Class pages

Term 2: What is Christmas?

We began this project by thinking about giving. We thought about if had ever recieved a present and how it made us feel. We then talked about who we would give a special present to and why. We then practiced wrapping a special present for someone we love. 

Term 1: Special People

Big question - What makes people special.

We have thought about what makes people special. We have thought about who is special to us, and then explored Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and thought about special people in these religions. 

Moses

Bertie Owl asks children to think about ‘rules’ in nursery. What rules do we have here? Why do we have these rules? How do they help us?

We learnt that Jews believe a long time ago, a man called Moses was given 10 rules from God to help him show his people how to live their lives well. We found out they were called The Ten Commandments. We discussed: 'Is it good to have rules to follow?' What would happen with no rules?

Term 2: What is the good news Jesus brings? 

To launch our new project, Oak Class took part in a drama activity to explore the role of a tax collector. They role played as the people of Israel, Roman Soldiers, and the tax collector. 

Questions for discussion included:

•How did it feel?

•How did the people of Israel feel about Romans and about tax collectors? Why?

•Is it fair?

•Who would you be friends with?

We then introduced the Big Frieze panel for the concept of Gospel and discussed the different features we could see. 

The Isrealites

Uh oh! Roman Soldiers! 

The Greedy Tax Collector!

Term 1: What do Christians Believe God is Like?

Our focus this term is Christianity and the key concept 'God'. Our Big Question is 'What do Christians believe God is like?'. 

We launched the project by exploring the parable of 'The Lost Son'. He thought about how the father in the parable is a metaphor for God, and his son is the Christian people as God loves everyone. 

We have discussed important people in our lives, and how important they are to us. We have then thought about how important God must be to Christian people.

How do Christians show love to God? 

Pupil voice:

'Christians pray to God and light candles'

'They visit the church.'

'Christian's take care of the world because God created it and they want to look after it for him.'

We compared this parable with the story of 'Jonah and the Whale'. We thought about what God was like in this story and how this compared with 'The Lost Son'. We thought God was forgiving, but could also be upset when people didn't listen to him. Applying this to our own lives, this story showed how you have to be sorry to get forgiveness from people you love, like how Jonah said sorry to God and listened to him. This made God forgive Jonah. 

Pupil voice 

'The lost son is a parable which is a type of story that Jesus told. God is kind and forgiving. In Jonah and the whale, God is mad. He made a storm. Jonah said sorry in 3 days and God forgave him.' John

'Jonah was swallowed by a whale because God was angry. He let him out only when he said sorry. God forgave him. God is helpful and kind.' Tiago

'We learnt a parable. It's a story by Jesus. The dad is like God. He's forgiving and nice. In Jonah and the Whale, God is nice and forgiving when Jonah said sorry. At the start, Jonah ran away so God was angry so he made a storm.' Harrison

Autumn 

Our Christian value this term is Thankfulness. 

Luke 22.19: Jesus broke bread and gave thanks. 

1 Chronicles 29.12: All things come from you and of your own do we give you.

We have been learning about the meaning of thankfulness and the different things we are thankful for.

We wrote a prayer to God to say thank you for all the wonderful people in our lives that help us. 

We have thought about creation, and our wonderful world. We thought about what we are most thankful for.

Pupil Voice

'I am thankful for the birds tweeting'

'I am thankful for the rain making the flowers grow tall' 

Term 2: Christianity - Incarnation

Our Big Question this term is 'How significant is it that Mary was Jesus' mother?'. Thinking about this Big Question, the children recorded what they already know and further questions they have to allow them to design their own route and enquiry to their learning journey.

To begin our project, we reflected on the Incarnation Big Frieze panel and thought back to previous learning, determining what features of incarnation we could see. 

We thought about being chosen for something special and how this would feel. Why would we choose someone for something important? What qualities should a person have for that role? We then discussed what qualities Mary might have had to be chosen for something special and began our start of project reflections on the Big Question.

Term 1: Christianity: Creation and Science: Conflicting or Complementary? 

Our focus this term is Christianity and our key focus is 'creation'. Our Big Question is "Creation and Science: Conflicting or Complementary?"

The children have discussed the religious story of creation, and they have explored different text types. As a class we discussed how these text types were written and how sometimes, a person's beliefs or point of view can create a bias. The children then looked to rewrite some of our text types, if they were written by somebody different. 

We then dove deeper into the story of Genesis 1 and explored how Christians use this to live their lives. We then compared this with the scientific theory of creation. We have looked at Christian scientist theories from people such as Isaac Newton and Francis Collins who say that the scientific theory of creation can be complementary with the Christian story of Genesis 1.

Pupil Voice

Conflicting: "I think that the relationship between science and religion is conflicting because the time is completely different - the science theory took 12 seconds but the religious theory took 6 days" Adele

Complementary: "I believe that religion and science are complementary because they have similarities. The first three days relate to the 'Big Bang Theory' and the final three days relate to Evolution." Archie

Autumn 

Our Christian value this term is Thankfulness. 

