24th September 2021
Sending our Love
This week has been a tricky week for so many of The Alveston Family. We send our love and best wishes to all those who are unwell, those who are isolating following a positive test and to those who have had to endure increased testing to support the safety of our community. We are thinking of you all and look forward to seeing you all soon.
"Life in all its fullness"
One of the bible messages which underpins our vision, mission and values at Alveston, is John 10:10:
Jesus said ‘I have come that you may have life, life in all its fullness’.
During these uncertain times and those of the last 18 months, many of us have struggled to imagine a life in all its fullness. This week in Collective Worship we explored what 'life in all its fullness' means. We shared a short film - you can find the clip below - and discussed what we thought this meant.
Exploring its meaning, we reminded ourselves that to live life in all its fullness, we must take time to care for our body, heart, mind and spirit. Life will always have its ups and downs, but we can deal with these better when we nurture all four areas of our lives, all fours areas of our being. When we live life in all its fullness, we flourish as individuals and we are then able to support those around us to flourish too.
We compared our community to a wonderful rainforest which is full of variety and difference. Each plant and animal unique, each with its own strengths, each working together for mutual benefit within its ecosystem. Just like the forest, we flourish because of our diversity and our relationships.
We also compared our community to a well kept, beautiful garden. The gardener designs the layout such that through the seasons different plants emerge, blossom and bloom at different times. Just like a beautiful garden, our flourishing occurs at different times and speeds to those around us.
When we flourish we can look outwards and give. Just like a rainforest or garden, flourishing continues either through the emergence of a new seed from the beautiful old flower, or the pollination of one species to another. The flourishing is not an end in itself, but the beginning of the next growth.
Birthday apologies!
This week we celebrated our Stars of the Week in each classroom and in all the excitement, I forget to hand out the birthday cards for the week. If your birthday falls between 20th and 26th September - Happy Birthday! - your card will be waiting for you on Monday!
