This year we celebrated Citizenship Fortnight at St. Michael’s from Monday 19th April until Friday 30th April 2021. Citizenship Fortnight offers the children and staff an opportunity to develop their Christian beliefs and faith through their actions. This is done within a theme. The title of our theme this year was ‘Friends of the Earth’.
We focused on increasing our knowledge of ourselves, our worth and what we can offer to our community as stewards of God’s Creation.
Mother Teresa once said, “We can do no great things—only small things with great love.” So we looked at how the small things we each do make a huge difference to our school community, Parish and local community.
The children in Reception and Key Stage 1 spent time developing an understanding of how God calls them to look after their environment and the insects that inhabit gardens and flowerbeds. They learned about the important roles that plants and insects play in our World. This involved understanding the role of bees and how important they are for pollenating plants. The children also investigated the different uses for honey. Children also had the opportunity to plant a variety of seeds for the school flower beds.
The Children from Years 3 and 4 had the task of improving a small area in the school playground to provide a “Prayer Patch”. The idea was to create an area that children can use for quiet prayer or reflection while they are outside in the playground. Year 3 worked very hard on finding scripture to support our well-being and then they wrote prayers that will be displayed within the “Prayer Patch”.
Year 4 studied a variety of grottos and then designed and created a grotto for our statue of Mary. They used a range of recycled materials to make flowers and a surround for Mary. Years 3 and 4 Prayer Patch will be complimented with the planting from Key Stage 1.
Years 5 and 6 looked at the wider community and how pollution can be harmful to the environment and its inhabitants. They researched the ways in which local councils are trying to tackle pollution by stopping vehicles from using side streets and restricting access at particular time of day to roads that house schools. They wrote letters to the Council and London Mayor explaining why they agreed or disagreed with the scheme that is currently being trialled. The children also had an opportunity to
debate the pros and cons of the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods with their peers.
The children had a great time in exploring their role of being stewards of God’s Earth and understanding that in the words of Greta Thunberg, “You are never too small to make a difference.”
