Christmas in the context of the new agreed syllabus
1. The new agreed syllabus is much more
specific than its 1995 predecessor about what RE is to be taught during Key
Stages 1 and 2. For each year in these key stages, the RE programme must
include:
·
four RE units;
·
a
school-designed unit on the theme ‘Celebration, Festival and Community’.
2. Each year, the school-designed unit must
include specific work on both Easter and Christmas (including, but not limited
to, classroom activity).
3. In order
to assist schools in creating broad and balanced RE programmes which address
both continuity and progression, a focus (phrased as a question) is suggested
for each year group’s exploration of Christmas:
Year 1 How do
we know that Christmas is coming?
Year 2 What
special story is told at Christmas?
Year
4 What
is the significance of light at Advent and Christmas?
Year
5 Why
is Christmas important for Christians?
Year
6 What
are the sources of the familiar Christmas story?
Christmas in the context of Christian history
1. Easter has always been the central
Christian festival. It was the belief that Jesus had risen from the dead which
gave rise to the Christian Church.
2. Evidence suggests that it was several
centuries before Christian groups began to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
3. As with many other Christian festivals,
elements of non-Christian festivals were incorporated into Christmas. For
example, the time of year when Jesus was born is not known but people in the
Roman world celebrated a festival called Saturnalia
in late December. So this date was adopted for Christmas too. Mid-winter – when
daylight was short and spirits low – had also been a time of feasting and
celebration since the earliest times.
4. If the day on which Jesus was born is not
known, neither is the exact year. Strangely (because of mistakes in calculating
years), many now think that Jesus was born in 4 BCE.
5. The year of Jesus’ birth was adopted in
the Christian West as a way of working out dates: thus the traditional BC
(Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini,
in the Year of Our Lord). Because these initials imply a faith commitment (Christ, Lord), it has now become customary in the field of the study of
religions to use the initials BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (the Common
Era).
Christmas in the context of
contemporary culture
1. It is important to remember that in
previous ages Christmas was not given the high profile that it is today.
2. Many of the elements that we in the West
associate with ‘traditional’ Christmas began in the Victorian Age. It was then,
for example, that the practice of sending Christmas cards began as did eating
turkey. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, introduced many German
practices.
2. Many people, Christians and
non-Christians, have become worried at how Christmas has been consumerised.
Malcolm Muggeridge(1903-1990) referred to Christmas as a ‘festival of
consumption’. Noting how Christmas is often shortened to Xmas, some Christians
have said that ‘Christ’ has been left out of Christmas.
3. Traditions are not static and the
celebration of Christmas continues to change. Over the last twenty or thirty
years, for example, many Christian groups have introduced a Christingle service into their Christmas
activities. The practice of giving children a Christingle (Christ-light) – a
decorated orange – was ‘borrowed’ from northern German traditions.
4. In a multi-ethnic community like
Redbridge, boundaries between different groups, religions and traditions will
be fluid. A Sikh family, for example, might very well put up a Christmas tree
in their home at Christmas time.
The nature of the support material
which follows
1. For each of Years 1 to 6, the agreed syllabus
suggests an angle of approach through a lead question. This lead question is
followed below by some general ideas (shown in italics) and then four key questions.
2. Information about four types of resource
material has also been supplied:
·
planned activities found in the
Scholastic Curriculum Bank RE books;
·
useful websites;
·
videos;
·
Christmas books.
Year 1 How do we know that Christmas is coming?
Sight (Advent calendars and candles, tree decorations, wreaths etc) … sound (bells, Christmas music etc) … taste (different types of food etc) … touch (wrapped presents etc) … activity (sending cards, buying presents etc).
·
What signs are there around us
that Christmas is coming?
·
What do our senses tell us about
Christmas coming?
·
What feelings do we have about
Christmas coming?
·
How do Christian families prepare
for Christmas in their homes (and their churches)?
Year 2 What special story is told at Christmas?
The traditional Christmas story … key characters, their roles and feelings … Nativity play … books and pictures … key words
·
What do we already know about the
Christmas story?
·
What do we learn from listening
to the Christmas story?
·
Who are the key characters and
what are their roles?
·
How can we make our own Nativity
play?
Year 3 How is Christmas represented in art and
music?
Art and Christmas cards … famous Nativity paintings … Madonna and Child … South American retablo … crib scenes … Christmas carols … ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors’ … classic musical pieces
· What do paintings of the Nativity tell us about the importance of the event?
· How are the Madonna and Child represented in art (including icons and sculpture)?
·
How do different cultures and
ages represent the Nativity scene?
(See * in Web Gallery of Art under
Useful Websites below)
· What do the words of carols convey about the importance of Christmas to Christians?
Year 4 What is the significance of light at Advent
and Christmas?
St Lucia
customs … Christingles … Advent candles and wreaths … symbolism
·
What is the importance of light
in our lives?
·
What special symbolism does light
have at Advent and Christmas?
·
What other festivals use light as
a theme?
·
How can we use the symbolism of
light to talk about our own experiences?
