TPR

The Theology, Philosophy and Religion topic this term, for the Middle and Senior School has been Theology.

Year 3 pupils have looked at the early life of Jesus and some of the stories he told. They finished the term making a collaborative collage of The Annunciation of Jesus to Mary.

Year 4 have covered the Creation story through to Noah’s Ark.

Their final creative piece of work is to make their very own

‘Rocking’ Noah’s Ark.

Year 5 have studied the life of Abraham and his descendants, up to Joseph. They very much enjoyed watching the musical

‘Joseph and his amazing Technicolor dream coat’ – some are still humming it....

In the Senior Department, Year 6 have studied six stories of Jesus in detail. They have examined the differences between stories and parables and were amazed at how the least likely people ended up trusting in Jesus. Pupils were challenged to be as creative as possible and produce a letter, diary entry, first-person account, or a newspaper article. There were some amazing efforts across the year including diary entries by characters in the stories. A Head’s Commendation was awarded to Charlotte F for her stop motion Lego movie of Zacchaeus, which displayed great technical know-how and humour, as well as a knowledge of the subject - you can watch again here

Year 7 have begun their analysis of Old Testament stories and have begun their essay writing journey. They have discussed the dilemma of punishment versus forgiveness and made some startling observations of how these are still issues today in the 21st Century. They have ended the term looking at the very thorny problem of the awesome responsibility our leaders and modern day ‘celebrities’ have in setting a good role model for others.

Top Formers have been analyzing the world changing work of Dr.

Martin Luther King and stories from the Old testament, applying what they have learnt in response to some very challenging Common Entrance essays.

They wrapped up the year with their own interpretation of the story of the Prodigal Son with literally a couple of ‘raps’ from some pupils!! Watch Felix and Luca’s retelling of the BIble story of the lost son here

Theology, Philosophy and Religion in the Junior Department

In our TPR lessons over this term Year One have been learning about different festivals and celebrations from around the world. These have included the Christian Harvest Festival, the Jewish Sukkot Festival, Diwali – the festival of light – and the story of Rama and Sita. Towards the end of term, focus shifted onto the Christmas story, ahead of the Year One Nativity performance. We discussed why Christmas is important to Christians and any similarities to other religions. This term Year 2 have been learning about signs and symbols in the world around us and in different religions. Pupils did a brilliant job of matching symbols and places of worship from six world religions. In the last few weeks, Year 2 have moved on to study of Islam in greater depth, exploring a range of artefacts and evolving ideas about what they signified and what they all might be used for. Pupils enjoyed a virtual tour of the London Central Mosque and listened to the call to prayer, and then labelled the main features of a mosque. Mrs Bullock even brought in a travel prayer mat which can fold up into a pocket and has a builtin compass so we can locate Mecca! Pupils learnt about the Five Pillars of Islam and some key facts about prayer. Finally, we considered some of the incredible range of beautiful prayer mats and had a go at designing our own. We really impressed ourselves with the level of detail we included and our neat colouring - have a look at the final designs here