Hanukkah commemorates the historical event in Jewish history, which took place in Jerusalem in the second century. Israel had been taken over by the Greeks under King Antiochus who would not let the Jews worship their G-d and were banned from observing Judaism. Thanks to a successful revolt by a small group of Jews known as the Maccabees, the Jews reclaimed Jerusalem and the Temple. In order to celebrate the victory, the Temple needed to be repaired, and an oil lamp (Menorah) was lit in it. There was only enough oil to burn the candle for one day, but miraculously it burned for eight days. This is why the Hanukkah festival lasts for eight days and why the festival is also known as the Festival of Lights.
Hanukkah starts on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar. This year this falls on the 25th of December. It is celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting as well as playing dreidel, singing songs and preparing delicious food. It is a joyous time for families and friends to celebrate together for eight days. Hanukkah not only celebrates a military triumph but also a spiritual victory for religious freedom won for a persecuted people.
Stratford kicked off it's Science Week activities at the whole school assembly on Monday with the first of many daily quizzes! So far 1st years have had a Young Environmentalist Awards Ideas Factory Workshop, TYs had an engineer from SSE Eirtricity explaining how to build off-shore wind turbines and there's more to come for the rest of the week ...
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Well done to the U19 Boys basketball team who reached the semi-finals against Rockbrook on Tuesday 10th November. In a closely fought match, Stratford lost 41-39 - so, so close!
Major congratulations to the U16 Boys basketball team who won 52-36 against Firhouse on Monday 9th November!
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On Monday, 9th November all the 1st Year Computer Studies students gathered in the Computer Lab to take part in the Young Environmentalist Awards kick-off workshop - an Ideas Factory workshop in fact! Sarah from ECO-UNESCO visited the class to explain the steps to enter this competition and to start brainstorming ideas.
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