Year 4 have been carrying on with their R.E and Worldviews enquiry question 'How might your worldview lead you to do hard things for good reasons?'.  Recently we have been looking at pilgrimage, where people undergo a journey to a special sacred place as part of their beliefs and faith. Sometimes, this is their choice and other times it is a part of their faith that they need to do it at least once in their lifetime.  Firstly, the children drew their own journey to a place that was special to them. They needed to note down where it was too, what they saw on the way and any feelings they have at different stages of the journey.  We then looked at Canterbury Cathedral which is a popular place for Christians to visit on a pilgrimage. We looked at the website to see what happened when they arrived and what the people hoped to get from their long journey. Priests are there on people's arrival to offer blessings and prayers of thanksgiving.  The children then worked in pairs on an interactive game where they could pretend to be pilgrims travelling to the cathedral. The resources allowed them to make their own decisions about how they travelled, who they travelled with and how they passed the time. The choices they made about the journey placed them either on an early medieval pilgrimage of the late 12th century or a later medieval pilgrimage of the late 14th century. This helped the children to realise how difficult a pilgrimage might be and what problems might appear along the way. 

Climate Action

On Friday morning, any children who had volunteered for and taken part in litter picking in the schoool grounds this half term, were invited into the hall for a hot chocolate. This was our way of saying a huge thank you for helping to look after our school grounds and the environment. I wonder who will receive the treat at the end of the next half term?! :) 

On Thursday, the Year 2 children visited St Swithins church as part of their R.E and Worldviews learning about 'Who Is Jesus?' After a rather soggy walk down, we arrived and were greeted by Jane Spooner who helped to show us around. We looked at the different elements of the church that represented something about Jesus and his life. These parts included...

• The stained glass windows - These showed the birth of christ, with Mary and Joseph by his side, and the crucifixion. 
• The font - This holds holy water with which people are baptised. This represents the welcomming of people into the Christian faith, just as Jesus was born and welcommed into the faith.
• The Tabernacle - Jesus referred to himself as 'the bread of life' and also shared bread at the table with his disciples during 'The Last Supper'. If people are unwell and cannot attend church for communion, then bread can be put in here so that anyone who goes to visit them, can take the it to them.
• The Lectern - Jesus was a teacher and when he was telling stories to his disciples, he would stand above them. Reverend Jay will stand on this when delivering a service to the congregation. 
• Candles - Jesus referred to himself as 'the light of the world' and the candles flame represents this.
• Architecture - Many churches, including St Swithins, are built in the shape of a cross, representing the crucifixion and the symbol of Christianity. 

The children really enjoyed learning about these parts of the church, and also pointed out some other things that we had been learning about such as the lords prayer which was hung up on the wall. 

HAPPY HALF TERM EVERYONE! Wishing you all a restful (and hopefully less wet!) week off. See you back at school on Monday 23rd Feb.  ENJOY!

Year 1 P.E. - Fitness - Spring Term 1 This half term, Year 1 have completed an exciting Fitness unit in PE. We have had a fantastic time learning all about how to keep fit and why exercise is important for our bodies and overall health. Throughout the unit, the children explored different ways to improve their strength, balance, coordination and stamina. This week, we finished by completing a fitness circuit which included many of the exercises we have been practising. Please take a look at our Fitness Knowledge Organiser for more details about what we have been learning.