We are starting to see the detail being added to the features on our beautiful mural – have a look at the owl and the whale…..

We’ve got an up close panoramic photo of our school mural after 3 days….can’t wait to see how it continues to develop!

What a difference 3 hours makes!

We thought you might like to see how the school mural is developing – here it is at the end of Day 1 and we can already see the owl and whale!  Can you spot the rainbow?

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we started to think about the meaning of Forgiveness – can you remember what it means?  …… we said it can be about giving people a second chance.  In the Bible story yesterday, God gave Jonah a second chance even though he had disobeyed Him.

Today I want you to have a look at this list of mistakes:-

Have a think about them and discuss and I wonder if you can put them in an order from the biggest (or most severe) to the smallest (most trivial)? (Here is a powerpoint which you can use to manipulate the mistakes…List of Mistakes)

You might have different ideas to your friends, and of course it also depends on what the consequences of the mistakes are!

Have a think now – have you made any of those mistakes?  And if so what happened?

In the Bible, in the New Testament Book of Acts, there is a man called Saul who made some very serious mistakes!  Saul was a very clever and learned Jewish man who knew all about God’s laws and had spent all his life trying to keep them. He didn’t kill, he didn’t steal, he wasn’t jealous of what his neighbour had, he went to church regularly and gave money to the poor. In fact he was a very highly respected man. But Saul did not like or believe in Jesus.  Watch what happens and see if you can spot any signs of forgiveness…

What a mean man Saul was!  He did some horrible things, and hurt people, even going against Jesus!  But yet, God forgave him – I wonder why?  And what happened after Saul was forgiven?   All mistakes can be forgiven by God.

As you go through the week, and if things go wrong – someone upsets you, or you make a mistake – try practising forgiveness, and see what happens!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that you understand us.
Thank you that you are divine and that you are able to forgive.
Thank you for the story of Saul.
Thank you that you forgave his mistake
and that you changed him into someone who blessed many other people.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

We have been thinking about resilience this week – and today I have got another way of understanding what this means!  Can you answer this question?

Maybe your teacher can try!?!  No, of course you can’t – it just bounces back!  Some materials are able to bounce back after they have been bent or stretched.People who can bounce back when things have happened to them are known as…

If you can bounce back quickly from difficulties and tough situations then you are resilient.  Can you think of a time when you’ve had a problem but you’ve bounced back?

Today I have a story about a bird that has resilience – a swallow called Savannah….

The next time you are having a tough time, remember the story of the
swallow. Bounce back and try again!  Here are 10 top tips to help you to bounce back!

TOP TIPS for RESILIENCE

Laugh about it
Take a break
Work hard
Ask for help
Stay positive – believe in yourself
Accept mistakes – everybody makes them
Try again
Be thankful
Don’t make a problem bigger than it really is
Be flexible – be bendy!
Stay calm

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you for beautiful swallows
Thank you that they remind us of the beauty of your creation.
Thank you for the lessons that they teach us.
Please help us when things are hard.
Help us to share our problems with others so that we can ‘bounce back’.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we had a think about how we all stumble at times – and how important it is that we pick ourselves up and persevere in order to succeed.  Sometimes it isn’t that easy though – as when things go wrong, or your plans are setback it is easy to get down about it and lose your motivation.

Today I want us to think about those stumbles – about when something sets you back and you come up against a problem, or when your plans go wrong, or you find something challenging.  I wonder if we can learn something from them?  Are setbacks always a bad thing?  Have a look at this picture and have a think about each statement….can you think of any examples when a setback actually helped you?

Everyone goes through ups and downs in life – and it’s through learning how to manage  the ‘downs’ (known as resilience) that helps us to cope better with difficulties.

Have a watch of this film called Boundin’ and think about where you can see resilience….

Poor sheep – he was all embarrassed and shy because he had been sheared – he thought he wasn’t special any more and hid.  But what happened?

