On Friday 17th January the pupils took part in a Christingle service at St Giles Church. The worship included the lighting of the candle, hymns, prayers and readings. Then the children’s Christingles were lit and a prayer read reminding us of the ‘Light shining into the darkness’.
The symbolic object represents the Children’s Society and money raised from the service helps to make a difference to children facing life’s hardest challenge and can protect vulnerable children at risk on the streets.
The Christingle is a symbolic object that means ‘Christ’s light’. It consists of an orange with a candle held in its centre and a red ribbon around it. The red ribbon goes all round the ‘world’ representing his love and reminding us Jesus died on the cross shedding his blood. Four sticks holding fruit and nuts or sweets are pierced into the orange and have two meanings; the four seasons or the four corners of the world. The sweets, fruit and nuts represent God’s creations that he blessed us with.
The children undertook follow up work to help them understand the impact the donations would make to a child’s life. In class 1 the children compared the impact to the christian value of Hope and made many perceptive suggestions of how the donations could be used.
One child said: “I know that some children might not be able to have a pet like me because it costs money to feed them, but it would be lovely if they could go to a ‘petting farm’ or zoo, where they could feed and stroke cuddly animals. This would help them to feel happy and cared for.”
