Sowing seeds of knowledge and faith,  with nurture and love

We thrive, we grow!

Collective Worship - Coming Together to Celebrate and Rejoice!

Each day we come together at the end of the day for our collective worship, which are stand alone and separate from our Religious Education lessons. During these times together, we learn about bible stories, celebrations of the Christian calendar, important life messages, as well as learning about other special events in other faiths and topical news from around the world. All our collective worships are fully inclusive and distinctively Christian.

The Worship Leaders work together with the head teacher and the Religious Education leader to think of ideas of bible stories to be shared in the worships, topics the children are interested in and important messages that and lessons the children need to know. They take pride, as other pupil groups do in school, in planning our collective worships, as it is such an important time in our school day.

Here you can see some of  our collective worships and special celebrations. 

 Diwali Collective Worship 

Our amazing Worship Leaders led a collective worship about the Hindu festival of Diwali.

They included drama with audience participation to retell the story of Rama and Sita. They also led a discussion about how Diwali is celebrated and how this is similar to how some Christians celebrate Christmas. A meal with family and friends, lights, decorations and giving presents were some of the similarities mentioned! 

The Power Of Prayer

We had a really lovely collective worship today, talking about the power of prayer. Two girls, alongside others, who have helped make the prayer wall, talked to the rest of the school about how they can use it to write prayers, when ever they wish to and for so many different reasons.

We spoke about a prayer being like a letter to God, sharing thoughts, feelings and how in our faith and many others, it is a way we ask for help, seek comfort or say thank you for our blessings.

As a school, we wrote our first prayer and decided upon a prayer of thanks, to say thank you for the harvest. Take a look!

Celebrating Harvest With Our School Community

On Wednesday 25th September, we met with our school community, and Maisy Moo's Day Nursery and Wistow Smartstart to celebrate harvest, with our Bolton class leading us in worship.

All Saints church was full and it was so wonderful to have as many people come to share this special service.

Bolton spoke about why we come together to celebrate with each other at this time of year, reflecting on how hard our local community farmers work, alongside many other people across the world, gathering their harvests and then distributing to others, for lots of different uses.

Bolton class spoke about how other countries, religions gather harvests and the type of things they collect to eat, ready for Autumn and Winter.

As part of the service, children shared the story Handa's Surprise, with some wonderful animal costumes and acting, it was a really lovely interpretation of the story. One pupil had even taken it upon himself and made the fruit props at home, which was appreciated by all his fellow classmates! 

The singing of the songs lifted the roof and we have had some lovely feedback about the service.

Reverend Canon John Wheetman, closed the service blessing the food and children. We also welcomed Faith, from Selby Foodbank, who spoke about how our donations would help others in the local area, it was wonderful to have her with us.

Thank you to all of you who donated, your kindness, generosity and ongoing support it very much appreciated.

The Parable of The Sower

In school today, we have had a very special day, based around our school bible story, 'The Parable of the Sower'. All classes came together to start the day in a collective worship to explore why we chose this story and how Wistow School is linked to the parable.

Before we shared the story, the children looked at some items that Mrs Cox had put on the worship table. There was:

• A bible
• An aerial photo of our community
• Story book
• A very small acorn
• A tomato plant
• A candle

All children listened to the parable and then answered questions about the story. Then they were posed with the question, how is Wistow School linked to this parable?

One child answered "Our community is a farming one, with lots of land and the story is about a man, who is a farmer and is sowing seeds." 

Another child said, "We are the seeds, and Wistow is the good soil as we grow in school!"

Both answers were completely right! 

As a farming community we are surround by hard working farmers, using the good soil to make things grow. We talked about how we see school as the good soil and when children come here, they learn, grow and thrive with their teachers and friends. It was lovely how the children spoke about how they do thrive in school and how well they learn.

