TODDINGTON ST GEORGE CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL

Head Teacher: Mrs J Spencer, MA Cantab Telephone: 01525 872360 / 872284 Fax: 0845 3076285

Manor Road Toddington

Bedfordshire LU5 6AJ

e-mail: toddstg@cbc.beds.sch.uk

www.toddingtonstgeorge.co.uk

Autumn Term 1 2017

Dear Parents and Carers, We regularly send home newsletters about the work going on at school in relation to Collective Worship, Religious Education and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development.

What is Collective Worship and what are the Celebration Assemblies?

For those joining Reception and Year 1 these notes explain how Collective Worship and Celebration assemblies take place in school. Year 1 to 4 come together as a school each day in the hall. Reception and Nursery Classes hold short daily acts of worship in their classrooms. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we meet together at 9.20 am; on a Thursday and a Friday we meet at 2.45 pm. On Monday and Tuesday Mrs Spencer, or a member of the Senior Leadership, team leads a Collective Worship time, with Christian teaching underpinning it. This relates to the school value for that period. During Worship there will be a variety of elements; this could be a story, poem, play or a PowerPoint presentation. Children will be encouraged to think, reflect and ask questions. There will also be a hymn and a prayer. Children are invited to pray only if they want to, those who do not wish to pray are asked to sit quietly and think. It is also a time when other faiths can be respected and celebrated as a school community Children often support during Collective Worship and each month we focus on a different value Wednesday is a Celebration day. We celebrate with children who have had a birthday that week. Children who have achieved a success out of school share this and receive a ‘Success Shield’ (Children should bring in their ‘success’ and give it to their class teacher.) A boy and a girl from each year group receive a ‘treasure’ from the ‘Star Box’. They can be nominated by anyone in the school and this can be for manners, kindness, setting an example etc. On some Thursdays we are fortunate to have a group from the local community called ‘Open the Book’ perform a story from the Bible. Friday is a celebration of good work where two children from each class receive a Well Done postcard. On Friday the ‘Behaviour Polar Bears’ are also awarded to all classes demonstrating exemplary behaviour. Headteacher Awards are given out to three children at the end of each month for excellent curriculum work. Children come in to Collective Worship calmly and quietly. Three children from each class who show this behaviour are chosen daily. They sit on the ‘Smile’ benches in the hall. As the children enter music is playing and there is a presentation of pictures linked to the value to view.

After the first half term children are also involved in writing and delivering their own acts of Collective Worship. Children who choose to get involved, take it in turns to attend Hooked on Worship Club. When they present their worship their parents/carers are invited to join the school that morning.

The values for this year are:

September New beginnings / Equality / Fairness October Healing

November Peace December Reverence January Excellence February Faith

March Humility April Creation and wonder May Service June Responsibility July Thankfulness

What is Religious Education?

We teach the RE syllabus for Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton: Identities, Meanings and Values. Year groups will be studying different key questions. In the Early Years RE is not taught as a specific subject but festivals and celebrated and stories are shared within the year group themes and Early Learning Goals (e.g. Understanding the World, PSE Respect for others).

Year 1 How do we show we care for others? What does it mean to belong?

Who is a Christian and what do they believe? Who is Jewish and what do they believe? Year 2 How and why do we celebrate special times? Who is an inspiring person? What can we learn from sacred books and stories? Why should we care for the earth? Year 3 How and why do believers show their commitments during

the journey of life? How and why does a Christian follow Jesus? How should we live and who can inspire us? What do religions teach about the natural world and why we

should care about it? Year 4 What are the deeper meanings of festivals? What does it mean to be a Jew?

Where, how and why do people worship?

The RE curriculum is challenging and thought provoking and uses music, art, drama, poetry to support children’s learning. As children move on to Year 5 and 6 they learn about at least 3 other faiths.

