This lesson introduces the students to Scientology and asks the question is it a real religion or is it a cult? It is designed to be an introduction to the faith. It looks at the history, beliefs, practices and controversies surrounding Scientology. This lesson was been commended in a recent Ofsted report and has been praised by staff and students alike for being interesting and challenging. It is a really good start to the ‘Alternative Religions’ unit and gets the students to reflect on their own faith and consider what a religion really is.

This lesson looks at the issues surrounding quality of life and sanctity of life and get the students to debate, discuss and vote on life and death issues. -It starts with a classic balloon debate (which is both enjoyable and challenging) -It goes on to look at a real life case study of Diane Pretty -It continues with a deep discussion of four real life case studies -It concludes by looking at why human life is so sacred A highly recommended lesson that has always been rated as outstanding or excellent.

This is a terrific lesson that introduces the Amish Faith (as featured in films like ‘Witness’, and TV shows like ‘The Devil’s Playground’ and even ‘Orange is the new Black’) It includes ‘Home or Away’ group activity where the students have to become experts and then teach one another about one aspect of Amish Culture. The lesson has additional activities such as: source analysis, creative drawing, debate and ultimately a discussion of the merits and drawbacks of living like the Amish do. An interesting and powerful lesson that teaches about a fascinating but little understood faith.

An interesting lesson that looks at the issue of bullying and gets the students to consider the causes of bullying, the effects of bullying and what we can do to help. It focuses on a Christian persepective, but also uses empathy to consider the motivation behind the bullying, what the impact of bullying may have and introduces concepts such as the Golden Rule to help to prevent bullying, This lesson was created for a GCSE RS course but can be easily adapted to other year groups or other subjects. An interesting lesson that focuses on important values such as community, morality, ethics and empathy.

This is a useful lesson that introduces the wedding practices enjoyed by many Hindu families across the UK. The lesson compares and contrasts Hindu weddings to other weddings they are familiar with. They will watch part of a Hindu wedding ceremony and then discuss likes /dislikes and questions. They will then illustrate the wedding and explain what each picture represents. A good fun lesson (aimed at KS3).

This is a really good lesson aimed at getting the students to consider the evidence for life after death and to formulate their own opinion of what happens after you die. It asks the question: ‘What do you think happens after you die?’, it looks at possible evidence (including Near Death Experiences, Ghosts and Mediums), it also considers religious ideas about life after death. A really good lesson that will stretch and challenge your students. This resource also includes a starter and a h/w. It is aimed at KS3 but could easily be adapted for another key stage.

This lesson explores the Just War theory and looks at several case studies to consider whether or not the War was justified (e.g. WW2, Vietnam, Gulf War etc.) It challenges pupils to apply the criteria set out to determin whether or not these wars (or any war) is justified. It also asks questions about the greater good, human rights and the value of life. A really interesting lesson.

This fascinating lesson introduces students to the Jehovah’s Witness faith. It looks at myths and facts about Jehovah’s Witnesses, teaching the students about their background, history, beliefs, traditions and way of life. The students will take part in a treasure hunt to find the answer to questions, and compare Jehovah’s witnesses to Christianity. A really fun and interesting lesson full of interesting resources. I have also included teachers notes for anyone unfamiliar with this faith.

This is an inspirational assembly that looks at the issue of what can we do to make a difference. Some terrific video clips and some really good stories. This can be done at any time of year, but it will almost certainly result in you getting a standing ovation! One of my best assemblies. Highly recommended.

This lessons looks at the Greater and Lesser Jihad and explores the Muslim attitude to war. The pupils really enjoyed this lesson and felt that they understood this topic much more clearly after this lesson. It helps pupils to understand many of the misconceptions surrounding Jihad, and Islam in general and helps them to understand the positive aspects of Islamic attitdues to violence and war. An interesting and fun lesson that challenges what the pupils may have previously believed. Originally created for KS4 RS, it can easily be adapted for KS3 or KS5.

