RE Week
Aside from fasting, Muslims observing Ramadan also increase in spiritual devotional acts such as prayer, giving to charity and strengthening family ties. These were the aspects of Ramadan that we focused on.
During the day, the children made diva lamps out of clay and rangoli patterns using coloured rice as well as exploring shadow puppets, dancing and more!
Wednesday
On Wednesday, children learnt about Sikhism, with a focus on the special celebration of Vaisakhi (which is similar to a harvest festival for Christians!). Sikhs also celebrate Diwali. The children made this link by lighting a candle in their diva lamps that they made the previous day and having a virtual firework display. Fireworks are key to a lot of Sikh and Hindu celebrations!
In the afternoon, the children embarked on a Christmas walk around the school. The children visited 14 stations in different areas of the school and, at each one, they heard a part of the Christmas Story from the Bible and collected a little souvenir to help them remember each part. We hope that they will be able to use their bag of souvenirs to retell the Christmas story when they get home!
Thursday
We recently asked for families to let us know of their own religious faiths and beliefs and we received some lovely responses.
The children spent the day learning about the religious faiths and beliefs of our families, using the information that we received back from members of our own school community.
Friday
In the morning, the children spent time learning about Christian beliefs about Christmas through RE curriculum teaching. There was also time to take part in some Christmas crafting throughout the day to allow the children time to create something special and beautiful to take home that would hopefully remind them of the amazing special school week they have experienced.
Throughout the day, the children made traditional Christingles in St Aldhelm’s Church with members of the church community. These special Christingles were then lit during our Christingle service that took place in the afternoon, at St Aldhelm's Church, led by Reverend Gemma Donnell.