For our 'Special School Week' for Autumn term, the whole school took part in 'RE Week'.
To start the week off in an exciting and inspiring way, the children were invited to come into school dressed up as something related to 'RE'. This could have been something from the bible, an artefact from any religion, a character from the Christmas story.....anything! Some really thoughtful and wonderful costumes came as a result of this. Thank you to all who dressed up! Even some of the staff took part, the children found this very funny indeed!
Each class were given a religion to focus on with a reoccuring theme of 'Festivals of Light'. All classes were encouraged to experience RE through relgious art, music and dance. This is what each class got up to during the week:
Reception: Hinduism and the Festival of Diwali
Reception had so much fun learning all about 'Diwali'. We began our learning adventure by exploring the traditional story of 'Rama and Sita'. We thought the hindu Gods looked "beautiful and pretty" with all of their "bright, glowing colours". We also took time to learn about all of the hindu traditions surrounding Diwali, including dancing, statues and images of Hindu Gods and diva lamps. We had the opportunity to create our own diva lamps using salt dough. When we had each made one, we finished of our week by lighting our special diva lamps and making a wish that we hoped would come true. The moment was very special as we sat in the darkness with just the candle light and soft, traditional indian music playing. It was truly lovely.
Year 1: Buddahism and the Festival of Vesak
Year one had lots of creative fun whilst learning about the Buddhist festival of Vesak. They concentrated on the meaning of the 'Lotus Flower' as a key symbol of Buddhism. Each child created their own beautiful lotus flowers that were put up on display in the classroom. They also learnt about the importance of prayer in Buddhism and created traditional Buddhist prayer flags that were hung for all to see. Lastly, they created lanterns using glass jars and glass paint because in Vesak, the main tradition is to light lots of candles. They were stunning and the children were ever so proud of their work.
Year 2: Islam and the Festival of Eid
Year 3: Judaism and the Festival of Hanukkah
The main focus in Year 3 was the Jewish festival of light Hanukkah. We studied the story of Hanukkah through story telling and wrote plays scripts in group to then perform as a mini drama. The children learnt to play Dreidel, a traditional children's Hanukkah game and cooked some traditional Hanukkah foods.
As part of our 'mindfulness' SMSC learning we went outside to appreciate the environment God created. The children used each sense to describe and appreciate some elements of the outdoors.
Year 4: Christmas Around the World
During RE Week, Year 4 were invited to visit Salisbury Cathedral. This amazing opportunity was part funded by the Diocese and the children were accompanied by the Year 4 staff and Rev. Jacquie Birdseye.
The children experienced a true awe and wonder moment looking at the size of the Cathedral, especially when they realised it was built without the use of modern building equipment.
Inside was the biggest Christmas tree, we had ever seen!
The children were given a guided tour of the Cathedral and found out about the activities and services that take place within the Cathedral over the year.
The children also found out about the history of the Cathedral, some of the interesting tales behind the bodies buried in the tombs and about the beautiful font in the centre of the building.
We also visited the Magna Carta exhibition. This was particularly exciting as the Magna Carta was celebrating its 800th year!
As a whole school, we created a beautiful 'Christmas Wish' display for all to see! Each child, from pre-school to year 4 designed their own special star and wrote a personal christmas wish. All the stars were combined to make a spectacular christmas tree design that was truly special.
The display was completed by a stunning 'christmas wreath' created by children in year 1 and 2 using only recycled materials.
To end a wonderful week of learning and exploring different relgions, we finished with a 'Christmas Walk'. Areas of the school were set up to represent different parts of the Christmas Story and lots of happy and helpful volunteers came to read a part of story and give each child a little gift to help them remember each part. At some areas children were given a feather to represent angel wings of the Angel Gabriel. Other areas saw children get a little gold present to represent the gifts given to Jesus by the Wise men. It was an amazing afternoon and a calm and spiritual atmosphere was created around the school.
Thank you to all the volunteers and staff who worked together so brilliantly to make it a truly meaningful and exciting experience for all.