Good Morning Brown Clee!

Here we are with just 10 days to go until the special day that we are all looking forwards to!  Today, behind the advent calendar window is a tree!  A christmas tree!

Have you ever wondered why we put a tree up inside our houses and decorate it?  If you think about it, it is really rather strange, as trees are natural and grow outdoors – and why do we cover it in baubles and tinsel and place a star on top of the tree??  You can probably work out why the star is there…… but if you want to find out a bit more about the history of the christmas tree, enjoy this video….

And to continue with the theme of the Christmas Tree, here is a well known song you can join along with…especially for Class 4!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for the celebration of Christmas, the anniversary that marks the birth of Jesus.
Thank you for the fun and joy that we share with families and friends at this special time.
Please be with those who are lonely this Christmas.
Please help us to remember how fortunate we are.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

What do you think this is?  It isn’t frankincense!……

Yes – it’s myrrh – but do you know what myrrh is and why the wise men gave it to the baby Jesus? Myrrh is a fragrant spice derived from the sap of a tree native to the Near East. Like frankincense, it can be used as incense, but in the ancient world it also had wider usage as a perfume.  Myrrh was also a key ingredient in the mixture of spices that were used to prepare bodies for burial – what a strange gift for a new born baby! Perhaps the wise men intended this gift as an indication of Jesus’ humanity and the manner in which he would save his people—namely, that he would die for them.

Sometimes we might not always appreciate the value in a gift, and we might have to look a bit deeper to really appreciate gifts – like the gift of myrrh.

Here’s a song depicting the journey of the wise men on their way to offer their gifts…

So as we think of the gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus, let us think of the greatest gift of all – the gift of Jesus Christ, who was born so that he could save us all by dying on the cross.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for this special time of year that we look forward to.
We want to say thank you for the gift of Jesus
and ask that we may find ways to give to others as well.
On Christmas morning and afterwards, help us not to be disappointed with what we have been given.
Help us to remember the shepherds, who delighted in the surprising sight of an ordinary baby sent by God.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

I hope you had a good weekend and lots of sleep as we head into our last week of the Autumn Term!  It has been a term of contrasts – such delight to have all the children back in school but sad that there are so many limitations to how we operate – but there is definitely hope on the horizon that we will be able to return to being the community, team-spirited school that welcomes families, friends and visitors to join us in school!

Today is the 14th day of Advent, and we are also building our hopes up of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on 25th December – just 11 days away! Today we are going to be thinking about the gift of Frankincense – one of the 3 gifts that the wise men brought to the baby Jesus.

It doesn’t look terribly special, does it?  A bit like frosted ginger or golden jelly babies!  But actually Frankincense is a symbol of deity – a divine status, godliness.  Can you remember what the other 2 gifts were that the wise men brought to give to Jesus, Mary and Joseph?

Enjoy this clip sharing some background to the meaning of frankincense, myrrh and gold…

We know that gold is shiny and bright and a precious metal, but who would have known that myrrh and frankincense were so special!?  It reminds us that all gifts are special – be they small or large, shiny or dull – a gift shows that someone cares and wants to show us that we are appreciated.  So as you wake up on Christmas Day – remember our value of this half term – Thankfulness – as there is so very much to be thankful for, whether the gifts come in a stocking hung on the fireplace, or in the companionship of family and friends, or a smile, or the sun rising to start each new day!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
We thank you for all that’s good in our lives.
We thank you especially for what we remember quietly in our hearts now,
Help us always to be thankful, whether we are happy or sad.
Help us to know that you are with us during ordinary days, good days and bad days.
Amen.

Can we kindly remind parents to park considerately around the properties on Station Rd, particularly with regards to not parking on the grass area at the junction with the school entrance.

Also, please do not leave children unattended at the Top Gate in the morning, as we cannot be responsible for them until 8.45am when the gate opens. Thank you.

