Spring 1 - Compassion and Kindness

Compassion and Kindness

The Snowdrop

We listened to the story of 'The Snowdrop' and relfected on the snowdrop being a sign of hope, new beginnings and a promise of good things to come.

We thought about the kind and compassionate things we can all do in this hopeful New Year and how we can be like a snowdrop in our heart and mind.

Buddhism - Values for Life

We learnt about some of the values shared by Buddhists all over the world, including caring for all living things and shared stories that are important to Buddhists.  In one of these, Siddhartha cared for the injured swan, standing up to his mean cousin. We also heard how the Monkey King bravely risked his own life to save the monkeys.

We reflected on how these stories might help us to live better lives and what we might we do today to show that we show kindness and caring for all living things, as Buddhists try to do.

Martin Luther King Day (16th January)

Dr Martin Luther King was born on 15th January 1929 and lived in America.  Every year there is a public holiday to remember and celebrate his life.

At the time Martin Luther King lived, much of America did not allow the same rights to all its citizens, for example, a black person might not be allowed to go to the same places or do the same things as a white person. Dr King devoted his life to finding peaceful ways to struggle against that injustice and became a figurehead for what is known as the Civil Rights Movement. He is particularly famous for a speech he gave, one of the most famous speeches of all time, in which he outlined his vision for a fairer, more just society for everyone. Today we call it the ‘I have a dream' speech.

We listened to a story about a woman who remembers how, as a child, she was taken by her father to hear that famous speech and reflected on his words. We thought about how we should try to treat people fairly and how we can make life better for someone today.

We discussed being thankful for the life of Martin Luther King and to remember his words.

‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that’.

The Good Samaritan

We listened to the Bible story of 'The Good Samaritan' and thought about being a good neighbour and loving others, as Jesus taught in his parables.

We thought about what the story of 'The Good Samaritan' might mean and what we can learn from it including how we should treat others with kindness and compassion.  We discussed that we are sorry that our world is not like this all the time but thought we could help by being the best kind of neighbours that we can be and be loving towards others.

Composer of the Half Term - Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten was an English composer who was born and lived in Suffolk.                                                     

He started composing as a child and by the age of 18 he'd written more than 700 pieces!

He wrote the opera 'Peter Grimes' in 1945. It's about a community struggling to make their living by the sea. Peter Grimes is a fisherman but the locals think of him as an outsider and don't trust him. The orchestral interludes including 'Storm' are sandwiched in between the sung acts to build the drama and suspense of the story.

Safer Internet Day (7th February)

It's important to talk about our experiences of being online all the time with our parents and teachers so our voices are heard. This would help to encourage us to shape the online safety support we receive.