Dear parents and children,

It is Monday morning again, so it is time for our whole school virtual singing. I have found some more songs that you can join in with at home if you want to. Hopefully they will lift your spirits a bit and remind you of how special St John's is. If you don't want to sing, that's fine too - you can always have a look at our Monday Collective worship on youtube later on this afternoon. It will have this week's birthdays on and a special mention to all those children who have been sent a virtual golden sticker this week. I know that you are all working away from your teachers and friends, in really difficult circumstances but some of you are still managing to do some amazing work. Thank you to the parents too. As a mum homeschooling two of my own children, I know how hard it can be. All the parents deserve a virtual golden sticker too!

Songs

Here are some of our favourite songs that you can sing along to:

Count your blessings We often start singing with this song to warm us up. You can sing it all the way through on your own but if there are more than one of you singing, try and do a round. Get someone to start singing after you. They need to do 'If you're feeling sad and weary..' when you have got to 'don't be grumpy' Good luck!

Everywhere around me This is one of Mrs Hedges' favourite songs. Make sure you do the power hand movement!

Our God This is a good one to teach your younger brothers and sisters if they don't know it. Don't scare them when it goes loud at the end though!

I hope you enjoyed last week's new song. Some teachers complained that they couldn't stop singing it. They went to bed with the 'Bonkers' song going round and round their head. Let's see if this one is as catchy. It gives you lots of reasons to sing. Have a go at making up some actions to go along with it.

Just sing!

Music to listen to

On Mondays, we also learn about a different musical genre or artist. I hope you enjoyed Andrea Bocelli last week. This week, I am sending you a link to a piece of music we listened to back in September. This is Elgar's cello concerto, played by Sheku Kanneh- Mason. He is a very talented cellist who won the Young Musician of the Year when he was 17 years old. Elgar is a famous English composer. This is a beautiful piece which he wrote just after the First World War.

Elgar's cello concerto

Collective worship

Look out for the Collective worship later this afternoon and also for a special video from the staff which we will share with you in the week. We are always thinking of you all, and hope that you are staying safe and well.

God is good...all the time,

Take care,

Mrs Hedges