Coronavirus: Symptoms and Covid Tests in Christmas Holiday

Schools have been asked to assist with Track and Trace during the beginning of the Christmas holiday.  To do this we need to do the following:-

• Ask parents to contact school if your child/children develops symptoms (temperature/new, persistent cough/loss or change in sense of taste and/or smell) over the weekend of 19 – 20^th
• Ask parents to contact school if your child/children tests positive for coronavirus between 18^th to 24^th
• If you need to inform the school of a possible, or confirmed coronavirus case, please email using admin@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk
• If we are notified of a positive case during the beginning of the Christmas holiday then we may be asked by PHE to pass on advice regarding isolation procedures and we will be doing this via email.
• If you are contacted during the Christmas holidays by school and advised to isolate, and have any questions, then the advice is to contact Shropshire Public Health on 0344 225 3560 (option 2), or 01384 679 031 (out of hours)

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we thought about how amazing it would have been to have been a shepherd on the hills surrounding Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born.  Amazing – but also quite possibly very scary!  Today you can see this part of the Nativity story brought to life in a video clip….watch and think how it must have been that cold and starry night.

Have you ever seen or heard anything that has truly amazed you?  That was so out of this world you couldn’t believe it! Imagine being one of these shepherds and thinking how fortunate that you were picked to have the good news shared with you – wouldn’t it make you feel special?  Now think how lucky we all are, that we have all had this good news shared with us through the stories in the Bible, through the story of the Nativity – God believes that we are all special, and we are all capable of great things if we truly believe.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
We thank you for all the different skills and talents that you have given to us.
Help us always to make the best use of our skills
and to be determined to think that we too can do good things.

Please help us as we move through this year and through the rest of our lives.
Help us to dream big dreams and never to give up hope.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!  Today is the 8th December and in our advent calendar we are thinking about the shepherds in Bethlehem, who were tending their sheep on the hills.

Near Bethlehem there were shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night. Suddenly an angel appeared to them and dazzled them with the Glory of God. 

“Don’t be afraid!  I’ve come with a message of great joy for you and everyone else. Tonight a baby has been born in Bethlehem and he is to be your Saviour, Christ the Lord!”

Imagine what it must have been like if you were one of those shepherds?  There you were, tired and sleepy, looking after your flock, when suddenly  an angel appeared above you – all shiny and bright!  How do you think they felt?  If it was me I would have been amazed  – I’d probably wonder initially if I was dreaming!  I wonder whether I’d believe what I saw and heard?

The shepherds instantly believed – as in Luke 2:15-16 it reads “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’   So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.”  Imagine their awe and wonder on arrival at the stable – to actually meet Jesus Christ, Son of God and Saviour of Man!

Prayer of the Day

Loving God,

Jesus said, ‘Knock and the door will opened’ and ‘Search and you will find’.

Give us curiosity and inquiring minds.

Inspire us to work together

and help us to be open to learn from others.

Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

I hope you had a good weekend and stayed warm!  Winter is definitely here!

In today’s advent calendar we are thinking about the animals in that famous stable – what do you think would have been there?

You might recognise this song – enjoy and singalong!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for Christmas, the time when we celebrate the precious gift of your son, Jesus.
Thank you for the peace he can bring to our hearts.
Please help us to use this season of Advent to prepare ourselves
so that we can enjoy Christmas, knowing that we are at peace with all those around us.
Amen.

Yesterday we posted about the FOBCS “Wear Something Christmassy Day” that we are having on 18th December – the last day of term.  Please note that there will be NO PE or Forest School that day for any of the classes.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Throughout December we have our school’s Advent Calendar which we will be basing our daily assembly around.  Today’s window displays the following video, teaching us more about the season of Advent.  Enjoy!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God

Christ be in our eyes and in our looking,
Christ be in our ears and in our listening,
Christ be in our hands and in our making,
Christ be in our minds and in our understanding,
Christ be in hearts and in our loving.

Amen

Good Morning Brown Clee!

I hope you all had a good weekend – it is certainly getting colder and darker now that we are rapidly approaching winter. In fact today is the last day of November, so we are very close to being in December – when we can finally mention the ‘C word’!  Tomorrow morning many of you may well open the first window of a special calendar – an Advent calendar. However, if you do – you are technically 2 days late, as Advent begins on the 4th Sunday before the 25th December – which was yesterday!

