Religious Services and Events 2021-2022

June 2022

World Faith Day

Our school community took part in our final RE and Reflection Day of the year – World Faith Day. Each year group already focus on Christianity and one other major world faith (Yr. 3 – Judaism, Yr. 4 – Islam, Yr. 5 – Hinduism and Yr. 6 – Sikhism). World Faith Day gave each year group the chance to also look at the origins and some key beliefs in Buddhism. The rest of the day was spent looking for similarities and differences between different religious beliefs and world views. Year 4, for example, compared Christianity in Britain and Brazil and Year 5 compared Christianity and Hinduism in London and Singapore. There are so many factors which affect the way somebody chooses to practice their religious belief’s. We also looked at changing world views within some faiths and how different denominations practice their religious beliefs. Our incredibly diverse school community is something we are incredibly proud of and to celebrate this, each year group completed an art project based on the theme, ‘There is more that unites us than divides us’. This theme captures our Vision and values and we hope many of you choose to take part in the Family Home learning task so that we can continue to learn about the many differences and similarities in our beliefs, ideas and views.

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May 2022

Jubilee Family Picnic

After a ‘variable’ week of weather, the sun finally shone for our Jubilee Family Picnic yesterday afternoon. It was wonderful to welcome so many of you to celebrate with us, including Year 2 pupils and families. We have asked for your feedback on the afternoon as we hope to make the family picnic an annual event in the summer term.

We are aware that our sound system isn’t powerful enough, so all our school fundraising efforts will be focused on purchasing a tannoy system that we can use for events as well as providing music for the children to dance to during break and lunch times. We earned £90 from ice cream sales which will go towards this.

Here are some photos of the event.

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Hair Raising Day

The Nightingale Cancer Support Centre – is an Enfield-based charity providing support to those in our local community who are affected by cancer.

They ensure that those touched by cancer receive the emotional and psychological support needed to help them come to terms with and cope with their changing lives. For example, they provide a range of services including selected treatments, complementary therapies and practical support, designed to meet their needs.

One of the most striking and noticeable physical changes that happens when going through cancer treatment is hair loss. It can be very startling for children to see and understand what this means, especially when someone they love is going through treatment. We want our children to know that hair loss needn’t be scary. It is a result of treatment, not of cancer.

Hair is more than just what grows out of your head. It is a form of self-expression for many people, whether you spend 5 minutes or an hour on it. So at Smab, we had a Hair Raising Day and with your generosity, we raised a brilliant £270 for cancer care.

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April 2022

Earth Day

SMAB celebrated Earth Day and across the school lessons were taught to every year group focusing on the importance of Earth Day and we started to explore some of the issues facing the world.

As part of Earth Day itself, we had a very special visitor! We were visited by Joshua from the sustainable clothing brand Love Hero. He delivered a brilliant assembly to stress the importance of Earth Day and shared the message about being more eco-conscious.

We have also been raising money for sustainable sources through an eco-sale where all products sold were kind to the environment. Thank you to all parents and carers for purchasing our lovely items! The Eco-team is very excited to see the outcome of Earth Day writing from across the school next week!

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March 2022

Year 3 Easter Production

Despite lots of absence, last minute cast changes and technical difficulties, the Year 3 Easter production on Thursday and Friday was a wonderful experience. It was made even more special because it was our first time back in the church as a whole school for two years.

Red Nose Day

The children of SMAB took part in Red Nose Day to raise funds for Comic Relief. This year’s theme was Funny is Power’. As always the children did not disappoint. The winner of this year’s ‘Who can wear the most red at one time’ goes to … IMAAN 4H with 23 items. Well done Imaan, you led by a grand total of 14 items! Better luck next time Mr Hamilton, who came 2nd with 9 items.

SMAB would like to say a massive thank you to all for supporting this fabulous charity were we managed to raise a grand total of £553.41! 

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December 2021

Christmas at SMaB!

Each class had a very special visitor and were able to enjoy sitting around the Christmas tree sharing in the tradition of giving and receiving. Each year group also spent some time reflecting on differing ways of celebrating Christmas in other countries and cultures around the world – both religious and secular.

We held the first of many Christmas Movie nights, which was very well attended and helped our children and staff get in the festive spirit as they were served popcorn and hot chocolate.

We also held an outdoor Christmas Carol Concert with singing and bible readings about the birth of Jesus Christ, and were so pleased to be able to invite parents and families into the playground to join the festivities.

Year 4 blew everyone away with their filmed production of the Christmas Nativity story. The quality of singing and dancing was amazing and provided a great way to hear the story of Jesus’ birth for our school community this year.

November 2021

Time Capsule 

To commemorate 125 years since SMAB was built, we buried a Time Capsule in the School front entrance.

The Rights Respecting School Councillors wanted future generations to be able to see, understand and discover what life was like for them at SMAB. They decided to put the following objects, pictures and information into the time capsule:

• SMAB’s School Information
• Our school logo/extra information
• Our school prayer
• Our School Values
• Currency – £1 coin
• Technology today
• Our School Lunches
• Explanation of Covid-19 and a mask
• Photos/Pictures of our school: –
• Main Office entrance
• Hall (showing our school vision)
• School uniform and PE kit
• Creative hub/musical instruments
• Layout of a year 4 class and reading corner
• Playground at lunchtime

We were lucky enough to have some very important people there to help us mark this auspicious occasion: the Deputy Mayor of Enfield, Cllr Christine Hamilton; Chair of Governors, Mr Lawrence DeSouza, Local Authority representative, Ms Lucy Nutt, local MP and governor of SMAB, Bambos Charalambous (who was also celebrating his birthday!) and ex-Headteacher of SMAB – Mrs Maria Jay.

