Context for learning
The Jewish festival of *Purim was used as a context for learning within the nursery setting attached to a Jewish
primary school.
*Lesser Jewish festival held in spring (on the 14th or 15th day of Adar) to commemorate the defeat of Haman's plot to massacre the Jews as recorded in the
book of Esther.
As I play and learn, I am developing my understanding of what is fair and unfair and why caring and sharing are important RME 0-09a
I am becoming aware of the importance of celebrations, festivals and customs in religious people’s lives. RME 0-06a
Learning Intentions
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Be able to re-tell a story
Be able to understand the actions of the characters in
a story, identifying fair and unfair actions
Know there are traditions when celebrating festivals
Learner’s prior knowledge
The learner has experienced and celebrated the festival of Purim in
her anti-pre school year and now in her pre-school year. She attends
a nursery attached to a Jewish primary school and is often involved
in other Jewish celebrations and customs. She celebrates Purim in
her own home and in the wider Jewish community. She knows about
the main tradition of dressing up for Purim and can recall the basic
story of Purim. On the lead up to Purim, she has been listening to the
story of Purim delivered by the religious teacher through a variety of
media.
Useful information
Pupil voice down the right hand side has been highlighted for the
assistance of this assessment. Colour coded red is what they
learner has learnt ‘about’ the SAL and coded green is what the
learner has learnt ‘from’ the SAL.
Success criteria
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I can give a summary of the story of Purim including at
least two key events
I can name all five characters in the story of Purim and
can identify their actions using the words fair and unfair
I can state ways in which Jewish people celebrate Purim
discussing traditions and practices
Significant aspects of learning
Investigating religious beliefs, values, issues, traditions and
practices through a range of primary and secondary sources.*
Engaging in a process of personal refection leading to a deeper
understanding of personal beliefs and ideas about meaning,
value and purpose in life.**
*The learner will engage in learning experiences, learning
about this SAL
**The learner will engage in learning experiences learning
from this SAL.
Learning statement
Values and issues – Use stories to
explore values and issues
Early Level Religious and Moral Education
Judaism - Purim
Practitioner’s voice
The learner read a story of Purim to her
peers using the pictures as a stimulus for
remembering and recounting the main events
of the story of Esther and discussing some
basic values and issues.
A puppet theatre was set up with the
characters from the story of Purim – Esther,
Queen Vashti, King Ahasuerus, Mordecai and
Haman. A primary source had been shared
prior to this learning experience. (The Book
of Esther – Megillah). A simplified version
was read to the learners.
The learners performed the story of Purim
using the masked puppets, recalling the main
events and offering opinions on Haman and
Esther’s actions.
Both opportunities gave the learner the
opportunity to use the knowledge she had
gained from the adult led story sessions and
recreate in her own imaginative ways the
story of Purim.
Pupil voice
This is the story of Purim. That is Haman
in the picture. There was a wicked man
called Haman. He was trying to be very
unkind to the Jewish people. Queen
Esther saved them and had a big party.
Haman was very bad. He should be nice
to the Jewish people. Mordecai tried to
help Esther so he is a good man. Esther
is good because she saved them all. You
shouldn’t be unkind to people as it makes
them feel sad and that’s not nice. I’m
nice to my friends at nursery and I
share and say nice words. It is good to
be a good girl.
Once upon a time there lived a man called Haman.
He was bad…boo! When you see Haman you need
to shout Boo. He tried to kill the Jewish people
and that’s just not nice. The Jewish people were
nice people.
I am Mordecai. King Ahasuerus, did you know
Haman is trying to hurt the Jewish people? Hello
Esther. Esther you need to tell the King about
Haman and that he is a bad man. Is the King
your husband? You need to tell him quick. Haman
is wicked and he will hurt us all. The King needs
to save us. It’s not nice of Haman. If we all get
died there will be nobody left. Help! Help! Help!
Learning statement
Practices and traditions – Show
that they know about ways in
which people express their
beliefs and viewpoints through
celebrations, practices, festivals
and traditions.
The learner was given the opportunity to
make some traditional items associated
with Purim – crowns, shakers, masks and
decorate a mishloach manot bag.
An adult scribed the learner’s ideas into
a book. The learner attempted to write
page numbers and write some letters.
The learner illustrated appropriately.
The words scribed show that the learner
is aware of some of the traditions and
practices that take place during Purim.
The learner is aware that these
traditions are associated with Purim and
not with any other celebration during the
year. The learner celebrates Purim in
nursery and in the wider community and
makes references to what she does in
nursery and in Shul (the synagogue).
The learner makes reference to
traditional foods eaten on Purim;
homantaschen is described as a sweet
pastry dough and mishloach manot bags
which are food parcels traditionally
exchanged with a friend.
I made a mask and crown. On Purim
kids get dressed up. Even adults
dress up. The crown is like the King
and Queen Esther. They wore
crowns a long time ago. I will wear
my crown on Purim. When I wear my
mask nobody sees me. Rabbis dress
as King Ahasuerus but not as Haman
as they would boo them.
I did a Purim story. We will
have hamantaschen in nursery
and a party on Purim. The
homantaschen are triangles like
Haman’s hat. This picture is of
me dressed up for Purim. I will
dress up in nursery and at Shul.
We will go to the big school
with the big boys and girls to
see the costumes. The Rabbi
will talk to use about Purim.
I drawed Queen Esther on my bag. I
made chocolate krispies to put in my bag
and we are getting other stuff too. I
will give my bag to my friend. It’s
called mishloach manot. We all give
bags of treats to each other on Purim.
I made a shaker. We are taking them
down to the school hall and when we hear
Haman we have to shake them to make a
big noise. We don’t like Haman so we try
not to listen to his name. We do this in
Shul too and it’s very noisy.
Learning statement
Values and issues – Communicate
a simple understanding of what is
fair and unfair.
The learner has listened many times to
and discussed the story of Purim and is
knowledgeable about the characters.
She is able to discuss their actions and
decide if they are kind or unkind actions.
She is able to identify with these
actions and compare and contrast in her
own way and bring her own experiences
to the forefront. She is beginning to use
the terms fair and unfair and to develop
her understanding of these terms. Most
of her discussions mention Queen
Esther and Haman as the main
characters but she does have basic
knowledge of the other characters and
the role they play in the story.
This says Haman. I did the letters. Haman was a
horrible man. He tried to hurt Jewish people. It is
not nice to hurt people. We don’t hit in our
nursery. We share our toys and help to tidy or the
ladies will be upset. If we are horrible it’s not nice
and our friends will feel sad. Haman was not nice
and I don’t want to be his friend.
It is better to be like Esther. She is
a Queen and is kind and doesn’t hurt
people. If you hurt people then you
will get into trouble and you will make
somebody cry. Queen Esther is fair
because she is nice. Haman is unfair
because he is horrible.