Mrs Walsh explains the significance of Shavuot, this two-day early-summer festival.
This 2-day early-summer festival on the 31st May and 1st June has several names and significances. Its first name, Shavuot, translates as ‘weeks’, and refers to the command to count 7 full weeks between the beginning of Passover and the arrival of the Israelites at Mount Sinai. The first day’s celebration on the 50th day of counting gives the second name, Pentecost. The 3rd name of the festival is ‘The Time of the Giving of the Torah’, commemorating the Revelation at Sinai, and the 4th is ‘Harvest Festival’, when offerings of First Fruits were brought to the Temple.
Observances of Shavuot include the reading of the Ten Commandments during the synagogue service; decorating the synagogue with flowers to recall that bare Mt. Sinai burst into flower when G-d’s Presence was there; reading the Book of Ruth, whose events take place during this season; and eating dairy products to remind us that the Torah is compared to milk and honey, i.e. that like those rich foods, G-d’s teachings are nourishing for body and soul.
Mrs. Walsh
The 1st years completed a zombie lab today where they used their scientific methods and thinking to identify patient zero from the zombie suspects. Using measuring skills, pH, observation skills and much more they successfully identified the source of the outbreak!
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The TY Horticulture class were out in the Autumn sunshine planting Spring bulbs using the chaos planting method. This is when a multitude of different spring bulbs (Hyacinths, Daffodils, Tulips, Crocuses, Narcissi) are mixed together and randomly planted so that we have a mixture of flowers and patterns emerging in the spring. It mimics nature and so is more enticing to pollinators and native insects that need the food in Spring.
Stratford is celebrating Maths Week 2026 (12th - 18th October) with daily activities around the school, at breaktimes and in Maths classes! The tutor-time daily quiz is proving to be extremely competitive as each form group tries to solve it and then run to find Ms Matthews in order to win the box of chocolates!
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