Good Morning Brown Clee!

We normally have our ‘live’ assemblies today, but as we are currently holding parent feedback appointments we have rearranged this week, and our ‘live’ assembly will be tomorrow.  We know how important these are as they are the only time we actually get to see everyone in the Brown Clee Team!

Being a part of a team means so much – and we are all part of many different teams as well as the Brown Clee School team – each class is it’s own team, your families are a team, and you might be a member of a sporting team or Brownies and Cubs.  Being part of a team means that we aren’t alone – that we are part of something more than just ourselves – and when a team works well together it can achieve amazing things!

Think about the NASA team who managed to send the first astronauts to the moon – everyone had a part to play – everyone’s role in the team was equally important, and equally, everyone needs to work hard as part of a team in order to succeed.  Often we can also achieve so much more by working together….as this team of ‘fishermen’ find out in a story called “Fishing with Sam”.  Watch the story of the polar bear, the seal lion and the penguins – and think about what the story teaches you about the importance of working together as a team.

Did you notice how many big fish they managed to catch at the end when they were working together?  How did you think they all felt about the successes of working together?  Before there were lots of squabbles and disagreements, sad faces and hungry tummies!

So as we come to the end of our daily assembly, think about what you could achieve if you work well together as a team – could you achieve more?  Be happier? What can you do today in your class team to bring about success for everyone?

Prayer of the Day

Dear Lord,
Thank you for the world that you have created, which we share with other people.
Please help us to appreciate and celebrate the gifts of others.
Please help us not to become jealous, but to be grateful for our own gifts and abilities.
Thank you for the people who help us every day.
Please help each of us to play our parts in the community and wider world.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we thought about the meaning of the word ‘potential’ – and how we all have great potential to succeed at whatever we put our minds to if we have the right conditions such as a positive attitude and working hard to do our best.  Today I would like us to think about what our potential could be when we all work together, as a team, to achieve a common goal.

Yesterday also was when the North American Space Agency (NASA) launched another space craft to transport 4 astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS is a large spacecraft that orbits the earth and is a home where astronauts live while they learn about living and working in space.  Watch the launch and have a think how many people actually helped to make this happen?

Back in July 1969, the world watched the very first landing on the moon – it was a historic moment in time, when 3 men landed on the moon for the very first time.  Watch this video clip and have a think about what it shows about potential…..

What an amazing achievement for the 3 astronauts – especially Neil Armstrong who was the first person to step on the moon with the famous words “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.  It was a giant leap – a massive one – but it would not have been possible without all the many other people, all working hard to do the very best at their jobs to ensure that the mission was a success.

We all have the potential to succeed – and we all have the potential to work together to help others to succeed.  As we go through the day and weeks ahead, remember that your actions and efforts, not only affect your own success – but can impact and affect the success of others, so we all have a responsibility to try our best.  Teamwork relies on us all pulling our weight!

Let’s spend a moment thinking about all the teams and groups which we are involved in:
groups where we depend on other people being there for us and other people depend on us being there for them;
teams where we work together;
projects that we work on together.

Let’s be thankful for all the people who keep their commitment to each one of us.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God

Help me to think of those words,
‘It won’t fail because of me’,
at times when it gets tough, difficult, hard.
Help me not to be the link in the chain that fails.

Amen.

Please keep an eye out for the Parent Appointment Booking slips which will be coming home today or tomorrow.  Also, please note that the times are a precise 10 minute window – with the appointments being made by telephone it is really important that we stick to 10 minutes.  Apologies that this might mean the appointments are more business-like than normal!

Good morning Brown Clee!

This week we have been thinking about our Christian value of our half term, which is THANKFULNESS, and linking it to Armistice Day when we remember, and show our gratitude, to the members of the armed forces, past and present, who sacrifice so much for our freedom.  We have also learnt how important it is to develop an ‘Attitude to Gratitude’ as science has shown that by having a more thoughtful, positive and appreciative attitude, we can actually change our lives for the better.

It is very easy in these busy days to forget to stop and take a moment to look around us, and to think how fortunate we are – to live in such a beautiful county, to have families that love and cherish us, to have friends and classmates, to have food at lunchtime – so many things and more!

Here is a video from the Pace Trust teaching us more about the importance of having an ‘Attitude for Gratitude’…

We show thankfulness every day when we say Grace before lunch, and we have learnt in this video how Christians say thank you to God when they participate in the Eucharist in church.  Thank you are two little words that can sometimes be forgotten – but they can mean so much and make such a difference – what can you say thank you for today?

