Year 1 blew us away with their thought-provoking Worship to mark Martin Luther King Jr Day. They told the story of Martin Luther King Jr, about his 'I had a dream' speech and also about the life of Rosa Parks. They spoke of their own hopes and dreams:

'I dream that all nature can be wonderful and not picked.'

'I dream that we can all be friends.' 

'I dream that all children can go to school.' 

'I dream that all people can live in peace.' 

We then said a prayer for fairness and equality for all people:

Father you created each one of us in your own image.

Give us the patience to build on what unites us and celebrate what makes us different.

Give us the wisdom to recognise Your church beyond buildings and reach out to communities and different cultures.

Give us the courage to help those in need and seek justice and fairness for all.

Help us to see Your image in each other.

Amen

We have enjoyed spending the day with children from other schools in the Diocese and have been thinking of how we can make a difference. We are ready to go back to school to let everyone know what we have been doing and we are going to ask each class to choose a problem to work on. Hopefully we can make a difference to the world we live in. 

Children enjoyed spending time with newly-elected MP, Sarah Smith and were able to ask her lots of questions as she visited each class. Children wanted to know how she could help with anti-social behaviour in the area and how she could help make Rishton and Great Harwood a better place for them to live. Year 6 children also spoke to her about climate change and informed her that they were writing to the Environment Minister about their concerns.

Year 3 looked at how to recycle, re-use and re- purpose our rubbish. 

We looked at the growing art movement where our rubbish can be re-used to create some amazing art. We particularly looked at the artists Jane Perkins, El Anatsui and Thomas Deininger and some of the fantastic art they have created, from buttons, wires, computer chip boards, bottle tops and general waste. We also looked at some other ways we can re-purpose packaging and wrote instructions on how to make bird feeders and plant pots from old plastic bottles. 

Year 3 also looked in to packaging and the size of packaging. Year 3 were concerned that in an attempt to promote products and make products appear larger, better value for money, packaging is made unnecessarily larger than needed. In many cases packaging, for example with crisps and chocolate could be made smaller to reflect the size of the product inside. Year 3 wrote some persuasive letters to manufacturers to persuade them to re-size packaging that is harmful to the environment and reduce waste. 

Year 2 : Endangered animals

In Year 2, we looked at endangered species from across the world and were surprised to find out how many animals are impacted by the environment. We looked at the important role of the WWF and made keepsake pandas as a reminder of this important charity. Over the week, we also took part in creating seed bombs to help pollinators, such as bees, which are also endangered. The week ended with us thinking about different ways we can help and the important message we can pass on to others.

School Council had a meeting with Sara Britcliffe MP to raise the following issues which children in their classes had identified as being a concern:

Litter and dog poo on the streets

Sara said that there are a lot of clean ups going on (such as the one our children had been part of) and that dog wardens are monitoring and enforcing fines as best they can.

Lack of things to do in Rishton for children their age and lack of equipment on the playgrounds

Sara agreed with this and is hoping to look into a new park for the families of Rishton. She was particularly interested in the land next to school and is going away to find out who owns this and if there are ways it can be developed.

Anti-social behaviour by some teenagers e.g vaping

Sara advised children to remind families to report any issues as these are all logged and influence police patrols in areas where there are problems. She is involved with Operation Centurion which is a scheme to get more foot patrols and will recommend this for Rishton. There is a campaign to try and ban disposable vapes which will help with the litter aspect and hopes that campaigns will highlight it is damgerous.

Traffic issues around school and parking issues in front of houses

Sara is going away to see if there is any land in the area which could be used for cars to park on.

Living Streets - How can we improve how children travel to school?

Eco Club and School Council are taking the lead on encouraging families to walk to school wherever possible. We had a speaker in to explain the benefits of this such as improving fitness, helping the environment and also making the area outside of school safer by having less traffic.

School Council have organised our promotions for Children in Need and a SPOTACULAR theme as we help to raise money for those less fortuate than ourselves. Each class has spent time looking at stories about where past fundraising has been used to make the lives of children better.

Every Friday, a small group of children from school help out at the Community Cafe at church. Visitors can enjoy a warm drink and there is a choice of different foods such as toast and sandwiches each week. Our children thoroughly enjoy taking orders, serving food and getting to know members of the church and local community.