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.

We are delighted to inform you that we have appointed a new School Administrator to start  after half term.  Mrs Mandy Lloyd will be in the office to assist with all parental queries and School Administration – she is very experienced and we are looking forwards to welcoming her aboard the Brown Clee team!

We also have appointed Mrs Steph Boxall as our co-Care Club Superviser, working alongside Mrs Moreton in providing the before school and after school wrap-around care.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

Yesterday we thought about how important it is to develop the skill of listening – not just hearing, but actually actively listening and taking on board what you are listening to!  This is a skill that is particularly important in school – as without actively listening and THINKING about what we hear, we are unable to learn.

Today I want us to think about our own responsibility for learning and how we must learn to help ourselves with the learning process – as teachers will do the teaching, but the learning itself comes down to you, the Learner.  Your teacher will now read out a story about a Builder – use your active listening skills and have a think about what message you can pick from the story.

Bill had been in the carpentry trade for 50 years, ever since he left school as a young lad of 15. He had always been good with his hands and, from as far back as he could remember, he had always wanted to be a carpenter. He had learned his trade in a small joiner’s shop, and had spent his working life in the house-building business. He was now 65 years old and ready to retire. Bill planned to finish his work this month.
‘It’s time to hang up my tools and spend more time in the garden and with my grandchildren,’ he told Mr Towers, his employer for the last 40 years and his very good friend. Bill knew that he would miss his pay cheques, but he and his wife would get by. It was time to call it a day.
Mr Towers was very sorry to see Bill go. He had been a great worker. ‘Please, Bill, will you work on just one more house, as a personal favour?’ he asked.
‘All right,’ Bill said, and began this last job. Mr Towers didn’t tell him who owned the house that he was working on.

As time went by, it was clear that his heart was not in his work. He cut corners, and resorted to shoddy workmanship and inferior materials. He didn’t take the same time or care that he usually took. It was a sad way for such a skilful man to end his career.
When Bill had finished his work, Mr Towers came to inspect the house. Then, to Bill’s surprise, he handed Bill the key to the front door. ‘This house is for you, Bill,’ he said. ‘It’s my gift to you for all your years of service.’

Imagine Bill’s surprise, and shock! What a shame! If only Bill had known that he was working on his own house, he might have done it all so differently! Now he had to live in a home with all the little mistakes, poor materials and short cuts that only he knew about.

What did you think about whilst listening to the story? …..

The story is a bit like our lives. Every day, we are building something very important: our life. Sometimes, we put our very best efforts into what we do….sometimes we don’t and get distracted, lose motivation or concentration….sometimes we don’t always give our work our best effort. We become a bit slack and we make do with less than the best, just like Bill.
It is so important to build our lives wisely, remembering that it is the only life we will ever build, and your time in primary school are where you are building your foundations for your futures – so as you go through the day and the weeks ahead, focus on what you can do to ensure that you are trying your best at all times!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
I would like my life to be built on good, strong foundations.
I would like to have a life that I can be proud of.
Help me today to make wise choices, to have the right attitude and to do my best.
Amen.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

This week I would like us to think about how important listening is!  We have 2 ears and only 1 mouth – so surely that must mean that listening is twice as important as talking!?

Imagine what the world would be like if we couldn’t hear anything?  If there were no sounds?  Maybe have a go now, and close your eyes – what can you hear in school?

The ability to hear is so special and we learn so much from our ability to listen – particularly in school!  School is a place full of sounds – talking, singing, music, clapping, cheering and sometimes shouting (outside only please!)  But if we couldn’t hear imagine how much more difficult it would be to learn?

Watch this video about the different ways that we can listen – and think about how important it is that we listen in school….

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Help us to be good listeners.
Help us to listen to our friends.
Help us to listen to our teachers.
Hep us to listen at home and at school.
Help us to listen to you.
Help us to learn the importance of sometimes being quiet and still.
Amen.

During the lockdown and summer term, we occasionally used Facebook and Facebook Messenger to communicate with parents, as it proved to be an easily accessible form of communication. However this was a response to exceptional circumstances. Now that schools have reopened, we are returning to the normal formal means of home/school communication.

Our main source of information from school to home, is via the School Website on the School News and Class News pages and it is really helpful for parents to subscribe to these pages as that way you will receive an email and/or notification each time a news item is posted.  This saves you having to log onto the website and search for information.  The website will also push some news to the school’s Twitter and Facebook pages for information only.

This is also timely to remind parents that school staff are unable to connect and communicate with parents or children via their personal Facebook pages or other social media. Staff are unable to accept ‘friend’ requests from parents and children,  in line with E-safety guidance. All home to school communication should be via official school channels such as telephone, email (admin@brownclee.shropshire.sch.uk or class email addresses) or letter. You can find further information about this in the safeguarding and e-safety policies in the policies section on our website.

I am sure you understand the reasons for this, but if you have any questions please let me know.

Can we please remind parents of the importance of each child bringing a named drinking bottle full of water (no juice or squash!) each day.  The children are not allowed to access the water fountain and so this is their only source of drinking water, and it is so important that children stay hydrated.

Good Morning Brown Clee!

I hope you all had a good weekend – despite the rather soggy, damp, windy weather!

We have been thinking about the word perseverance, and what it means – and how being able to persevere is such an important skill – whether it is with learning a new skill, over-coming a challenge or remembering to do the little things, like listen, follow instructions (the first time!) and be polite!

Our lives are so busy – in and out of school – we can often forget to take care of our interactions with other people.  I can see and hear it in school at times – a forgotten please or thank-you, or a careless word that causes unintentional hurt.

So today I want to focus on how important it is to remember to be kind to other people. By being kind, and saying nice things to each other, doing kind deeds for each other, we are showing respect – and we already know how important RESPECT is! I am a strong believer that kindness is contagious!  The more you show people kindness, they more they show it back!  Here is a short video which shows how acts of kindness can really make a huge difference to the world you live in!

“When we share acts of kindness, we colour our world!” – what do you think this might mean??   For me, it means that we can make our world a nicer place to live by being kind – that by being kind to people it makes people feel happier and it encourages more people to be kind.  Imagine if we could colour the whole world kind?

Today I am giving you a challenge!  See if you can add some colour as you go around school – give someone a smile, say something nice, hold a door open, say thank you – offer someone help!  See what happens afterwards!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
Thank you that we can be kind to one another.
Thank you for the teachers and families who teach us why we need to be kind.
Thank you, God, for the kindness and love that you show us.
Please help us to forgive our friends for any fallings-out.
Please help us always to give people a second chance.
Please help us to say sorry and start again.
Amen.