Luke 22.19: Jesus broke bread and gave thanks. 

1 Chronicles 29.12: All things come from you and of your own do we give you.

 

This term, we have been thinking about all of the things that we can be thankful for. 

Thanking God for the People who help us. 

The children have been thinking about all the people who help them around school. This brought up discussions about everyone who cares for them which includes the teachers, caretaker, cleaners and kitchen staff. The children individually wrote prayers to God for these people, to say thank you for everything that they do. 

Philippians 1:3: Every time I think of you I give thanks to my God

Praising God in Creation

The children have been looking at the creation story and have thought about what they can be thankful for in its beauty. We have discussed things like being thankful to God for the trees and nature. Being thankful for the activities we enjoy doing and for the friends and family that we hold so dear. 

The children wrote a class prayer to God for these things they are thankful for, then they drew an interpretation of this in their books. 

Trusting God to Care for Us

The children have been looking at all the ways that God takes care of us and trusting him to do so. They viewed the story of Manna and Quail to demonstrate how we should trust God to provide for us despite our current situations. The children considered all the people in their lives that they trust. They then created a drawing to what trust looks like to them and showing how this connects to God. 

Celebrate the Harvest - Season 

This week, the children were celebrating the Harvest Season and reflecting on what it means. They looked at the Parable of the Sower and realised that we need to by thankful to God for the foods that grow and not to take it for granted. The children reflected on their time at church. They then created a Harvest Mosaic of all the foods of the Harvest. 

‘Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.’ Corinthians 9:10

Term 6

Our theme this term is 'Special Places'. Our big question is 'What makes places special?'. We are learning about different special places around the world and exploring what special places we have ourselves and what makes them special. We will later be exploring churches, synagogues, and mosques. 

Term 5

Our theme last term was 'Stories from around the world'. Our big question is 'What can we learn from stories?'. We were introduced to stories from a range of countries and religions, such as: India, Asia, Christianity and Islam. 

Term 4

Our Big Question was: 'Why do Christians put a cross in the Easter Garden?'. Our theme this term is salvation. 
This week we looked at the symbolism of hot cross buns:

'It has a cross because Jesus was on the cross'

Then we ate them, yummy!

Next, we made our own paper plate Easter Gardens. The children made a cave for Jesus's tomb and decorated a cross for the garden. 

 

Term 6

Our Big Question is 'How important is it for Jewish people to do what God asks them to do?'. Our theme this term is Passover.

We began by discussing who we listen to and why.

I listen to my mummy because she is kind.

I listen to Miss James because she is caring. 

We have then discussed the origins of Passover by exploring the bible story of Exodus. We thought about how the Israelites must have felt when crossing the Red Sea. 

Term 5

Our Big Question was 'Is Shabbat important to Jewish children?'.

To begin our new project, we discussed the days of the week and if any days were special to us. What do we do on these special days and why are they special? 

We have learnt more about Judaism and reflected on what places and objects are important to Jewish people and why they are important. 

Our memorable experience for this project will be visiting a local Synagogue. 

Term 4

Our Big Question was 'Why does Easter matter to Christians?'. 

Our memorable experience for this project was investigating Spring. We searched for signs of Spring in the outdoor environment. We discussed how Spring represents new life and how this relates to Easter. 

 

We explored the Easter Weekend. We looked at hot cross buns and noticed they had the cross on them to represent Jesus dying on the cross. We made Easter Gardens ready to celebrate Easter. 

Term 3

Our Big Question was, "Why was Jesus welcomed like a king or celebrity by the crowds on Palm Sunday?". Throughout the term, we will be learning about how Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem on the meaning of Palm Sunday. 

Term 2

Our Big Question was "Why does Christmas matter to Christians?". We learnt about the Nativity Story and went on a story trail to find out more. We  discussed the meaning of Advent and what traditions Christians have during this period. We made advent wreathes and thought about the symbolism of these. 

Term 1 

Our Big Question was "Who made the world?". We are learning about the concept of Creation within Christianity. We have thought about how Christians believe God created the world and read Geneis 1.

We have discussed how Christians thank God for our creation through prayer and gratitude. We created Harvest prayers thinking about what Christians may want to thank God for during Harvest. 

 

       

 

In Collective Worship, our current value is justice. We have started to reflect on stories from the bible that demonstrate examples of justice. We have thought about why it is important to keep on trying and how this makes us feel. 

To begin exploring our new value, we discussed equality and how treating people fairly does not always mean treating everyone exactly the same. We demonstrated this by sharing blocks of all different shapes and sizes. Not everyone could have the same because all the blocks were different. We shared them as fairly as we could to make sure everyone was happy with what they had. 

