Embedded Files
Module 1
Who is special to us and why? Who is in my family?
We explored some of the pages in The Great Big Book of Families. We talked about how every family is different but every family is special. We looked at photos of our families and talked about the members of the our family and why they are special to us.
DM - Reception - Understanding of the World - Talk about members of their immediate family and community. • Name and describe people who are familiar to them.
Expressive Arts and Design - 3-4 - Create closed shapes with continuous lines, and begin to use these shapes to represent objects. • Draw with increasing complexity and detail, such as representing a face with a circle and including details.
"My little brother, my mummy and my daddy. Daddy is a fireman and a window cleaner. He has two jobs. Mummy just works and works!"
"My mummy and my sister. My sister likes watching her phone all the time."
What makes a good friend?
We have listened to the story, Hello Friend! by Rebecca Cobb. We talked about who our friends are and what make a good friend.
We are continuing to build new friendships with all the children in Reception and enjoy playing together inside and outside.
DM Rec - • Build constructive and respectful relationships. • Express their feelings and consider the feelings of others.
What stories did Jesus tell about being a friend and caring for others?
Following our inquiry into what makes a good friend, we explored the Bible stories of Jesus calling for his 12 disciples and The Good Samaritan.
DM Understanding the World - Recognise that people have different beliefs
What stories do special people tell from other religions?
We watched a Bhuddist story of friendship about an elephant and a dog. We reflected on their bond and thought about our own friendships and how we feel when our friends aren't at school.
DM Understanding the World - Recognise that people have different beliefs
DM Rec PSED • Build constructive and respectful relationships. • Express their feelings and consider the feelings of others.
Module 2
Thinking about celebrations
We brainstormed what a celebration is and the difference celebrations we have experienced. We talked about what it means to celebrate something. Together we brainstormed all the 'Special Times' we could think of and how they were celebrated. We will add to this list as we find out about new celebrations.
DM - Understanding the World - Understand that some places are special to members of their community. • Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways. • Recognise some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.
Diwali - The Hindu Festival of Light
We have explored the Hindu festival of light called Diwali. Diwali is known as the ‘Festival of Light’ because millions of people light small oil lamps and place them in houses, gardens, roofs and more. These are called diyas and light the way for the Lakshmi - an Indian god - to enter people’s homes. We found out it's a five-day celebration that includes good food, fireworks, colored sand, and special candles and lamps.
DM - Understanding the World - Understand that some places are special to members of their community. • Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways. • Recognise some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.
How is Diwali celebrated?
We found out how Diwali is celebrated through books and videos and recorded our findings in a class mind map.
Diwali is a yearly festival celebrated by millions of people around the world. Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and other religions come together for five days in Autumn to take part in the ‘festival of light.’ We made our own diya lamps (see Art section for examples)
DM - Understanding the World - Understand that some places are special to members of their community. • Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways. • Recognise some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.
Creating Rangoli patterns in the dough.
Creating Rangoli patterns on the light table
Building a Hindu Temple
Drawing Mehndi patterns
Birthday Celebrations
As we continued our inquiry into different celebrations, we focused on one we all know - birthdays! We talked about all the traditional things we do when it is our birthday like decorations, parties, banners, bunting, party games, party food and cake! At the end of the week we had a class birthday party for our teddies and soft toys.
We played traditional party games such as musical bumps and musical statues.
St Andrew's Day - 30th November
We found out about St Andrew as we explored the Scottish celebration of St Andrew's day on the 30th November. We found out he is the Patron Saint of Scotland. We listened to the Bible story of how he became the Patron Saint.
UW - Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways.
Celebrating Christmas
We brainstormed our ideas on how Christmas is celebrated. We have listened to, watched and explored the Christian story of the birth of the first Christmas - the birth of Jesus.
UW - Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways.
Retelling the Nativity story through play.
Visiting the Church
As part of our inquiry into Christmas, we visited Hoo St Werburgh church and met Reverend Mark. He shared with us the different celebrations that are held in the church including Easter, weddings, christenings and christmas. He showed us round the church and we got to visit the font and their nativity scene display.
Understanding the world - Understand that some places are special to members of their community, Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways.
Visiting the nativity scene.
Reverend Mark talked to us about the font and how a baby is Christened.
Feeling the water.
The Fairytale Land Nativity Show
We were excited to perform the Fairytale Land Nativity show to the school and then to our families. We were nervous but we told the Nativity story through song and dance. We sung our hearts out!
UW - Rec - Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways.
Christmas Dinner
As part of our Christmas celebrations, we knew that a Christmas dinner is part of the tradition. In school we all had a Christmas lunch with crackers and were served at the tables by the teachers!
UW - Rec - Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways.
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