BELIEVE IT OR NOT

Winchester Cathedral

Oops sorry MAPP day pupils - I have only just had chance to write a post about our super day in Winchester earlier this month.  20 year 8 pupils travelled to Winchester to have a tour around the Cathedral and had a interesting view of the Cathedral ceiling!

They spent the afternoon at a banner making workshop and next half term they will become the teachers as they will be in charge of Year 5 pupils when they make Advent banners!  Tell me what you thought of the day if you went or tell me what sort of other MAPP days you would like to see.

Spirit of Art

Some Year 7 pupils took part in a MAPP day recently which involved entering a competition called 'Spirited Art' run by NATRE (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education).  The theme of the competition was 'A Just World' and pupils worked in pairs to produce a poster and an explanation about why they chose to portray the theme in that particular way.  Have a listen to one group's reasons and have a look at their fantastic work.  Mrs Westby, Head of Art and Mr Morris, the Headteacher were extremely impressed with the final pieces which have now been sent off awaiting the results of the competition in September.  Fingers crossed!!

By Tom Thornton, Paul Smith and Connor Jones

By Joe Salmon and Oliver Morey

Visit to Medina Mosque, Southampton

Eighteen Year 8 pupils took part in a MAPP Day visit to the Medina Mosque, Southampton recently.   This is the first time that any pupils from an Island school has visited this newly constructed Mosque near St Mary's Road which can hold up to 700 Muslims at Friday prayers.  Pupils were invited to explore and ask questions on the features of the main prayer hall (some of which could be answered by Year 5 pupils who have been looking at the features of a Mosque and know why a mirhab and minbar are important in Muslim worship).  Pupils were able to visit another three Mosques in close vicinity as well as a 'halal' food store.  Anas Al-korj, the Mosque's Public Relations and Community Development Manager, talked with the pupils and answered questions about why some Muslim women follow 'hijab' which are the recommendations concerning modesty, sometimes in the form of a head covering.  Other topics were Muslim beliefs following a death and how Muslims are portrayed in the media.  The day enabled pupils to begin to understand the Muslim way of life and hopefully challenged some stereotypes.  Anas was extremely impressed with the questions some of the pupils asked and has said 'they were a wonderful group'.

Stained Glass Window Workshop

Mr Lashley joined Mrs Bushell to the second MAPP day at Winchester Cathedral recently.  Eighteen pupils from 8VM and 8JH travelled to Winchester and took part in a guided tour (following around 107 year 3 pupils from a mainland school!).  The tour was followed by lunch and a workshop based on one of the stained glass windows found in the Fisherman's Chamber.  The pupils looked at symbolism used in such windows and went on to produce their own designs which will shortly be on display back at school.

Visit to Winchester Cathedral

Twenty of our Year 8 pupils, ten from 8JH and ten from 8VM took part in this year's first R.E. MAPP (more able pupil project) Day.  Mrs Moran and Mrs Bushell travelled with the pupils to Winchester via the Red Jet and train.  It was a beautiful weather, as Mr Peace had predicted on his Met Blog, and we strolled from the train station through the gates of the City in sunshine.  As the connections went so smoothly we had an hour to spare so visited the Winchester City Museum which is in the grounds of the Cathedral and travelled in time from the Iron Age on the third floor, through Anglo Saxons to the Tudors on the ground floor.  The Museum looked at how Winchester as a city had changed over the years.  We then had a guided tour of the Cathedral and were amazed by the trails and tribulations it had incurred since it was first built, from having its magnificent stained glass window destroyed and rebuilt by the people of Winchester, to a deep sea diver being called in to rebuild the foundations with cement.  After lunch we attended a workshop which looked at the Winchester 12th century illstrated Bible.  Before we saw the book we found out which natural materials they used to illustrate the initial letter, one of which was gold leaf.  We saw the beautifully neat handwriting of the one monk who wrote the whole book which was later illustrated by a number different people.  You will see from the photographs some of what we saw and we are now busy preparing a display board for the whole school to see what we did on our MAPP day.