Our Religious Education lessons will continue to be based upon our “Love to Celebrate” projects. Basing the “Love to Celebrate” projects around festivals, gives a real-life context to the children’s learning and a structure to the projects. However, the celebration itself is only a small part of each “Love to Celebrate” project. Each set of projects covers all major aspects of each religion including worship, belief, leadership and belonging.
Please view our “World festivals and Celebrations Calendar”.
Term 1 : Judaism – Passover
Passover is one of the most important Jewish festivals. It commemorates the time Moses led the Israelite slaves to freedom over 3000 years ago. The word Passover refers to the final plague of Egypt, when God ‘passed over’ the houses of the Israelites and killed the first born sons of the Egyptians. After this plague, Pharaoh set the Israelites free and they were led into the desert by Moses. This is known as the Exodus.
The Jewish Passover celebrations last seven to eight days. Families clean their houses, rest, eat special meals together and read the story of the Exodus from the Torah. For the key words and vocabulary associated with this topic, please view our “Passover Glossary”.
Term 2 : Sikhism – Guru Arjan Gurpurab
Gurpurab’s are special celebration days that commemorate the lives of the Sikh Gurus. Guru Arjan achieved many things during his lifetime. He completed the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1604 and promoted the Sikh principle of Dasvandh, giving 10% of earnings to help others as an act of service to God who Sikhs call Waheguru. He also collated the hymns and teaching of the first five Gurus and created the Adi Granth, the book that would eventually become the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Arjan also became the first Sikh Guru to be martyred for his faith.
Many Sikhs remember Guru Arjan by attending special serviced in the Gurdwara and serving cooling drinks to others. This reminds them of the thirst Guru Arjan must have suffered and his cool and calm nature as he faced death. For the key words and vocabulary associated with this topic, please view our “Guru Arjan Gurpurab Glossary”.