St Nicholas Priory School children in Great Yarmouth release balloons
EYES turned heavenwards and a crowd of children watched fascinated as hundreds of yellow balloons filled the bright blue sky.
Amid perfect sunny weather the helium-filled balloons were released from the playground of St Nicholas Priory Junior School in Great Yarmouth this week.
Attached to each was an inspiring messages or prayer written by pupils at the school describing their innermost thoughts and feelings.
A total of 400 balloons were carried away on the breeze, quickly floating high above the Market Place.
Curious shoppers stopped in their tracks to look as the yellow plume drifted out of view.
Year four pupil Kai Mount blew a whistle to start the balloon release, which was the highlight of an RE day at the school.
As well as writing messages for the balloons children studied creation stories, designed a sacred place and explored spirituality.
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Among the children releasing balloons were nine-year-olds Phoebe Harvey and Liberty Greenall-Rhodes. Liberty said: “We described what God means to us on the cards, learnt about Moslems and found out more than ever before about religion.”
Phoebe added: “We wrote to Norwich City Football Club and Delia Smith sent a card back to us explaining what God is to her.”
The project was part of Celebrating RE month, which is promoting the subject in schools, colleges and communities in England and Wales.
The school’s RE co-ordinator, Laura Latimer, said: “Hopefully the balloons will land in lots of the gardens and if someone is having a bad day it will make them smile.
“The pupils are not looking at God just through a Christian or even traditional religious perspective. We are aiming to reach out to the community in a way that is not normally possible.
She added: “The school has never had a dedicated day for RE before and all the children have been very enthusiastic.
“It has made them think about God and religion in a very profound way. There have been some fantastic messages and some really good quality work.”
For more information about Celebrating RE visit www.celebratingre.org.
