We learnt about the time of Advent and what it is:

We learnt that Jesus is the Light of the World and that he brings light to save us from darkness. We used the Bible to find quotes that talked about light and darkness, and we put them together into a class drama, where some of us called out the quotes and everyone else performed actions to go with the meaning of the words. We found pictures and quotes on the internet to make a Power Point to go with our drama, and we performed it to the rest of the school and our parents, as part of our class assembly.
Reader 1: In the beginning the earth was under a roaring ocean covered with darkness!
Everyone: hunches up and covers their eyes.

Reader 2: …and God said, ‘Let there be light!’
Everyone: stretch out arms, as if throwing light out onto the earth.

Reader: 3 But some people chose darkness rather than light.
Everyone: Cover eyes and stand still like a statue.

Reader 4: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light!
Everyone: Point up into the sky in excitement as if you have seen the star shining over Bethlehem.

Reader 5: The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out.
Everyone: Thump the air.

Reader 6: Jesus said, ‘I am the Light of the World’.
Everyone: Trace a big world shape with arms.

Reader 7: Jesus said, ‘You are like lights for the whole world.’
Everyone: Hold out your finger like it is a candle and trace a circle in the air.

Reader 8: Shine like stars among the people of this world!
Everyone: Hold your hands up in the air and waggle your fingers, like stars shining.

We learnt that the special colour at this time of year is purple. We also learnt about the Advent Wreath and how it helps us countdown to Jesus’ coming at Christmas. We learnt about the symbolism of the different elements and we made a Powerpoint to share with the rest of the school and with our parents:

We thought about the messages of Advent and about this half term’s values (hopeful and faith-filled) and wrote prayers:

We thought about how we could be like little lights of Jesus and follow his example of loving our neighbours during this special season. We helped Mrs Barker to pack shoeboxes for Teams4U. We decorated a box each, packed it with toys, sweets, toothpaste, a tooth brush, soap, pencils and paper, and made Christmas cards to put in each box.

Mrs Barker and some of the Values Council took them to the warehouse, along with all the other boxes that families had sent in. In the end we sent 201 shoeboxes!

We thought about the life history of a shoebox and made a Puppet Pals animation of it, making all the puppets and backgrounds ourselves and also being the voice of the shoebox:
[evp_embed_video url=”https://holyredeemerschoolpershore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Life-of-a-Shoebox-1.mov”]