Also on the table, we had a tomato plant, that the children last term named Jason Tomato (JT for short). JT was found in the car park, growing near a bench where the children often eat their pack ups. From a tomato seed from someone's pack up, this plant grew .... and grew .... and grew! So Mrs Cox took it out and put it in a special planter to show how all things can grow, when they start in good soil and are nurtured. JT now has 5 tomatoes growing on him and the children in classes are taking turns in feeding him.

We finished the assembly with a great song, called "I want to be mud!", which is all about the Parable of the Sower. 

Then  in classes, the children were given a challenge, to turn one of their windows in class into a Parable of the Sower story window. When you are in and around school, please take a look!

The Worship Leaders lead Collective Worship today on the theme of Pentecost.  They even tried to speak in different languages, just like the disciples when they were touched with the Holy Spirit. 

Follow the link below to join in a new song that Fountains Class introduced to us during their Collective Worship.

The Worship Leaders led a Collective Worship about Lent today.  They reminded everyone about the importance of Lent for Christians and that Easter is approaching.  They also introduced a Lent Calendar that is shown below.  The Worship Leaders had lots of ideas about what to give up for Lent but also how to help at home.

The whole school gathered together for an act of remembrance. 

Fountains Class shared with everyone what they have been learning this half term. This includes awe and wonder of Creation, and all the animals and plants in the world.  They also shared the story of the Good Samaritan and that everyone is our neighbour.  If you would like to sing along to the song they sang about encouraging others, click the link below.

Experience Harvest in Church

Today, we spent time in church learning about the Harvest festival. We learned about generosity, patience, peace and humility, through a range of  activities. These activities taught us about Harvest of the sea, Harvest of the flock, Harvest of the garden and Harvest of the grain. A huge thank you to the members of the Wistow Church community who organised and led the session for us.

Harvest Festival

This year's Harvest Festival had the theme of the Parable of the Sower after the success of of whole school Parable of the Sower day. A huge thank you for joining us in church and for your contributions towards the Selby Community Fridge.

Fountains Class told us about their latest Religious Education question “ What makes places Sacred?”  They started by explaining what places are special and safe to them and why.  They then told us about staying safe in the sun which is part of their work in PSHE.  Are you a Sun Safe Superstar?

Our Worship Leaders have informed everyone about St George and St George’s Day.  There was also some audience participation involved with retelling the story of George and the dragon.

Selby Class talked to the whole school about the different celebrations they have learnt about this half term in R.E and Music. The children spoke about some of their favourite festivals such as Christmas and then spoke about the festivals we have learnt about. They even treated the audience to their favourite call and response song from Kwanza the festival of the first fruits.

Today our school Worship Leaders led a Collective Worship about St Valentine.  They retold the story of St Valentine with some willing actors.

Today Selby Class had their first assembly. The children spoke about the stories they have learnt, Noah’s Ark and David and Goliath. Then introduced everyone to the different Holy Books we have looked at and shared what they had learnt about different festivals such as Diwali.

Our school Worship Leaders led a special church service for Remembrance.  They told us about the importance of the 11th November, poppies and the two minutes silence. One of our Worship Leaders had found out about secret symbols on Jelly Babies, and how they could have a special meaning.  Did you know that Jelly Babies were originally called Peace Babies?

What does it mean if God is holy and loving?

Rievaulx Class held their first class assembly this week and they shared their work from their Religious Education lessons and asked the question, ‘What does it mean if God is holy and loving?’

The class shared their written work, art work they had produced and haiku poems they had written. They also shared some work from their music lessons and told us about the music of Dame Vera Lynne. We had a special performance on the piano for one of our talented musicians and rounded it off with vocal performance of ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’, complete with a two part harmony.

What is it like to be part of a faith community?

Fountains led the first class Collective Worship of the school year.  They explained what they had learnt so far about being part of a faith community.  Fountains have found out about being part of different groups, symbols and their importance in some religions.  

Fountains' Class Collective Worship about special people and God

It was with great excitement that parents and carers were able to join us for collective worship for the first time since March 2020.  Fountains' shared their wonderful work about people who are special to them and why.  They then spoke about where they feel close to God.

