June 2021
We have been learning about the Christian value of kindness and exploring scenarios when it might be difficult to be kind. We used the story of "Little Miss Hug" to help us reflect on being kind even when it is hard. To help us think about this we thought about the story of Zacchaeus and the themes of kindness and love. 
 

Loving God,

Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we can make the right decisions and to do the right things in life.

Help us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps by treating others as I would like to be treated. 

Help us to change the world for the better by showing kindness to others even when this is hard to do.

Amen
 

We have introduced Amethyst and Topaz power which are all about working well in a partnership and in a team. In Year 2 there has been lots of discussion about Jesus' disciples and how they helped Jesus to spread his messages of love, courage and forgiveness. 

May 2021

Rev. Simon visited us in school and was able to join in with collective worship across the school. We learned about the story of Jesus and the Paralyzed man and focussed on how important it is to be responsible. We reflected on the different responsibilities we have at home and at school and how it is always easier to work together! 
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Dear God, 

Thank you that you promise to always be by our side every day. 

Please help me to persevere when I am stuck and feel like giving up. 

Give me the help I need to stay focused on my learning and to avoid distractions. 

Help me to keep my eyes fixed on you, so that I can follow your example and help and guide anyone who might need my help. 

Amen. 

We learned about Diamond and Sapphire Power. 
                                                        

April 2021                                                                       
We thought about the importance of a fresh start when things don't go as expected. We talked about the phrase "wiping the slate clean" and what this means to us. 

Dear God,
Thank you that today, we have a clean slate . . . a fresh start.
Help us to take the time to understand what this means.
Help us to take the opportunity to forgive ourselves or others and to start again. 
Help us to make the most of every opportunity and to try our best in every situation.
May today be a great time of working and playing together.
Amen.

We made links between a "clean slate" and our school value of forgiveness. We used poetry to help us think about forgiveness: 

                                                                 


March 2021
We learned about Emerald Power and bounce-back-ability! We thought about how we can show courage in our learning. 
                                                                         
We reflected on the importance of Palm Sunday for Christians and the events of Easter. We thought about how some of us will celebrate Easter. 
The children have enjoyed listening to lots of the Easter celebration songs we would usually perform and have discussed Jesus' entrance to Jerusalem on a donkey after listening to the song, "We have a king who rides a donkey."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSbEEwik2hs 
               


February 2021
We used the story "Have you filled a bucket today?" to help us think about our ruby gem power. We reflected on how we can show love and kindness to others as well as behaving respectfully to all members of our community. 
https://bethichhoc.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/have_you_filled_a_bucket_today.pdf 
              

January 2021
Below you can find links to whole school virtual worships, lead by Rev. Simon from St Mary's. 
11th January: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4z4gcfufox5g9q4/School%20Assemby%20WC%2011th%20Jan%202021.mp4?dl=0
25th January: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3fagykfhjtmurj4/CW%2025th%20Jan%20Assembly.mp4?dl=0 

December 2020 -  It has been a very exciting end to the autumn term as we enjoy our Christmas dinners, join in with St. Mary's at the Great Big Christmas Celebration with other local schools and begin to think about the celebrations over the coming weeks. Mrs Maddocks helped us to reflect this week on the nativity scene and what it means to Christians.
                                               

Mrs Maddocks shared her favourite Christmas carol with us during a collective worship this week. You can watch the song below. Think about the words you can hear and what these mean. 
 

November 2020 -  After enjoying another whole-school zoom assembly with Rev. Simon from St. Mary's we reflected on the importance of advent for christians. The children even created their own advent wreaths. Lydia in Year R really impressed us with her drawing of an advent wreath and earned herself a Headteacher's award. Well done Lydia!


                                          



To continue our learning about love for others we talked about the difference between conditional and unconditional love. 

Dear God,
Thank you for love.
Thank you for how good it is to have people who love us, and people whom we can love.
Thank you that your heart is full of love for us and for all those we love.
Amen.

We looked at the story "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney to help us reflect on unconditional love. 

To continue our learning about love for others and the world, we have celebrated anti-bullying week as a whole school. 
You can watch the virtual assembly below. We also had an "odd socks day" where children came to school in mis-matched socks to show solidarity against bullying. We also worked as a school to create our own anti-bullying pollicy!

The school community paused on Wednesday 11th November to remember the soldiers that had been to war. Some classes also create their own poppies to remember the importance of Remembrance day. You might like to watch the video below which some of our younger learners watched during or after the reflection. 

October 2020 -  Year 2 have been looking at bread as a symbol of harvest. We made and decorated our own harvest loaves in class. We thought about what the bread might symbolise for us and what we are grateful for. 

  

Rev. Simon from St. Mary's Church led us in a whole school harvest festival celebration over Zoom. It was wonderful to reflect together on the importance of the seasons and how God provides for us. 
                                                        

We have been thinking about how wonderful it is to be a unique and special person in God's world. We collected leaves and realised that no leaf is identical - they are all different. ‘Father God, we thank you for all the children represented by these leaves. Thank you for their individual personalities and talents and for all the qualities that make them unique. Please bless each one of them and help them to achieve their potential in life. Amen 
This has helped us to think about our harvest celebrations and the love we have for God's world.
                                

September 2020  We have been thinking about love for the world. ‘May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.’ Amen
We have been reflecting on the word "goodbye" and what this means in different languages and cultures. We have also been writing and creating our own prayers.
                                                                               

Our collective worship this week focused on the theme of friendship. We reflected on our school value of love and how we show love to our friends. We found out more about how Jesus treated his friends. We made paper chains in class to show that we are all friends and part of a community at Andover C of E Primary. The children also reflected on what they are grateful for and why we are so lucky to have the people in our lives that we do. 

We have been thinking about love for ourselves. This week we have been looking at sunflowers as a symbol of strength and resilience. We thought about times when we have had to be strong and how God can help us to feel supported. We created our own images of sunflowers. 

Lord, help us to turn our hearts towards you. Guide our steps and be our wall of strength so we can lean against you as we grow. Help us to listen carefully, think about our words and actions and comfort each other when we need help. Help us to appreciate everyone we meet and learn from those you send our way.

Amen