Keep up to date with all that's happening!

• What does it mean to be British?

  Wed 27 Feb 2019
  Today, we had a special assembly focussing on 'what it means to be British?'. We discussed why we are so special. The children were challenged on their perceptions of British and what it means to be a British citizen.

  We discussed how God created us in his image. We discussed how everyone in the world is similar - we are humans, we have feelings, we have emotions, we are all born and eventually die etc. However, we are ALL different. The children were eager to discuss why we are unique and used our knowledge from our belief boulevard day to discuss how people are NOT all equal. We have some people who have no home, they have limited food and have very few belongings. We are similar because we are humans, but we do not have the same rights and are treated unequally.

  The children were introduced to the colour of people's skin and how religion, or being British, doesn't rely on the colour of people's skin. We challenged the perception of being British and being a Christian. We discussed how religion, language and appearance does not influence whether we are British or not. We discussed that we can describe people by the colour of their skin and it is very important to do so in certain circumstances - like when reporting to the police.

  However - there are some words which are NOT kind and we do not use them. The children were challenged to words used in the past often in a derogatory way towards people from different cultural backgrounds and what that meant. Similarly, words used in the past to describe mixed race people is also not acceptable - mixed race is.

  We focused on how we can show respect to others, and sometimes we use words that we do not fully understand. We need to be responsible for how we make other people feel and by following our British Values. We have a choice and make a choice every single day. We decide how we are going to make the people around us feel.

  We are all similar - we are a community; we are a family; we are a school family; we are God's family.

  The children were so engaged and eager to share their thoughts and opinions. It was extremely useful and an interesting way to think about how we follow British values and try to ensure everyone is happy and loved, regardless of gender, colour or religion.

  

• Same but different workshop

  Wed 27 Feb 2019
  Today we had a workshop with a special lady called Refat.

  The children were given a selection of cards to look at in groups. The cards had images on which the children needed to look at and decide what they could see. We looked at optical illusions and it was really interesting to here what the children could see, especially with the blue or gold dress!

  The children realised that although we are similar (humans) we all see things differently.
  When something is pointed out to you, it is easy to see or to believe. But when we need to find out the true meaning, it is sometimes too time consuming and we believe what others say. It doesn't matter how many times we hear something, it may still not alter our perception. Our perceptions are altered by our emotions - if we are feeling down and someone says something unkind, we can be made to feel extremely upset. However, if we are feeling happy and someone says unkind things, it doesn't effect us as much.

  The children were then asked 'what is a terrorist?'. They wrote a definition on a post it note and handed it in. They were then given a sheet of different people. They were asked 'who is the terrorist on the sheet?' The children discussed their thoughts and opinions. It was extremely interesting to hear their views. We discussed the view of 'it cannot be them because they look like a businessman' and 'it must be her because she's covered up her face'.

  After break, we identified the people - most of the people were all 'normal' people. Some were victims of war, or terrorist attacks, some were university students, some were parents, some were

  They discussed how 'C' was a terrorist - he was a member of the IRA - these people believed that the government did lots of unkind things and they decided that they wanted to get revenge. He was 'The Brighton Bomber' and he was targeting the Prime Minister at the time. The IRA also targeted Manchester in 1996 - the drove a truck near to the Arndale Centre. Luckily no one was killed - but there were lots of injuries, but no deaths.

  We then discussed the Manchester Arena Bombing. The bomber was actually like us - he went to school, he had a family, he spent time with his friends. We discussed how our lives affect how we behave and act. Something must have happened for him to decide that it was ok to hurt the people who we are taught to look after. We know that we don't like everyone in the world, and that's ok, but we shouldn't think that it is ever ok to hurt someone. We need to be civil and have a civilised society. In the future, when we have a job, there will always be people who we don't like, or have disagreement with.

  From the dreadful events, we did learn a lot about he attacker. But we do not want to focus on him - the one that made an awful decision. We want to focus on those people who helped - those kind and thoughtful human beings. The ones who helped people be safe, opening their doors and welcoming in strangers to ensure that they were safe - the decent ones.

  We returned to the people on our sheets - many of the people listed were everyday people with no significant reason than to be anything other than just that and how  our perceptions from what we learn from media and internet sources can affect our perception of someone. Within every group there will be people who are not very nice - this is not because of their group, religion, language, or colour of skin, but because they chose to do unkind things. We need to remember that although there are the odd few who make the wrong choice, there are hundreds and thousands of others who are loving, kind and are waiting to be part of our community.