An interesting lesson that looks at the different causes of war and conflict. This is a useful lesson as it helps students to consider the different causes and assess how justifed most wars really are. It looks at why individuals go to war, and contrasts this as to why countries go to war. It also looks at a recent case study (Syria). It asks the students to think about what war is really like, why does war still exist and what can we do to end war.

This is an outstanding lesson that introduces the students to an alternative religion called Pastafarianism. It looks at how and why the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was formed, what they believe in and what the reaction to the religion has been. The lesson contains a number of activities including: True or False Quiz, Scavenger Hunt, Short video clip, class discussion and several thinking tasks. An excellent and fun lesson that gets students to think about what religion really is and why they believe.

A fascinating lesson that looks at the four main theories of why we use punishment. -Deterrent -Retribution -Protection -Reform It looks at case studies as to how effective the student think these theories are, and it prepares the students for an essay quesion (which can be peer assessed at the end of the lesson) A highly useful introduction to the idea of law and order in society. Originally created for a RS lesson, but can be used forHistory, PSHE or Citizenship. I have also included an interesting article from the Guardian that disusses why prison doesn’t work. It can be used as lesson prep, or as an extension for brighter/older pupils.

This lesson explains Chrsitan attitudes towards drugs and alcohol using Christian teachings, UK law and morality to explain what the attitudes are and how they developed. This is a well resourced lesson that is suitable to be used in RE, citizehship or PSHE. It can easily be adapted for different year groups, although it is Primarily aimed at GCSE students. A fun and fascinating lessons what will get the students to think and ask good questions.

The Holy Trinity can be a difficult concept to understand (especially if you are not a Christian). This lesson introduces the Holy Trinity in a simple and straight forward way. It also links into Christian beliefs and how it helps to explain the nature of God working in the world today. This can be a complex topic, so this allows the pupils to access the information in a relatable way that draw on logical analogies and their own experiences. A useful topic that can be adapted for use at KS2, 3 or 4.

This is a terrific lesson that challenges the pupils to create their own brand new religion. The lesson can be used as a stand alone lesson, or as part of the ‘Alternative Religions’ SoW. The lesson sets up an imaginary world where they get the opportunity to create their own unique religion based on what they have learned from their R.S. lessons. They work in groups to complete this task, and then present it to the class. The groups will then evaluate each others presentations and relgions (for some peer assessment). This lesson could be one, two or even three lessons.

This lesson looks at the Indigenous Australians (or Aboriginies) as a case study for religions in other parts of the world. The students investigate the aboriginal way of life and beliefs to learn what life may have been like in Britain before Christianity arrived. The lesson covers: -History -Life style -Beliefs -Culture/Medicine -Future A fascinating lesson that is a good into to both Aboriginies and other world ancient religions.

This lesson looks at the Rastafari faith and way of life. This lesson can be used as a stand alone lesson or as part of a larger unit on alternative religions (also available at my shop). It uses multi media to explore the culture and beliefs of people who follow the Rastafari faith, The students are asked to examine several of the more controversial aspects of the faith and consider whether or not they agree with the more traditional views and whether they fit into modern society today. An interesting and fun lesson.

This lesson looks at the Tibetan Buddhist Prayer flags. It looks at their background, history, design, meaning and purpose. The students will learn all about the flags, before finishing the lesson by designing a flag of their own. This is a fantastic opportunity to create a colourful display in the classroom (especially if you’ve got some coloured paper!)

This is a fantastic twist on the flash cards idea that will prove to be a really useful revision tool in class. INSTRUCTIONS: There are 28 cards with key words on one side and their definitions on the other side. The twist, no one has a matching key word and definition. So they need to call out their key word and everyone must look at their definitions to see if they have the definition to that key word. If they do, they flip their card over and read out their key word and so on until you go all around the class and back to the first person who read out. This can get really competitive and forces the students to learn ALL the key words and definitions. You can make up your own rules (personally I time it, and every time there is a mistake I make them swap cards and start again!). This activity can easily be adapted to other schemes of work or even other subjects. I have used it for RE, History and Humanities. A fantastic and useful resource.