Matthew 21.12-13: …my Temple will be called a house of prayer. But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves. (Jesus turning the tables in the temple)

Micah 6. 9: What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Matthew 5. 13-14: ‘You are the salt of the earth………… You are the light of the world.’

Our value last term was perseverance. We reflected on stories from the bible that demonstrate examples of perseverance. We thought about why it is important to keep on trying and how this makes us feel. 

We explored the bible story of Daniel in the lions den and discussed how Daniel persevered in his commitment to praying to God, and persevered in his trust that God would protect him. 

We thought about things we find difficult and set ourselves challenges. At the end of the term, we reviewed our challenges and thought about how and why we made progress. 

Hebrews 12.1: Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us that is before us.

Deuteronomy 13.6: The Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you of forsake you

Term 6

Religious education

What does it mean for Christians if God is holy and loving?

This term we will be exploring Christian belief in God. We will be looking at how this belief is expressed through art, architecture and worship. We will explore what God would like to see in us by looking at the things loved and hated by God. We will develop our understanding of what it is to be holy and loving and what that means to Christians. We have begun this project by looking at our ideas about God and then comparing that to scripture. We responded to this learning by writing Haiku and Cinquain.

"His power unmatched,

His passion moves mountains,

His love transcends all."

Jack Nicholls Year 6 

 

Term 5

Religious Education

In RE this term we have been looking at Hinduism and exploring the BIG Question: Do beliefs in Karma, Samsara and Moksha help Hindus lead good lives?  The Children are learning about the Hindu belief in reincarnation, and how karma can influence where you are on the cycle in the next life. They are also learning that, through devotion to one of the paths and dharma (right living) Hindus believe they can leave the cycle of reincarnation and gain moksha (freedom).

Do beleifs in Karma, Samsara and Moksha help Hindus to lead good lives?

 

 

Term 4

Religious Education

In RE this term we have been exploring the BIG Question: In RE this term we have been looking at sacrifice and how sacrifices big or small can create change for the better. We looked at the sacrifices Jesus made but also those of the modern martyrs celebrated at Westminster Abbey.

What did Jesus do to save human beings?

Term 3 

Religious Education

What would Jesus do?

In RE this term we have been exploring our BIG Question: 
We have been focussing on Jesus' miracles and how he resolved problems. We have then been looking at how we can apply the messages in these stories to our everyday lives. 

Term 2

Religious Education

In RE this term we have been exploring our BIG Question:

Was Jesus the Messiah?

We have been learning about Jesus, the menaing behind his visit, and his messages to us. We have also been lookling at evidence in text to support our views.  Cedar mader links to other cultures, religions and areas of learning while drawing their conclusions. We finished the topic off by examinging his messages to the world and imagining what messages he would share with us if he were to return to Earth today.

Term 1 

Religious Education

In RE this term our big Question was:

How do Hindus show commitment to god?

We looked at routines and rituals around prayer, such as puja worship, and we looked at pilgrimages, particularly those like the pilgrimage to the sacred river Ganges alongside the concept of Dharma.

 

Prayer space

Prayer spaces enable children and young people, of all faiths and none, to explore life's questions, spirituality and faith in a safe and creative ways.

Term 5

In Prayer Space this term we are focussing on two of our charities:

Christian Aid - The plight of women around the world. Children will read and respond to a number of case studies about the plight of women in countries where they are not treated as equal.

World Vision - Global hungher Kenya. The children will be learning about Anita and her family and how World Vision have given her hope for the future.

Term 4

In prayer space this term we have been engaging in a variety of activities:

1. Global Hunger Zambia - The children meet a child ('Honest') helped by world vision. The learn about his plight and how world vision helped by donating goats. The children then write prayers and or messages on goat cut outs to pin up in our prayer space.

Term 3

In prayer space this term we have been engaging in a variety of activities:

1. I have a dream - In which children using the Martin Luther-King quote 'I have a dream' are to write their hopes for a brigther future.

2. Leaders for change - In which the cnhildren consider changes they would like current and future leaders to make.

3. Doves of peace - The children post prayers written on doves to cover words often associated with war.

Term 1 and 2

In prayer space this term we have been engaging in a variety of activities:

1. Shredding worries - We write our worries on a piece of paper before shredding them (see picture).
2. Stop, think, draw - Take a moment to draw something in nature you find beautiful and be thankful for it.
3. Turning over a new leaf - We write what we want to improve on one side of the leaf and how we will achieve that on the other.

     

    

                    

 

Terms 5 and 6

In Cedar class this term we are focussing on the value of Justice. We have been unpicking bible stories and looking for the central message or theme, then considering how this knowledge and understanding affects us. 

Isaiah 30:18 And Psalm 33:4-6'Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. '

 

Terms 3 and 4

In Cedar class this term we have been focusing on the value of Perseverance. We have been reading related bible stories and discussing how we can take this learning and apply it to our lives. We also tried some physical activities to see how persevering, even when it is tough, can be rewarding.

 

 Romans 2:6-7 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life.