Harvest Festival at Crescent School is always a special event as the children and staff gather together with the wider school family to celebrate and give thanks. Every year the school hall resonates with music, songs, prayers and readings to reflect on the bounty of the harvest, the traditions of Harvest Festival, along with the importance of community and of helping one another. This year, with an earlier start time, even more parents and family members were able to join in the celebration.
The school relies on the generosity of parents and family members to make this traditional British event one to remember and together, thanks to a wealth of donations, a wonderful display of tinned and packaged foods was created. These have now been shared between Rugby Foodbank and the Hope4 Centre. They were received gratefully, Pauline Smout from Hope4 commented, “Please thank the children, parents and staff and let them know that we do really appreciate their thoughtfulness.”
During the festival the 16-strong Crescent orchestra played stirringly leading the gathering in the traditional hymn ‘We plough the fields and scatter’. The children delivered their readings beautifully and sang traditional and modern Harvest songs; Big Red Combine Harvester, sang by Reception and Pre-Prep was a delightful highlight. New Headmaster, Mr Thackway’s green fingered address gave everyone time to reflect and proved that the children know a lot about seeds and The Parable of the Sower.
The gathered throng recognised how fortunate they are to reap the rewards of a good harvest and the children appreciate the wonderful choice of all the food they have – although perhaps not, if the choir are anything to go by, the poor Brussel sprout.
Thank you to all of the children, to the staff who helped put the service together and to the parents for their donations. We hope you enjoyed this first shared service of the school year.
