THE CROSS. Important Christian Dates this Term

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1 Summer 2016 THE CROSS Welcome to the Summer Edition of our RE Newsletter The Cross. The theme this term is festivals in the Bible which links to the special 80th birthday Freezywater St George s will be celebrating this term and also the Queen s 90th birthday. Read on to find out which festivals different faiths will be celebrating this term, which festivals were celebrated during the time of the Bible and how different cultures celebrate birthdays. Important Christian Dates this Term Saturday 23rd April St George s Day St George is the patron saint of England. Legend tells that he killed a dragon to save a princess. He is patron saint not only of England but also of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to Saint Mark). He's also patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and chivalry, farmers and field workers, riders and saddlers, and he helps those suffering from leprosy. St George is the patron saint of our school. Thursday 5th May Ascension Day Ascension Day marks the last earthly appearance of Christ after his resurrection. Christians believe Christ ascended into heaven. It is celebrated 40 days after Easter. Sunday 15th May Pentecost Pentecost is the festival when Christians celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is celebrated on the Sunday 50 days after Easter (the name comes from the Greek pentekoste, "fiftieth"). Pentecost is regarded as the birthday of the Christian church, and the start of the church's mission to the world. On this day the holy spirit came upon the disciples and flames appeared on their heads. Pentecost is a happy festival. Ministers in church often wear robes with red in the design as a symbol of the flames in which the Holy Spirit came to earth. Wednesday 29th June St Peter and St Paul s Day St Peter was originally called Simon and was one of Jesus 12 disciples. Jesus named him Peter which means the rock as Peter was the rock Jesus wanted the church to be founded on. Peter is considered by many as the first pope of the Catholic church and is the patron saint of fishermen. St Paul converted on the road to Damascus and travelled around the world spreading the Gospel to all. Paul is the patron saint of writers as during his lifetime he wrote many letters to people of all areas and faiths to teach them about Jesus life. Monday 15th August Assumption of the Virgin Mary This day is celebrated as the ascension into heaven of Mary the mother of the Lord. Human beings have to wait until the end of time for their bodily resurrection, but Mary's body was able to go straight to heaven because her soul hadn't been tainted by original sin.

2 Jewish Festivals Friday 22nd April Pesach (Passover) Seder Meal with lamb and wine. Pesach or Passover is when Jews celebrate the passing over of the Angel of Death during the 10 plagues of Egypt. Moses and his people put the blood of a sacrificed lamb over their doors to keep their homes safe. The festival is celebrated for seven or eight days and all chametz (leavened bread) is removed from the house to remember that the Israelites in Egypt had to eat unleavened bread as they did not have time for the bread to rise. Jews also celebrate a Saturday 11th June Shavuot (Festival of Weeks) Shavuot marks the time when the Jews were given the Torah on Mount Sinai. Prayers are said on Shavuot to thank God for the five books of Moses which make up the Torah and synagogues are decorated with flowers to remember the flowers on Mount Sinai. Saturday 13th August Tish a B Av (The Ninth of Av) Tish a B Av commemorates the destruction of the first and second temple in Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews from Israel. It is a day of mourning for Jewish people and many will fast on this day. Some people will also refrain from bathing. Hindu Festivals Wednesday 6th July Puri Rath Yata Also known as the chariot festival, Puri Rath Yata is a festival of equality where the 3 deities Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra are taken from the temple into the streets for everyone to see. Each God has their own chariot. Monday 15th August India Independence Day This day marks the anniversary of when India became independent from British rule and became a sovereign nation in The flag of India is raised by political leaders and many families celebrate with picnics, outings, fireworks and parades. It has also become a tradition to fly kites on this day. Muslim Festivals Tuesday 7th June Start of Ramadan Ramadan is a festival of fasting between sunrise and sunset. Muslims also try to practise more self-discipline this month by giving to charity and praying more often. Tuesday 5th July Eid al Fitr End of Ramadan The end of Ramadan is a big feast day where Muslims end their fasting period and thank Allah for the strength he has given them to maintain self-control throughout Ramadan. People wear new clothes and decorate their homes. There are special services in Mosques, and Muslims have their first meal during the day time after fasting.