Year 5 Why is Christmas important to Christians?
Incarnation … Jesus as Light of the World … Christian
visitors to class to answer questions … beliefs contained in Christmas carols
·
Who was Jesus?
·
What does his birth symbolise for
Christians?
·
How would Christians celebrate
Jesus’ birth?
·
How do Christians around the
world celebrate Jesus’ birth?
Year 6 What are the sources of the familiar
Christmas story?
The Gospels … Luke’s account … Matthew’s account … other
stories which have developed from the source stories (eg Baboushka, Papa
Panov, The
Fourth Wise Man, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey)
·
Where does the familiar Christmas
story come from?
·
What differences are there in the
accounts given by Luke and Matthew?
·
What themes are shared by
traditional Christmas children’s stories?
·
What story or play can we create
based on traditional Christmas themes?
(Book
1 – Early Years + Key Stage 1; Book 2 – Key Stage 2)
How
do we know Christmas is coming?
Book 1, pp68-70 (includes photocopiable
sheet, p138)
How
is Christmas celebrated?
Book 1, p64
What
special story is told at Christmas?
Book 1, pp82-83 (includes photocopiable
sheet, p144)
Why
is light used as a symbol at Christmas?
Book 2, pp68-70 (includes photocopiable
sheets on Christingles, p139, and St Lucia, p140)
What
are the origins of the familiar Christmas story?
Book 2, pp73-74 (includes photocopiable
sheet, p142)
http://www.algonet.se/~bernadot/christmas/calendar.html
A site which will interest children.
They click on different parcels to find out facts about Christmas around the
world.
http://www.execpc.com/~tmuth/st_john/xmas/art.htm
A site which shows many paintings of
the Nativity
Web Gallery of Art, a virtual museum
and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic,
Renaissance and Baroque periods (1150-1800). *See ‘Nativity at Night’ and
‘Virgin and Child’ by the 15th century Dutch artist Geertgen tot
Sint Jans
Many articles on aspects of Christmas,
including Christmas symbols and how Christmas is celebrated around the world
http://www.ccimports.com/Public/1RetMaNac.htm
This is a very nice example of a
retablo, which could inspire children to make a similar 3D model
http://www.itscactus.com/products/dPeRetabloBox.html
This shows a retablo altar with both a
Nativity and Christmas scene
The BBC Watch series on Festivals and Celebrations, with a programme on
Festivals of Light, is very useful. The video set is £29.99 and includes a
resource booklet which explores festivals including Christmas, Diwali, Chanukah
and St Lucia’s Day.
Obtainable from: BBC Educational Publishing, PO Box 234, Wetherby, West
Yorkshire LS23 7EU
Tel 0870 830 8000
|
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
ISBN |
Comments |
|
One Little Angel |
Ruth Brown |
Andersen
Press |
0 86264 846
7 |
Heartwarming
Nativity play story |
|
The
Nativity |
Illustrated
Juan Wjngaard |
Walker |
0-744520398 |
Traditional
text and beautiful light-filled pictures |
|
Father
Christmas |
Raymond
Briggs |
Puffin Books |
0140501258 |
Popular
cartoon |
|
Baboushka/Papa
Panov’s Special Day |
Arthur
Scholey/Mig Holder |
Lion Books |
0745945597 (small book) 074591358X (larger version of Papa Panov story) |
Two
well-known stories |
|
Amahl
and the Night Visitors |
Gian Carlo
Menotti |
William
Morrow and Co |
0688054269 |
A dense but
well illustrated version |
|
The
Road to Bethlehem |
Elizabeth
Laird |
Macmillan
Education |
0333934385 |
Beautiful
Ethiopian illustrations |
|
The
Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey |
Susan
Wojchiechowki |
Walker Books |
0744554020 |
Poignant
story and lovely illustrations |
|
A
Christmas Story |
Brian
Wildsmith |
Oxford
University Press |
0192722441 |
Christmas
story seen through eyes of a child |
|
The
Story of Christmas |
Jane Ray |
Orchard |
0185213917X |
A well-loved
illustrator |
|
The
Christmas Story Big Book |
Anita Ganeri |
Evans Brothers
|
0237523590 |
Water colour
illustrations |
|
The
Nativity Play |
Nick
Butterworth Mick Inkpen |
Hodder
Children’s Books |
0340398949 |
Lots of fun |
|
Lucy
and Tom’s Christmas |
Shirley
Hughes |
Puffin Books |
0140504699 |
A favourite
writer |
|
This
is the Star |
Joyce Dunbar |
Young Corgi |
0552528226 |
A lyrical
and rhythmic retelling with great illustrations |
|
Lion
Storyteller Christmas Book |
Bob Hartman |
Lion |
0745940714 |
Collection
of stories, legends, folk tales |
|
Jesus
through Art: A Resource for Teaching RE and Art |
Margaret
Cooling |
RMEP |
185175119X |
A large
format book with colour plates including ‘Mystic Nativity’ by Botticelli |