  It was a really informative day focusing on our british values and the wider community! Regal commented on how open and engaged the children were! Well done everyone!

  

• Belief Boulevard

  Tue 26 Feb 2019

  Today’s mantra has been ‘Thinking beyond yourself!’

  We have also developed our awareness of different religions and made comparisons between those and Christianity. Today we focused on Islam, Judaism and Christian prayer spaces in reception, year 1 & 2 Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism in year 3/4, Buddhism and Hinduism in year 5. 

  The children have showed great sensitivity and empathy towards others who may be less fortunate than themselves. Likewise they have been able to show comparisons in lifestyle and beliefs between differing faiths too.

  The children have talked about work we can carry out to bring about social change that will benefit individuals and communities. In doing so, we discussed topics such as illness, homelessness and refugees. We thought of ways in which we can bring about social change and decided to create ‘Thinking of you’ cards for children in hospital. We talked about how hospitalised children often feel lonely, isolated, fearful and different from peers. They are very poorly and often have to cope with missing out on childhood experiences that are taken for granted by most children, such as attending school regularly or visiting the park. We decided that an uplifting, handmade card would truly help with these challenges by brightening their day, making them feel special and reminding them they are not forgotten because they are sick. We also learnt about Sam, who is too poorly to go to school. On Friday, these cards will be delivered to some of the children at Alder Hey hospital. As part of our belief boulevard day, some of our children worked in groups and researched one of the following topics: poor sanitation, inequality for women or homelessness. They then made a video including the facts which they had found relating to Social Action.

  It has been a day filled with lots of discussions, opinions and questioning sessions and the children have fully committed their selves to thinking beyond their own self.

  

• Athletics Event

  Mon 11 Feb 2019
  Some of our children in years 3 & 4 took part in an athletics event at Lowton High School. They competed in various events such as speed bounce, javelin, hurdles, relay long jump, five strides and standing jump. We were pleased to learn that our children achieved first and second place in the events they took part in, with an overall result of 2nd place! Go team St Johns! We couldn't be more pleased with their hard work and dedication in these team and individual sports!

  

• Join In Day

  Fri 08 Feb 2019
  On Friday, a group of our KS2 children were able to attend a 'Joining In Day' at Wigan Youth Zone. This was an opportunity to have a go at sporting events and to encourage children to enjoy a range of sports. They travelled by public bus and even managed to go on a double decker which was super exciting!

  A lovely day had by all and fantastic to have such wonderful feedback about their behaviour and positive attitudes! Well done everyone!

  

• Football Success!

  Fri 08 Feb 2019
  We are so, so proud of our football team tonight with a fantastic win of 11-2!

  The boys showed determination and fantastic skills ensuring they could dodge their opponent. It was also lovely to see them passing amongst each other and allowing everyone to have a shot at goal!

  Special mention to Liam for being our Man of the Match tonight!

  Fantastic play by all!

  Also, thank you to the parents who consistently support our boys and to Mr Webster who supports, trains and refs the matches for them every week!

  

• Highland Games

  Fri 08 Feb 2019
  Super well done to the children who participated in the Highland Games at Leigh Sports Village. The afternoon was filled with sports activities such as sprinting, shot put, skipping, wellie tossing and much more! The boys and girls tried their very best and worked extremely hard to get the best scores they could! Well done year 5!😊👍🏼🌟⭐️

  Ps. They extremely loved the tug of war!

  

• Stone Age Day

  Fri 08 Feb 2019

  the children in year 3 and 4 took part in a special Stone age Day. They were visited by a special guest all the way from the Stone Age! The children came dressed up in character especially for the occasion. Here are some pictures of the children learning about Stone Age games, tools and weapons. They completed a quiz on what they had learned throughout the day and took part in their own chariot races. Boys raced against boys, girls raced against girls and then the winners of each race raced against each other. Finally, the overall winner of the boys race and the girls race challenged each other. The eventual winner was Megan but Zak was very gracious and congratulated Megan on her win.
  After the children had raced, some of the staff had their own race. Mr. Webster was the winner and was mobbed by the children. A fun day was had by all!

  

• Build a Bear

  Thu 07 Feb 2019
  What a fantastic day we have had at the Trafford Centre, the children have been superstars and have done St John's proud with their behaviour. The staff at build-a-bear were very impressed with all of the boys and girls! Here are lots of snaps of our day 🐻🐻🐻😁😁