Good Morning Brown Clee!

Here we are in the last half term of this academic year. The sun is shining and we want everyone to enjoy the next 6 weeks – but to do that we need your help!  We need everyone to work together, to support each other and to encourage each other to be the best we can be!  Yesterday we talked about the importance of thinking before we speak – as we know that our words can cause problems, can hurt people and can interrupt learning.  To help us we discussed the acronym….

Today I have a question for you about weapons – something that we don’t usually talk about in school, as weapons are dangerous and hurtful tools. My question is…..‘What do you think is the world’s most dangerous weapon?’………

……I wonder what your answer is?  Would it be a gun, a sword, a bow and arrow, a nuclear weapon, a bomb or maybe a hand grenade.  What if I said that I think the world’s most dangerous weapon is actually right here in your classroom? What do you think it is?

Here are some clues….

– everyone has this weapon
– we can all choose when to use it
– we can clean this weapon
– this weapon helps us with speaking, reading, eating and tasting our food.

It is our tongue!  Our tongues can cause so much damage – especially as we all have one!  I want you to watch the following video about Morph and Chas, who featured in a 1980s BBC art show called Take Hart. Morph is made of terracotta clay and his best friend, Chas, is made of cream-coloured clay. They do not talk coherently, but you can guess how they’re feeling from their tone of voice and body language.

I want you to watch the video very carefully because I will be asking questions about it afterwards.

What did you notice about Morph and Chas?  – They are both friends, but Chas can’t help but tease Morph – and how does this make Morph feel?

How did you know that Chas was trying to wind up Morph at the start? (Answer: Chas was laughing and pointing at Morph)
– How did Morph respond? (Answer: Morph sounded cross and he shook his fist at Chas)
– How was Morph feeling when he first saw the lady and gave her the flowers? (Answer: embarrassed and shy)
– How can you tell that Morph was feeling this way? (Answer: he looked away from the lady and looked at the floor, his leg pointed away from her and he had trouble looking at her when he gave her the flowers)
– How does Morph react when Chas continues to wind him up? (Answer: Morph gives the flowers to the lady and then goes over to Chas and threatens to hit him. Morph ends up in the box with Chas and, although we can’t see them, they are probably fighting due to the sounds that we can hear and the way that the box is moving)
– Who was at fault: Morph or Chas? (Answer: they both were because Chas kicked things off by mocking Morph, but Morph made things worse by fighting with Chas)
– What should Morph and Chas have done? (Answer: Chas shouldn’t have wound up Morph; Morph should have ignored Chas and not started fighting with him in the box)

So why do you think that I believe the tongue is the most powerful weapon?

If we speak to people in an unkind, hurtful way, it is likely to cause an unkind, mean response, and things can escalate – it can lead to arguments and squabbles with our friends. Sometimes, things that we say can result in a friend behaving meanly or encourage a group of children to be mean to another child. Our words are powerful and make a difference…. so we need to THINK before we speak!

Prayer of the Day

Dear God,
We know that words have power.
Please help us today to use our words carefully.
Help us to encourage each other and build each other up.
Please help us never to be unkind or hurt people with our words.
Amen.