In the words of the Jackaloupe…”Sometimes you’re up – and sometimes you’re down – when you find yourselves down, then just look around…..get your head in the right place and then you’re complete”.  Sometimes it’s not that easy to get your ‘head in the right place’ though – the sheep had help.  How did the Jackloupe help?

This week we are going to continue to think about resilience, and how we can learn to be more resilient to help us overcome difficulties.

Prayer of the Day

Dear Lord,
sometimes it’s hard to keep trying.
It’s hard when things are tough
or when everything seems to be going wrong.
Please help us never to give up
but always to persevere.
Please help us to be people who encourage others to keep trying
as we all aim for different goals in life.
Thank you that you never give up on us.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

It is so lovely having everyone back in school again – and yesterday we shared what we had been looking forward to: seeing our friends, playing together, learning together.

Today I want us to think about what it’s like when we stumble…have a look at this picture…

Have you ever had a stumble and grazed your knee and needed a sticking plaster?  Have any of you even done more damage, and maybe broken a bone?  What were you doing when this happened to you?

Learning to walk, run and ride a bike are all skills that involve some element of falling or stumbling.  Have a watch of this video and count the number of times that the baby stumbles….

I counted 12 times…..but I also noticed she was always smiling and she kept on trying! Sometimes, the child wobbled, but then regained her balance. Sometimes, someone helped her by holding her hand. And although she achieves the aim of walking in the end, the process involved falling . . . getting up . . . falling . . . getting up . . . until eventually, she could walk unaided.

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 recognise this person?

It’s Colonel Sanders from KFC! Stumbling was something that Colonel Sanders knew a lot about; he had created a recipe for fried chicken that he wanted to share with others and he had ambitions to start a business based on his recipe. At the age of 65, he travelled to houses and restaurants all over his local area. He wanted to partner with someone to help promote his chicken recipe. However, he was met with little enthusiasm and his idea was rejected many times before he heard his first ‘yes’.

However, it is from these beginnings that the international brand of KFC was founded. Colonel Sanders stumbled many times before achieving his dream. Each time, he decided not to give up, but to carry on, showing resilience and determination.

We all stumble at times, and quite often when learning new things – so school is somewhere that lots of stumbles happen!  They’re normal – and actually quite important – as long as we pick ourselves up! Setbacks are part of the life and learning and to succeed we need to choose to embrace them and learn from them.

Have a listen to this video of J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, speaking to students graduating at Harvard University in 2008 when she was awarded an honorary degree and listen to what she says about stumbling and failure….

Let’s take a moment to reflect upon something that we are finding difficult to master at the moment. This could be a particular skill or situation, a relationship that we are finding tricky or any number of different issues and setbacks.

Let’s take a moment to consider that this area of stumbling could make us stronger, more resilient and more determined. Can we see the benefits of stumbling in this particular situation?

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.

Class 1 have settled in so well, and impressed Mrs Fox with how well they remembered the routines that they are now thoroughly enjoying their maths!

It was so lovely this morning when we welcomed all the children back to school – lot’s of smiles and enthusiasm!  The school is alive with the sound of chatter and laughs and everyone has settled back into the routines brilliantly!

We thought parents might like to see their children in class in case you are missing them, as you have had 24/7 for 10 weeks with them – and one bright spark shared this pearl of wisdom in our live assembly today when asked what it was like being back in school: “It is nice to be able to see other people than your family!”

Right Class 3 and 4 – we are off to visit the actual rooms that Winston Churchill and his government used to plan and oversee World war 2 from – and as you see it today is exactly how it was left at the end of the war!  Here we are….

Careful down the steps as we head underground to the actual rooms –

We’ve arrived at London Zoo – come on Class 1 and 2 – let’s see what animals we can find!  This tour takes half an hour but we will get to see loads!

Wasn’t that great!  Hang on – where is Mrs Fox???  Has anyone seen her??

Mrs Foxxxxxxx…………………

Oh no – Mrs Fox has walked into the Lion’s Enclosure by mistake – quick get the zookeepers!!!

That was delicious – and those scones were just huge!  We definitely need to go for a walk now – so let’s head off to Covent Garden – as it is such a fascinating place to explore!  Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin’s Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, itself known as “Covent Garden”.

