Book recommendation: Elmer by David McKee |
|
|
|
|
Elmer isn't elephant colour. Elmer is different. Elmer is patchwork! This story celebrates kindness, friendship and the things that make us all different. The elephants all love him, but Elmer soon starts to wonder what it would be like to be grey, just like them... With the help of his friends, he soon discovers that the thing that makes him different is exactly what makes him so special! |
|
|
|
|
Bags of Hope Project-related Book Recommendation: The Day War Came by Nicola Davies |
|
|
|
|
A particularly relevant book for our project, but also as the current war continues.
Imagine if, on an ordinary day, war came. Imagine it turned your town to rubble. Imagine if you had to make a long and difficult journey, with no welcome at the end. Imagine you had lost everything and everyone, and then a child, just like you, gave you something small but very, very precious…..
‘Like so many of the best picture books, it leaves you looking at the world through the hopeful eyes of a child’ Observer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Seeing Differently Thursday 19th March - 7pm on Zoom |
|
|
|
|
Join us for a powerful webinar on Thursday 19th March between 7pm and 8pm to hear from Laura Trevelyan who will be speaking about her family’s connection with slavery and their decision to pay reparations. Laura Trevelyan is a British American journalist who spent three decades reporting for BBC News from major events around the world. She later apologised publicly in Grenada for her family's role in slavery and now works to encourage open conversations about this history. Today she contributes to an independent journalism platform and continues her advocacy through Heirs of Slavery, encouraging other families with similar histories to acknowledge their past, and calling on Britain's government to engage in reparatory justice talks with Caribbean governments. Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88935032192?pwd=mVFJ4Dcz6z0lNNGdfNONEMcarBEpah.1
Meeting ID: 889 3503 2192 Passcode: 287171
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Resource for Schools on The Middle East Turmoil |
|
|
|
|
Picture News have created a resource for schools. You can access their PPT here. Clearly this should be shared at age appropriate levels with your school sensitivities foremost. Please use in a calm, factual and reassuring way; avoiding graphic details, images of conflict or political debate. Emphasise that the events are complex, happening far away, and that many adults and organisations are working towards safety and peaceful solutions. Provide reassurance to pupils and allow space for questions, as some children may have personal connections to the region. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chelsea & England’s Levi Collis launches free access to 700+ebooks for all schools |
|
|
|
|
|
|
England and Chelsea footballer Levi Collis attended St Mary's Church of England School in Southampton as a child – his family still live in the block of flats across the road. He is funding free access for all primary schools to a digital platform for a year. You can sign up at https://storyzoo.org
The National Literacy Trust’s figures are a sad reality – we can help change this. They report that only 1 in 5 children read daily; only 1 in 3 like reading in their spare time – the lowest level in 20 years, with the rate of decline in enjoyment at 25% for boys, and 39% for girls. You can watch a short clip that was shown last week on ITV News of Levi at St Mary's school talking with children and the Headteacher Daniel Constable-Phelps here. As part of our own contribution to the National Year of Reading, many of you will have heard from Jeff that we are producing Worship materials, including PPTs, based on children’s books, to stimulate reading. You’ll be given access to these next term and in the Autumn. |
|
|
|
|
First cohort of Primary Schools training for ‘Difference’ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last week 35 of our schools were at Alresford and will form the first of several cohorts of our schools that will deliver the CofE’s six week ‘Difference’ course. Four versions of ‘Difference’ are already in use across our dioceses for adults, prisons, youth groups and secondary schools. ‘Difference’ helps participants to navigate our complex and challenging world with skills and approaches that are hugely impactful. If you’re not familiar with this CofE programme for adults and children, you can see a 2 min overview of ‘Difference’ here. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sanctuary Foundation Easter Assembly |
|
|
|
|
Schools are invited to take part in a special online assembly on 24th March, exploring the message of hope in the Easter story. The assembly will include clips from the film King of Kings and a live link with a school in India, looking at how pupils there celebrate Easter. Secondary schools can find out more and sign up here, and primary schools can follow the link here. |
|
|
|
|
Reducing administrative burden and time saver for schools by the DfE |
|
|
|
|
The DfE’s School Account team are developing an online service that brings DfE tools, guidance and services together in one place. This aims to help schools and trusts save time and reduce administrative burden. To assist, the DfE is asking schools to complete a short, 10 minute survey regarding funding, finance, compliance, HR, procurement, estates and statutory returns. The survey is here: DfE - Digital Services Survey for Schools.For any questions, please email: dfe.connectuserresearch@education.gov.uk |
|
|
|
|
Installation at Cathedrals: Guidance and Details – Bags of Hope project 2026 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our annual Installations at the Cathedrals are a talking piece with international reach. Every year we hit the national press which is such a joy in sharing the message and values we are promoting. This year’s Installation will have lots of Paddington Bear Backpacks and Paddington Bear soft toys placed with specific coloured luggage labels from our pupils flowing from them. It will be an interactive Installation, with visitors able to pick up your children’s labels and click on a QR code that takes them to aspects of the project you can link. The installation will be truly interactive on another level with visitors adding luggage labels to it every day.
Please read the Guidance Leaflet that you can access here. We’ll be collecting your luggage labels week commencing 1st June, so you’ll need to have completed them and delivered them to the school closest to you on our list by June 1st. We need to create the installation before the Year 6 pupils come to the Cathedrals. You’re also invited to contribute a Paddington Soft Toy and / or Backpack that will be part of the installation and will subsequently be gifted to a displaced child or young person. We invite you to add an A4 luggage label with a photo of your school, website link, interesting information etc. if you are donating a bag and/or a Paddington Soft Toy. Details are in the leaflet. It would be great if Churches were able to support this project. Thank you. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Winchester University students work with our Bags of Hope Project |
|
|
|
|
27 first-year student teachers from our university spent a day with pupils at our city schools - St Faith’s, All Saints and St Bede’s in Winchester, with the aim of engaging year 6 classes on the theme of ‘children seeking sanctuary’ You can read more here. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Headteacher & Deputy Headteacher vacancies |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free Global Citizenship Teaching Resources |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thoughtbox Education have created a set of teaching resources on topics based on Personal Journeys, Social Journeys, and Earth Journeys, which would be excellent for any schools working towards the Global Neighbours award, or wanting to empower their pupils to become agents of change. The UKS2 resources on refugees link really well to this year’s diocesan project, Bags of Hope, looking at issues such as the labels we give people, media literacy and the power of passports. Other units of work cover topics such as water, habitats, global cultures and developing awe and wonder. The Learning for Life resources can all be downloaded from the Thoughtbox website here. As their literature says, ‘Flourishing is not an add-on, it’s the point.’ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sanctuary: Free Exhibition at Portsmouth Cathedral |
|
|
|
|
Visit the exhibition between 18th February and 12th April to see the paintings and sculptures of Nicholas Mynheer. The themes of refuge, displacement, compassion and hope are explored, drawing together the biblical story of Jesus’ family feeling as refugees to Egypt and the lived realities of refugees today. Pause and reflect on what sanctuary means, both as a place and as a way of responding to one another. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