3 Sikh Festivals Thursday 16th June Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Guru Arjan Dev was the first Sikh martyr of the faith. The guru asked to bathe in the Ravi river after his captors persecuted him. It is said that as he entered the river he became one with the water and vanished. Prayers are made to the Guru on this day and his message of peace is honoured by his followers. Buddhist Festivals Saturday 21st May Vaishaka Puja (Wesak) Vaishaka Puja is also known as Wesak and is a celebration of the Buddha s birthday. This is celebrated as a big occasion in Buddhism with lots of festival and colour. Some Buddhists also make special lanterns and in some countries caged birds are released. Tuesday 19th July Asalha Puja (Dharma Day) Dharma Day celebrates the first sermon delivered by the Buddha. Buddhists observe this day by donating offerings to temples and listening to Buddha s teachings. Traditional Festivals Sunday 1st May Beltane Beltane is a festival of fire and celebrates the arrival of summer. A bonfire is lit and some may light candles from the bonfire. People also celebrate by dancing around a maypole. Monday 20th June Summer Solstice The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year which means there is the most hours of daylight. This is a time to celebrate growth and life. Some people travel to the ancient site of Stonehenge to watch the sun rise on this day. Saturday 30th July Lammas (Lughnasadh) This is a celebration of the coming of the harvest season and dates back to when farmers would celebrate the new crops coming in. International Days Sunday 19th June Father s Day Father s Day was established in the 20th century by a girl who wanted to show appreciation for her father. It is traditional for people to give cards and gifts to their fathers on this day.

4 Which festivals did the people of the Bible celebrate? They had festivals to mark the important happenings in their national life. Some of the festivals, such as the Feast of Weeks (later called Pentecost), the Feast of Tabernacles (or Shelters) and the Feast of the Passover, were more important than others. Most of the Jewish festivals were celebrated from the earliest times in their history, and are still kept today. The Feast of The Passover and Unleavened Bread This Feast comes in March or April, the first months of the Jewish religious year. It is a movable feast, that is, as happens with Easter for Christians, it is not held on the same date each year. Passover celebrates the time when the Israelites fled from being slaves in Egypt. The Pharaoh would not let them go free, so God sent ten plagues on the Egyptians. The last plague was the death of every first-born Egyptian child. To make sure the homes of the Israelites were spared from this sorrow, God instructed that a lamb or young goat should be sacrificed for each family. The meat would be eaten and if the door posts of the homes were marked with the blood of the lamb the Angel of Death would pass by hence Passover. God also commanded that the festival be celebrated by all the generations of Jews yet to be born, to give thanks to Him for the escape from slavery and the safe journey to the Promised Land. The Sabbath The Sabbath comes every seventh day. it begins at sunset on Friday and lasts until sunset on Saturday, and is a day of rest after six days of work. this was the pattern established by God when He created the world in six days, resting on the seventh. God made the seventh day holy; a day when people could think about Him, and what He had done for them, and be happy in serving Him (Genesis 2: 2,3). But by the time of Jesus the Jews had made many laws about what was, or was not, allowed on the Sabbath. Jesus showed people that all these laws weren t necessary. The Sabbath was made for them. They weren t made just to keep the Sabbath (Matthew 12: 1-14). Today some people call Sunday the Sabbath day; but this is wrong. Sunday is the first day of the week. It is celebrated by Christians because it is the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. What is eaten at the Passover feast? As God commanded, for the seven days of the feast, unleavened bread is eaten bread made quickly, without yeast. This reminds people that in the haste of getting away from Egypt that was the only bread there was time to make. Bitter herbs are also part of the meal. The herbs remind people of the years of sadness and suffering in the wilderness. Wine is drunk, and with every glass or cup a blessing is said, saying that God is ruler of the universe, and creator of the vine from which the wine is made.