Hooked on Worship

What is Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development? Spiritual development relates to that aspect of inner life through which pupils acquire insights into their personal experience which are of enduring worth. Moral development is about the building, by pupils, of a framework of moral values which regulates their personal behaviour. It is also about the development of pupils’ understanding of society’s shared and agreed values. Social development is about young people working effectively with each other and participating successfully in the community as a whole. It is about the development of the skills and personal qualities necessary for living and working together. It is about functioning effectively in a multi-racial, multi-cultural society. Cultural development is about pupils’ understanding their own culture and other cultures in their town, region and in the country as a whole. It is about understanding cultures represented in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

Harvest What is a Harvest Festival? Harvest Festival is a celebration of the food grown on the land. Thanksgiving ceremonies and celebrations for a successful harvest are both worldwide and very ancient. In Britain, we have given thanks for successful harvests since pagan times. Christians celebrate this day by singing, praying and decorating our churches with baskets of fruit and food in a festival known as 'Harvest Festival'. Did you know? The harvest festival of the Jewish religion is called Sukkot or 'Feast of Ingathering' or 'the 'Feast of Tabernacles'. What do you know about Sukkot? What could you find out? What similarities and differences are there between Harvest and a Sukkot? Harvest Service On Thursday 5th October we celebrated our Harvest Festival in school, which was led by Mrs Spencer and both Reverend Linda and Reverend Nigel Washington. We were delighted to welcome them to the school. We enjoyed listening to the choir supported by Mrs Archer singing ‘Thank you for almost everything’. We all sang ‘Conkers’ and the Harvest song ‘Harvest Samba’. Reverend Nigel gave a talk about a woman who had 10 apples. Can you remember the story and what happened to all the apples? We learnt about the Philippines and the issues growing beans on the hillsides, learnt how we could help families grow better quality beans by having better seed and agricultural specialists support their farming. Jasmine Wilson taught us a game she had learnt visiting her cousins in the Philippines. We finished with a time of thanksgiving and reflection both for the food we enjoy and for those who are hungry each day who we hope to support with our gifts. Thank you for all your generous donations of food gifts. We had families donate tins and packets and even whole Harvest baskets. These gifts were donated to the Dunstable Foodbank – we collected 281 kg of food which is equivalent to 670 meals for hungry people. At lunchtime Year 4 ran two competitions to support the overseas appeal. The first was ‘Guess the amount of Jelly Beans in a jar’ and the winner was Isabella Bacon in Kestrels with a great guess of 300, the actual amount was 307! The second was a Bean Challenge (how many beans can you transfer from one bowl to another using a straw). The winner was Zach Collins with a score of 43, Jaida Bullock coming a close second. The total amount raised was £42.00 This, with the £1.00 donation for the Bishop’s Harvest appeal for Bean growers in the Philippines raised £250.00 to send from the school.

Festivals celebrated in September / October

Sept/Oct (Dates vary) Harvest Festival Christian Displays of various foods are made in churches and Sunday schools and services are held to give thanks for the goodness of God’s gifts in nature.

Thurs 31st Aug – Mon 4th Sept Eid ul-Adha 2 September to 4 September (10th Dhul-

Hijjah EID-UL-ADHA (the day of sacrifice) Muslim. On this and the subsequent two days (for those pilgrims staying at Mina that long) the Pilgrims throw stones at a pillar that represents the temptations of Shatan (Satan). After performing this ritual the pilgrims can make a sacrifice (or have it made for them) but there are three days on which the sacrifice can be made for those on Hajj.

Wed 20th Sept – Fri 22nd Sept Rosh Hashanah Jewish Jewish New Year. A two-day festival during which work is not permitted. Fri 22nd Sept Autumn Equinox Pagan Celebrated when day and night are of equal duration.

Fri 29th Sept – Sat 30th Sept Yom Kippur Jewish Yom Kippur is often considered the holiest day of the year within the Jewish faith, and the day is dedicated to atonement and abstinence. Fasting before sundown until after sunset.

Wed 4th Oct – Wed 11th Oct Sukkot Jewish A week-long celebration which begins with the building of Sukkah.