Fountains Class' Collective Worship about Prayer

Fountains' ended the half term with a Collective Worship summarising all they have learnt about prayer. They told everyone about prayer in Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. 

Bolton Class - Faith

Bolton Class showed off all they have learned in RE over recent weeks, providing answer to the following questions:

“What do different people believe about God?”

and

“How do different religions pray?”.

Bolton Class were highly knowledgeable about the differences between religions and could confidently explain how each religions conducts their worship, what their core values are, the names and roles of each religions’ Gods, how followers prepare for and take part in prayer and they also offered insights to the different holy books and how they are used.

Special places!

Selby class did their faith assembly on Our special places and other peoples special places. They discusses their own special places, a special place for Christian person,a Jewish person and a Muslim. 

Let's Come Together and Celebrate The Easter Story

What a spectacular service in church this afternoon, with Fountains, Bolton and Byland leading us in passion drama and song. All children performed with clarity and poise, it was a pleasure to watch, with family and friends being able to join us in celebration. They retold the story of Jesus and how people crucified him at this time of year. The three classes took different parts of the bible story, acting out and singing songs to teach us about this event in the Christian calendar. Everyone thought the service was spectacular and retold the Easter story beautifully. 

Thank you to all who came and well done to our amazing pupils, who put on an Easter celebration to remember.

Welcoming Reverend Canon John Weetman

To Our Worship

Wistow School was incredibly pleased to welcome the Reverend Canon John Weetman into school today, as he leads us in worship. The children talked about forgiveness and the importance of doing so. A big thank you to Mr Weetman for a wonderful collective worship. He will be joining us every other week for worship and we are looking forward to getting to know him better and for him to also get to know our wonderful little school.

Shrove Tuesday and Lent

To mark the start of Lent, the whole school has been taking part in activities and Collective Worship related to Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday this week.

Below are just a few photographs of our pancake races and pancake flipping skills!

New Year Resolutions

Fountains Class shared their New Year Resolutions with everyone in Collective Worship.  Some Christians believe that the Bible shows them how God can help them and Fountains shared these with everyone too. 

Matthew, chapter 19, verse 26.

 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Psalm 119, verse 105.

Your word is a lamp for your feet, a light on my path.

Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13.

I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.

Christingle

After a fun day making our Christingles in class, we came together as a whole school to remember why we made them.  We all knew that the candle reminds Christians that Jesus is the light of the world.

Rievaulx’s Collective Worship Assembly

The assembly was all about Jesus being the light of the world. They children discussed different lights you may see including celebration light. Jesus showed us how to act and how to guide us to heaven. 
How can we reflect Jesus’ light? 
Hold peoples hands and guide them.

Help people feel cheerful.

Setting an example in the playground.

Recycling to help the planet.

Being grateful.

Fountains' Collective Worship

Fountains Class told the whole school about their learning in RE this term so far which has had the theme

'What do Christians learn from the Creation Story?'

The children retold parts of the Christian story of Creation from the Bible and then presented their own set of instructions of how to care for our world.

They also shared some of their own art work inspired by Emma Yarlett's Big Frieze representing the story of Christianity. 

We Shall Remember

Wistow School held a wonderful Remembrance service at All Saints Church on 11th November 2021.

All our pupils wore their poppies with pride.

Some children brought photos of family members and friends, who had served or are serving in the military and these people were remembered during our 2 minute silence. The silence was concluded by the playing of 'The Last Post' and then children got the chance to share names and stories about these people, old and young. 

The worship leaders all read beautifully, sharing information about Remembrance Day, poetry and prayers. 

 As we left church, we laid our handmade wreathes and crosses with messages on, on the war memorial. They will be placed out again on Sunday, as part of the Remembrance service.

We shall remember them.

HARVEST CELEBRATIONS - LET US GIVE THANKS!

