Religious Education (RE): Blog items
Date: 29th Mar 2023 @ 8:11am
As part of their learning about Christianity in RE, Year 6 have visited St. Marks Church to understand more about the events of Holy Week in the run up to Easter.
We have been learning about how Holy Communion represents the blood and body of Christ in some denominations of Christianity, and how it becomes Jesus' body through transubstantiation in the Catholic Communion.
We met with Father Matt and Alison who lead us through the events of Holy week and we asked questions to further understand why Christians believe that Good Friday is a Good day.
Year 1 Roles and Communication
Date: 28th Mar 2023 @ 7:25pm
Today we began our lesson by reflecting on our journey so far and our key question ‘why do Christians say that God is a ‘Father.’ We learnt that Christians see the church as a family who support and care for each other. We then moved onto reflecting on the roles we each play within our families.
At the top of the tree, on the leaves, we identified the roles we each play. At the bottom, on the roots we identified our trusted adults and in the middle we identified how we feel when talking to someone about our feelings. We then shared our thoughts together as a class.
Date: 3rd Mar 2023 @ 3:47pm
Today, we continued our Judaism learning journey by exploring the story of Moses. We looked at his background and then learnt that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on two scriptures. We looked at what each of the Ten Commandments meant and how to say them in everyday language. Then, we discussed with our groups which of the Ten Commandments we felt was the most important and ordered them most to least important. Finally, as a class we discussed the order that we put them in and gave reasons for our ideas appreciating the fact we all have different beliefs and value different things more highly than others.
Date: 27th Feb 2023 @ 9:03am
Thanks to a generous donation by a parent, each child who took part in our School's Alive performance received a medal in recognition of their hard work, determination and overall brilliant performance!
Well done to everyone who took part and thank you to our parent donor for allowing us to give each child their own medal!
#schoolsalive #BoundaryBelieves
Date: 21st Feb 2023 @ 4:41pm
As part of our learning in Design and Technology, we were asked to design and create a food item with cultural significance. We decided to make a sweet treat to celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi. After a discussion about food safety and taste-testing some products already on the market, we worked in small groups to prepare and bake vanilla flavoured biscuits , which we decorated with icing in bright colours.
Date: 17th Jan 2023 @ 5:07pm
This half term we are learning about Hindu Dharma focusing on the key question 'How might people express their devotion?' So far, we have explored who or what is special to us and how they show us that they are special. We all came up with different people that are special to us and the reasons why we think they are special and appreciated how we all have different special people in our lives. Today, we continued our journey by learning about how Hindu's believe in one God that can be worshipped in different forms. We looked at the different forms: Shiva, Ganesh, Brahma, Lakshmi, Vishnu and Saraswati and what the Hindu's believe about each one.
Date: 17th Jan 2023 @ 9:36am
The first thing we did was flashback to last week's lesson. The children were amazing at remembering the story 'Blood and Milk' and what Sikhs learn from this teaching. Then we went on to learn about the Sikh 5Ks. These are 5 items (like our uniform) that Sikhs wear which represents beliefs they have. We then discussed how this can relate to us!
Date: 12th Jan 2023 @ 3:07pm
This term Year 5 are asking the question: What do Hindus learn from stories about Krishna? In this lesson, pupils reflected on previous learning about Hinduism and recalled things that they know about this popular religion. In groups, pupils had to retell the story of Rama and Sita and discuss what they knew about Ramadan - The Festival of Lights.
Date: 9th Jan 2023 @ 7:19pm
Today we began to learn about Hinduism by thinking about our roles and the roles of others. We talked about people in the community – nurses, doctors, teachers, police, fire service, care workers, rubbish collectors, postmen/women etc, discussing how they are special and what would happen if we did not have these people. We learnt these people make a difference! They each play an important roe and do extraordinary things for people around them. We then looked more in-depth at police officers, discussing why this role includes special clothing and visual ways of showing people what this person’s role is.
‘Police officers wear a uniform so that people respect them’
‘’Their uniform helps people to know who they are and that they can trust them’
‘’Police people wear a uniform so that people can recognise them in a busy place’
Date: 15th Dec 2022 @ 8:06am
In Reception we have been learning about special times. We have celebrated Diwali by learning lots about Hindu and Sikh traditions, including how they prepare their homes and where they go to pray. We also made and painted diya lamps, created rangoli patterns, took part in some traditional dancing and tried on some of the traditional clothing and jewellery.
