RE in School
At Cleadon Church of England Academy we feel that it is extremely important to develop children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural identities. We have a strong Christian ethos which we feel is reflected in many aspects of school life. Children also have the opportunity to explore other faiths and cultures. R.E is a vital element in the schools enhancement of its Christian character. Worship is at the heart of our school and the children speak positively about the impact that this has on their lives. During an inspection by the Durham Diocese, one grandparent commented that the atmosphere at school is "like the open arms of Jesus welcoming you".
Dr Rowan Williams (prior Archbishop of Canterbury) explains that the ethos of church schools runs deep: “A Christian school is one in which the atmosphere has that kind of openness about it, that sense that people are worth spending time with, that people need time to grow, need loving attention. The Christian Gospel says that every person has a unique task to do, with God, and for God, whether they know it or not.“It doesn’t necessarily mean than everyone involved has to share the same theology or philosophy. It doesn’t mean that everyone knows that they have this relationship with God, and is consciously working at it. But a Christian school is one in which the entire atmosphere is pervaded by the conviction that there is something mysterious, and potentially wonderful, in everybody.”
Here at Cleadon Church of England Academy we are proud of our Christian Values and strive to be the best young people we can be.
Easter Art
As part of our Easter celebrations, each year group explored Holy Week images produced by a group of refugees who are part of the Mikono Crafts organisation in Nairobi, Kenya. The children then enjoyed creating a part of the Holy Week in a similar style to those produced by the refugee crafters. Some wonderful artwork was produced across the Academy.
Inter Faith Week
In November, we celebrated Inter Faith Week.
Inter Faith Week is an opportunity to celebrate religious diversity and bring people with different beliefs closer together. It is also a chance to learn about one another.
During the week, the children were set a challenge to design a new logo which could represent Inter Faith Week. All of the children worked incredibly hard and put lots of thought into their designs.
Worship Response Question
The Question!
When have you persevered to complete a task even though it was difficult?
Our School Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for our love of learning each day,
Help us to flourish through work and play.
Let our values shape us in all we do and say,
May our futures be built on the paths we lay.
Help us to explore, reflect and wonder in all we see and do,
So, we can appreciate the world created by you.
Guide us all to work together as one,
In our Cleadon family, we all belong.
Amen
Pentecost
In school the children have been learning about Pentecost. This is an important time in the Christian calendar because it proves that Christianity didn't stop with Christ and that the disciples of Jesus were seen as worthy to spread the message of God, which is why He sent the Holy Spirit to gift them the ability to speak many languages.
Acts 2:1-4: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Year 4 worked together to create these fantastic crosses showing the symbols of Pentecost.
Words of Faith
Year 4 children worked together to spell out words of faith.
Bible Group
In this week’s Bible session, we explored the theme of forgiveness through the story of the Prodigal Son. Helen and Marie then challenged us to sequence picture cards to retell the story. Some of the picture cards really made us think so we needed to give clear reasons for our decisions.
Bible Group
This week, the Bible Study group explored the theme of love. We enjoyed creating and decorating a heart cutout to show all the people we love and who love us, including Jesus. We identified a range of Bible stories where love is a key theme before discussing a Bible passage where Jesus gave His disciples important advice about love.
Reception Visit Church
Today Reception went to All Saints Church to celebrate the baptism of our baby dolls. We would like to introduce you to Laila Jane and Tristan Daniel. Reverend Vernon spoke to the children about baptism and carried out a baptism on our babies. We had 4 Godparents for each of the baby dolls. The children have promised to look after our babies and guide them as they grow up.
Joseph and His Technicolour Dreamcoat Coat
As part of the South Tyneside Primary Music Festival, Year 4 pupils performed the story of ‘Joseph and His Technicolour Dreamcoat’ at The Customs House in South Shields. Time was spent spent exploring the story from the book of Genesis before the performance meaning that everyone had a clear understanding of the main events. We had chorus members, dancers, narrators and actors who all represented our Academy wonderfully. Well done Year 4 on a fantastic retelling of an Old Testament Bible story!
Year 6 Visit
Year 6 children visited Newcastle Cathedral to participate in a God and the Big Bang workshop.
Spirited Arts Competition
This year, we chose to explore the important theme of ‘Why do Animals Matter?’ We thought about how humans value and act towards other animals who share the world with us and explored a range of religious stories texts to find out further ideas and information. We all agree that kindness and compassion towards all animals is very important. Here is a selection of just some of the art, poetry and singing which demonstrates our empathy and insightfulness.
We hope the judges are very impressed with the ways in which we chose to demonstrate our awareness and understanding.
Year 6 Leavers Service
Our Year 6 children joined many school from around the region to take part in the Leavers Service at Durham Cathedral.
Easter Experience
The children from Years 3 and 4 were invited to All Saints Church to take part in the Easter Experience. Reverend Cuthbert and some of the members of the congregation told the story of Easter through a series of prayer and reflection activities.
Christingle Service
Year 4 were lucky enough to be invited to take part in a Christingle service at Newcastle Cathedral. Along with 6 other local schools they children took part in an act of worship which explained the significance of the Christingle. Individual children read prayers and everyone joined in with the hymns. Our favourite part was when we became part of a giant Christingle.
Crib Festival
Today our Reception classes visited All Saints Church to look at the Nativity Crib festival. It was lovely to see so many different examples of the story of the birth of Jesus.
Experiance Harvest
Last week Years 3 and 4 visited All Saints Church for Experience Harvest. The children took part in different practical activities linked to harvest. It was a lovely afternoon where we all learned something new. A huge thank you to all of the volunteers who have up their free time to help us learn in such a fun and interesting way.
