Worship Round Up
Friday 17th January 2025
Our weekly round-up aims to support our parents in the conversations that they are having at home with their children. Each week, we will share the themes of each of our worships and any resources that we have been using, such as: videos, books and music, to allow our parents to access these if they wish to. Our weekly worship is structured in the following way:
- Monday Worship Focus: Values Focus led by Mrs Evans who revisits one of our core values — Commitment, Courage and Love.
- Tuesday Worship Focus: 'Women in STEM’ led by class teachers;
- Wednesday Worship Focus: ‘What’s happening in the world this week?’ led by Mrs Griffin and focusing on key events that are taking place in the world currently;
- Thursday Worship Focus: Singing led by Mrs Walker;
- Friday Worship Focus: Celebration led by Mrs Gnanasri to celebrate the team points winners for the week and achievements from both inside and outside school with the pupils.
Monday's Worship
What is STEM?
In worship on Monday, we explored what the term 'STEM' means. We watched a video which explains that the term 'STEM' stands for science, technology, engineering and maths: STEM Video. We considered which activities in school we do that are linked to these areas and then thought about the different jobs that people can do that link to these too. We talked about the fact that in the past women were often discouraged from focusing on one of these areas - these were seen as areas that only men could succeed in. We talked about the message in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and that we will be focusing on some examples of women who have made a difference through their work in one of the 'STEM' areas demonstrating the strength and determination to prove that they could achieve where others thought they could not.
Tuesday's Worship
On Tuesday this week, we learned about Janaki Ammal. Janaki was a botanist from India. She studied cytogenetics at university in Michigan. Janaki was then able to support India by developing a hybrid sugarcane so that they would no longer need to import sugarcanes from other countries. However, there were people who felt that because she was a woman she should not be doing this type of work. Janaki then came to the UK and worked at Wisley. She planted many magnolias which can still be seen today. We reflected on how Janaki demonstrated our school values and did not give up despite the challenges she faced.
Wednesday's Worship
During Wednesday's worship , we focused on Martin Luther King and his message of the importance of having a dream. We remembered how he was an activist who championed for equal rights. We thought about what our own dreams were and shared them with each other. We then watched a very thought provoking video from a young child's perspective on the famous 'I Have a Dream' speech. It got us to consider that whilst a dream in itself did not change anything- it gave people hope. We discussed that this hope for change then drives us to be better. We spoke about how equality and equity were such important parts of creating a world of inclusion where everyone is accepted and allowed to flourish. We spoke about how we in our day to day lives could be inclusive and kind where we celebrate differences to unify us.
Thursday's Worship
This week, we practised two songs about the missions of our namesake, St Paul:
Paul Kept the Faith
Go Let's Go
We also sang an old favourite, Praise. We reminded ourselves how starting the morning by singing together in praise can make us feel great!
Friday's Worship
During Friday's worship, we shared the team points winners for the week - Year 2 for the class winners and Sapphires for the team points - awarded the 'hot chocolate awards' given for demonstrating love in our actions and celebrated some of our pupils' achievements from outside of school including another Blue Peter Badge. We started discussing how we can also earn our bronze SPARK book award soon! This term, we are reflecting on the importance of being aware of the impact we can have on one another in the school. We had some beautiful reflections on how we already are aware of people positively impacting us during the school day. We then looked at a story where Mojo the monster only thought about himself rather than the way he affected the others in his class ; when he stopped and reflected on his actions - he was shocked and began to see where he could improve. We thought about how we could show empathy and respect to have a positive impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_IcinAftuk
