A KS3 Religious Studies lesson, using an enquiry based approach to learning exploring Islam. This is lesson 1 of the topic ‘What makes something special?’ which covers Islamic worship, particularly Salat and Hajj of the Five Pillars of Islam. The SoL follows the 2018 Berkshire SACRE agreed syllabus with a focus on exploring the principles of ‘believing, belonging and behaving’ in a religious and secular context. All tasks are differentiated by choice or challenge in order to stretch learners of all abilities. Students complete a diamond 9 task why places take on religious significance and why religious people would want to visit one. Students then move on to investigate three holy cities in Islam; Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Students then attempt to answer an evaluation question, requiring them to write in extended paragraphs for and against the statement; ‘Medina is the most sacred city in Islam.’ There are two model answers to go through as well as an opportunity for peer- or self-assessment. Finally, students revisit the learning objectives and assess their progress in the lesson.

A KS3 Religious Studies lesson, using an enquiry based approach to learning and based on paranormal beliefs as a way to explore belief in the afterlife. Following the 2018 Berkshire SACRE agreed syllabus with a focus on exploring the principles of ‘believing, belonging and behaving’ in a religious and secular context. This is lesson 2 of the topic ‘Do you only live once?’ Students start by responding to a variety of experiences surrounding those who have had near death experiences and then watch three video clips, showing arguments for and against near death experiences being genuine. Students respond to this information with a choice of creative tasks, choosing from a diary entry, a report or a debate. Students then respond to an evaluative statement, with sentence starters and expectations modelled on the slide. The statement is; ‘Near death experiences prove that there is life after death.’ Students are expected to answer in three paragraphs, giving reasons for and aganist as well as concluding. The plenary is a self- or peer-assessment task, with a selection of feedback demonstrating the expectations for answering an evaluative question.

A KS3 Religious Studies lesson, using an enquiry based approach to learning exploring Islam. This is lesson 1 of the topic ‘What makes something special?’ which covers Islamic worship, particularly Salat and Hajj of the Five Pillars of Islam. The SoL follows the 2018 Berkshire SACRE agreed syllabus with a focus on exploring the principles of ‘believing, belonging and behaving’ in a religious and secular context. All tasks are differentiated by choice or challenge in order to stretch learners of all abilities. Students are hooked into learning by being asked to respond to a map of the Middle East, with countries colour coded depending on a majority of either Shi’as or Sunnis. Students are invited to ask a question or make an inference from the map. Students then move on to a short historical overview of the reason for the initial split within Islam before a mini-plenary summarises the learning so far and allows students to ask a question about Islam. Students then complete a content clock with 12 blocks of information about the Sunni ‘Articles of Faith’ as well as the Shi’a ‘Roots’, supported by extracts of sacred writing from the Qur’an. There is a further mini-plenary where students get to ask another question and summarise their learning and some might also be able to answer a question they posed earlier in the lesson. Students are then given a choice of analytical question to answer in full paragraphs about how Islamic beliefs infuence Muslims in their daily lives, before a final plenary highlighting the similarities and differences between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.

A KS3 Religious Studies lesson, using an enquiry based approach to learning exploring Islam. This is lesson 1 of the topic ‘What makes something special?’ which covers Islamic worship, particularly Salat and Hajj of the Five Pillars of Islam. The SoL follows the 2018 Berkshire SACRE agreed syllabus with a focus on exploring the principles of ‘believing, belonging and behaving’ in a religious and secular context. All tasks are differentiated by choice or challenge in order to stretch learners of all abilities. Students are hooked into learning by a close up of Muslims on Hajj and are asked to respond to the image by imaging what it would be like to be in the crowd. Students then see a further six images and are asked to infer from them what is happening. Students then watch a 15-minute video diary about a Muslim going on Hajj and get a choice of activities for how they want to respond, either a; diary entry, newspaper article, story board or flow chart. Students then read additional information about the Hajj and have to respond by writing a paragraph about it, linked to the learning outcomes for the lesson. Finally, a creative plenary asks students to create their own picture of their learning in the lesson.

A lesson within the broader topic of 'Belonging' investigating the significance of the Amrit ceremony for Sikhs including the meaning behind the 5Ks and how the Khalsa can establish a sense of belonging.

