Autumn 2

This term we introduce the question what and why do people celebrate? The children get to explore various celebrations that happen throughout the year and learn about how and why they are celebrated. 

Here are some of the celebrations we will explore:

Diwali

Bonfire Night

Remembrance Day

Christmas 

We will also explore how light is used in various celebrations around the world.

Week 1

This week we welcomed the children back in to school. We introduced our enquiry question 'What and why do people celebrate?' The children shared lots of ideas around this question. 

This week we explored the celebration of Diwali and had a workshop where the children learnt to dance and act out the story of Rama and Sita. 

The children then shared what they dressed up as for Halloween if they celebrated it.

Week 2

This week we explored the celebration of Bonfire Night. The children learnt the story of Guy Fawkes and the reason behind the celebration. The children created various firework pictures.

Week 3

The children learnt about Remembrance day in preparation for our Remembrance Day assembly. The children learnt the meaning of the poppy and why we wear them. The children created a variety of poppies to be used for wreaths and displays.

Week 4

This week we read the story 'Little Glow'. This story explores a candles who witnesses different cultural and religious celebrations of light across the year. The children enjoyed identifying celebrations they had already learnt about, and discovering more celebrations too. The children wrote captions for Little Glow and designed their own Little Glows.

This week, we also had a very special delivery of a set of Boomwhackers. The children loved exploring this instrument listening to the different sounds the tubes made. They learnt to play along to a song called Popcorn.

Week 5

This week the children learnt about the celebration of Hannukah. We read the story Hetty’s Hannukah and learnt about the significance of the Menorah. Children then created their own Menorah using their handprints.

Week 6, 7 and 8

The last three weeks were spent learning about the celebration of Christmas. The children sold their products at the Christmas Fayre. The children also visited the local church and learnt about the Christmas story. They performed their Nativity to large audiences. The children created a hoop to hang in the school hall, a calendar to take home and a Christmas card for their families.