Form V visit Places of Worship

Form V visited two places of worship in preparation for researching and creating their own RS projects.

They started at the Oxford Jewish Centre in Jericho where they were greeted by Sarah Montagu. Sarah organises educational visits for schools and volunteered her time to talk to us. She explained the features that would be common to all synagogues including the Bimah platform and the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark in the Oxford Centre displays the 10 commandments above it and the children saw the stunning Torah scrolls inside the Ark.They learnt about some of the Jewish traditions and celebrations and saw the special kitchens where kosher food was prepared for community events.

They then headed to Leamington where they ate lunch in the vast Langar Hall. This dining hall and kitchen provides many meals for visitors every week. The children were lucky enough to sample some of the delicious food. Our host here was Myjinder Singh Braich, a local business man who also volunteers his time to talk to school groups. Everyone removed their shoes and covered their heads with scarves before being shown into the worship halls.

Myjinder told us stories of the Sikh Gurus and spoke of Sikhs being students seeking knowledge about God and their belief in one Universal God. We were then very lucky to be invited into a women’s worship service. The ladies were chanting prayers and reading from the Holy Book – the Guru Granth Sahib. They were chanting in Punjabi, but we were informed by Myjinder that we had all been included in their prayers.

This interesting trip provided an excellent stimulus for the children to begin their independent studies for their RS projects.

Jan Price
Head of RS & PSHE