Pre-Prep kick off Harvest Festival Celebrations.

Traditionally, Harvest Festival is an annual celebration and thanksgiving for successful crop yields; in recent years it has also provided an opportunity to give thanks for all the good and positive things in life. This morning we were delighted to invite friends and family to The Barn for our Pre-Prep Harvest Festival Assembly.

With a backdrop of carefully crafted Harvest Boxes and plentiful donations, our youngest pupils from Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 performed Harvest themed songs.

After a brief introduction from Mr Roberts, our Head of Pre-Prep, Year 1 kicked off proceedings with an enthusiastic performance of Under the Harvest Moon. Complete with carefully choreographed moves, the performance was an excellent start to the assembly. The children have been practising hard since the start of term and this showed in their confident and polished performance.

Reception performed for the the very first time in The Barn and if there were any nerves they certainly weren’t on display as the children sang the words to their song Yummy Food with confidence. They definitely made their families and teachers very proud. With just three weeks of school under their belts, they gave a performance beyond their years.

The children and audience then listened as Reverend Rich spent time reflecting on the purpose of Harvest Festival. Reverend Rich touched on the history of Harvest Festival and how it is still significant today. He enlisted the help of four willing Year 2 volunteers to help the younger children visualise the different elements he was discussing. Farmer Tom represented the farmers who toil to grow and harvest crops. Previous generations had closer connections to local farmers, but in recent years supermarkets have meant that most people don’t buy their food direct from source. Cassian, armed with clipboard and biro, acted as the supermarket manager, representing the bridge between farmers and consumers. Eleanor donned an apron and represented the cook, someone who uses ingredients to feed their family, community or society. Reverend Rich highlighted that many of these ‘cooks’ across the country were finding it harder to access ingredients. Finally Simi represented the Food Bank Manager, replete with an official Food Bank fleece.

Reverend Rich explained that now more than ever people are struggling to pay bills and afford food for their families. The donations from the King’s Hawford community will be delivered to Worcester Food Bank on Monday, where they will handed out to those in need.

Following Reverend Rich’s reflection and prayers, Year 2 treated the audience to a moving rendition of Harvest Hallelujah. Poised atop benches, Year 2 took their moment to shine in what will be their last Pre-Prep Harvest Festival. They sang with passion and confidence.

The whole of Pre-Prep then joined together for everyone’s favourite Harvest song, Big Red Combine Harvester. It was a delight to watch all of the children performing with huge smiles on their faces. Children from Reception to Year 2 did amazingly well to remember the words and all of the actions to the songs. It was an energetic performance and you could see that the children were enjoying it thoroughly.

Proceedings closed with Years 1 and 2 singing ‘Jitterbug Bean’. Mrs Hughes encouraged the children to user their playground voices and they most certainly did!

Well done to our Pre-Prep performers and thank you to the King’s Hawford community for your wonderful donations, impressive Harvest Boxes and for joining us this morning.