Exemplar narrative 1:

St Andrew’s and St Bride’s Cluster working group

Planned activities:

-          children begin a 3-week diary on a Monday to highlight Sunday as the day of rest and thanksgiving (Sunday page specially decorated and called the Lord’s day)

-          Looking at visual images of God’s creation and discussing their favourites, then introducing reading of Genesis 1 

-          viewing DVD or images or God’s creation (e.g. Blue Planet) to highlight that children’s pleasure reflects God’s pleasure in His creation and is God’s gift to us

-          visit to the school garden to see God’s creation around us, and depending on season, observing and writing a small prayer about their feelings, and thankfulness to God.

-          reading some psalms which people wrote to express their joy at God’s creation, and response in artwork e.g. reading Psalm 104 and creating their own monsters in clay to play with as God did.

-          presenting a short drama about the sun, moon, stars, rainbow and snow (from Ecclesiastcus 43), emphasising the day (sun) for work and play, and the night (moon) for rest.

-          after an active PE lesson, allowing the pupils to reflect on the importance of rest, including hearing story of God resting on the Sabbath (Genesis 1: 14-19)

-          using diary as a tool, highlight that we have a day of rest just a Jesus did when he visited the synagogue on the Sabbath, where he would have heard the same psalms that we hear at Mass on a Sunday

-          reflect on the Sunday psalm using a children’s liturgy sheet

-          end with Enrolment Mass at the end of the 3 weeks, during which there is a reflective prayer service giving thanks for God’s creation.

Resources used:

-          scripture powerpoint from diocese

-          children’s liturgy sheet from the local parish

-          Blue Planet DVD