Do you know what Advent actually means, and why we have the countdown to 25th December? Watch this video and see if you can find out what the word Advent means…

In this video we learn that Advent is the season when we prepare and get ready for the arrival of Jesus Christ.  Have a think about all the things that your families do to prepare to celebrate the arrival of Jesus on 25th December?

As we go through the month of December, and as we approach this special day, think about all the preparations that we are making and ask yourself why? Why are we writing and sending cards of good wishes? Why are we buying gifts for family and friends? Why are we decorating our homes?

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for this most special time of year, when we celebrate Jesus coming to earth.
As we decorate our homes, buy presents and write Christmas cards, help us to make ourselves ready to celebrate this very special time.
May our homes be filled with love and happiness this Christmas.
Amen.

Can we please ask that the flu vaccination forms and allergen forms for Chartwells are returned as soon as possible.  The flu vaccinations are next Tuesday and without the forms being returned the children will not be able to receive the vaccination.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This week we have been thinking about the importance of taking responsibility for our words and actions – and ensuring that we own up about our mistakes. So today I’d like to continue with this theme and share a story from the Bible – one of the first stories, from Genesis 2.15—3.14, about when the first people disobeyed God – do you know who the first people were?   They were Adam and Eve – in Hebrew (the language the story was written in) the names Adam and Eve mean ‘the first people ever’.

In the story God made a special garden for Adam and Eve to live in, and we know from the Bible that it was set in modern day Iran, next to Iraq in the Middle East.

Explain that Adam and Eve had been told that they could eat anything they wanted, except the tree that grew in the middle of the garden, which was called ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. What do the children think that name means?

In the story, Adam and Eve both disobey God – they make the wrong choice and listen to the snake’s lies.  How did they feel after they had eaten the fruit?  ….Why do you think they felt so bad?

We have all done things we shouldn’t have – think of a time when you did something wrong and how you felt.  Did you own up and apologise? What happened?

In the story God sent Adam and Eve away, out of the lovely garden, and they learned to be farmers, to grow their own food, and to work on the land.

But what might have happened if they’d been honest and owned up (’fessed up!); if they’d taken responsibility for their actions instead of blaming someone else? We don’t know. Perhaps we’d still all live in that garden, not having to work …

But this story is still told as an example of how, when we aren’t honest, it affects many more people than just us. We don’t know what might have happened in the story if Adam and Eve had been honest. But we can be honest about ourselves, and then we know that whatever we’ve done, it’s easier to make it right again if we take the blame, apologise and acknowledge our part.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,

Help us to be honest when we do something wrong.

Help us not to blame other people, but acknowledge our mistakes,

and apologise so that we can learn and move on.

Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we had a think about how our words and actions can influence other people – even if we don’t intend them to!  We listened to the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes – and also learnt that we shouldn’t always believe everything we hear.  Sometimes people might be intentionally trying to trick us – and other times, we might misinterpret what we hear and accidentally get ourselves or other people into trouble.

Today I want us all to focus on taking responsibility for our actions and words – or as this video says, “Stop making excuses and own our actions”.  If we counted how many times we do or say things each day, this would be the number of times that we could influence how other people might feel or think – I wonder how many times this would be?  Our words and actions have power – they can cause great good – or harm – so it is really important that we “own them” and take responsibility for them.

Words have a lot of power. Once we say something about someone else it is very difficult to take it back, and sometimes we haven’t even said the words that someone else hears!  Have you ever played Chinese whispers – you could have a game now?

In this game, a message gets passed on, and during the game the message changes – people mishear. Sometimes, what is said and believed about things and people, can change very quickly and can spread very easily…this is called gossip or hearsay.

Today, I want us all to think carefully about the words that we say, and take responsibility for saying them – use your words wisely and kindly, and try and think before you speak!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
We often like to think of ourselves as being free to make our own decisions.
We thank you that you have given us free will, but we also acknowledge that we can be influenced by the behaviour and example of others.
Help us to use this power to influence others in a positive way.
We pray for the wisdom to make choices that help to show kindness, forgiveness, generosity, honesty, fairness and compassion to others in our world.

Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

I hope you all had a good weekend – this week I want us to continue to think about the word ‘potential’ – but from a different angle – I want us to think how we all have the potential to influence other people.  This means that sometimes, the words we say, or the actions we take, can influence what other people might say or do.

Here is a poem called “Don’t be fooled” – have a listen as your teacher reads it out, and see what message you can pick out from it…

Don’t be fooled
Sometimes when we look, do we really see?
People see you and people see me.
If someone says that black is white
Don’t just agree, but use your sight.
Don’t say what you think they want you to,
Because it feels like the thing to do.
Learn to say what’s in your mind
And by doing so the truth you’ll find.

Sometimes when we are asked for our opinions, do we say what we really think or are we influenced by other people? We might be afraid of losing our friends if we disagree, or being made to feel silly. There may also be times when we are asked to do something that we do not feel comfortable with. Deep down we know it is not right. We should try not to give in to temptation, and if something does not feel right, do not do it.

Enjoy the following story – which shows what happened to a man who did not think for himself.  It is written by Hans Christian Anderson and is called “The Emperor’s New Clothes”.

The Emperor’s New Clothes

There was once an emperor who liked to think he could please all his people all of the time. He was so powerful that no one dared to argue with him. He was very vain and loved to have lots of new clothes.

Knowing this, two tricksters came to his palace pretending to be tailors. They asked to see the emperor, and offered to make him a suit of fine new clothes for his birthday procession.

The emperor was delighted and asked to see the cloth from which the suit would be made. The tricksters pretended to roll out some cloth, saying that it was the finest in all the land. ‘Look at the colour’, they said. ‘See how it shimmers and shines in the light! It is so special that it can only be seen by those who are wise and clever.’

The emperor stared and stared, trying to see what they were talking about. He could see nothing, but not wishing to appear stupid he found he was agreeing with them and consented to let them make his suit.

After several days they returned to the palace pretending to carry a large parcel, from which they took out the ‘new suit’. ‘Try it on, your majesty,’ they said. The emperor undressed and the tricksters pretended to fit his new garment. ‘See how fine it looks,’ they said. Again the emperor felt he had to agree with them. He paid them a great deal of money for their services and the two men left the palace in great haste.

The day of the procession came and the emperor, with the help of his servants, who dared not say that they could not see his new clothes, put on his new suit. He asked them what they thought of it and everyone told him how wonderful he looked because they did not want to make him angry.

Proudly the emperor strode through the streets of the city. The people cheered and clapped as he went by. As he entered the marketplace he passed a small boy who was begging. The boy was overheard to say, ‘Why is the emperor wearing only his underclothes?’

There was a deadly hush as the people wondered what would happen. ‘Bring that boy to me!’ bellowed the emperor. The servants quickly grabbed the poor unfortunate boy and brought him before the emperor. Everyone gasped in horror. What would happen?

The emperor looked down at the poor trembling figure before him. ‘What did you say?’

‘Please, sir,’ said the frightened boy, ‘I wondered why you were only wearing your underclothes.’

The emperor looked down at himself and began to laugh. ‘You have dared to speak the truth and say what you can actually see. I must admit that I have been very foolish and it took a small boy like you to be brave enough to tell me. I have been tricked and only you spoke the truth. In future you will live in my palace. I shall ask for your honest opinions, knowing that I will always be able to trust you.’

Realizing his stupidity, the emperor ordered that the tricksters should be caught and thrown into prison. From then on he always thought for himself and was not influenced by what he thought others might think of him. And as that boy grew up, he became the emperor’s chief adviser and no one dared try to deceive the emperor again.

What important message have you picked up on from listening to this story?  …..Think for yourself – and do not let other’s influence your ability to make the right choices!

Prayer of the Day

We thank you, God, for giving us a mind of our own.

Teach us to use it wisely and help us to think for ourselves.

Teach us to know right from wrong and to speak the truth at all times.

Amen.