Prayer of the Day

Thank you, God, for all that we have.
Thank you for our food, our family, our friends and all that you give us.
We are sorry that sometimes we forget to say thank you.
Help us to always thank other people for the things they do for us,
and to thank you for all that we have.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

How did you get on with developing your ‘Attitude for Gratitude’ yesterday?  Did you do or say anything to demonstrate your appreciation – and if so how did it make you feel?

This is the time of year when we show gratitude for the sacrifice that so many people made during World War 1 and 2, as well as appreciating the service of the men and women in the armed forces today, who strive to keep the world a safe place for all.

Tomorrow is Armistice Day – the 11th day of the 11th month, and at the 11th hour we will hold a 2 minute silence to remember and pay tribute to the men and women who sacrificed their lives during the 1st and 2nd World War, and also to appreciate the members of the armed forces  of today, who serve to defend our nation. It is so important that we never forget, and that we are thankful for the sacrifice that so many people made.

It is at this time of year that you will see many people wearing a poppy – because the poppy has come to symbolise Armistice Day, and the gratitude and appreciation we have for those that fought so that we could live in a free world.  But why a poppy?

Watch this video and see if you can work out why?

During WW1, much of the fighting took place in Western Europe. The countryside was blasted, bombed and fought over repeatedly. Previously beautiful landscapes turned to mud; bleak and barren scenes where little or nothing could grow. But there was a notable and striking exception to the bleakness – the bright red Flanders poppies. These resilient flowers flourished in the middle of so much chaos and destruction, growing in the thousands upon thousands.  So much so that they were noticed by one particular soldier, a Canadian doctor called Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, who wrote this now very famous poem, called ‘In Flanders Fields’.

So now people choose to wear a poppy around 11th November as a sign of remembrance and gratitude.  Take a quiet moment now, and close your eyes – what must it have been like to have been a soldier fighting in the fields in France and Belgium – what would the world be like now if those brave men and women hadn’t fought for our freedom – and tomorrow, at 11am, when we hold our 2 minutes of silence, think about how thankful we are.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for the many happy memories that we have.
We are sorry that some people have sad memories at this time of year
As they remember those who have died for our country.
May we wear our red poppies with love and compassion,
And may we remember and be thankful.
Amen.

Don’t forget it’s the last chance to book an appointment to talk with your child’s teacher about their work and progress!

Don’t forget to book your Parent Feedback session (this year’s replacement for Parents Evening) by tomorrow!  Teachers will then be coordinating their timetable and booking reply slips will be sent out by the end of the week, ready for next week’s appointments.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Last week we started to think about our Christian value of the half term – THANKFULNESS.  Another word for Thankfulness is Gratitude, and this morning I want you to think about whether you have an “Attitude for Gratitude”.  There are 2 videos to watch – the first is rather American but explains what an attitude is and why it is so important to demonstrate gratitude – or thankfulness!  The second provides a bit of the science behind the theory.

As you watch and listen, think about the key messages in both – that by having an “Attitude for Gratitude” will have a positive impact on your life today but also in the future…

A key message for me in this video is that we are in charge of our attitude – it doesn’t happen to us – it is up to use to decide the approach we take to life.  We can’t always choose what happens to use, but we can always choose how we respond – and we can choose to respond in a positive way.  It is your own choice – it is up to you!

This video mentions one of our SMART learning behaviours – did you spot it?  It was resiliency – “gratitude can strengthen resiliency”.

Maybe we could try our own Gratitude Experiment?  As we go through the week ahead – see how we can express gratitude and appreciation every day – to ourselves and to others.  I wonder if it will make a difference to how we experience our lives?

As we come to Worship Time, let’s have a quiet moment to reflect and think about all the wonderful things that we are grateful for – our families and friends, our school, the wonderful natural world that we live in – there are so many things to be thankful for!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Help us to have good attitudes.
Help us to encourage others.
Help us to look for the good in every situation.
Help us to bring hope, joy and peace to other people.
Help us to be grateful for all we have.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we reminded ourselves about the Zones of Regulation, and learnt about how there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ zone and that we all experience different emotions, such as frustration, sadness or anger, at times.  The important thing is learning to recognise these feelings, and then, more importantly how to manage them effectively so that we can behave appropriately – which in school means, being in a calm, positive state to learn in.

We also need to learn to identify which zone our friends are in and how to adapt our words and actions so that we can communicate and interact respectfully.

