April 22nd was the 70th annual Earth Day so in assemblies this week we thought about what we can do to look after our world…
For example…
What will you do?
In our upper school assembly today we learnt about the UK’s Covid-19 inquiry, which is trying to help us in the future by learning from the past. But the inquiry won’t just involve talking to politicians and doctors about the decisions made during the pandemic. Many children and young people, from aged 9, will be asked about their experiences back then.
So, in assembly children from Years 4 to 6 shared some of their memories from the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 when the school closed. It was a very difficult time for a lot of people and we talked about the challenges people faced. But we also reflected on some of the positive things that came from that time. We thought back to the things we missed most and realised we’d taken for granted.
We want to use this blog post to give our pupils a voice.
So, in class or at home with family, please leave a comment below telling us what you remember from that time. What were the hardest parts? What were you most pleased about when things started to get back to normal? Do you have any positive memories from that time?
In our lower school assembly today we learnt about the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi which took place at the weekend. We spotted similarities and differences between this religious celebration and the other special days we have learnt about in recent assemblies.
Having learnt about Eid and Holi in recent weeks, we discussed the Christian festival of Easter in our lower school assembly this week.
We shared the Easter story and then watched a video about what one family does to celebrate spring and new life at Easter.
We discussed our favourite things about this time of year. What do you love about spring arriving?
Matt
In this week’s lower school assembly we learnt about the Hindu festival of Holi which will be celebrated at the end of March this year.
The videos we watched helped us discuss which parts of the fesitval that we would enjoy.
It wasn’t just the paint throwing! Children liked the look of the food, the music and the dancing.
We talked about how we can be curious about and inspired by other people’s faith, families and traditions.
For example, our parent association’s Colour Run event is inspired by Holi! This year’s event is on May 24th!
In our Tuesday assemblies this week we learnt about Ramadan and Eid.
We watched CBeebies and Newsround videos to find out more but we also listened and learnt from pupils from Lawford Mead families who are fasting and planning to celebrate Eid al-Fitr.
We’ll be ready to wish them Eid Mubarak at the end of Ramadan!
In our Tuesday assemblies this week we learnt about an inspirational young hero, Sky Brown.
We watched two videos about Olympic medal winning skateboarder Sky Brown and her aspiration to compete in surfing at this year’s Paris Olympics, as well as skateboarding!
Sky became Team GB’s youngest ever Olympic medalist at Tokyo 2020. She takes pride in inspiring girls and young people to pursue their passions, try new things and strive to achieve their dreams.
Sky wasn’t able to qualify for surfing at Paris 2024 in the end but she said she is still proud of herself and will focus on achieving that goal in the 2028 Olympics instead. She says the challenges she goes through just motivate her more and make her successes feel even more special when they do come. So she is a great model of resilience as well as passion and resilience!
What do you think we can learn from Sky Brown?
Having talked about Shrove Tuesday in an assembly before the half term break, we learnt more about Ash Wednesday and Lent in our lower school assembly this week.
On Ash Wednesday many Christian churches hold services during which Christians are marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes. This is a sign of saying sorry to God for any wrong-doing.
We talked about times we have had to say sorry and how it can be hard to do sometimes. Forgiving people who say sorry to us can be hard too. But we all agreed that apologies and forgiveness can make us all feel better and move on in a positive way.
We shared the bible story of the prodigal son, which Jesus told to help people understand the importance of forgiveness.
In Key Stage 2 our pupils learn to speak German. But this week we celebrated International Mother Language Day and learnt about lots of other languages. Our bilingual and multilingual pupils became the teachers and taught their peers about their other languages and their family background.
For Tuesday’s lower school assembly we had a group of Lawford Mead mums visit younger pupils and speak to them about the languages they speak and the culture in countries they have lived in. Children learnt numbers and days of the week in Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese, French, Italian and Spanish!
What languages do you speak? What language would you like to learn?
In the last couple of weeks we have continued to prepare for Safer Internet Day in our assemblies. Younger children enjoyed and learned from the stories of Smartie the penguin and Digiduck. Older children have watched and discussed the brilliant new videos on the BBC website’s ‘Own It’ zone.
Today is actually the big day, Safer Internet Day 2024! We are celebrating across the school.
In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, we will read an interactive story exploring how changes online can make you feel. In this story, we meet Mo and Jaz who are two children that love playing games online. When something happens in their game that makes them feel worried, they realise they need to let an adult know. The children will identify trusted adults at home and at school they can talk to if they feel worried about something online. A video recording of the story is available here: https://youtu.be/X0ORbbSUb-A
In Years 3 to 6, we will participate in a 30-minute live lesson hosted by the BBC. Presented by tech expert Georgie Barrat, CBBC’s Rhys Stephenson and Blue Peter’s Abby Cook, this Live Lesson explores the technology of the future, including artificial intelligence, and how to navigate the online world safely. The children will then share their thoughts and ideas about how to stay safe online as a class. A recording of the live lesson will be available here.
Leave a comment below to share your Safer Internet Day reflections. What have you learnt and what advice would you give others?
