyone around us. At home you could discuss ways you can share kindness or help someone this week as we prepare for Christmas.

This week, Year 1 have been learning all about 2D shapes! We practised naming and recognising shapes such as circle, square, rectangle, triangle and even trickier ones like hexagon and pentagon. After exploring their properties, the children used these shapes to create beautiful Christmas pictures. We saw Christmas trees made from triangles, Snow people made from circles and presents from squares and rectangles. It was a fantastic way to combine maths with festive creativity!

Part of the choir club visited St Joseph’s Care Home to sing Christmas carols. The residents loved our singing and they have invited us back. The children gave handmade cards to the residents and it was a great afternoon.

We have had a great time preparing for Christmas. We helped to decorate the tree, sang carols and we enjoyed a Christmas party. We had a visit from a mischievous elf and even the Grinch visited our school disco. We made an advent calendar to count down to Christmas and carried out acts of kindness each day. Have a great Christmas!

Today, our nursery children received a very special delivery! While practicing our super listening and smart sitting, we heard the sound of jingle bells outside our classroom door. We wondered if it could be Santa’s sleigh—and we couldn’t believe our eyes when we opened the door to find a pile of presents waiting for us! Miss Manning kindly handed out the presents, and each one had a special gift tag with the children’s names on it. What a magical surprise it was, and such a wonderful moment for everyone! 🎄✨

This week, we had our Nursery Christmas Party! We had so much fun playing games, winning prizes, and showing off our amazing dance moves with our friends. We finished the celebrations with some delicious party food. What festive fun! 🎄🎉

This week, the children in Nursery and Reception came together to celebrate the Advent Celebration of the Word. We talked about the many ways we prepare for Jesus’ birthday, including putting up our Christmas decorations and opening our Advent calendars. The children helped to dress the focus table, joined in singing hymns, and spent time in prayer as we joyfully prepared for this special season.

Throughout this term, Year 2 have enjoyed building teamwork skills during PE team games.   The children have worked on many skills that include: ·        Coordination ·        Teamwork ·        Communication ·        Problem-Solving ·        Strategic Thinking ·        Decision-Making ·        Understanding Rules ·        Confidence ·        Resilience ·        Motivation The children always look forward to these weekly sessions with Mr Stephenson.

We celebrated together to mark the end of our Advent topic. We wrote our prayers on the back of our class Advent Angel and selected scripture from our topic to share. We sang ‘The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came…’ to end our prayer time.