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 Bishop John Robinson C of E Primary School Thamesmead

Bishop John Robinson C of E Primary School Thamesmead

Be the best we can. Join in learning, play and prayer. Remember God's word.

Oikoumene


Belonging Together

Bread Sharing

As part of our Collective Worship, it is important for pupils and adults in school to learn about the importance and role of Communion or Eucharist in Church. This is done through Acts of Worship, looking at the life and teaching of Jesus (particularly in the lead up to Easter) as well as through our RE lessons, where pupils explore this through Biblical texts, discussing the impact communion has on the lives of believers and the connections they can make to their own lives.

By using Acts 2:42 as a basis, "The disciples devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" we share with the pupils how we, as members of the BJR CofE Primary School family belong: we are here to develop as learners and to 'devote ourselves' to the education we can; we have opportunities and an open invitation to pray; we share bread together to show how we are part of one school family.

Pupils are offered a piece of bread (which we explain is just pitta bread from the local supermarket!) and that it represents how we are all part of one school body. 

By experiencing our bread sharing act of worship, pupils become more familiar in how a church might share bread during communion. Some pupils have commented that they feel more confident in asking for confirmation and to take communion in church themselves. Others simply enjoy sharing a snack with their friends! 

One Body but Many Parts

Pupils in all year groups brought in different pieces of fabric, to show how we are all different: we have different interests, different hobbies, different passions and different families. One of our local congregation then very kindly crafted the fabric together into two sets of beautiful quilts, which we use in our school halls, as covers for our altars. As you can see from the photographs below, each piece of fabric is different, but together they make one whole.

We use the Green Altar Cloth during Ordinary Time, Purple for our times of Preparation (Advent and Lent), Red to show we are celebrating Pentecost and Gold for key celebrations (Christmas and Easter).