A KS3 Religious Studies assessment criteria table based on the NEW 2016 locally agreed SACRE syllabus using the NEW 1-9 GCSE grading system. Based on BOTH AT1 and AT2 and including 5 key assessment descriptors.

GCSE lesson on Christian attitudes to marriage with a focus on the Christian marriage vows. Comparison between marriage and cohabitation.

GCSE lesson on the role of parish Church in Christianity, including the role of the priest/vicar and the congregation as a whole. Follows the 'NEW' Edexcel GCSE specification.

A selection of 34 - tried and tested - colourful and captivating pictures that will engage your students and motivate them to engage in Religious Studies lessons. Covering all major faiths and philosophy, they are perfect as presentation backgrounds (think powerpoint) or as hooks on individual slides.

A lesson that is equally suitable to KS3, KS4 or KS5 and to all abilities - the issue of abortion is discussed through a number of activities centred around the moral and legal interpretations of abortion. Perfect as an introductory lesson.

GCSE lesson on the Christian and Islamic responses to abortion. Includes reference to Christian teachings and sources of wisdom and authority as well as a GCSE exam question WITH a model answer in line with the Edexcel specification up to 2017.

A GCSE lesson covering Christian and Islamic attitudes to sex outside marriage including sources of authority and wisdom for both religions.

NEW GCSE Edexcel RS specification covering Matters of Life and Death. A lesson based on an investigation of near-death experiences, paranormal activity and reincarnation as non-religious beliefs in life after death. The main focus of the lesson is through visual learning with three video clips to guide students through each factor behind life after death. A creative main task gives students the opportunity to write a fictional first person account using one of the factors. If watching all video clips in full this lesson will take two sessions to complete.

NEW GCSE Edexcel RS specification on Christian attitudes to sexual relationships with a strong focus on independent learning and interpretation of sources of wisdom and authority from the Bible. Main task includes detailed information sheet about non-religious attitudes with a focus on legal changes. Video starter task also included.

Revision resource for Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies Unit 1 'Religion and Life with Christianity' and Unit 8 'Religion and Society with Christianity and Islam'. Based on the Million Pound Drop game show, each round covers one sub-topic and has 7 questions with 4 multiple choice answers - these are all set up with a 30 second timer and questions and answers can be amended. Topics covered - Religion and Life: Believing in God - Matters of Life and Death - Marriage and the Family - Community Cohesion. Topics covered - Religion and Society: Rights and Responsibilities - Environmental and Medical Issues - Peace and Conflict - Crime and Punishment. I usually bring in sweets and ask students to 'gamble' with them on the answers just as in the TV show, where students lose their sweets if they get the wrong answer and can split their sweets between answers if they want to.

NEW Edexcel GCSE RS specification lesson on Christian Teaching on Family Planning including sources of wisdom and authority from the Catholic Church and the Bible. Using the NEW 1-9 level descriptors for GCSE.

A GCSE lesson introducing the concept of euthanasia and the different types of euthanasia. This lesson asks students to reflect on their personal views of end of life decisions and is taught through four case studies that allow students to immerse themselves into specific situations where euthanasia becomes an option.

A GCSE or A-level lesson comparing the UK law on euthanasia with the legal view in Switzerland and the Netherlands (where euthanasia is currently legal under certain conditions) as well as reference to the United Nations Human Rights and how they can be interpreted as part of the euthanasia debate. This lesson has been planned as group work with subsequent presentations to the class, but can equally be delivered as paired work and also works for independent work. Students normally respond very well to the variety of legal perspectives on euthanasia and I have typically found the topic of what would be the 'perfect' legal response to euthanasia an interesting option for further class debate.

NEW KS3 History curriculum on British Reforms following the NEW 1-9 grading criteria. Students use information to investigate some core Liberal Reforms and fill in a work sheet with a table analysing the benefits and drawbacks of each Reform. Reforms included focus on children, national insurance and pensions. Students then use the information to write a diary entry from the point of view of either a child, a working class person or a pensioner, allowing them to analyse how successful the Reforms were. All tasks are clearly differentiated and this lesson is suitable for all abilities.