Merry Christmas from Key Stage 2
Please click on the links below to listen to our Christmas singing.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Our final sculptures
This week, we completed our Barbara Hepworth inspired sculptures. After completing our own individual boxes, we put them together to create a group sculpture.
We set out all the sculptures in the school grounds to create a similar effect to Barbara Hepworth’s Family of Man.
“The thing I like about our sculpture is the negative space- it really shows what the sculpture represents. I think the shape of the cut-outs are not just circles- they actually represent the thoughts.” Scarlet
“I enjoyed painting the sculptures but we had to persevere when making the Verdigris colour because it had to be perfect. In the end, our sculpture looked different to the maquette.” Nicholas
Christmas Dinner
What an amazing Christmas dinner we have all had together. The kitchen staff have been beavering away so that we could enjoy our traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings (plus vegetarian option!) 
We all enjoyed sharing a joke or fact from our Christmas crackers.
It was great to celebrate as a whole school family.
Some of our nursery children joined us too!
Key Stage 2 all made party hats to dazzle us with. You may even spot a few sporting a moustache.
So thank you to our amazing staff!
This week’s bible story
Perseverance despite circumstances: Daniel 6:1-28 (omit verse 24)
Read the story of Daniel (omit verse 24 for younger or sensitive children)
Daniel was captured, along with many more of God’s people, and taken to live in a foreign country. In this country, they had different traditions and customs and it was not acceptable to worship God. But Daniel chose to continue serving God. Even though it meant that he was risking death, Daniel knelt down and honoured God by praying three times a day.
When the king discovered that Daniel was breaking the law by praying to God, he had Daniel thrown into a den of hungry lions. God stood by Daniel and rewarded his unwavering commitment to righteousness by protecting him from being eaten by the lions.
Reflection:
Do you think Daniel was lazy, or a hard worker?
When Daniel found out that he would be thrown into a lion’s den if he continued to pray, what did he do?
Why do you think Daniel continued to kneel down to pray instead of praying quietly in his head so that others could not see that he was praying?
How did God reward Daniel’s perseverance?
Prayer:
Dear God,
We can often end up in situations when life feels hard or difficult or when we feel we are out on a limb compared to everyone else.
Help us to persevere when times are tough.
Amen
Sculptures in art
Our Barbara Hepworth inspired sculptures are well underway! We’ve planned and sketched our ideas in groups and then used boxes to cut out holes to create negative spaces. We’ve started to cover our boxes in tissue paper and paint them white. Our next step will be to mix paints to create a colour which will give the sculptures the colour of Verdigris (a green pigment created when copper, brass or bronze is weathered).
We’re looking forward to putting the boxes together to create our final group sculptures- watch this (negative) space!
This week’s bible story
The persistent widow: Luke 18:1-8
Have you ever used pester power to get what you want? When you keep on asking and asking and asking until the person relents and gives in? Jesus once told a story about pester power, but it didn’t feature a parent and a child. The two people in Jesus’ story were a judge and a widow. Read the story to find out what happened.
Reflection:
Have you ever pestered God? reflect on your own experiences of prayer. Were their prayers denied because of any of the reasons like in the story?
Even though some prayers appear not to work, Christians believe that God is always at work in their lives, although this may be hard to see.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you for being a God who listens to our prayers.
Help us to keep praying to you even when it seems that our prayers are not being answered.
May we never forget that, like a loving parent, you only want what is best for us.
Amen
This week’s bible story
Today, we are thinking about Hanukah which is a Jewish festival. Have you ever been made to do something you didn’t want to do? In fact, you hated doing it?
How do you think David Beckham would feel if he had to do ballet? Or your headteacher if he or she had to dress up as a banana?
How do you think a Christian would feel if someone said to them at a Christmas nativity service, ‘You can’t worship Jesus, you’ve got to pray to the donkey?’
This is a story about when a whole country had to do things they didn’t want to, and how they reacted to it.
Reflection:
Quiet thought: How can you bring light to people today?
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that your light burns even longer than we hope for.
Help us to be light to others.
Amen.
This week’s bible story
Keep Going! Nehemiah 1: 1-7
Perseverance means keeping on trying and not giving up even when it is difficult.
If you’ve got some blocks, have a go at building a tower of twelve blocks. Was it easy? Now blindfold yourself and try again. Was it easier to do it when you were blindfolded or did it take more perseverance? Although the game was only a bit of fun, in life, it can sometimes be hard to keep going when things seem difficult or we feel discouraged. Our story today comes from the Old Testament part of the Bible. The Jewish people had not been listening to God, and they had been living in exile, away from their own homes. As the story starts, this situation is about to change. Read it carefully and see if you can work out why the people needed to have lots of perseverance and what helped them to keep going.
Reflection:
– In the story, what three things needed rebuilding?
– What kind of things discouraged the people from getting the building work done?
– What helped them to keep going?
None of us have to rebuild the walls around our towns and cities this week, but there might be some things that we are finding difficult or occasions when we feel like we want to give up.
Have a moment of silence as we think about the things that we are finding difficult or that we are worried about.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that you always listen when we pray to you.
Thank you that you are always there.
Please help us to keep going when we find things hard.
Please help us to encourage others.
Amen.
Remembrance Parade
Thank you to the Y5/6 pupils who represented our school in the Remembrance Parade in Wetherby. It was lovely to see some of our children representing other organisations such as the Scouts and Brownies too.
This week’s bible story
Persevering in life: Hebrews 12:1-2
Click the link and read the story all about Patrician St John.
Reflection:
Think about what you want to do this year, what you want to achieve. I’m not talking about impossible things, but maybe learning a new skill, or doing better at something, reaching the next level. What if it isn’t so easy, what if it doesn’t seem to be working out straight away – will you give up? Are you willing to fail before you succeed? If you believe in God, what difference will that make?
Just a moment of silence while we think about these things.
Bible Bits:
Listen to what the Bible says about persevering:
“Be determined and confident! Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
“Let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus….He did not give up…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, that you have given me the ability to succeed, not in everything, but in many things. Help me to play my part by working hard and not giving up. And thank you that you will give me extra help if I ask for it and trust in you. May what I learn not just help me but others too.
Amen