Harvest Time and Gratitude

The leaves are turning rich colours of red, orange and gold. There's a slight chill in the fresh air filling our lungs and the glistening sun is setting just that bit earlier in the day. Autumn in upon us and it's a time when the earth, nature and animals are preparing to quieten down for the winter ahead.

Of course this means its Harvest time. A time to reap what we have sown and to gather in our produce and plants. Perhaps a time for reflection; to remember those early spring months excitedly planting seeds and those long hot summer months when we watered our vegetables during the heat of the day.

A time to recognise what we have, to be grateful for the food we eat and to consider the journey our food goes on to get to our plate. We thank the soil, the rain and the sun. We think about the pollinators that visited our vegetable patch and we discuss the work that goes on in farms, green grocers and delivery drivers. We are thankful and grateful for what we have.

We celebrate this time of year by making beautiful displays, nature table, books, posters, crunching leaves under our welly boots and music. We played our musical instruments along with a Native American flute. Rebecca visited one afternoon to teach us how to make sounds using our voices and clapping our hands.

Here at St. Michael's, our team values ways to support diversity, inclusion and equity. We recognise the importance to promote a racially and culturally inclusive practice and environment. Children learn about multiple faiths entwined within our practice continuously so that we promote respect for diverse beliefs, empathy, understanding and children learn about the world around them including people within the community.

Our setting prides itself on promoting positive relationships with people, promoting British Values and by weaving a wealth of diverse stories, music, reference books, posters, artefacts, visitors, fictional books, dolls and musical instruments that represent a wide range of cultures, into our every day practice, every day of the year.

Striving to strengthen links within our local community, we invited newly appointed Reverend Marilyn to visit our vegetable patch to see the space we hold. We sang 'Dingle Dangle Scarecrow' and 'Autumn Leaves are Falling Down'. Marilyn was impressed with the children's knowledge about the life cycles of plants, what seeds need to grow and we finished the visit with a poem about harvest vegetables.

The next day, some children visited Petroc Liberty Centre cafe to gift them seeds and plants. After all, the best way to celebrate Harvest is to build a community and share.

On the way we saw St. Paul's Church.