Year 5 have had an amazing time at the Wat Buddhapadipa Buddhist temple in Wimbledon. It was such a fabulous experience to bring the Year 5 RS & Philosophy curriculum to life.
We began by being welcomed in to the temple, after taking our shoes off to be respectful, and the children showed a brilliant knowledge already from only 2 lessons – we were very proud teachers! The children then had the story of the life of Buddha explained through the giant wall paintings.
We learnt there are 543 years difference between the Buddhist and Gregorian calendar because the Buddhist calendar began when Buddha passed away. Also the children found out about the 5 precepts of Buddhism – no killing, no stealing, respect, no lying, no drinking alcohol.
A Buddhist monk then came to teach us all about how to meditate. Sitting calmly and taking some deep breaths, focussing on breathing. He then explained to us about how in Thailand the Buddhist monks aren’t allowed to buy food or cook, they rely on the generosity of others. The children asked some really handful and thoughtful questions during the Q&A afterwards too demonstrating fantastic observations – they were very curious!
Inaya said, “the most amazing thing was the scenery and I loved finding out about how the Buddha was exploring the world and how he discovered so many things!”
