Education Matters by

Satis Education

THE Month of Holy Days and Holidays

Three of the world’s major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam will be celebrating the festivals of Passover, Easter and Eid al-Fitr this month, providing a fantastic opportunity for our schools to celebrate the diversity of our communities.

As well as sharing details of the religious aspects of a particular Holy Day or festival with the children, schools look for creative ways to mark a particular celebration. But with resources being tight this isn’t always easy. So maybe there’s something we can all do to help children experience a bit of the magic we experienced at school – we all remember those special occasions when we did something outside of ‘normal lessons’.

Lots of schools will welcome volunteers who can support activities to enrich day to day lessons. What you may think of as an every day skill, could be invaluable to a school:

Food

Maybe you are a whizz in the kitchen, and have a particular holiday-linked speciality (sweet treats are always favourites in schools). Why not see if you can share your special recipe with a group of children. If you’re lucky they might even invite you to sample their wares!

Arts and Crafts a new school library although there was no spare space in school.

In the end, the school reconfigured its IT suite to incorporate a library area while still keeping the IT suite. The dualpurpose area ensures the most is being made out of the space.

Staff said that while the area is not huge, it will be enjoyed by all the children and will be a fantastic area for small groups to enjoy reading.

To celebrate this milestone, Frank Cottrell-Boyce attended the launch of the school’s new library. The children had a fantastic day listening to stories and having their books signed.

Mr Murphy, headteacher of St William of York Catholic Primary School, said: “We were honoured to welcome Mr CottrellBoyce into our school.

“The children thoroughly enjoyed his assemblies which promoted the joy of reading. We would also like to thank Cargill’s for their kind donation towards the cost of our new library and all the fundraising support from parents.”

During the Commonwealth Day Service, His Majesty King Charles III addressed the gathering as Head of the Commonwealth for the first time. Delivering his Commonwealth Day Message from the Great Pulpit, he hailed the “extraordinary potential” of the Commonwealth. Following the service, the group had a walking tour visiting St James Park, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square.

Music, arts and crafts are always a great way to share stories about other ways of life. Younger children in particular enjoy learning fun songs and rhymes, this is a great way to pass on your childhood songs. Hearing about artists and art styles from other cultures can really inspire young people. Schools benefit two-fold when the amazing art work created can be displayed throughout the building.

Story Telling

Never underestimate the power of the spoken word, and particularly your own story. Children can read extensively about another culture, religion or historical era but nothing tops getting information directly from the source. You only need to tell the average teenager that phones were connected to the wall thirty years ago to see how easy it is to astound young people!

So at this special time of year, why not make contact with your local school to see if there is anything you can do to help.

Happy Holidays!