ROCKCLIFFE CE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Harvest Festival 2016

Harvest Festival 2016 

All children worked hard to practise a little something to perform for their audience and members of the local community. 

We must remember this Harvest time to be thankful for vegetables and all our food. 
We should be thankful for everyone who helps us to eat- our families who cook our food, those who work in the kitchen at school, those who have grown and harvested, produced and delivered our food.  We should be thankful for what we have and for all the hard work that has gone into our food. 

 

Running Order for our Harvest Festival 2016 

Hymn– Autumn Days

Class 2– Dingle, dangle scarecrow

Introduction by Class 6 pupils

Class 3 -Thank You Prayer

Class 4 -Thank You Prayer

Class 5– Autumn Poem

Song- Cauliflowers Fluffy

Class 6– The Tree Play

Address by Revd  Van Den Berg

Hymn- Thank You Lord

 

Aim
To appreciate God's gift of trees
To share the harvest

Niamh- Welcome to our Harvest Festival 2016
We would like to begin by singing Autumn Days

HYMN: 'Autumn Days'

Euan, Haydn and James at the front

James- Once again, Autumn has arrived - and we welcome you to our harvest festival. We give thanks for the great variety of foods we are able to grow and eat. Just look at the wonderful display of foods you have donated. These will be given to Rockcliffe Church to be auctioned at the Church on Sunday.   In this way, we will be including many people in our harvest celebration, not just the people in this room.

Haydn-If you look in a dictionary, you will see that the word "harvest" means a result. If you knit, your harvest could be a jumper. If you play football, your harvest could be a goal. If you work on the land, your harvest could be food. This food harvest happens every year, so we sometimes take it for granted.
The harvest is a yearly miracle - and we should not forget that.

Euan- We thank you for your many special miracles. like grass growing from seed to make our football pitch; like flour coming from wheat to make our sandwiches; like milk coming from cows to make our milkshakes; like oranges growing on trees to make our fruit juice. 

Niamh- Class 2 children have worked hard to practise the Dingle, Dangle Scarecrow. 
Please welcome our Reception children.

Reception children dance at the front while the whole school sings. 
Song- Dingle, dangle scarecrow

 
Niamh- We are grateful for all the foods which are available to us.
Now Class 3 will perform their Thank You prayer.

Class 3 children come to the front to perform.

.The world is like one big garden, where all these foods grow.
In the Bible, God said,

Josh GOD: I am a gardener, and I look after my garden, all day and all night.

God wants us to look after his garden as well. He said, 

Josh GOD: If you obey my rules... I will give you all the rain you need, just at the right time to make things grow. Everything will grow beautifully in the soil and the trees will be covered with fruit. You will be able to harvest your food all the year round and eat as much as you want.

Here, God is promising to give us enough food, if we are good. It is always harvest time somewhere in the world. Hopefully, in England, we will always have a food harvest at this time of year.
 

HARVEST OF OUR TREES

Fern- If you look on the wall, you will see there are many pictures to do with trees - and the harvest we get from trees. This is the special theme for our harvest festival, this year.

Fern- Already, we have mentioned some of the foods we can get from trees, such as apples and oranges. You can probably think of many more - like limes, coconuts, cherries and peaches.
But there are many other harvests we can get from trees.

We are lucky. We live near the countryside. Most of us have been to a wood or a forest. Many of us have had fun climbing trees, or building tree houses, or throwing sticks to make conkers fall. Trees have given us a harvest of fun - but they give us many other things too.

James - Right now, you are breathing oxygen made by trees. Your hymn sheets are made of paper, which is made from wood pulp. On Bonfire Night or at Christmas, you may burn logs. At Christmas, you may use fir cones and mistletoe as decorations. All these useful things come from trees, but we often take this harvest for granted.

Joseph- If you look at home or at school, you will very quickly find many things made of wood. You may have used some of these things this week: a pencil, a paintbrush, , a rounders bat, a hockey stick, a cricket bat, a wooden spoon, a chopping board, a drum, wooden toys, ornaments, statues and bowls. You will be able to think of many more.

Niamh- There are many skilled people whose talents lie in making wood products.
Now Class 4 will perform their Thank You Prayer to give thanks to those talented people.

