Year 6 visited our local church where volunteers welcomed us and took us around different stations which represented the journey of the magi following the star from the Nativity story. We reflected on difficult journeys we may make in our life and different emotions we carry around with us as well as hopes and aspirations and gratitude. Afterwards, we sang some Christmas carols to the volunteers who were incredibly impressed with our voices.
Today year 6 were visited by a Muslim in school to learn about Islam. We were educated
about the five pillars: Shahadah, salah, zakat, Hajj, Sawm. We looked at the religious book
‘Quran’ and learnt that Arabic is read from right to left and from the back of the book to the
front.
as part of our RE unit for this Spring term, ‘How and why is Easter celebrated by Christians?’Â
We were split into groups and we then visited different parts of a church hall which had been mapped out to tell us parts of the Easter story Christian’s believe. We found out about significant points of Jesus’ life leading up to his crucifixion. It was informative and allowed us to be reflective and ask questions linked to Christian beliefs. The church volunteers were extremely welcoming and even enabled us to plant our own sunflower seeds which they said was to represent new starts.
Father Thompson visited year 4 to talk about our unit question ‘Lent and why it is important to Christians’. We learnt that Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, lasts for 40 days (excluding Sundays), and ends on Good Friday. Lent is important to Christians as it is a time when Christians can prepare for the celebrations of Easter by reflecting on their behaviour over the last year and finding ways to live a life based on the teaching of Jesus. It was lovely to be able to ask Father Thompson questions and look at some of the artefacts that he brought with him.
On Wednesday 4th December year 6 visited West Harton Methodist Church to take part in a Christmas Labyrinth. We went around 9 stations finding out about the journey that Mary and Joseph took in the Christmas nativity story. It was interesting to find out about what Christians beliefs are about the event that lead up to the birth of Jesus.
The volunteers who ran the event said that were very well-mannered and they were extremely impressed with our behaviour and enthusiasm.
On Tuesday 12th November, Year 5 visited Durham Cathedral. We have been studying the Northern Saints in RE and this is the place in which several of them are buried. We acted out some of the stories linked to Saint Oswald and the lessons that we could learn from them. We are also studying architecture in Art and Durham Cathedral has some of the finest examples of architecture in England. We had an interesting tour around the cathedral and learned that it took 40 years to build and that it was all done by hand. The huge pillars were made and carved in pieces that were put together like a big jigsaw. One of our favourite things were the stained glass windows which were stunning. Some were very old, some were religious and told stories and some were more abstract and made you think. We thought it was a wonderful place and we are looking forward to making a leaflet on Durham Cathedral with what we learned.
Year 3 children took part in Divali workshop. We found out about how Hindus celebrate Divali and some of us dressed up. We found out about the importance of the goddess Lakshmi for Hindus.
Father Mervyn joined us to celebrate our Harvest Festival at Biddick Hall Junior school. Thanks you to all our parents and carers who donated food items. They were distributed to two local foodbanks. They were very grateful that you shared your harvest gifts with them.
Year 6 were visited by two Muslims in school to learn about Islam. We were educated about the five pillars: Shahadah, salah, zakat, Hajj, Sawm. We looked at the religion book Quran and learnt that Arabic is read from right to left and from the back of the book to the front. We viewed a prayer blanket and Alfie tried on some Men’s garments consisting of two white unhemmed sheets.
Year 4 visited Father Thompson at All Saints Church to learn about why Lent is such an important period for Christians. We noticed that the church was decorated in purple, looked at a crown of thorns and pictures on the walls depicting, the stations of the cross, which tells the story of Jesus carrying his cross and being crucified.