Click the picture and enjoy the self guided, narrated tour so don’t get lost and meet back at Covent Garden Tube Station at 14:30 for the next part of the trip!

Wow – there was so much to see – well done for getting to Covent Garden Tube Station for the next part of the day!

Right – line up behind Mollie and listen in to what’s happening next!

This is where we split up – and Class 1 and 2 catch the underground and head off to London Zoo, whilst Class 3 and 4 are catching the underground and heading off to the Cabinet War Rooms… mind the gap!!!

To get to Covent Garden we need to walk down Fleet Street first,

There are some fascinating buildings along Fleet Street..

This is where the Daily Express is based – it’s very modern!

This is building houses Prince Henry’s Rooms and is one of the few surviving buildings in the City of London dating from before the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Let’s see what else we can find…

Look where we have ended up at…..

It’s the Savoy Hotel – shall we go in for afternoon tea???  Woahhh – where have Miss Greenan and Mrs Godfrey rushed off too…????

Ahhh…….afternoon tea of course!!!!

Phew – we’ve made it just on time!  Right, in we go….

What a beautiful cathedral – absolutely stunning!  Did you enjoy exploring it?

Right – time to line up back in classes for a head count…1,2,3,4,5……..104,105,106…..hang on there are 3 children missing!!!  Who is missing?  Teachers can you check names please…..so we have lost Mollie, Lexi and Archie – where could they be?!?

Oh no – how did they get up there in the Whispering Gallery!!  Come down Molly, Archie and Lexi – we need to get going to Covent Garden!!

Right – time to get ready to continue our tour – make sure you have got all your belongings – we are off to St Paul’s Cathedral!  To get there we are walking through the financial centre, called the City of London – keep your eyes out for some fascinating architecture!

First of all we are walking past a building called “The Gherkin” – can you see why it gets it’s name!?

gherkins……

Keep moving though, as we don’t want to be late!  Next we walk past Lloyds of London, the centre for the London Insurance business…

Look how tall it is – what do you think the outside is made of?

Next we go past a more traditional building – the Bank of England…

before arriving at St Paul’s Cathedral.

…isn’t it grand!!!  Let’s go in and find out all about it!  Remember we must be quiet and respectful!

We are so looking forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday morning!  The school has been thoroughly cleaned and tidied, we have reviewed our curriculum the teachers are all planned and ready and we are all raring to get back to ‘normal’!

I have attached here the start and end of day procedures as a reminder:-

End of the Day Procedures

Start of Day Procedures

Please can we remind parents of the importance of sticking to the 2m social distancing, and of keeping younger siblings with you at drop off and pick up. So far we have not had to close any classes due to Covid, and the worst case scenario is if we get a positive case and there has been mixing we might have to close more than one bubble or even the whole school and return to remote learning – and we really do not want to have to do this!

Teachers will be letting you know which days are PE days so that children can come to school in their PE uniform (dark coloured tracksuits please), and can we remind parents that children JUST need a packed lunch (if not having a school meal), a waterbottle and a reading book in ONE bag, as well as their waterproof coat.  Just one bag as there really isn’t space for more in the classrooms.

We are very aware that non-essential shops are closed, and that this includes shoe shops.  If your child’s school shoes still fit then please can they were them.  If they do not, then children can wear clean, sensible shoes or trainers (not boots/Uggs please).

Have a restful and enjoyable weekend and we very much look forwards to seeing you next week!

Right – after all that excitement I think it is time for lunch – so let’s head over to Tower Hill Garden’s for a picnic – don’t forget your packed lunch!

Oh no – who left that litter there!!

Right – best behaviour Brown Clee, as we are heading inside the Tower of London for a guided tour – we don’t want to get locked up!

Oh no – what have you done Chloe and Ida – you’ve been locked up in the White Tower!  I will go and talk to the Beefeater and see if he will release you!

Noooo – Ruby – don’t do that!!!  Right – quick everyone – it is time to leave!!!