Category Archives: Religious and Moral Education

Happy Diwali!

Happy Diwali to our families and friends celebrating this week.

Diwali is the five-day Festival of Lights, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world.

Diwali is a festival of new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness, and for some also coincides with harvest and new year celebrations.

One of the ways people celebrate Diwali is by decorating their homes with colourful rangoli designs, lighting diyas or displaying lights around the house.

We have been learning about Diwali through stories, research and activities.

We painted colourful rangoli designs to decorate our nursery.

         

         

We created clay diya lights and painted these in bright colours.

         

 

Happy Diwali!

Eid Mubarak!

We have been learning about the Muslim month of Ramadan and the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr.

A special thanks to Idrees’ mum for visiting to read us a story and tell us about their family’s celebrations.

We also had a special snack of chapati, dates and raita.

The staff would also like to say a special ‘thank you’ to the families who gifted us a yummy cake.

Chinese New Year

We marked the start of the Chinese New Year and the year of the Tiger with some wonderful celebrations.

It was fantastic to engage with some of our families to help us learn all about the Chinese New Year celebrations; A huge thank you to Gerald’s mum for sharing how this is celebrated in their home using Google Meet and also to Mrs Wilson’s daughter who shared her experiences having lived in Hong Kong for some time.

The children have been learning about some of the ways families may celebrate Chinese New Year and taking part in art experiences, Chinese mark making, dragon dancing and tasting Chinese food to name a few opportunities on offer.

Diwali

Recently, the children had the opportunity to learn about and celebrate Diwali. The children were able to choose from different experiences throughout the nursery. 

The children in the Orchard room got to create their own fireworks in the shaving foam and there was lots of discussion . 

“Oh look red, that is my favourite colour.”

“ I like how the colour is splashed all over.”

  “I love fireworks.”

In the Orchard room the children also go to try and make Chapatis. The children did very well following the recipe and listening to what we needed to do. The children were very patient in waiting for their turn.

“We need to pour until it says 100.”

“ I love baking.”

“These taste good ….. I love them.”

The children in the Willow room, participated in a variety of Diwali experiences as they learned about The Festival Of  Light. They listened to the story of Rama and Sita with great interest. The children were keen to ask and answer questions about the story. We discussed ways that we can be kind to each other and how our behaviour can affect others. The children were given time to discuss and share their own experiences.

“I can be kind by helping to tidy the playroom.”

“I can share with my friends.”

Some of the children designed Divas made from clay. The children demonstrated good concentration and followed the instructions well. 

They also had the opportunity to design Rangoli Patterns. 

“Wow look what I made!”

“ Can I take this home to show my mummy.”

Happy Diwali

We have been exploring the festival of Diwali.

Diwali is the five-day Festival of Lights, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world.

The children have been busy creating ‘Rangoli’ pictures, making lanterns and reading books about the festival and why it is celebrated!

“These Patterns are nice, I’m going to make one” CW

“I can copy this one I think. Actually no,  I will do it myself” LW

“Pattern” FM

“My pattern has loads of colours just like the book”. AK

“We are making rangoli pictures and cutting them out” AB

“I like the one in the book with the glitter, that’s what I want to make” LM

 

Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak to all our Muslim families. We have been learning about Ramadan and Eid festivities and shared a story Aleena brought into nursery. Some of our children told us about how they celebrated Eid last Wednesday with their families.

“I went to the Mosque and I got presents. I got a microphone.” Ayla.

“It wasn’t a good Eid because it was raining. We had to watch for puddles when we were getting our photos taken.” Zara.

“I got my hands painted with Mendhi”. Zainab.

“So did I.” Azan.

Chinese New Year

We have enjoyed some Chinese food for snack this week as part of our celebrations for the Chinese New Year.

“I don’t like the noodles but I like the rice.” Naomi.

“It’s good and yummy.” Marnie.

“I don’t like the stir fry. My daddy likes stir fry.” Euan.

“Lovely. I want some more. It’s delicious. I don’t like the corn.” Matthew.