It was so wonderful to be back in church today with all our children, staff and Father Ken. We celebrated Harvest and gave thanks to God for all the wonderful food we have to eat. We learnt of how the first bread of the Harvest was broken by Jesus and we give thanks, knowing that with his love, light and guidance, we will never go hungry.

The donations from our families were laid upon the alter and each class performed, we had a Harvest sea shanty, songs, facts from around the world and a special prayer. Well done to all our children and once again, thank you to all our parents and carers for your support and kind donations.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, in order to record and share our learning, led by the Worship Leaders in each class, we record thoughts or draw images of important lessons and aspects of the themes we learn in worship. These are then put into our Collective Worship Book, so we can all see how each class felt about the assemblies and what they learnt.

Together Again

On Tuesday, we took advantage of the sunshine, to learn a new song with Makaton signs together. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to sing and learn together as a whole school again  ( in a Covid secure way.)

You can also have a go at home!

Easter

As Easter Sunday approaches and over the last few weeks, children in school have been spending time in collective worship talking and learning about the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. 

Some great discussions were had about friendship, betrayal, strength and sacrifice. Our pupils showed empathy and thoughtfulness in their questions and ideas.

Many of the children created Easter gardens, as part of our Easter competition and they showed the tomb of Jesus, where he laid to rest. They were amazing! Two of our wonderful ladies from church came to judge the entries and were amazed by them all.

Fountains class decorated our Easter tree outside the office and it looked egg-cellent!

Unfortunately, we were unable to attend our Easter service at All Saint's Church, but we celebrated Easter in our bubbles and would like to thank the church for our palm crosses.

Our Special Easter Crosses

In our KS1 outdoor area, we have three very special crosses. The children have set up the Easter scene, as written in the Bible. 

Just outside the city of Jerusalem there was a hill known as Golgotha, sometimes translated as Calvary. One day three crosses were raised on this hill. Luke gives us an account of one of the events that occurred on that day.

“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.’ But the other, answering rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:39-43)

Three crosses in a row. Usually we see only one; the one Jesus hung on, as its significance is so much greater than the other two. However, we have recreated all 3 in order to remember how Jesus, even when he was dying on the cross, thought of others and showed love, light and forgiveness.

What makes our crosses extra special is that we have used the wood from the trunk of our Christmas trees over the last three years, to make them. This is special because, Jesus came into the world at Christmas and the tree symbolises this. We have then taken the same trees, to also symbolise when Jesus died on the cross for us.

Each year, our Worship Leaders and classes make an Easter garden scene. They hang a purple scarf that was knitted by Rievaulx class and some volunteers from the community, aswell as a crown of twisted wood, to represent the thorns that Jesus wore upon his head upon the say he was hung on the cross.

WE SHALL REMEMBER

Remembrance Service 11th November 2020

In school, staff and children took time out of their lessons today, to remind themselves why we have Remembrance Day and thank people for their service past and present.

We reminded ourselves of the importance of remembering, historical events that led us to this day, the memories of a soldier and some poetry and prayer, led by school councillors and worship leaders.

We also remembered our heroes around us today, helping keep us safe and those people who are looking after others during the coronavirus pandemic. For that we gave thanks.

At 11am one pupil from each class took a handmade wreath to lay outside, around our collective worship candle decorated beautifully with poppies by one of our pupils. As the Wistow All Saint's church bells tolled, we stood silent, we remembered, together.

We shall not forget.

Our Virtual Harvest Festival

Our harvest festival this year was very different, as usually we celebrate together in church. However, we still managed to celebrate together virtually, via Zoom!

As a school, we encourage all our children to be the best they can be and our mission statement underpins all we do each and every day.

Faith is all around us.

We have to have faith in ourselves in order to be the best that we can be.

We are a small school, with big hearts and together we beat as one.

Sowing seeds of knowledge and faith, with nurture and love

We thrive, we grow.

We took part in a gardening competition this year and this inspired our theme for our harvest festival. We looked at how we can grow anything if we work hard, work together and show patience, commitment, resilience and realise we can grow in all we do.