In Year 1 we have been answering the key question, ‘why is Jesus special to Christians?’ We have learnt how new life is celebrated, why we should give babies love and care and why we should help others who cannot help themselves. We have also completed lots of work around the nativity story. We have sequenced and retold the story, talked about the important roles of the characters and the important message. We also went on a trip to St Marks church where we impressed Reverend Mathew with all our knowledge about Christianity so far.
Year 2 have been exploring the key question ‘why do Christians say that Jesus is the light of the world?' After discussing the Christian story and exploring different lights we began exploring Christingle. We learnt that Christingles are a symbol of advent and were taught what each part of a christingle symbolism is.
Year 3 have been looking at Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). We have looked at what a good role model is and why Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is important to Muslims. We read a range of stories surrounding the prophet and focussed on which characteristics he demonstrated and how this made him a role model. As a class we looked at the third pillar of Islam Zakat, and considered how we could be charitable in our own lives.
In Year 4, we have been learning about Hinduism and how Hindus live their lives. We learnt all about the story of Rama and Sita and how this story can help Hindus live a good life in today’s society. Through the story, we learnt that displaying positive characteristics in life will always put you on the right track.
Year 5 have been learning about where Muslims find guidance and why the Qur'an is an important part of their lives. We then looked at where we find guidance and what or who supports us.
Year 6 has been learning about Hinduism. We have explored the 4 Ashramas (stages of a Hindu's life), reincarnation and the Sacred Thread ceremony. The children have been reflecting on their own lives and have planned their own ceremony for when they leave primary school.
Date: 13th Dec 2022 @ 7:03pm
Today we took part in the Now Press Play Christmas story. We played lots of different central figures including: the Angel Gabriel, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the innkeepers, shepherds and wise men. The experience took us through the main events of the story and the main places to understand that Jesus’ birth was – and is – important to many people.
‘The Angel Gabriel delivered very important news to Mary’
‘The wise men brought presents to Jesus to show respect and love’
‘Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem. It was a very long journey and they were tired. The donkey was tired too!’
Date: 13th Dec 2022 @ 6:59pm
Today we completed some RE art to show an important event in the story – when the three wise men travelled to see baby Jesus. We created silhouettes of the three wise men on their journey and used collage to create a colourful design for the wise men’s clothing. We ripped, scrunched, cut and twisted crepe paper to create our design. Some of us also created and used patterns within our design.
Date: 5th Dec 2022 @ 7:04pm
This week we were lucky enough to visit St Mark’s Church. We met Reverend Matthew and told him everything that we have leant about Christianity so far. Reverend Matthew then read the nativity story to us and we all joined in with different parts. He taught us about the key messages in the story and the roles of different characters. We then learnt about the advent wreath and the symbolism of the different candles. Finally we looked around the church and asked and answered lots of questions about features of the church.
‘The pink candle on the wreath is for Mary’
‘The white candle is for Jesus and it is lit on Christmas Day’
‘The font is where Christians baptise a baby to welcome them into the Church family’
‘Matthew, Mark, Luke and Josh are the four gospels’
‘Christmas is about Jesus being born, not just presents!’
Year 3- What makes a good role model?
Date: 29th Nov 2022 @ 1:16pm
In R.E we were exploring a wide variety of stories surrounding Prophet Muhammed. We explored which characteristics he demonstrated and how these made him role model. We created a freeze frame from the stories that pin- pointed the most important part of each. We had to explain why it was the most important section. Then we identified what characteristics, message and how he was portrayed as a role model. We then had to teach other groups what we had found.
Date: 25th Nov 2022 @ 4:01pm
This half term in RE, Year Two have been exploring the Key Question 'Why do Christians say that Jesus is the light of the world?' and after discussing the Christian story and exploring different lights we began exploring Christingle. We learnt that Christingles is a symbol of advent and were taught what each part of a christingle symbolises. The orange represents the world and the red ribbon around the middle represents Christ's blood. There are four cocktail sticks to represent the creation of the four seasons and the sweets on the sticks represent all of God's creations. Last of all, the candle in the middle represents Jesus being the light of the world. The children loved making their Christingles to take home and really understood the meaning behind it.
Date: 16th Nov 2022 @ 7:40pm
Today we began to read, discuss and understand the Christmas story and the message behind the story. We read the story together, identifying the characters and key events witihin the story. We then independently ordered the story, using pictures/captions to support our learning.