5 Do the children understand this? Every year the children are told exactly why the festival is held, and what each item of food means (Exodus 12). Is the Passover connected with the crucifixion of Jesus and Easter? Jesus crucifixion and resurrection took place at around the time of the Passover (Mark 14:1,2). So the early Christians, and Christians today, celebrate Easter at this time. The Feast of Weeks (later called Pentecost) The feast of Weeks was celebrated at the end of the grain harvest, fifty days after the offering of the first sheaf of barley at the First Fruits. The feast was later called Pentecost because in Greek Pentecost means fiftieth. The Feast of Trumpets, later called New Year A trumpet was blown on the first day of every month (New Moon); but the first day of the seventh moon was especially important. No regular work was done on this day, so that the people could gather together and make special sacrifices to God (Numbers 29: 1-6). Later, the day was counted as a religious New Year festival. Sabbatical Year God commanded that every seventh year the land must be allowed to rest, that is, to lie fallow. During this year anything which did grow on it was to be food for both poor people and animals (Exodus 23: 10,11). Besides this, every seventh year all Israelite slaves were to be offered their freedom (Exodus 21: 2-6). Also, debts had to be cancelled. If this was done willingly, God would specially bless the person to whom the debt had been owed (Deuteronomy 15:1-11). Do people celebrate the feast in their own homes? To begin with, people always celebrated the Passover feast in their own homes; but by the time of the New Testament it was one of the festivals for which they would travel to Jerusalem. The First Fruits Festival This festival was held during the feast of Unleavened Bread. The first sheaf of corn from the harvest was presented to God by the priest, and reminded people of the first harvest that was reaped in the Promised Land. The Feast of Tabernacles, or Shelters This was a very happy time. It was celebrated in the autumn, and was a time of thanksgiving to God for the fruit harvest. The labourers worked very long hours picking the grapes and olives, so for harvest weeks they lived in shelters in the fields. The shelters were made from tree branches, and saved the people from a long daily walk to and from their homes. These tents were known as tabernacles, and reminded people of the time when the Israelites had lived in tents all the time. Day of Atonement On the Day of Atonement the High Priest made a sacrifice to atone or make up for the wrongs done by the Nation of Israel. The Festival of Lights (Hanukkah) This festival, also known as Dedication (John 10:22), was named Lights because lamps were specially lit in synagogues and homes every evening. It celebrated the restoration work done on the second temple by Judas Maccabeus.

6 Did everyone in the Bible keep the same festivals? No. For example, the Canaanites worshipped many gods. They believed they could influence these gods by using magic rituals. Instead of harvest festivals, they held Fertility Festivals. What did the prophets think about worshipping those gods? You will be able to discover just how much the prophets disapproved if you find these verse in the Bible: Judges 2:11, Jeremiah 11:17; Jeremiah 32:35; Hosea 9:10; and Hosea 13:1. St George s Day Quiz St George s Day is celebrated on Saturday 23rd April this year. St George is the patron saint of England and the patron of our school. Have a look at the quiz below and fill in the blanks using the word box. The answers are at the back of the newsletter. Who was St George? The stories say that George was a Knight of Cappadocia around AD 300. One day he visited a town where the people were terrified of a that ate only human beings. The had been chosen as the dragon s next meal, but killed the dragon and saved her from a horrible end. He refused to take any award, but asked the to all become Christians. Why is he remembered? English heard about St George and so King the Third made him England s special saint. He s also patron saint of the Greek army. Why should we know about him? St George is the patron saint of and his cross is on the English flag. The cross of St George also makes up part of the Jack Flag which is the s flag. George princess knights Christian dragon Edward England Townspeople Union United Kingdom There were three harvest festivals. Did the people have a special reason for celebrating harvests? Although the farmers and labourers worked very hard they knew they couldn t control the east wind, and the drought which it brought. They realised they depended entirely on God for the rainfall, and the coming to life of the seeds which they had sown. Since without God there couldn t be a harvest, all the crops belonged to Him, and were holy. The people could only eat the corn and fruit after they had first offered it to God. Birthdays in different religions As Freezywater St George s celebrates its 80th birthday and the Queen celebrates her 90th birthday this year, we take a look at the way in which some other faiths and cultures celebrate birthdays. Christianity: In the medieval times, only very wealthy Christians celebrated the actual day of their birth, the rest of society celebrated their Saints Day (the saint they were named after.) For example, if your name was John you would celebrate St John s Day rather than the actual day you were born. It is now more common to celebrate the day of your birth if you are a Christian. Christians also celebrate Christmas on December 25th as the birth date of Jesus Christ. Judaism: The most important birthdays for Jewish children are 13 for boys and 12 for girls. This is seen to be when the children reach religious maturity and they have a bar-mitzvah (boys) or a bat-mitzvah (girls) where they read from the Torah in a special ceremony. Sikhism: Sikhs celebrate the birth of Guru Nanak the founder of Sikhism by decorating Gurdwaras and reading from the Guru Granth Sahib which is the Sikh Holy Book. Buddhism: Buddhists celebrate the birth date of the Buddha every year and bathe and feed the statue of the Buddha as though he were the real Buddha.

