Whole School-Diwali Celebrations
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Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops and public places are decorated with small oil lamps called 'diyas'.
Diwali always falls sometime between October and November, but the exact date varies each year as the Hindu calendar is based on the Moon.
In 2021, Diwali is on Thursday 4 November.
For many people this five day festival honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Lamps are lit and windows and doors are left open to help Lakshmi find her way into people's homes.
This year in school we were very lucky to learn traditional Bollywood dancing. Once we had learnt some of the traditionally movements we then shared what we had learnt in a Bollywood style assembly!
During morning work we learnt about the story of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana. We explored explored rangoli patterns, which are traditionally formed from colourful materials like powders and pastes. In EY and Year 1 children made their own diva lamps, which they were very excited to take home.
Our children said:
'My favourite thing was reading with the older children. We made Diva lamps too because it was Diwali'. R-R-R
'Diwali is about celebrating lights! You have fireworks and we made Diva lamps to put candles in'. NA-L
'I learned Diwali dancing and the big kids told us about the Diwali story. I think my favourite was the dancing'. LT
'We heard about Rama and Sita...the king was going to trap Sita. I loved making the Diva lamps'. GO
'We made Diva lamps and put scarves on to do dancing'. HM
Our celebrations continued with a special themed lunch, where the children were able to try different spices in dishes.
