Author Archives: Mrs L READ

This week we have been looking at promises.

First, we learned that a promise is an agreement to do or not do something. 

The children spoke about some promises they had made. Some said they had made ‘pinkie promises’ to their friends, we also discussed school and home promises.

Then we listened to the tale of Abraham and Sarah which is a story from the bible. It tells of how God made Abraham a promise. He promised to give Sarah and Abraham a child and many descendants if they moved from where they were living to a new land. They did, and they had a son called Isaac.

God kept his promise to them, proving he was dependable and faithful.

Finally, the children made their own promise vouchers.

Myles promised to always love his family.

Isla-Grey promised to never hurt anyone. 

Keigha promised to never jump on her Dad’s bed. 

Forrest promised to always be kind. 

Luna said that if promises are broken, there would be consequences, like having time-out or no tablet time, and Matilda said that people would also feel sad if you broke your promise to them.

All the children thought carefully about their promises and they understood the importance of keeping them. They were excited to take them home to share with their families.

Year 1 have been thinking about “how values provide rules for living”… but first we needed to find out what values actually were.  

“Values are group of things that are important – such as honesty, good manners, kindness, determination.”

Many values come from holy books, like – the Bible which is a sacred text. 

We looked at 10 Commandments last week and this week we listened to the story of The Good Samaritan, which is a story from the Bible. 

The children were shocked that people just walked by the injured man, and that the good Samaritan (although he had different beliefs) was the only one to help.

We discussed hat we would do and how we would always help others when needed, it is important to remember that although we may have different beliefs and different gods, places of worship and bibles – we should be kind to everyone regardless of this. 

We have been looking at rules and why we need them.

We discussed that rules keep us safe and make sure that everyone is treated fairly.

The children shared their family rules.  Forrest told us that in his house they’re not allowed drinks in bed and Matilda told us that in her house no outdoor shoes are allowed.  We realised that all families don’t always have the same rules.

Myles told us that “we have golden rules at school” and we all agreed that these rules can also be used in family and a sports clubs. 

We then listened to the story of Moses and how God gave him the 10 Commandments.

The commandments were the rules for all people to follow and live a good life by.

When we looked at the 10 commandments, the children could understand their importance in life today, even though they were from the Bible that was written a long, long time ago.

Year 1 then designed a poster of a rule which was most important to them. We decided that ‘be kind’ and ‘always try your best’, were the most important rules to follow.

Year 1 have previously looked at what belonging and faith means to ourselves and others.

We have discovered that there are different religions, with different gods, different places of worship, different festivals and different rituals.

Year 1 have already learnt that Christian’s celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day, so this week we looked at two different festivals from different faiths.

The Hindu festival of Holi –

• Holi is a festival celebrated by Hindus and it takes place in March.
• It marks the start of spring and is sometimes known as the Festival of Colour. It celebrates good winning over evil.
• Everyone chases each other with dry powder paint and coloured water.
• People sing, dance and have fun together, no matter who they are.
• Bonfires remind people that the winter days are coming to an end and warmth and light are coming.

The Muslim festival of Eid –

• Eid is a festival celebrated by Muslims and it takes place at the end of Ramadan.
• During Ramadan grown-ups do not eat or drink anything while the sun shines.
• People put on new clothes and share meals with family and friends.
• Homes are decorated, their sacred text, the Qur’an, is read and they go to the mosque to pray.
• Some women and girls decorate their hands with mehndi patterns.

“What is it like to be in a faith family?”

Year 1 looked at ‘a day in the life’ of a Christian and a ‘Muslim’ child.

Then we shared our thoughts on their similarities and differences.

Both prayed but had different places of worship, a Christian church and a Muslim mosque.

Both have sacred texts – the Christian bible and the Muslim qur’an.

We discussed how belonging to our family, school and clubs makes us feel special and cared for, and that being part of a faith would make you feel that way too.