Thank you to Belle and Oliver, two of our new Shed Monitors. They have been helping to decorate or new super-sized prayer tree in the reflection shed. We can’t wait to introduce our tree in assembly. Read a prayer, write a prayer, use the feeling bag to help you with ideas!
Sights, sounds … and the heady smell of incense; welcome to Congo and Yangtze classes, Mrs Rughani, and thank you so much for your amazing, multi-sensory talk on Hinduism. A practising Hindu, Mrs Rughani brought in a variety of Hindu artefacts to enhance her lesson. Following a ‘questions brainstorm’ from the children before the event, Mrs Rughani talked to the children about Hindu gods (and how similar they are to the Christian Trinity) and also about Hindu shrines.
The children made books to record their work in. They also drew some Hindu symbols and found out about their meanings. Lots of the children also enjoyed trying on the Rakhi bracelet, which has some similarities to the friendship bracelet, which most of the children are familiar with.
Thank you, Mrs Rughani, for a really interesting and informative talk.
Many thanks to Caleb (Year 5), who has organised a D Day event in our school Reflection Shed. The group planned and delivered a D Day celebration as something they wanted to do, following our school celebrations. The group wrote poems and prayers, found a Bible reading, did some artwork, then gave out an open invitation to all the children, over a lunchtime. The event was really well attended by all age groups. Thank you so much to everybody who was involved in this event!
Children in Danube class have been very excited, as they were the first to use the brand new key stage 1 bibles. We already have a set of class bibles for older children, but not for younger pupils. We were very fortunate to receive a grant from The Jerusalem Trust. The children are really enjoying the hardback covers and the bright, coloured pictures. The books are very accessible for younger readers. Mrs Wright was really pleased, as she was able to enhance her planned lesson on the Easter story with a whole class set of bibles. One of the children enjoyed reading his bible so much that he carried on reading it, during some free time at the end of the day. He even put a bookmark in ‘for next time’! Thanks to The Jerusalem Trust for this generous donation.
A newborn baby. A daisy. An amazing sunset. To some of us, these show the glory of God. To others, these wondrous things make us realise how small we are, but how big and amazing life is! Spirituality can be a tricky subject for adults, but we’ve been having a good think about it recently.
Children in Congo Class helped to prepare an assembly on Spirituality. First, the children talked about evidence of spirituality in school. Then they made posters. Here are some below.
In our assembly, we asked children to guess some of the signs we had thought of. Well done to the children who managed to think of the following; using our reflection shed, our Year 6 leavers’ assembly, our church services, especially harvest and having two minutes’ silence on Remembrance Day. How many more can you think of?
What a great Advent we have had at Fressingfield. As well as chocolate calendars (yummy) and an awesome Christingle celebration, we have really enjoyed the benefits of our MAF UK calendars – both online and as large posters and stickers. MAF UK is a super charity, which uses pilots to carry out missions all over the world. From delivering dentists to poorer countries to taking off-road wheelchairs to rugged rural areas in Africa, the people at MAF UK do amazing things. Each day, our classes opened a virtual page of their Advent calendar and listened to a story about another MAF UK adventure. We also heard bible stories and quotes which linked in to the MAF UK mission. We felt as if we were being entertained each day, as this was such a great resource. To find out more about this charity, take a look at the MAF UK website below.
What an utterly amazing effort from all our Fressingfield families! Our ‘optional holiday homework project’ has resulted in you all bringing into school literally dozens of the brightest, most original and certainly awe-inspiring Christian symbols we’ve seen in a long time! It will take us quite a while to put all of these up around school.
Many, many thanks to adults for supporting our children in this lovely project.
Please keep your eyes peeled when you’re next in school, and see how many of these symbols you can spot.
On one of the sunniest days of the year, a large group of children from Year 2 to Year 5 visited Cambridge Mosque. It was a longer journey than we were used to, but we were all very excited. When the driver told us we were nearly there, we were very confused. This was a narrow, but busy street, with shops, cafés, buses and taxis, as well as lots of people! But all was revealed a moment later, when our coach drew up in front of some high gates, a fountain and a clean, rectangular building, with Arabic writing near the top.
After greeting the volunteers, we began the day with a quick introduction, and then some creative activities. Some of us were decorating prayer mats, some were having a go at writing the shahada (a holy prayer or statement) in Arabic script and some were creating Islamic mathematical patterns. All of us were enjoying ourselves, and lunch came far too soon.
After lunch, our grand tour began by the fountain, in a very calm garden. When we entered the building, we all took off our shoes, the boys putting theirs on one side and the girls the other. Adult females (and some of our girls) also covered their heads and necks with scarves, to show respect.
As we stepped into the atrium, we realised the building looked more like a cathedral than a mosque. Huge columns, like trees, stretched up towards high, vaulted ceilings. Janaid, our guide, was incredibly knowledgeable, remembering lots of facts about how and why the Mosque was built. He also explained sone secrets about the patterns on the walls! We were allowed to visit the washing area (where Moslem people prepare themselves before they pray) and then the main prayer hall. We also heard a very sad but inspiring story about a young Moslem girl, who was very sick, but managed to raise thousands of pounds. This went towards a toddler room, with a glass front, where mums can keep an eye on their children and take part in the Moslem service at the same time.
As well as being a beautiful mosque, this building is also incredibly environmentally friendly. Janaid explained how water from the wash area is reused to water the garden. The mosque is also a building that can keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter, at very little cost compared with older buildings.
One of the things we enjoyed most about our visit was how warm and friendly everybody was. This was an experience we will remember for a long time. Thank you to all the children who attended this trip. Your respectful behaviour, curiosity and enthusiasm made us all proud!
Thank you to every child in school who has contributed to our Helping Rainbow. What a great way to begin our new assembly theme! And thank you to the Year 4 RE monitors, who remember to bring our prayer box into assembly. And thank you if you have put in an idea for a prayer!
Children in Congo Class have been asking BIG questions in their recent work on Hinduism. They have been thinking about the traditional game, Snakes & Ladders, which reflects Hindu belief of karma. Good choices have good results, and a good Hindu person will be aiming to ‘live the right way’ in order to eventually achieve Moksha. The children also thought about how Snakes & Ladders might reflect their own daily lives.
The children also learned about Ghandi and his spiritualism. They then asked themselves, Was he a good character and, if so, why?
Fressingfield CofE Primary School, School Lane, Fressingfield, Eye, Suffolk IP21 5RU
Telephone: 01379 586 393
Email: office@fressingfieldprimary.org.uk
Fressingfield CofE Primary School is part of the All Saints Schools Trust
All Saints Schools Trust. A charitable company limited by guarantee.
Registered in England and Wales. Company Number: 11216388
© Copyright Fressingfield CofE Primary School 2021
Designed, produced, hosted & maintained by Creative Corner
