Orchard Primary: Diving into Diwali with now>press>play

Following their now>press>play training session, the school staff at Orchard Primary were eager to try out our newly launched KS2 Diwali Experience with their Year 4 pupils. We were so pleased when Rhiannon White, Year 4 Teacher, shared with us not just how her class got on but even the wonderful lanterns her pupils created.

What we thought of the Diwali Experience

I personally thought it was a fantastic way of making such a tricky story to tell and understand, come alive and really mean something for the children.

The pupils loved acting out the story. I thought it was very clever the way the Rama and Sita story was entwined with learning about a modern Hindu family. It was the perfect way to kickstart our Hindu topic this term and especially great as it is Diwali today!

Year 4 pupils’ response to the Experience

“I like it because it is very realistic and I love all the background noises.”

“I like it because it takes you to a different world.”

“It's amazing going to different places and it feeling so real.”

“I loved the part in the story where we had to build the bridge and then fight Ravana.”

Making our own Diwali lanterns

After listening to the Experience, the class did some work around the characters in the story and even made their own Diwali lanterns.

Some of the Orchard Primary children's fantastic Diwali lanterns!

What were the children listening to when they made the lanterns?

I haven’t tried my own music yet but we listened to the Experience again while they were doing their work and they loved it! They were silent for the whole 29 minutes and actually it was great and embedded their understanding even more, plus they got loads of work done.

I think they were referring to the relaxing music that was part of the Diwali Experience! We actually ended up looking at Diwali for most of the day and even came up with our own dance to some Hindu music.

Maybe next time we could have a Diwali themed silent disco! The opportunities really are endless!

“I enjoyed when we were doing our tasks after and we got to listen to the relaxing music.”

We’re so pleased to be able to offer a new Experience that supports teachers delivery of a diverse curriculum, which explores different cultures and religions. We are continuously expanding our content library with new immersive audio adventures to help broaden pupils’ knowledge and understanding.

If you haven’t already got now>press>play in your school, you can book a free trial here and start your immersive audio adventure.