School That Matters: Giving Thanks in Our Actions as well as our Words
This week may have ended with the unwelcome and salutary reminder of our over-reliance on technology when the internet went down for most of Friday, but it started simply with Thanksgiving. Those of you who experienced Catholic primary education will remember fondly no doubt the Harvest festival and the collection of items of food at this time of the year – we did similar last September. It is a worthy and important source of charity, but is more importantly a way of remembering the debt we owe Creation, our deep relationship with soil, water and light, the presence in our lives of nourishment that comes from the world around us.
All too often we take this life for granted, even when know such food and drink does not appear form nowhere, it is nurtured into existence by our fellow humans in collaboration with what many now refer to as the ‘more-than-human’ world: animals, plants, water, land. Around the world nature is under greater threat than ever from human activity and choices.
Part of our education at St. Ambrose Barlow is concerned with encouraging an appreciation for and a sense of shared existence with the natural world. We do this through specific subjects, through prayer and worship and through acts that include recycling, charity and the maintenance of our school garden and the development of what will grow to become our prayer garden.
Ultimately, it is the acts themselves that are important, turning giving thanks into doing thanks. This week’s assemblies, inspired by St. Anthony of Padua and St. Francis of Assisi, challenged pupils to let their words teach and actions speak, particularly in how we treat the poor, vulnerable and marginalised, including the living waters and lands around us. The Catholic poet Gerald Manley Hopkins described the autumn as a sad time of ‘unleaving’ even while we enjoy the fruits. As this time of year reminds us life is transitory, we are not permanent creatures, but that should make us all the more grateful for what we have.
This week also saw the first of our twice-yearly book fairs and what a success it was. A huge thanks must go to the very many pupils who purchased from it and to the parents and carers who supported it with their wallets. As a result of the purchases made we will receive £300 of additional books for our library. The past few weeks have also seen a number of sporting events and inside this newsletter you can read the results of some of these.
Finally, on Thursday I met with the fledgling Parent Council for the first time, so if you have not yet put your name forward for this please get in touch using the details in the Monday letter and you too can join the Council. I was especially grateful for the excellent turnout of parents for our regular SEND forum with the Salford Parent Forum representative earlier in the week – your feedback is very useful.
Ben Davis,
Headteacher
