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 5: Judaism – Shavuot
The word Shavuot means ‘weeks’ and the festival of Shavuot is celebrated 50 days (seven weeks) after Passover. Practising Jews celebrate the gift of the Torah and the Ten Commandments by visiting the synagogue, studying the Torah scrolls (sometimes all night) and possibly eating cheesecake. Shavuot is also a harvest festival that celebrates the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest in Israel.
For the key words and vocabulary associated with this topic, please view our “Shavuot Glossary”.
Term 6 Hinduism – Ganesh Chaturthi
Hindus celebrate the birthday of Lord Ganesh during Ganesh Chaturthi. They pray to Ganesh to remove obstacles when starting something new and mention his name first when they perform puja to make sure nothing will get in the way of their worship and prayer.
Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations vary around the world and last between one and 10 days. Statues of Ganesh are made from clay and placed in homes, temples and even in the street! At the end of the festival, the statues are put into water and left to disintegrate. Sweets are also a big part of the festival. They remind worshippers of the good things in life and Ganesh’s sweet tooth.
For the key words and vocabulary associated with this topic, please view our “Ganesh Chaturthi Glossary”.