Dickleburgh Primary Academy, Horsford Church of England VA Primary, Sandringham & West Newton Primary, Ditchingham & Gillingham Primary Academy, Dereham Church Infant & Nursery, and now Morley Church of England VA Primary School, have recorded the song “Looking to the Rainbow”. The song was written to share hope during coronavirus closures.
The song is now being promoted as part of the Church of England’s #FaithAtHome initiative, which launched recently, with the Church of England’s Chief Education Officer encouraging schools to get involved, and also has the backing of the official Thank a Teacher Day campaign, run by the Teaching Awards Trust.
Thank a Teacher Day is an annual celebration of teachers across the country, which will have added poignance this year with many school communities physically separated during closures to help combat the spread of coronavirus COVID-19.
Moira Croskell, Headteacher of Dickleburgh Primary Academy said:
“We absolutely love to sing at Dickleburgh and it is certainly one of the best ways for us all to work together at this time. It links perfectly to the rainbow initiative that we took part in at the beginning of lockdown, bringing us full circle, as we start to think about returning to school. Sharing this with our parents and children this week has made us feel like a school family coming together again after so long apart.”
Paul Dunning, Director of Education for the Diocese of Norwich said:
“I’m delighted to see our schools using this song of hope with their own communities as part of the Faith at Home campaign. I hope it will be a blessing to many families and teachers and create a sense of being together even when apart, along with being part of something much bigger too.”
Nigel Genders, the Church of England’s Chief Education Officer said:
“Singing together is a way of showing that we are thinking about one another and can still pray together for our families, our teachers and our wider communities. Seeing their pupils joining in and sing this song together will be a real encouragement to the teachers who we all want to thank, especially as they help us meet the challenges of the present time
“Home is the new normal and our #FaithAtHome programme offers more ways for families and households to build prayer and Christian reflection into everyday life, not just during the current restrictions but as good habits and practices we can keep up.”
You can view each of the six videos here:
Dickleburgh Primary Academy:
Horsford Church of England VA Primary School:
Sandringham & West Newton Primary School:
Ditchingham & Gillingham Primary Academy:
Dereham Church Infant & Nursery:
Morley Church of England VA Primary School:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HRYlWwyDLU&feature=youtu.be
