From The Head - Friday 29th November 2024

On Sunday, we officially head into Christmas territory with the start of advent. This always signals a time of high excitement for the children as they count down to Christmas Day with their advent calendars and wake up each day to see what the elf on the shelf has been up to!

In Latin, the word ‘advent’ (adventus) means ‘arrival’ or ‘coming’, and it was a period of time before the new year during the 4th and 5th centuries that involved prayer, penance and fasting. The tradition of marking the days until Christmas on an advent calendar likely started in 19th century Germany, but the question of who the original inventor was is still contested.

The idea of physically marking advent also has its roots in late 19th century Germany, when the Lutherans made chalk marks on doors from December 1st until the 24th, though one story is that a parent who was tired of telling their child how many more days it was until Christmas decided to provide a visual image by using chalk marks!

Advent calendars have become increasingly more sophisticated and interesting than chalk marks over the years, and opening those little doors to see what lies behind is always exciting. While researching the his- tory of advent calendars, I came across an 'Advent of Kindness' which I thought would be nice to share given that Christmas is meant to be about love, generosity and giving rather than the more materialistic aspects of the season. So if you fancy something different for the countdown to Christmas in addition to the daily chocolate, see below.

This week, we launched our toy collection appeal for Wood Street Mission Charity to help local families in Manchester and we will also be collecting food for Hope Central, so please donate whatever you can to help those facing a very bleak Christmas period.

Enjoy a lovely weekend.

Julia Langford.
Headteacher