Today Year 5 retold the story of Jesus praying the Garden of Gethsemane and the betrayal and the arrest.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch^[ with me.”  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”  And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.  So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.  Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.  Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him.  Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.  And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant  of the high priest and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?  But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”  At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.  But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

This week Reception Class have been lucky enough to be loaned a set of balance bikes for the whole class. They have been out on them learning lots of different skills and techniques to help them prepare for riding their own bikes at home.

The children in Year 6 have been taking it in turns to write Newsletters to the residents of St Wilfred’s Priory, a care home just opposite the school. It has been a wonderful opportunity for the children and the residents to share common interests.

This week our children are being featured on Spirit FM.

The link below will take you to the Spirit FM facebook page showing our school assembly: – https://www.facebook.com/SpiritFMSussex/videos/272239400327097/.

The second link – https://www.spiritfm.net/features/small-talk shows the individual children.

As part of the Year 1 topic, the children had a visit from PC Lee, a parent in the school. She spoke to the children about what the job involves and she also showed the children how to use the handcuffs that Police Officers wear. Thank you PC Lee for giving up your time to come and speak to the children.

Last week, the whole school were lucky to be part of’ ‘St Philip’s Got Talent’. This is an opportunity for the pupils in the school to showcase any individual talents they may have. We were treated to Comedy, Magic Tricks, Singing, Dancing, Drums and much more! Thank you to all of the children who signed up and who were brave enough to perform in front of the whole school!

On Wednesday, Year 3 showed the rest of the school their Holy week Liturgy of The Last Supper.

He thanked God for the bread and shared it with the disciples and said, “Take this and eat it.  This is my body which is given for you”.  Then He took a full cup, thanked God for it and said, “This is my blood, which will be poured out for many people so their sins may be forgiven.”  They all took a sip from the cup.

We then sang the next part of ‘Were you there when they shared the bread and wine’.

As the first part of our Holy Week liturgies, Reception class acted out Palm Sunday:

As Jesus came closer to Jerusalem, he asked two of his disciples to go ahead of Him.  He said, “When you get to the town, you will see a donkey tied up.  Untie it, and bring it to me.  If anyone asks you about taking the donkey, just tell them, ‘The Lord needs it and He will bring it back as soon as He’s done with it.’”

So, the disciples did as Jesus asked.  They soon found the donkey tied at a doorway.  As they were untying it, some people were standing nearby visiting. They didn’t recognize the men and asked, “What are you doing?  Why are you untying the donkey?”

They replied just as Jesus had told them to.  Explaining that the Lord needed it, the people let them go.

When they brought the donkey to Jesus, some of the disciples took off their coats and laid them on the donkey’s back.  They did this out of respect for Jesus.  Then Jesus rode on the donkey towards Jerusalem.

As He was traveling, some people saw Jesus coming and came running towards Him.  They had heard He might be coming and they wanted to see him because he had just helped a dead man come back to life.

One by one, they laid their coats on the ground for the donkey to step on.  Even the people that weren’t wearing coats ran to the fields and trees nearby and cut palm branches and laid them down.

These people knew that Jesus was special.  It was like when a King or Queen would come to town, and people would roll out a red carpet for him or her to step on.  This is what these people did for Jesus when they laid down their coats and branches.

As they got even closer to the town, more and more people noticed Jesus.  A crowd surrounded Him and started to shout praises to Him for all the miracles He had done: “Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna, Hosanna!”  

Reception then added a palm leaf to our prayer focus, which will be added to as the week goes on.