In assembly today we were shown a picture of a huge portrait of a woman who lived 100 years ago which has been unveiled at Birmingham New St Station. The portrait, by artist Helen Marshall, covers the floor of the station. It is an image of Hilda Burkitt, born in Wolverhampton in 1876, and formed of 3,724 selfies and pictures of women from members of the public.

Hilda was a suffragette, campaigning for women’s rights and the right to vote – we discussed what this meant to women and how important it was. We also looked at how unfair it was that women were treated differently and were not allowed the same rights as men. We talked about Hilda and how she ended up in prison for throwing at stone at the prime ministers train – we asked questions about whether this was right and should Hilda have done that? We talked about whether there was a better way for her to protest and make her views known.

Trooping the Colour is a royal British tradition, starting in 1748. The ceremony originated as guards prepared for battle, presenting their colours and flags so that soldiers would recognise them. Today the ceremony is used to celebrate the Queen’s official birthday in June.

This year Charanpreet Singh Lall became the first person to wear a turban in the Trooping the Colour procession. That’s the first time in 270 years. Charanpreet says, “I hope that people watching, that they will just acknowledge it and that they will look at it as a new change in history.”

“I hope that more people like me, not just Sikhs but from other religions and different backgrounds will be encouraged to join the army.”

“I’m quite proud and I know that a lot of other people are proud of me as well. It’s a good feeling… there’s going to be a lot of eyes and I am going to have influence on other people.”

In assembly today we discussed this picture further. We talked about how Charanpreet feels looking slightly different to the other guards and does that mean he can’t be a guard as well? We all agreed that we have moved on a lot since 1748 and that it is a good thing that people of different religions and backgrounds feel and are included. We discussed that everyone should feel proud of the job that they do and that Charanpreet felt proud to represent his country.

The new series of Dr Who has aired with the Dr as a female for the first time. During the episode the Dr was told she was a woman and she replied, “Am I? Does it suit me? Oh yeah I remember. Half an hour ago I was a white-haired Scotsman.” Later she built her own sonic screwdriver from scratch using impressive engineering skills.

The Doctor said; “We are all capable of the most incredible change. We can evolve while still saying true to who we are. We can honour who we’ve been and choose who we want to be next.”

In assembly today we talked about identity – we had discussions on how we identify each other by sex, race, religion etc and how important this can be. We talked about the quote above and also of the importance of accepting people’s identities and acknowledging everyone’s skills and contributions to society.

During assembly Mrs Knipe discussed British values. She discussed what they were (democracy; the rule of law; individual liberty; mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.) We then discussed how we can see those values in and around school – through how we treat each other with respect, how we learn about government and help to set our own school rules etc. There is going to be a display in the hall that we can look at during assemblies and which we will be contributing to as well.

We have not had a blog for the value words of Friendship and Perseverance so we are going to put them together.
In order to maintain and keep a friendship you really need to persevere – sometimes friends can drive us mad, sometimes they can make us sad. However, if we are to be true and good friends we need to make sure that we do all we can to keep our friendships going – even when times get tough. By persevering we can bring the very best to our friendships and having friends can only be a good thing.

This month our value word is HONESTY.

Honesty is demonstrated by what we say and by what we do. It impacts our entire life; our jobs, our relationships, our own feelings about ourselves and the actions we take. It can move us forward and allow us to feel good about what we do.

The businessman and author W. Clement Stone came up with a quote which sums up how important honesty is.
“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.”

Last week was World Book Week and we have listened to and learnt poems in school. Here is a poem all about honesty.

It Is Better
Author: Unknown

“It is better to lose with a conscience clean
Than to win with a trick unfair;
It is better to fail, and to know you’ve been,
Whatever the prize was, square.
Than to claim the joy of a far-off goal
And the cheer of the standers-by,
And to know down deep in your inmost soul,
A cheat you must live and die.”

Watch a small Pass it On clip about honesty – click here.

This month’s value word is Caring – We all need to think about the way we show each other that we care – think about the people in your lives. Family, friends, teachers – how do you show these people that you care about them? Alongside caring for others we need to think about caring for ourselves. Looking after our health, eating properly, getting enough sleep, not spending too much time on tablets and phones! It is important to care for yourself and then you can be in the best position to care for others.

Watch this video: https://www.passiton.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/151-everything-i-do

This month’s value word is Appreciation – thinking about this value it is clear that it is something that is highly regarded at Bells Farm and one way that we show our appreciation is through our school blog. Though the blogs we show appreciation for the work that others have done and we celebrate all our learning. By showing our work on the blogs we allow others to appreciate just how hardworking the children at Bells Farm are.

We also show our appreciation through our excellent work and star assemblies – it is wonderful to see how much we really have to appreciate at Bells Farm!

Our value word for November is Freedom – this links very nicely into our work during anti-bullying week where the slogan was ‘All different – All equal’.

At Bells Farm we have discussed how sometimes people are bullied for being different – be that having a different religion, speaking a different language, coming from a different country or even having a different family to other people. It is important that everyone has the freedom to be who they want to be without fear of being bullied – it’s our differences that make us interesting and are something to be celebrated!

At Bells Farm we welcome that freedom and we welcome everyone!

The value work of tolerance is about accepting others, their opinions, beliefs and life choices. This quote sums this up completely. We need to accept that we are all different and it is through this acceptance that love can grow.