I thought it might be interesting to learn a bit about the science behind the importance of self-regulation – have a watch and think – there are lots of big words – but see what you learn from the video…

What did you think?   Does it help you now understand and appreciate why your teachers are using the “It’s Good to be Green” cards to help you learn from your mistakes?  Can you think of a time when you weren’t able to regulate your feelings, and if so, did anything negative happen as a result?  I wonder what would have happened if you could have regulated the ‘BIG’ feelings and managed to return to the Green Zone?

The important thing to remember – is that self-regulation is something that we can all learn to do – it is not something that we are born with.  We need to learn this skill just as much as we need to learn to read and write.

Have a quiet moment to reflect – think about what strategies or tools you could use to regulate your BIG feelings…..

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
You are all-seeing and all-knowing.
You see our actions and you know the attitude of our hearts.
Respect is a word that we often hear, but do not always fully understand.
Teach us how to earn the respect of those around us by doing what is good and right.
Help us to exercise the responsibility that comes with this respect,
And to treat people with kindness, fairness and honesty.
Amen.

Don’t forget to book your school meals for next week by noon tomorrow!  Here is the menu choices for next week….

Occasionally we have to ‘swap’ a daily choice due to stock issues – which we are having to do tomorrow and Friday: tomorrow is now Fish Fingers and Chips and Friday is chicken goujons and potato wedges.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we started to think about our value of the half term – Thankfulness.  We learnt that there are other words (synonyms!) that also mean the same – can you remember any of them?

One was Gratitude – which the dictionary defines as “the feeling or quality of being grateful”. There are many things that we can be grateful for – I am very grateful that the school is staying open on Thursday when the country goes into ‘Lockdown’ again – as school is a safe place for all children to learn, as well as being a happy place where children can socialise and play with their friends.  School has a hollow, empty sound about it when children aren’t in it – it is children that bring schools to life, and it is children that are at the heart of a school.

Here is a short film to watch and think about why Gratitude (Thankfulness) is so important – and how feeling grateful can impact on so many different areas of your life – as well as your outlook on life!  Enjoy it and then have a chat about what it made you think about…

Here are some questions for you to ponder…

How would you describe the man at the beginning, before he met the elderly lady?

Why was he shocked when the lady grabbed hold of his arm?

Did the man change after his experience – and why?

What do you think the man was grateful for?

……as we come to our time of worship, have a quiet moment to reflect on the many things that you are grateful for, and how you can show your appreciation, or pass on the thankfulness.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
For families and friends . . .
We are thankful.
For the beauty of nature and the world around us . . .
We are thankful.
For all the things in life that we too often take for granted . . .
We are thankful.
Please help us to be willing to show our thanks – not only in what we say, but also in what we do – every single day . . .
We are thankful.
Amen.

Can we please ask parents of children in Class 3 and 4, who collect children at the end of the day from the cul-de-sac behind the row of houses on Station Rd, to please be considerate to residents, respect the 2m social distancing and stay clear of driveways and vehicles that may be parked in the road.

Good Morning, we are looking forwards to being back in school with all the children tomorrow morning.  We are really pleased that we are being allowed to stay open even though the country is approaching a second lockdown. It is important to remind everyone of some of the key procedures that we have in place to protect families within our community and also to keep the school open and functioning safely.

• Please ensure you maintain 2m distancing at the start and end of the day – this is so important to keep the class ‘bubbles’ apart.  If there happened to be a positive case of Covid19 within school, and the class ‘bubbles’ were not kept apart, then this could lead to school closure – which we do not want to happen.
• Please keep children at home if they are ill.
• If your child or a household member has a Covid19 test, please keep the school fully informed.
• We kindly re-emphasise that parents should only book Care Clube if absolutely essential – particularly now that we are entering a lockdown.
• During the upcoming lockdown, we feel it only right that children should only be collected by members of their own family/household.

Thank you so much for all your positive support with the procedures last half term – we felt that the school was operating in as safe a means as possible.  The children were absolutely amazing at learning the new routines, including a one-way system, 2m distancing and entering/exiting toilet routines. We are looking forward to another happy but busy, hard-working and productive half term.

We are getting frequent dog fouling on the school field, which is both unpleasant and potentially dangerous, as it can cause a range of diseases that make children very ill. Please can we remind residents that the school grounds are not to be used, and at no times are dogs to be allowed on them. Thank you for your support and co-operation.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Unfortunately we are unable to hold our ‘live’ virtual assembly this morning as Mrs Fox and myself are interviewing to find our new Class 1 Teacher on a Friday.  But we will be live tomorrow – when we need to be thinking of saying farewell to a very special member of staff – but shhhhhhhh – we won’t mention that today!