13th -22nd October Navaratri Hindu Navaratri is a nine day festival of music and dance when Hindus worship the female expression of the divine. During Navaratri the creative power of the Goddess is celebrated, personified in the forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. The festival culminates on the 10th day, known as Dussehra, when Hindus celebrate the God Rama's victory over the demon king Ravana, symbolising the triumph of good over evil Mon 16-23 October INTER FAITH WEEK OF PRAYER FOR WORLD PEACE. Prayers from the literature of several different world religions are published each year in a special leaflet. They are composed and used by many different religious communities.

Thurs 19th Oct Diwali Hindu Sikhs and Jains

(A five day festival of Light) . It is a festival of light, coinciding with the darkest night of the lunar month. Various interpretations are given to the festival in different parts of India, but it is generally associated with Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity, or with the victorious return of Rama and Sita to the kingdom of Ayodhya after their exile. Divali marks the beginning of the Indian financial year.General Practices: Lighting oil lamps and candles, setting off fireworks, and prayer. 31 October (Tuesday) HALLOWE'EN Heathen. Halloween is celebrated on the night of October 31. The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows Evening, also known as Hallowe’en or All Hallows’ Eve. Traditional activities include trick-or-treating, bonfires, costume parties, visiting ‘haunted houses’, and carving jack-o-lanterns.

All Hallows' Eve All Hallows' Eve is known as Halloween - and means eve of All Saints' (or Hallows') Day. 'Hallow' is an old English word for saint. All Hallows' Eve marks the start of Hallowtide, the time in the liturgical year when Christians remember the dead.

Success Shields

All the October Success shields will follow after half term.

If you have any further comments or suggestions please speak or write to Mrs Spencer.

Thank you

These are given as recognition of an achievement outside of school. Children who received a shield in September are:

Arham Islam

Swimming Stage 1 Niamh Chew

Swimming Stage 2 Emily Whitmore

3 Brownie Badges Finley Cooper

2nd place in Tournament Mark Wilson

1st place in Tournament Charlie Gadsden

Karate Star of the Week Lara Mayne

Dino Quiz Trail / St Michael’s Mount Quiz / Stage 4 Swimming

Owen Russell Luton Town Football Match win

Jack Miles Hotshots Top Shooter / player

Football Man of the Match Isobel Tillin Race for Life

Stage 7 Swimming / TADS Summer School

Sophie Barton Library Reading Challenge /

10m Swimming

Ella Baines British Gymnastics Proficiency

Awards 5,6,7 & 8

Eloise Urquhart Irish Dance of the Week

Rosie Williams Stage 1 Swimming

Gabriel Hydes TRYFC Man of the Match U8’s

Cormac Hayes Street Dance Star of the Week

Oliver Dobbs TRYFC Man of the Match

Cameron Choosey TRYFC Behaviour Award

Lewis Batt Respect Trophy - TRYFC

Jemima Cornelius Irish Dancing Competition

Ben Wilson TRYFC Man of the Match

Gabriel Luikaj TRYFC Man of the Match

Ishaan Machani Karate Student of the Week

Zach Collins Streetdance Star of the Week

Oliver Stack Streetdance Star of the Week

Ava Cunningham Irish Dancing Competition

Ollie Scholes Karate Star of the Week

Isabella Bacon Irish Dancing Competition

Charlotte Dow 1st goal in Hockey

Eva Pearson Irish Dancing Star of the Week

Maisie Blacksley Streetdance Star of the Week

Oliver Cochrane Streetdance Star of the Week

Niamh Bunker 100m Swimming Certificate

Grace Bennett Streetdance Star of the Week

Jaden Fraser TRYFC Man of the Match

Finley John TRYFC Man of the Match

Ava Cunningham 1st, 2nd & 3rd Irish Dancing

Molly Tucker Library Reading Challenge

Poppy Tucker Library Reading Challenge

Harry Randlesome Karate Student of the Week

Oliver Dobbs Football Tournament

Jessica Dudley Race for Life