Mrs Cox shared a power-point which showed our peace garden evolve over the last few years, alongside our gardening project and it made us all realise that we can grow as learners and young people, just like plants in our peace garden.

Take a look:

Thank you all for your kind and generous donations for our harvest festival. We will be donating it all to Selby Foodbank, after it has been isolated for 72 hours. 

Working together to show compassion and care for our community!

Christian Aid and The Good Samaritan

Bolton have been working very hard over the last few weeks and they showed off their RE learning in assembly. We have been looking at Islamic Relief and Christian Aid where we have identified the core beliefs that drive both charities. We then moved on to look at the similarities between Christian Aid and The Good Samaritan and how we can show kindness to our neighbours.

Caring for Creation and all God's Creatures

Fountains class told everyone what they have been learning in RE this term about Islam. They retold some of the stories the Prophet Muhammad told about caring for all creatures, even the tiny ants.  They then told us about how some Christians celebrate Shrove Tuesday and prepare for Easter.  They also introduced the Church of England's 40 day Lent challenge.  More information about this can be found on the Worship Leaders' page.

Caring for our world and others.

Fountains class have just shared with everyone what they have learnt over the first three weeks of term.  The focus was caring for our world and others.  They shared how they having been caring for their outside area and especially the pumpkins.  They also told everyone the story told by Jesus about who is our neighbour.  Fountains are such a helpful class that they could explain how they help others too.  

Oceans and Seas

Fountains class told everyone about what they have learnt about sea creatures this term and how we can look after our oceans.  They also read out some of their excellent letters and postcards they have written using the book Dear Greenpeace as a stimulus.  Fountains' have also created their own marvellous sea creatures from plastic waste.

It's a wide watery world!

Fountains class shared their work on the oceans and seas with the whole school.  They performed their own poems about the oceans and sea creatures which included lots of adjectives and similes.  They also shared their favourite song of the moment by the Rend Collective, My lighthouse.

Mothers

Our Worship Leaders led a wonderful assembly on mothers and how and why we have Mothering Sunday. Facts were shared about when this celebration began and how other countries celebrate or say thanks to their mothers.

We decided we all have special people in our lives, whether it is; a mother, an aunt, a sister, a grandma or a really good friend - but we all thought it is so important to say thank you and show them that we appreciate everything that they do. 

Giving Thanks

This week, we explored an important word in the English language - THANKS.

We talked about what we are thankful for and there were so many things. Reverend Terry led us all in song and we created our own lyrics saying thank you for the following:

Thank you Lord for all our friends.

Thank you Lord for those we love.

Thank you Lord for food to eat.

Thank you Lord for Rievaulx class.

Thank you Lord for Byland class.

Thank you Lord for Fountains class.

Thank you Lord for Selby class.

Thank you Lord for those who teach.

Thank you Lord for Wistow School.

We made a verse out of each of the lines above and then sang the chorus together of Hallelujah Praise the Lord.

Resilience and Growth Mindset

We all learn something new every day and it is up to us how well we learn. Today in assembly we talked about opening our minds to new experiences and things and how, if we do that we can be better learners. We also learnt that believing in ourselves and positive thoughts help us too. 

'Salt In His Shoes' is a book written by Michael Jordan (the famous American) basketball player and is his story about believing in himself and how he as a child used a positive mindset when he found something challenging.

As a school, we all then discussed what Michael went through and how he tackled his problems. 

We all decided he showed:

PATIENCE

RESILIENCE

POSITIVE THINKING

SELF BELIEF

He showed that with positive thinking, an open mind, hard work and dedication, he achieved his dreams. The message for us all today was that we too can achieve our dreams, we just have to open our minds and believe in ourselves.

 LIGHT

Fountains planned and shared a wonderful class collective worship around the theme of Light. They had created some fantastic Chinese lanterns to show the children and parents. As well as the lanterns, the children talked about the importance of Light in the bible and how we see Jesus as the light of the world. 

Everyone enjoyed this song: