A Grinchy Christmas

 

Christmas is still one of my favourite times of year despite having experienced a lot of them! Quite apart from the beautiful story of how Jesus came to be a man on earth, it's also the carols and Christmas music, cookies, winter fires, pretty lights and people generally are less grumpy, especially the children.

Welcome to class 5HS! (and I can only spend a little bit of time writing this as I'm due in school in just over an hour). The classroom is decorated (Yay!), decorations made for our Christmas fair this evening (yay!), the Bethlehem Live interviews are complete (more about that later but yay!), the maths and reading tests are all copied and ready (boo!) and the children are already redfaced and excited that things are delicious different to the usual humdrum of school life.

But, one delight I have recently rediscovered is Dr Seuss' The Grinch! I'd never really taken much notice before, the film marred by my (personal) dislike of Jim Carrey (nothing personal, Jim!)  and the book a little non-descript and (to my mind) unexciting. However, deciding to use this text for a class project, I have fallen in love with the little book with its silly rhyme and cleverly scripted message. 

We've written a recipe for a perfect Christmas (presents score extremely high), delved into the mind of the Grinch, written a recipe for a Grinchy Christmas and finally we're about to embark on 'Instructions on How to Steal Christmas'. Obviously, our National Curriculum goal is centred on Instruction Writing but how wonderful to weave in an author loved by children (and no, they didn't realise they liked Dr Seuss either) and adults alike.

Finally, as many of you know, I teach in a medium-sized school in a Lincolnshire village that has its fair share of troubled and unwanted (by other schools due to behaviour and attainment scores - grrr) children - my favourite kind of kids who just need loads of love and patience, and yet many of them don't know much about Jesus. It still shocks me so we've had storytelling around the fire pit, we've explored Luke, watched videos, and we've discussed the more complicated aspects including what is a virgin (help!). The most beautiful part of this was each child choosing their favourite character from the nativity and bringing them to life. We've had angels in charge of healing, Joseph who especially loves birdwatching, Mary who despises housework, and even a rather wicked Herod.

Each character has been interviewed about what happened that glorious night, 2000 years ago. I wish I could share the results with you but I can't due to safeguarding, protections, etc. However, just know this, there is a small village in the East of England that can boast a group of children who will be talking about the birth of Jesus this Christmas. 

I hope you have enjoyed this tiny scrap of my life and experience! Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone.