Art work in KS2 part 1

I have been invited to year 3 and year 5 over the last week or so to see some amazing sketching taking place. They have clearly been inspired and the quality of drawing is exemplary.

So for starters here are the year 5 Viking long ships.

A time to wait

Advent

Waiting is never the easiest thing to do, counting the minutes, hours or days until something planned and hoped for finally arrives. As a child, waiting for the summer holidays, was at times excruciating. The weeks seemed to slow down as if they were deliberately making me endure for longer. Christmas morning, was always something I was impatient for to arrive. I knew if I slept it would come sooner, but it seemed that sleep was the last thing my excited body wanted to do!

Waiting, counting things down, looking for what is round the corner, is one of the facts of life. We are, it would seem, always waiting for something. But not always are we confident that it will come. The promise of the hottest summer on record, never seems to fully materialise, the chance of snow on Christmas day, remains just that , a chance. Yet in some ways  it is more likely to rain than snow.

Waiting; without confidence that something will happen. That a promise made will be fulfilled, is a futile and difficult challenge. But what if the thing we wait for is guaranteed, that’s different. My birthday will arrive, Christmas day will happen, I will get my summer break and despite my futile attempts to ignore it – my alarm will go off tomorrow and I will not be able to turn over and ignore it!

The wise men had been waiting for as long as they could remember. Searching the sky for a special star, that would herald the birth of a new King. They had no doubt that this promise would be fulfilled, they were just missing the details about the time. The place of birth was in no doubt. The moment that the star appeared must have been one of incredible excitement, but it also involved a choice. What to do now? To leave their homes, commit to travelling for many weeks, following a star! Not your everyday choice. But choose to follow they did, their waiting wasn’t over, but the clock was ticking and the destination was clear.

As we enter a time of advent the clock is also ticking for us. But we know the destination and we know what was awaiting these travellers. Our choice is to take the time to look beyond the commercial gloss that our modern world has placed over the story of the first nativity. The bright lights shine in our towns and cities, but to what do they point to? 

As we move towards Christmas we will be taking the time to consider this and we look at the promises that God had made about this child. What they meant for those who waited and what they mean for us today. For Advent is all about looking to the one who came as a babe in arms, was born in a manger, celebrated by angels, forced to be a refugee and yet proclaimed himself to be the light of the world. That was something certainly worth waiting for.

A promise was made

A promise was made

And many waited for it

Waiting in hope

Waiting in confidence

That one day it would happen 

That a son would be born

That a saviour would come

The one who was the Word

The origin of life

Would chose to step down

To enter darkness

 to bring light

The promise would be fulfilled 

So that all would know

That He who sent Him 

Was faithful and true

That a new way had come 

To cross the great divide

And that love was its purpose 

And the light would be our guide.

The question is?

This week we have been focusing on the concept of INCARNATION and how important this is to the Christian faith. As Christmas approached there are lots of questions to ask about what this very special celebration means, what its significance is and how is it still relevant some 2,000 years later.

So Mrs Marlow's class got to grips with these questions by creating their own games. A very imaginative way to engage and seek answers to these very important questions.

St John's architects group

This week, our newly formed architects group, had the chance to visit rg+p architects in town to learn more about what being an architect involves. The group have come together to work on a project helping to design the church grounds. Over the coming weeks they will be working with the church architect to look at all aspects of the design and planning process. It's an amazing opportunity.

We were therefore thrilled to be invited by rg+p to visit their offices to learn about all the different disciplines involved in bringing a project together. During our visit we learnt about the different roles that exist in the team, from the quantity surveyor to landscape designer. We even got to talk to the company's Drone pilot!
 

In addition we got to explore how to use Sketchup and take on the challenge of building a bridge  with the help of the specialists themselves. Testing them was great fun.

It was a fantastic afternoon that provided a great back drop to the first group meeting this afternoon.

Many thanks to everyone who made us feel so welcome, talked to us with enthusiasm about their role and contribution to each project and for letting us have a glimpse into the real world of architecture. It was an afternoon to remember.