Week 1
Wednesday 5th January 2022
A very happy new year! We welcomed all of our children and staff back to school and read the story 'How to catch a Star' by Oliver Jeffers. The story focuses on perseverance, resilience and patience. We looked at our vision of having high hopes and aspirations and that we need to work hard and not give up. The little boy in the story wanted to catch a star and he kept trying many different things with a lot of patience. He finally caught a star after all his failed attempts. We will keep trying at everything we do and have patience to succeed.
Thursday 6th January
Twelfth Night or Epiphany
Epiphany marks the occasion when the star led the magi (three kings) visited Jesus in Bethlehem. It is a Christian festival, which starts on 6th January. It is a special date in the Christmas story as it's when people celebrate how a star led the magi-also known as the Three kings or Wise Men to visit the baby Jesus. We looked at what happens on this date in some countries around Europe. Many countries such as Poland and Spain will have a holiday which is marked with a parade, dancing, singing and exchanging gifts. Eastern orthodox Christians actually celebrate Christmas on Epiphany, so it's an important religious occasion. Twelfth night also marks the end of Christmas-12 nights after Christmas.
Friday 7th January 2022
We looked at one of our British values this morning 'Tolerance and Respect'. We discussed how many people have different opinions, views and beliefs and that we try to respect and be tolerant of others. The teachers role played different scenarios for us to comment on and we decided that if we are not respectful or tolerant it can lead to upset, hurt, fighting and even war leading to lives being destroyed. We related this to places like Palestine and Afghanistan where fighting continues over religious beliefs. This leads to a breakdown of trust and individual liberty and democracy ceases to exist. We learnt that we need to listen and learn from others and be interested in different views which could lead to peace and harmony rather than conflict.