Sending Christmas greetings to all our supporters at this special time of year. We have so enjoyed all our Christmas lessons, workshops and trails this year. It has been a fabtastic run up to the end of term.
We topped it all off today with our wonderful sensory Christmas workshop at Redland Church, full of twinkling lights, smells of frankincense and sounds of carols with accompanying bells!
We have loved partnering with 3 different churches this year to host our magical Christmas Through The Keyhole trail. Children from a variety of schools across Bristol have stepped into the Christmas story, experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of the different people and places on the way to Bethlehem. It has been a joy to see and hear their reactions and they have asked some really thoughtful questions. Teachers and parents have commented on how interactive and accessible it was, and one child said: "This was the best Christmas thing ever!"
It has been wonderful to work alongside different churches as they have shared their space and time, to bring the reason why Christians celebrate Christmas to life.
At the home of the Magi- lots of different things to smell in here!
At Mary’s house, but we need to find out where she has gone.
The children enjoyed doing crafts after the trail and made some beautiful decorations to take home.
At St. Stephen’s Church in Southmead.
The end of the trail: The Stable. We enjoyed dressing up and discovered lots of budding actors!
It’s that time of year again, we can’t believe it! As we kick off our various Christmas lessons this week, the team are enjoying lots of dressing up. Here is ‘Herod’ in our ‘Christmas: What’s all the fuss?’ lesson. Do you know which team member this is?!
Our Christmas lessons are jam packed with interactive activities, crafts and drama, and we so appreciate our volunteers at this time. It’s full on, but lots of fun!
We had a fantastic time on Saturday night at our "It's a Kind of Magic" show! Professional magicians wowed the crowd with unbelievable illusions, and fun and laughter were had by all. The team also had some training from the magicians before the show, so we are looking forward to using some tricks in our lessons!
We had some great discussion with Year 6 yesterday in our Creation vs. Evolution: Conflicting Views about the Creation of the World lesson! The children said they enjoyed using different media and artwork. They work in pairs to find out the evidence for one of the positions, cracking codes and then debating the different views using the evidence. It is so interesting hearing their opinions and explanations, and for them to realise that science and religion can support each other.
We have a brand new SEND workshop called ‘Everyone is Special to God’, based on the story of Zaccheaus. As always, there are lots of different sensory activities for the children to engage with. It was wonderful to deliver it in our first school of this academic year. -the cuddly animals, smelly rice and light up leaves were a real hit!
A spectacular show for the whole family!
Join us for an unforgettable evening filled with wonder, laughter, and incredible illusions. Professional magicians will dazzle you with mind-blowing tricks and magical moments you’ll never forget.
More details...
Suitable for children aged 6 and above.
Free parking available on Redland Green Road, not directly outside the church halls.
Refreshments will be available for purchase during the interval.
Last Thursday, we delivered our new teacher training session for the first time. It is packed full of creative ideas for teachers to help children to understand key Christian concepts, with knowledge to enable greater discussion. The teachers who attended found it invaluable and we hope to deliver this again in the future.
We also attended a conference at Bristol Cathedral where we were able to share the work of Encounter Christianity. After a brilliant final week in schools, including two new ones, we are now at the end of term. Wishing you all a lovely summer break!
Last week we delivered our new SEND session: ‘The Miraculous Catch of Fish.’ We had a wonderful couple of mornings with different groups and ages of children engaging with different sensory activities based on fish and the sea. It is always such a joy to see the children interacting with the different resources; the water, kinetic sand and wind up turtle were a great hit! A volunteer commented: “That was so successful.”, while a teacher said: “Lovely pace allowing children to explore individually.” We are looking forward to returning next term.
Our friends at Mullers are running a special event for church leaders on 10th July. Here are the details:
You are invited to a gathering of Christian leaders to consider how, together, we can see every child in Bristol hear the Gospel, every year by 2035.
This includes sharing plans on running a pilot schools mission week in October of this year.
Join us on the 10th July to hear more info on the opportunities that exist, the pilot mission week, and share your thoughts on how we move forward with this vision.
Find out more and sign up on the Mullers website:
https://www.mullers.org
“Thanks again for everything you and your team did for all our Key Stage 2 classes. It has had a huge impact and left a lasting impression on them.
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