Principal’s Blog
Becoming
In January 2020 I gave a talk at a conference entitled, ‘Becoming’. It was a description of the process of change we have gone through as a school and are always going through. I reflect on part of this process through our weekly letters home to parents and our monthly Friday Forums. These blog posts are part of that reflection on different aspects of school life and how we are seeking truth, beauty and goodness in all that we do.
Blogging with Bede Part 2
While Augustine and his associates were witnessing through the south of England, the gospel was flowing through the north too. Columba carried the gospel from his community from Ireland into Scotland and it was from Scotland that Oswald, King of Northumbria, requested...
Blogging with Bede Part 1
Recently Year 5 and 6 wrote social media posts for Anglo Saxon characters and it appears that our Principal’s blog has been hacked into by a bygone blogger by the name of Bede. "Assemblies at Emmanuel have been far too modern and I felt it was time to put a stop...
Let the Amen sound from His people again
Last Sunday, we made a joyful noise together singing the hymn ‘Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!’. As I’ve sung the words over again this week (you usually know I’m close by because I’m singing something), it’s struck me how poignant these words...
Seeing children with the eyes of Christ
We are living through a cultural moment where we are encouraged to see all of life through the lens of COVID-19. But for the Christian the most powerful and most true lens through which to bring all of life into focus, is the perspective of Christ. At the beginning of...
Life Together
On Monday morning when we met as a staff team and when I met with our board in the afternoon, we were unanimous that as far as possible we wanted to make on site provision available to families. In line with government guidance, we are open for children from Early...
Carols in a time of COVID
This year at Emmanuel we have had to think creatively about how to celebrate Christmas in a time of COVID. Initially I had grand plans for a live nativity in the playground with a donkey taking Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, sheep and their attendant shepherds, and...
From Acorn to Oak
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour. Isaiah 61: 6 When we renamed our reception class last year, ‘Acorns’, there was an intended resonance with our school symbol of an oak tree. The process of...
Blackberry Picking
Over the next few weeks we will be beginning our last topic of term, 'Detectives for Goodness'. The children are reading one of my favourite books, Patricia St John's 'Treasures of the Snow' which tells the story of two proud children who discover treasure in a bleak...
How do we handle History? Part 2
In November 2018, I led a week of assemblies reflecting on each year of World War 1 as we prepared for the 100th Remembrance Day. I recalled different battles I had learnt in GCSE History but it was very sobering learning about them with younger children. Their...
How do we handle History? Part 1
This is part 1 of a two part series of how we study History at Emmanuel. In this post we look at our curriculum and in the second post we will consider the philosophy which underlies our approach. Each Friday at Emmanuel children from Years 1 to 6 study History...