Today, I would like us to continue to think about the importance of learning from our mistakes!  Can you remember the word that describes this skill?  ……..it was RESILIENCE!  And it is such an important life skill that will help us all to succeed!  If we weren’t resilient we may never have learnt to walk……watch this clip of a toddler learning to walk…I wonder how many mistakes she made along the way?

How many times did this little girl fall down? How long do you think it took her to learn to walk?  Imagine if she had given up and not tried again!?

In our lives, we all face challenges. We all ‘stumble’ at some points; we all fall down and have to get up and keep on trying. There are times when we stumble in our school studies, when learning a new sport, when we need to give a presentation to a group of people, when we apply for a job, and when we interact and build friendships and relationships with others. When this happens, we have a choice to make – do we give up or do we get up and try again?

Do you remember me sharing how J K Rowling had her first Harry Potter book turned down by publishers 12 times?  She had many other challenges too – listen to her talk in this clip about how stumbling and failure were actually positives for her….listen and think about how she had to rebuild her life up from ‘rock bottom’….how she had to start again. Then think about how you might apply resilience in your life – at school or home, to help you succeed when things get tough.

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that we can learn from every difficult situation.
Please help us to be people of resilience.
Help us to get back up again when things go wrong.
Help us never to give up.
Help us to persevere.
Thank you for the courage and resilience of people who have shown us that stumbling need not mean failure,
For people we know and for inspirational figures who are role models to us.
We are thankful for their example.
Give us the courage and determination to use the power of ‘yet’.
Amen.

Well we are coming to the end of an era with Mrs Harman leaving us this Thursday for pastures new (Cornwall!) – she is going to be missed loads – particularly by me!  But we all would like to wish her well in with the future!

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Today I would like us to think about the Harvest and why it is so special.  Normally, at this time of year we would walk up to church and hold our Harvest Festival in our beautiful village church, led by Reverend Terry, but sadly we are not able to do that this year.

So instead we will celebrate together here instead – and I thought a Harvest Quiz would be a good idea!  The quiz will teach you about the history and importance of celebrating the Harvest Festival, and hopefully at the end everyone will have learnt something new!  It is relatively simple – you only need answer yes – or no!  So you could put your thumbs up for Yes – and thumbs down for No!

Q1. Is harvest festival named after the time when the crops have been harvested?

Q2. Is harvest festival a celebration of the food grown on the land?

Q3. In the UK, are harvest festivals in churches traditionally timed to coincide with a new moon appearing at the end of September or the start of October?

Q4. Do harvest festivals in churches give Christians a chance to thank God for the food we eat?

Q5. A long time ago, in the UK, was harvest festival celebrated in August?

Q6. During the 1800s, did farmers celebrate the end of the harvest by eating a harvest supper of roast chicken?

Q7. Did the first harvest festival in a church happen in the year 1743?

Q8. Did the first harvest festival in a church happen in Cornwall?

Q9. Hundreds of years ago, when the last farm worker brought in the last sheaf of corn, was that worker called the king of the harvest?

Q10. Are corn dollies traditionally made out of wheat?

Q11. To celebrate the harvest in Mexico, are the trees next to the church decorated?

Q12. In France, do harvest festivals celebrate the vegetable harvest?

Q13. Is the harvest festival celebrated in the Jewish festival of Sukkot?

Q14. In Alaska, is the harvest celebrated at the end of the cod-fishing season?

Q15. Do people in Barbados celebrate the sugar cane harvest?

How did you do?

Harvest Festival is an important celebration in the Christian calendar, and it helps us to be thankful for all the farmers and agricultural workers around the world that work so hard to ensure that we all have food on our plates.  It also helps us to appreciate how fortunate we are to have plentiful food, and helps remind us that there are many people who are not that fortunate.

If you would like to make any dry food donations to Bridgnorth Food Bank then please donate the Ditton Priors Post Office – particularly in the current situation, every donation really helps!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for the sunshine and the rain, which help crops to grow in the fields.
Thank you for all the farmers who grow, look after and harvest the food that we eat.
Thank you for all the adults who cook and provide us with food when we are hungry.
We pray for children in the world today who are hungry. Please help us to play our part in making the world a fairer place for all.
Amen.