Children Enjoy a Wonderful Michaelmas Festival in Our New Home

We had a wonderful day celebrating Michaelmas and Harvest at our new home in St Anne’s School on the 29th September. The children started their morning with playing outside in Iron Street garden whilst the teachers busily prepared the harvest feast.

The children then received a golden cloak and, dressed in these, they walked in pairs down Clifton Street, across Newport Road to the new Kindergarten at St Anne’s. Their cloaks shone in the warm sunshine and the children were very happy. We pulled a wooden cart loaded with harvest gifts from all our kind and generous parents – we had home made cakes, squashes, apples, beans, vine leaves, biscuits, rice and much more. The cart was filled to the brim.

When we arrived at St Anne’s garden the old oak door leading in to the church stood open. The children took a harvest gift each and two by two they walked into St Anne’s church leaving their gifts on a table covered by a green tablecloth. Michelle was there and in return gave each child a bulb with these words –

Earth who gives to us this food,
sun and stars who made it good,
dearest earth and stars and sun,
we will remember what you have done.

The children brought the bulbs out into the autumn sun and planted them in different places around the garden. The children then played and played and then enjoyed outside ringtime eurythmy with Jackie and Clare. This was followed by an outdoor Harvest Feast that tasted so delicious. We made leaf crowns and played some more.

We ended our festival with a wonderful puppet show about a kite. The children went home clad in their golden cloaks and leaf crowns and carrying kites that they had made earlier in the week.

Michaelmas has long been a time of new beginnings or of taking up a new task. Michael beckons us to find the spirit to come alive through the dying year. The flashing meteor showers often seen at night at this time are said to be the sword he wields for us, each falling star made of iron – the iron we need to strengthen the resolution of the heart.

We have seen much evidence of iron and strength and resolution and heart in the last month as parents, teachers and friends have poured their energies and talents into making St Anne’s the breathtakingly beautiful new home we dreamed of. We cannot thank them enough, there will always be a little bit of each of them etched into the soul of the school now.