An enormous thank you to all the staff, children and dignitaries who contributed to making this a very special and memorable afternoon. The rest of the children and staff will be able to watch a film of the ceremony and burial thanks to Mrs Ghanem, who filmed and edited it for us.

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Visit from Bishop Rob

Its not often that we have visiting dignitaries at SMAB but on Thursday we were lucky enough to be visited by Bishop Rob, the Bishop of Edmonton, to help us celebrate our 125-year anniversary. He talked to each phase about the history of church schools and told the story of Joshua Watson who, in 1811 founded the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church in England and Wales. During a 40 year period, he and his society were responsible for opening over 17,000 schools across England – leading to the school system we have today.

Bishop Rob also took a tour around the school, accompanied by our RE pupil team, who were insistent that it was their job, not mine, to do this!

In class, children and staff immersed themselves in art and music from each of the decades from 1900 to 2021, learning dances from the decade, exploring great artists and art movements and listening to the music that got people dancing (and thinking) during those years. I particularly enjoyed joining 3S for a waltzing class and 3M to learn the charlston! On Thursday we also dressed up in the style of a decade – there were some fabulous costumes on display and we had a wonderful day! Thank you to families who went the extra mile this week to support your child to find a costume for yesterday.

Please check out the ‘What’s Happening in Class’ section to find out more about what art, music and dance your child has been learning this week.

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Remembrance Day

Yesterday we held our Remembrance Day service – created and sent to us by St Michael at Bowes church – and observed a minute’s silence. We honoured and remembered all those who have died, not only during World Wars I and II but in wars throughout the years and all over the world. We pray that those who lead countries learn from the lessons of the past and do all that they can to bring peace to the world.

October 2021

Harvest Festival- Thank You

The Chair and the Vice Chair on behalf of RRS School Council, would like to send a great big thank you to all of you for your kind donations for St Cuthbert’s Church Food Bank.

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Postcard Competition 

We often send postcards home to families to celebrate the wonderful learning and behaviour displayed by our children in school. However, we decided the current postcard design wasn’t up to SMAB standard, so in the first two weeks of term a competition was sent out to all the children in the school. This was to design a postcard celebrating SMAB. We had loads of AMAZING entries, which made it extremely difficult to pick a winner. However, we had to make a decision, and these 6 postcards will be used as our school design for the rest of this academic year.

September 2021

Community Garden

Our gardening club began this week. Mrs Gavriel and her willing volunteers went up to the garden we share with St Cuthbert’s church and a local GP surgery, to harvest any fruit and vegetables and remove weeds. Klevi (4C) took some beans home to cook – he sent me a photo of him helping to cook them and let me know how delicious they were!

We have a lot of sage and basil growing in our garden in school too (sadly tomato blight destroyed our tomato crop). If you would like some herbs for your cooking, please let us know and we will cut a sprig for you.

RE and Reflection Day

On Thursday, the whole school took part in our first RE and Reflection day of this academic year. In the past, these days have allowed us to give space to reflection and exploring individual spirituality, whatever that may mean to different people. Thursday was no different. Each class took on either a value or part of our school vision and explored what this meant for people’s beliefs, their thoughts and their actions. Through a range of different activities – ranging from debates (silent and the exact opposite!) to posters, games of jenga and drama, each class was able to explore their topic beautifully. During the morning, many classes also ‘hunted’ for examples of our values and Vision in action around the school, including interviewing some members of staff. In the afternoon, we explored our different ideas about spirituality and the outcomes were as diverse as you’d expect. It was a brilliant day of exploration and reflection.

I’d also like to reintroduce you to the RE and now Collective Worship pupil team. Their role is crucial in ensuring the RE at SMaB is exciting and inspirational for all. They will also be planning and supporting delivery of different Collective Worships across the school. Look for your classes representative and let them know if you have any ideas.

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Cake Sale

With your help, we managed to raise an incredible £481.34 for Macmillan. It was so lovely to see so many of you buying cakes on Friday and Monday after school. Thank you so much for your generosity and an extra huge thank you to the kitchen staff, who took the time to make cakes for every year group to sell. Well done to Mrs Malcolm and the RRS Council members for their hard work organising the event.

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Inclusive Christian Community

Collective worship led by Mark Jones-Parry from St. Cuthbert’s Church for SMAB. Beginning the year by looking at part of the school’s vision statement. “An inclusive Christian community, building on firm foundations for successful lives.”

Soup to Share

Collective Worship led by Father Engin – Soup to Share.

Building on Firm Foundations

Collective worship led by Mark Jones- Parry

 

Start of term service at St Michael at Bowes Church

This year, the staff at SMAB began the year with a visit to St Michael at Bowes Church where a service was led by Father Engin. As a church school, this enabled the staff to start the year in a calm and spiritual manner by encouraging them to reflect and recharge before the beginning of a new term. Giving the school community a chance to pray together was a beautiful opportunity for staff to prepare for the year ahead.