Ashlyn is very much a part of our school community even though she lives almost 2000 miles away in the Philippines. Together as a school we sponsor her learning and well-being through the charity Compassion UK. Each class takes it in turn to host a fundraising event to meet the cost of sponsorship. We also make sure Ashlyn knows she is one of us by writing to her. Each class has taken it in turns to help raise money to fund her education. So far we have held an unwanted gift sale, a bake sale and a mufti day to celebrate her birthday. 

Prayer Wall

A very busy part of our school is the Prayer Wall. The whole school community contributes to this by writing prayers for others or simply thanking God for ways that they feel God has blessed them.

Prayer Corners

Every classroom has a prayer corner. These are places where children have the opportunity to pause, reflect and pray as they want or need to. They are therefore interactive in character and also explore the Christian Value of the half term.

Count Your Blessings for Lent 2019

At West Pennard we mark the church calendar and this was the case in Lent  when we counted our blessings each day by thinking about things such as the person or colour we were thankful for. 

Advent

We had our first Prayer Space afternoons in the Autumn Term. The children each had the opportunity to have a go at a variety of activities. See some of the outcomes below... 

Christmas Tree

One of the reasons why Christmas is so special is that we get to spend time with people we love.

The children could take a star and write on it the name of someone they wouldn't be able to spend Christmas with this year.

They took a Haribo tree (just one!) and as they ate it, they quietly thought about that person. They were invited to talk to God about them if they wished.

Cardboard Boxes

When Mary and Joseph got to Bethlehem there was nowhere for them to stay. Around the world today, families like ours live in cardboard boxes. The children could quietly sit inside one. They thought about how they would feel if this was their home? They wrote their thoughts about this on the boxes.

Thank you Play-doh

Christmas gives us many reasons to be grateful.

Children were invited to use the Play-doh to make the things that they are grateful for.

They had to take care not to mix the colours!

Stars

God put a special star in the sky to guide the wise men to see Baby Jesus.

The children were invited to wind some wool around one of the card stars.

As they wound they were invited to think about the things that they are looking forward to or where they feel they need guidance.

They were invited, if they wished to talk to God about this.

Scratch Art

At Christmas we remember that Jesus is the Light of the World.

The children were invited to use a sheet of black card and to scratch out what this means to them.

They were invited to scratch /draw where Jesus' coming as ‘light’ makes a difference.

Angels

God sent angels to shepherds with good news that changed history. They were amazed at both seeing angels and their message …wow!

The children were invited to choose an angel and write on it what makes them go wow…and to maybe share it quietly with God as they wrote.

Peer Mentoring

At West Pennard we are proud that some of our Year 6 children have now trained to be

Peer Mentors.

Their role is

• To be a role model around the school
• To help people who are sad
• To make the playground an even happier place
• To be impartial when pupils fall out
• To help sort out problems

The type of help they offer is

• Helping children who fall out without taking sides
• Inspiring others to help one another
• Offering practical help e.g. keeping injured children company, teach younger children new games to play.
• To listen when it feels like no one else does

Peer Mentors are always willing to make a difference. They can be easily found as they wear gold PM badges.