This year we celebrated Easter as a whole school slightly differently. We looked at aspects of Jesus as we delved into aspects of his life , death and resurrection.

We began by taking a journey through the village to the church. There, we created our own journey sticks. We tied items that we found onto our sticks to show our journey and where we’d been.

We returned to the school grounds and spent some time listening, looking, thinking and reflecting. We wrote our thoughts down – here are some of them:

Words –

free, sleepy, playful, relaxed, calm, songs, happy, sad, kind, respectful, trees, rocks, flowers, birds, tired out, united.

Phrases –

I feel awake, I feel full of energy. I feel like I’m loving life. I am loving the moment. Being outside feels great. Happy to just be outside. I am thankful for nature. I feel united with the whole school. The church is great, it makes you think of great things. I loved the stick making and looking around. There are pretty flowers in my head. Everything’s gentle. I’m feeling the wind. I feel like a princess because I’m happy. I feel free and warm because I’m outside with friends. I feel happy because all of the plants are growing.

Prayers – Thank you, God, for making the world. Thank you, God, for the birds’ songs and the cocker tree that blossoms every spring.

Thank you for the world. I am grateful for the grass we walk on. I am grateful for the environment. I’m excited about new life. I am thankful for the birds chirping. Isn’t it amazing how different all the flowers are?

Thank God for daisies and for deer, For nature’s wonders far and near. You give us water and us you feed. So in return we do a good deed. Over pine cones, over rocks, You help us look and see a fox. And everyday in the grasses clear. Creatures crawl without any fear. Wonders of yours in trees of lime, And up their trunks these wonders climb. Over hills and under banks Eating away at wooden planks. These creatures scramble once again To live right now and live right then. Never sinners, never winners, never hurting others These wonders live on all we did and are caring sisters and brothers. Nature is a beautiful and tranquil place to be Spreading from under rocks and far, far out to sea.

Dear God, I’m happy to just be outside. I feel very calm because I love nature. I’m excited for the day. Thank you, God, for the wonderful activity we did today. Amen

Dear God, Thank you for our freedom, thank you for our friends, thank you for our Guinea pigs, thank you for our food, thank you for our family. Amen

Dear God, Thank you for all the beautiful plants in our world, their blues, their pinks, reds, oranges and greens. Thank you that their oxygen keeps us alive. Thank you that Jesus saved us and enabled us to enjoy them. Thank you that we live in such a wonderful world and place.

Comments – I would love to do it again. Making my journey stick, I felt happy and found it fun to collect things from everywhere. I enjoyed spending time with my friends. I felt very thoughtful during our visit to the church. I feel the church is a very peaceful place if you want some quiet. I felt really happy and free. I liked doing the activities. I also felt very calm and peaceful while looking at the graves. I liked the breeze. I liked the walk, making sticks and being outside (it was a lot of fun). I liked having the rest of the school with us. I want to go back to the graveyard and look at the graves again. I felt light and strong. I pray that God will bless this Easter.