7 Read on below to discover what each class will be learning about in RE this term Reception St Francis Our theme for the first half term will be What makes a place special? The children will investigate different places of worship and discuss which places make us feel happy and secure. We will visit our church during the first half term. It is important that children do their R.E homework as it is often a talk based activity which enables children to clarify their understanding of what they have learnt and embed the knowledge securely. The children will also learn the school prayer and keep practising the hymns they know as well as learning some new ones. Year 1 St Joseph During this half Term, Year 1 will be learning about Baptism. They will learn what the water, cross and the candle symbolises and why Christians get baptised. In the second half term Year 1 will learn about who David was, why he was chosen by God and why he was victorious over Goliath. Year 2 St Paul In R.E this term we will spend the first week completing our Easter topic, whereby we will reflect on how we celebrated Easter with our families. We will also be learning about how the Christian church celebrates Jesus death and resurrection. We will then move on to learn about the Islamic faith and studying what prayer means to Islamic people and how special the Qu ran is to them. The next half term, we will be moving focussing on the story of Joseph and how events led up to the family being united once again and forgiving one another. Year 3 St Alban Firstly, we will be celebrating St. George's Day and remembering why St. George is such an important Saint for England. This term, we will be focussing on The Jewish Way of Life. We will be looking at the customs and festivals and making comparisons with our own religion, Christianity. Within this unit, we will look at the teachings in the Torah and the family customs and compare them with our own. We will also visit a local Synagogue, as well as researching some of the Jewish festivals and making comparisons with our own Festivals. Further on in the term, we will be moving on to research some of the symbols used within the Christian Church: Light, Fire, Water, and how these are used within our Christian Festivals and practices, e.g. Baptisms. We will learn how to interpret these symbols and reflect on their meaning.

8 Year 4 St Matthew and Year 4 St Peter In Year 4, we will be celebrating St George s Day and remembering why St George is such an important saint of England. We will learn about his values and qualities perseverance, courage and determination. We will conclude our work on Jesus Parables to identify their purpose and understand what lessons we can learn from them. Next, we will be looking at Moses the leader and understand what Christians, Jews and Muslims might learn from the story of Moses. In addition, the children will reflect on some important qualities Moses had and see what they can learn from them. Year 5 St Sebastian We begin this term with our Bible Explorer project. Pathways lead these sessions for us and the children experience a whistle stop tour through the entire Old Testament in 5 weeks! Sessions are brought to life through drama and rhyme as well as a series of hand gestures to help us remember the entire story. We will then look at Communication. We will explain why we have different ways of communicating and the variety of ways in which God communicates with Christians. We will explore communication through prayer, praise and music and reflect on our own experiences. Year 6 St Cecilia We will be exploring our Christian beliefs, faith and values explored through our topic Pilgrimages. We are very lucky to also have Bible Explorers teaching us about the New Testament which will include: the books of the bible, the long awaited King of Israel, who Jesus is and how the good news started to spread during Summer Term 2. St George s Day Quiz Answers Who was St George? The stories say that George was a Christian Knight of Cappadocia around AD 300. One day he visited a town where the people were terrified of a dragon that ate only human beings. The princess had been chosen as the dragon s next meal, but George killed the dragon and saved her from a horrible end. He refused to take any award, but asked the townspeople to all become Christians. Why is he remembered? English knights heard about St George and so King Edward the Third made him England s special saint. He s also patron saint of the Greek army. Why should we know about him? St George is the patron saint of England and his cross is on the English flag. The cross of St George also makes up part of the Union Jack Flag which is the United Kingdom s flag.

9 Our School Prayer Oh God of all creation create a strong foundation of happiness and peace to learn and increase Our understanding for all we of St. George s Primary School will believe and achieve and keep the rules treat everyone the same and glorify your name Amen The Lord s Prayer Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory For ever and ever Amen.