Harvest time is celebrated around the world at different times of the year, depending on the crops and climate. It is also celebrated by many religions, and is a time when people stop and give thanks for a successful harvest. Once the crops have been gathered in, Christians gather in churches decorated with grain, fruit, vegetables and flowers to give thanks for the produce and another successful year.
In this country, Harvest is usually celebrated in September, on the Sunday nearest to the Harvest moon.
The Harvest celebration has a special place in the St Margaret's calendar. It is a great opportunity for us to spend time thinking about other people and to share our learning with our friends and families. We always celebrate it at the end of the first half term, when the nursery and junior school pupils come together and are encouraged to think about how fortunate we are to live in this wonderful world with all of its amazing resources.
Before the celebration, the pupils spend time in their music lessons learning harvest songs, which help them to focus on the food we have, the weather we enjoy and the animals who share this world with us. Some classes share poems, reading and plays related to Harvest, and these allow us to think about the resources we have and about those who maybe do not have as much as us, as well as who we can share with.
All of these items are very much enjoyed by family and friends who join us in Rubislaw Church for this special occasion. The singing is always beautiful and the musical accompaniment by our musicians and the clear speaking voices of our performers makes the afternoon a very special occasion. One of the highlights of the celebration is when the whole junior school stand together and sing a special harvest song, written by Ms Brown, one of our music teachers.
We always collect food stuffs for the local Cyrenians charity, and we also donate money to Rubislaw Church to be sent to the Spot Valley Basic School in Jamaica. It is a fitting way to finish our term and a great start to our October holiday.