The Chronicle

This week Junior 6 have been learning all about Sikhism. We looked at where in the world Sikhism began and learnt about the founder of this religion – Guru Nanak. We found out that he was the first of ten human Gurus (meaning teacher) and that his teachings included the belief that there is only one God and that food should be distributed to all. We followed this up by looking at the other human Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Holy Book, the last and only Guru after Guru Gobind Singh. We visited the Gurdwara in Leamington Spa and saw the Guru Granth Sahib, its location and then went to the Langar Hall for refreshments.  It was such a fantastic experience!

On Tuesday, Junior 5 were lucky enough to visit Birmingham Central Mosque as part of One World Week. There, we were greeted by our guide, Nasreen, who showed us the features of the outside of the mosque, including the dome and the minarets. Once inside, we spent time learning about the Islamic way of life: their beliefs, prayers, festivals and traditions. Nasreen was extremely knowledgeable and the children even got to see a copy of the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, which guides Muslims on how to live their lives.

Junior 4 have loved learning about Buddhism as part of One World Week, beginning on Monday with a lively session of Indian dancing in the hall. This left us all glowing and refreshed and J4R then researched and created both interesting and informative PowerPoints about Buddhism in their Computing lessons. The trip to a Buddhist Temple was the icing on the cake, and there pupils learnt even more about Buddhism, in addition to learning how to meditate. What a wonderful week for all!

Junior 3 excelled themselves this week as they had the honour of leading the Ash Wednesday Mass in the hall. The first time some children had all been together for a couple of years. All the children spoke beautifully with pace and meaning. We were very proud of each and every one. They were word-perfect and spoke with such dignity.

Our Egyptian topic has now come to an end and, ready for this Saturday’s Open Day, the display team have been busy working to showcase their work from the first part of the term. We think you’ll agree there are some amazing pieces to look at. Well done to all the pupils for completing a mini-project over the half-term too, on the Discovery Of the Tomb of Tutankhamun. Junior 3 have also got stuck into their new topic on ‘Rocks and Soils’ this week by sorting and comparing a wide range of different rocks. Our teachers were amazed at how many different types of rocks we already knew and how many different properties we could think of. Our favourites were definitely the smooth, shiny and expensive kind although the bubble basalt with all its tiny bubbly holes did fascinate us. We are looking forward to finding out how and why these rocks all form so differently in our next lesson.

Junior 2 have had such an exciting time celebrating One World Week and we have been working so hard in preparation for our visit to St Mary’s. At the beginning of the week, we learnt all about the history of Temple Balsall with the Knights Crusaders, the Knights Hospitallers, royalty and even a Lady, all contributing to the timeline of the church and manor. It was such a delight to join the children of Lady Katherine Leveson school for their church service on Thursday and everyone loved meeting Reverend Kathy, with her purple boots matching her pink hair! Kathy was a wonderful host who showed everyone around the church and then we all listened as Mr Louie rang the church bell! Our history topic has also begun this week with the ‘Great Plague of London’, much to the children’s delight as they began to learn about the gory events in London in 1665.

One World Week started for Junior 1 with some Indian dancing, helping to celebrate the diversity there is in the world. This was followed by a trip to St. Mary’s church in Warwick, which was fascinating with its old stained-glass windows, paintings, inscriptions and crypt underneath the church. We all learnt something new and exciting from the trip, which helped us explain the reason for stained-glass windows in our English lesson. Comparing and measuring length and height was our topic in mathematics. We also took the opportunity to use our maths in the church, comparing heights of the different statues and trying to guess how many Mr Kefalas’ would fit on top of each other to reach the highest point of the ceiling!

This week Reception have loved One World Week! We have been finding out about different cultures from around the world and the children themselves have explained how we may be different in some ways, but we are all human and equal. The children loved taking part in the Indian dancing workshop, visiting St Augustine’s church and seeing the puppet show! What a week!