Date: 13th Nov 2022 @ 7:46pm
This week Reception had a very special day celebrating Diwali 'the festival of Light'. To help celebrate the children were invited into school wearing a brightly coloured accessory. Thoughout the day the children learnt about lots of Hindu and Sikh tranditions including how they prepared their homes ready for Diwali and where they went to pray. The children enjoyed making and painting their own diya lamps, creating rangoli patterns, making a Diwali treat called a 'lado', trying on some of the traditional clothing and jewellery, makig cards for their friends and family and even taking part in some tradition dancing. At the end of the day we invited Miss Mloyes and Mrs Bunday to the dance studio to come an watch us perform our special Diwali dance and light of diya lamps. When we lit our diyas lamps we sat quietly and reflected on all the different things we had learnt.
"I'm going to light my diya and put in in my window at home" Kristian
"Sikh men wear a turban on their head because their hair is very special to them" Kazimir
"They wear special clothes and set of fireworks to celebrate" Logan
"I've made a Diwali card for my mummy and daddy" Sheraa
"Rangolli patterns welcome people to their homes" Lana-Rose.
Date: 12th Oct 2022 @ 7:38pm
As part of our RE topic on Christianity, today we began to reflect on where we search for guidance in how to live our lives. Christians use the Bible, the ten commandments and the Lord's Prayer. We talked about our own sources of guidance including other Gods and religious books, teachers, family and friends.
We then began to develop our debating skills by having respectful conversations about what we thought was the 'WORST' thing to do and ordered some scenarios to the 'LEAST WORST'. This proved to be a challenge with lots of conflicting opinions about what was the most 'Naughty!' We used all of our speaking and listening skills to debate and give reasons about what we thought.
Date: 7th Oct 2022 @ 9:49am
Matthew and Jeni came to speak to Year 6 about sin, resurrection and salvation.
Matthew used the example of a 'Do not touch' sign as sin and that if Christians ignore the instructions from God and sin, this can become a habit and we can 'stick' with sinning - and Matthew got 'stuck' to the chair.
We discussed that Christians believe that, through talking with God, they can repent and ask for forgiveness and seek salvation from our wrong choices.
There was an opportunity at the end of the session to ask questions about the key words used during the session and Year 6 discussed the types of questions they wanted to ask, recorded them and then took part in a thoughtful question and answer time.
Date: 6th Oct 2022 @ 7:41pm
Today, Year 6 led the whole school in our Harvest assembly. We were joined by Matt and Jenny from the Church Army, who discussed the difference between giving and getting and how giving is more rewarding than always receiving and getting things from others. We thanked everyone for their kind food donations, which will be shared with the local charity 'Vincent House' next week.
Date: 20th Sep 2022 @ 6:22pm
Today we learnt about the Christian belief that the Church community is like a family and considered why it might be important to welcome new people into the Church family. We listened to the story ‘All Are Welcome’ and discussed the different ways the characters were made welcome and how we make new children feel welcome in our classroom.
We learnt that parents ask for the child to be baptised so that it can belong to this family and develop a relationship with God. We discussed the importance of Christians making new members of the church family welcome. We then completed a task in groups to recognise and name basic artifacts and practices of a Christian baptism.
Date: 8th Sep 2022 @ 7:18pm
This week we began learning about Christianity by exploring families and belonging. We explored the fact that all families are unique and discussed who is in our family. We thought about different relationships and about how they might be similar and different to others. We learnt that Christians believe that God is like a father who guides them and helps them. We then created our own family portrait, sharing our ideas with others to two key questions. What makes a good family? How do families look after each other and look after children?
Year 4 - Sacrifice and Temptation
Date: 15th Jul 2022 @ 4:55pm
In RE we have been learning about sacrifice and temptation. We have looked at when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and the importance of him suffering for his people. Most recently we have learned about the life of Oscar Romero who was an Archbishop that fought for equality in El Salvador.
Date: 13th Jul 2022 @ 7:19pm
Today we learnt about the festival of Sukkot. We learnt that it is a festival which celebrates the harvest and the gathering in of the crops. We also learnt that during Sukkot Jews rememeber the years in the desert and they thank God for providing them with food and water and thank God for the harvest. To get ready for Sukkot, people start to build a sukkah. We learnt what this means and the different criteria for a sukkah. We then discussed and designed our own, before making them out of a range of different materials. We followed the criteria to ensure our sukkah had three walls, a roof made from something natural and decorations of things from the harvest. We worked successfully as a small team to plan and problem solve with our group members.
Year 6 Learning about religious celebrations in French
Date: 13th Jul 2022 @ 1:58pm
In French this week we have continued with our unit - Moi dans la Monde (Me in the World). We learned about religeous celebrations from around the French speaking world and used known language, congnates and bilingual dictionaries to translate email converstaions between two friends.
