This term Years 3 and 4 have been exploring the events of Holy Week from different aspects of events within the Christian celebration.

Year 3 explored why the cross is a significant symbol for Christians and what Jesus’ sacrifice taught the world.  Through many discussions, we identified the ranging emotions that the followers of Jesus felt throughout the events of Holy Week (Palm Sunday – Happiness and Joy; Maundy Thursday – Solemness and Guilt; Good Friday – Bravery and grief; Easter Sunday – Confusion, Great Joy and wonder) which further showed how important Jesus was, and continues to be for the followers of Christianity. We also learnt that Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross to show the world that we should not be afraid of death and from this created our own El Salvadore Crosses to depict our own ‘Crosses of Hope’. To conclude this unit of learning, we explored the symbolic meaning of the traditional Easter  ‘Hot Cross Bun’ before sampling…Yum!

Year 4 explored the symbolic meaning of the Bread and Wine shared by Jesus with his disciples at the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday as well as the meaning of the Paschal Candle which is lit in Christian churches around the world on Palm Sunday. Through discussion, we identified that Jesus knew he was going to die, which is why when sharing the bread Jesus described it as ‘his body which was soon to be broken’ and that the wine was ‘his blood that would be shared out for the followers of Christianity’. We then concluded that Christians continue to recognise that Jesus is the ‘Light of the World’ which is demonstrated by the lighting of the ‘Paschal Candle‘ throughout the Easter celebration of Holy Week.

We also explored the concept of ‘Betrayal and Guilt’ in light of ‘Judas’ betrayal of Jesus’ on Maundy Thursday as well as the ‘Denial of Peter’ on the same day. This brought about some interesting  discussions and conflicting opinions with the conclusion that these two individuals only did what they thought what was right at the time.  After viewing ‘Peter’s Denial’ through various artforms, the children worked collaboratively to re-enact this scene through role play in which we aimed to convey the emotions of ‘guilt, shame, despair and confusion’.

Super work this Term Years 3 and 4 and a Happy Easter!