Today, Year 4 were very kindly invited to Birtley Methodist Church to learn more about the Christian story of Easter.
We learnt about the last few weeks of Jesus’ life and how this became the celebration of Easter.
We first learnt about him arriving to town on a donkey- unlike any other king! We used our palm leaves to welcome him. We learnt about his ‘righteous anger’ at the market traders outside the temple and we discovered the importance of the stones that had been used and those that had been rejected in the building of the temple.
Then we took part in a passover meal, learning the important meaning of each part of the dish and how Jewish people still celebrate this time. We tried horseradish, parsley and spiced fruits- to a very varied response!
We then went into the church and experienced what it must have been like in the Garden of Gesthemane, during Jesus’ arrest. We learnt of Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial of Jesus.
We watched a video which showed us how Jesus was crucified and we watched as Mary and Peter reacted to the news of Jesus’ death. It was very moving indeed.
We learnt how Jesus’ body was taken to the tomb and covered, but how three days later, it was open and Jesus was resurrected and walking once again in the garden. We then were able to use lots of different materials to create our own version of the Garden of Gesthemane. We included the tomb, the hill where Jesus was crucified and the crosses for him and the two other men who died alongside him.
We would like to thank Deacon Linda Watkin and all of the volunteers from Birtley Methodist Church for such a brilliant day. We learnt a lot, had lots of fun and received lots of help in making our crafts at the end!