World Faiths and Festivals

As part of our RE curriculum, pupils will explore faiths from around the world, as well as how festivals are celebrated in other countries.

Harvest

At Harvest time, we held a service at St. John’s church. We thought about people around the world and what harvest means to them. We sang a hymn about food around the world and shared the information below:

Harvest Around The World

Harvest time is celebrated all over the world. In the USA, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday at the end of November.

In Thailand, colourful exotic fruits are displayed on floats for parades, art displays and beautiful patterns around the town.

In Portugal, the harvest is celebrated with flowers. Beautiful flowers fill the streets, with parades and displays. Children are encouraged to bring flowers to add to a display. This is called the ‘Wall of Hope’.

In Indonesia, Harvest follows New Year and is a time of great celebration. Towns are decorated with colourful flags, bamboo temples are created and rice dolls are created.

In China, the harvest festival is known as the Moon Festival. Special treats are made and people enjoy these during the celebrations. Lanterns are displayed as a sign of good luck for the next harvest.

Here in the UK, people bring food to Harvest Festival services in church to be shared out and given to those in need. It is a time to celebrate and be thankful for the good things that they have.

Christmas

At Christmas time, we performed a service for parents and carers at St. John’s church (https://www.stjohnshebburn.co.uk/). We sang carols and told the story of the birth of Jesus.

Our Reception and Nursery children performed a nativity for their parents and carers in recognition of the Christian celebration of Christmas.

We were also lucky enough to receive beautiful decorations from our partner school in France, which we displayed on a tree in the hall, along with the information they had sent us about how Christmas is celebrated in France.

Diwali

In Nursery and in Year 3, pupils have studied Diwali as part of their RE work on Hinduism.

Nursery

Year 3

See below some of our Year 3 pupils’ fabulous work!

Places of Worship from around the World

As part of our RE curriculum, pupils experience a variety of different places of worship, from a variety of different world religions.

In Year 1, our pupils visit Newcastle Reform Synagogue in the summer term to explore what life is like for Jewish people. They have the opportunity to see Jewish artefacts and learn about the synagogue. Our current Year 2 pupils enjoyed experiencing a Jewish place of worship and our Year 1 children are looking forward to their visit later in the term.

In Year 3, pupils have visited two different churches. They have visited St John’s church and compared it with a Methodist church, St Luke’s. They have also studied different Christian churches around the world. The pupils and staff loved comparing the churches and finding out about churches around the world.

During Year 5, children have been learning all about Sikhism. We have discussed what Sikhs believe, why they go to a Gurdwara and how they show commitment and belonging. We then compared this religion so other religions such as: Christianity and Islam.

As part of our topic on Islam in Year 6, pupils visited Durham University prayer halls to find out more about Muslim worship. This linked to their topic, during which they discussed Hajj and the significance of Mecca within Islam.

World Faiths Around the World

Across the curriculum, pupils at Toner Avenue learn about many different religions and festivals. This learning follows the South Tyneside Agreed Syllabus. From EYFS to UKS2, pupils learn systematically through unit questions about different religions. Have a look at the photos below to see some pupil work based around Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam.