Prep Pupils Impress Parents with Harvest Assembly

Each year the King’s Hawford community marks the traditional festival of Harvest with assemblies, donations and a Harvest Festival Box competition and this year was no exception. Last Friday, the younger King’s Hawford pupils joined together and delivered an exceptional assembly in the morning, whilst our Prep School pupils brightened up our afternoon with theirs. The brilliant Harvest boxes, created by the pupils, provided a wonderfully colourful backdrop for both assemblies.

Year 6 led from the top and guided the audience through the assembly. Family and friends were treated to a mix of songs and the spoken word, all of which were performed to perfection. Michelle and Max kicked off proceedings by explaining where the Harvest donations go and asking the audience to remember how fortunate we are to have enough to eat. Year 3 took the audience on a global tour as they reflected on harvest festival traditions around the world. Year 6 sang Sow in Peace and were expertly accompanied by Mrs Hughes on piano and Barnaby B and Max M on their saxophones.

The whole of Pre-Prep sang the hymn Harvest Samba before Rev’d Rich took to the floor to reflect on from where our food comes. Ably assisted by four volunteers, Rev’d Rich spoke about how in years gone by farmers would have been at the heart of the community. Nowadays, with advancements in farming technology, not many people are aware of or involved in the process of farming. Lyra (Y4) represented the farmer.

Next Rev’d Rich spoke about the role supermarkets play in enabling us to purchase food from all around the world; we have access to food regardless of whether or not it is in season in the UK. The audience were encouraged to be thankful for the amount of food choices that we have. Elliott (Y4) represented the supermarket manager.

Fin (Y4) and Lily (Y4) represented the cook and the Food Bank manager. The cook is the person responsible for pulling together all of the ingredients in the kitchen cupboards. Not everyone is lucky enough to have cupboards full of ingredients and are limited by what they can afford. Some people who are less fortunate rely on Food Banks as they can’t afford to buy what they want, when they want. There are lots of reasons why but there have always been people with less than others. 2.1 million emergency food parcels were given out last year according to the Trussell Trust. All of the donations received by King’s Hawford are sent to the Worcester Food Bank.

Rev’d Rich highlighted three important things to be thankful this Harvest season:

1. Farmers and all those who produce food, transport it, pack it and sell it.
2. The people around us. Food brings people together and is a gift that allows us to celebrate the gift of life.
3. Sharing. In our community we should be thankful for the ability to share. Traditionally Harvest Festival is marked by school and church communities coming together to share. Food is a gift to share.

Year 5 lightened the mood in The Barn with a tongue-in-cheek rap aptly entitled The Harvest Rap. The pupils gave an extremely well-polished performance and brought a smile to everyone assembled in The Barn. The whole of the Prep School then joined together to sing Almighty Hand of God, before Year 4 took to the floor to deliver a Harvest Alphabet. Pupils impressed with their exceptional recall, not missing a beat and delivering an exceptional performance.

Thank you to Mrs Hughes for ensuring that the pupils were performance-perfect for the assembly, Rev’d Rich for his time and the wonderful King’s Hawford community for the overwhelming amount of donations.