Class 4 come to the front to perform their Thank You Prayer

Of course, trees are beautiful to look at, as well.
When we see the tall trees swaying in the wind, and the colourful autumn leaves falling, to make a carpet in the woods; when we sit in the cool shade of the oak tree, or hear the breeze whispering through the fir trees; we are thankful for our beautiful world.

Niamh- Now Class 5 will perform their Autumn poem.
It begins with brightly coloured Autumn leaves falling from trees.  It ends with the leaves turning into brightly coloured flames in a bonfire.


Class 5 perform poem

Niamh- We thank you for fir trees with long, straight trunks - and oak trees with twisted, spreading branches.
We thank you for fresh green leaves in spring - and fiery coloured leaves in Autumn.
We thank you for bitter lemons and sweet apples.
We thank you for trees. Help us to look after them, so our children may also enjoy them.
And once again, thank you for the fun we can have with trees.


Niamh- Please join in as we sing Cauliflowers Fluffy.
Song- Cauliflowers Fluffy

Niamh- So, what is so good about trees?  Class 6, can you tell us more?

NARRATOR:
Lila- Trees can be very ordinary looking.
Libby- Sometimes they can be beautiful.
Lila- sometimes old and gnarled...
Libby- Generally we take them for granted until we...
(Sienna walks past the tree and a branch leaps out and hits them in the eye.)
Libby- get hit in the eye by a branch or...
(Trees drop LEAVES on the floor and someone comes past sweeping them up, grumbling.)
Lila- We have to spend all weekend sweeping up their leaves.
Libby- It is easy to miss what talented beings trees are.
Lila- In Ethiopia, people are encouraging the planting of trees. They are showing that trees are a source of fuel...
Libby- They are a source of building material...
(Each tree is given TIMBER.)
Lila- They are the lungs of the earth...
(Each tree is handed a sign LUNGS OF THE EARTH.)
Libby- They provide shade...
(Each tree is handed SHADE)
Lila- They fertilise the land so plants underneath grow well...
(Each tree is handed FERTILISE.)
Libby- They feed the wild animals...
(A label is hung on each tree 'Wayside Cafe - all animals served.)
Lila- So, Ethiopians are getting the message, and we hope you are too, that...
...trees are good for you - touch wood. (Touch the trees.)

Libby -Hopefully, more and more people will get this message. Then, what this farmer in the Philippines said will not come true:

FARMER: Whenever I go out into the rainforest, I hear God's voice in the singing of the birds, the wind rustling through the trees and the sound of the mountain streams. If there is no end to logging, there will come a time when there will no longer be birds, trees and streams in our village. When that day comes, I will no longer hear God's voice.
Address by Revd Van Den Berg
Niamh- For our final song in our Harvest Festival, we would like to sing Thank You Lord.  
Hymn- Thank You Lord

CONCLUSION

-God made the trees. He likes them and wants us to look after them. He made a great variety of trees. One is the mustard tree. In the Bible, Jesus says,

JESUS: The mustard seed is the smallest seed in the world, but when you plant it in the ground, it grows and becomes such a big tree that the birds can come and build their nests in the shade of its branches. God works like that.

-Jesus is saying that from small beginnings can come big results. We would say "From tiny acorns grow mighty oaks."

-In a psalm in the Bible, a good man is compared to a strong tree. "Down by the river is a good place for trees. If the water flows near them, they never grow dry. Their leaves are not withered. They stay green and alive. And each year their branches are covered with fruit.
The man that is good is like a tree by the river. God will look after him. God will protect him. Like a tree by the river, he will grow strong!"

-Just a tiny seed and it grows into a big tree. Jesus, you started out with just a few friends, and now you have people who love you and follow you, all around the world. The tree of your friends is still growing, and we are part of it today. We thank you, Jesus. Amen.

-Jesus said that a tiny seed can grow into a big tree. A tiny bit of love can make lots of people happy. Take our love, in these harvest gifts, and make it grow, Lord Jesus, to make others happy. Amen.
 

Thank you to all those who contributed to our Harvest Collection.  
We moved all items to the Church after school and the Community Harvest Auction was held
on the following Sunday evening at St.Mary's Church, Rockcliffe. 

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