News from Barningham CEVC School children:

The nights are drawing in and ‘winter is coming’. The shops are full of the chaos that is Bonfire, Hallowe’en, Christmas – I often understand why children confuse all of our festivals and special times when you see the displays. We celebrate the autumn with a very traditional Harvest Festival at the church – and ask the children to bring into school tins and dried goods for the local food bank. The children have written prayers of thanks and spent time reflecting on what it might be like to go without food for days. Children are very generous with their thoughts and kindness at these times, but they also ask challenging questions: Why are there starving people in the world? Who are the poor in our community and what can we do to help them? Where does the money go?

The children are discovering ways in school to celebrate their differences and strengths to create their unique sense of who they are. Living in a diverse world is, for me, something to celebrate not be afraid or suspicious. We have our friend Harikat from the Leicester Sikh community, coming to share his faith stories with us plus the school is working towards a Silver Linguamarque award by increasing our teaching and learning of French across the school. In challenging times, searching for positive ways to feel part of the global community remains a priority for us as a Christian school.

Frances Parr – Head Teacher.