Imbolg is the first of many subjects I hope to explore under this heading. If there are others which you would like me to include, do send a PM. Imbolg is the festival which marks the beginning of spring, when the goddess Bride and her groom (the terms Bride and Groom originate here) get together and the year unfolds in all its glory. There are ceremonies to turn away winter and welcome spring - clear out the old and welcome the new ... It is celebrated around the 2nd February - which happens to be today, Happy Imbolg!

This is my account of what happened when we moved to London and my son (then aged 9) suffered some bullying. (He is now 31 and a professional actor. You may have seen him in the photos and video referred to on Siddhartha becomes the Buddha.) I wrote this years ago and found it when doing a computer search for Krishna - in relation to my recent Hinduism Day. I think it could encourage some good discussion on many aspects of RE, PSHE and Citizenship. I have now also uploaded the 'parent' file - Sunlight and Shadow parts 2 and 3

I've used this story in primary and secondary sectors. It's good if you want a story to adapt as a drama. It links with many aspects of the RE curriculum - good and evil, what happens when we die etc - it comes from 'the East' but has parallels with Christianity too. You may explore questions eg 'What's a saint' and 'Are angels real' - and thinking about what make heaven and hell in the lives and experiences of our students - at home, in the playground and in the classroom. inspired to explore this theme further, did a search on the CKG library and found the Akbar story and more.

this is an astonishingly brilliant collection of important quotations from Christian and Hindu sources for GCSE students. You will find it also at chartere23's site and I am not sharing it here to take any of the credit for it at all - simply because it is so good I want it to be seen by and used in class by as many of my colleagues in RE as possible. The only changes I have made to this version are - an introduction with thanks - and slight adjustments to formatting. Ideally I would then pdf it but no facility for that here. Thanks again chartere23

Hi guys, I have been working with the Duke of Edinburgh team for the past two weeks, no access to computer or internet but a lot of great experiences with our fantastic students. We had three groups of four to six in a group and all succeeded in passing Silver - tremendous transcendence and experiences of going beyond despair, The weakest group ended up the best! This essay is an account of what I did when the minibus left, taking the students back to London. Hopefully inspire some discussion and reflection, As always, do give feedback. And have a great Summer Holiday.

These articles cover many aspects of village life - including local democracy, provision of water, education and opportunities for women, caste problems etc. Useful in any international work, citizenship, community cohesion and Religious Education topics with KS3 KS4, GCSE etc.

Begins by asking reception children 'What is Religion?' ‘conversation’ looks at personal identity, Awe and Wonder, the Dawn of Religion, Eternal Questions - including God, introduces the six Major Religions, leads to an exploration of Religious Identity. Ends with a reflective exercise on Loving Kindness. Aimed to engage yr 7 and give an overview of what Religion is all about, useful for KS4 &'the God Question&'; and the problem of generalisation. Will also give non-specialist teachers some insight into RE. see also other ppts in Exploring Religion Series (about 4 resources back)

These are adapted from info on the OCR website. They give a basic outline which I hope to add to, when I have time to bring in info from other sites. Hope it is helpful. I would encourage students to turn this into mind-maps and spacial, or visual patterns which enable them to link common ideas and overlapping theories.

Sue is an inspirational RE teacher who has found creative approaches to engage her students. Many of these are based on visualisation and role-play. They are all creative and deeply spiritual. I can not recommend them too highly. The attached information is just an introduction. If you can arrange to attend a workshop - or if you have done so in the past, you will know what I mean. BRILLIANT. Please add a comment if you have experience of Sue's work

An initial assembly explores the question 'What is Religion' using many 'models' and questions. Moving on to Art-based activity, we look at Rock and Cave-Art thinking about what the Stone-Age people may have believed in / how they may have made sense of their world. Then using 'Stone-Age materials, create our own 'Cave-Art.'. Lots of opportunity for thinking about what we believe and why, asking questions, developing empathy and greater self-understanding.

This is the calendar from different sources with some words of caution and information about Navaratri, often called DurgaPuja. I will add to this resource when I get time and then prepare some similar overviews of festivals for the other religions. This is in response to a request for information so my aim here is to offer enough to give the enquirer a start with Hinduism and then they can use it as a 'pattern to follow' when researching the other festivals.

The Five Pillars file is from Wikki but I have added some comments relating to supporting Muslim students who are fasting during Ramadan. Also how to respond if a Muslim student claims that s/he can’t attend a detention because of fasting. I am including good contributions from the thread here too.

Here are some files relating to The Sermon on the Mount, The Golden Rule and the Parable of the Good Samaritan, just to start this section. I will add to it - and please contact me with PMs to share the passages and other resources which you find useful. I can either include them here or add to a page of references. also - as always, please give comments and feedback. This is a resource for you. i want to know how to improve it.

This is something I wrote years ago, in the voice of my son, telling the story of what he went through when we moved to London. I think that there are many aspects of the story which could inspire or provoke useful discussion in both primary and secondary PSHE and RE classes.

Something for your Gifted and Talented KS4 students to get their teeth into - poem by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin great material to reflect on, which links science and religion in a mystical way. 'An increase in consciousness is an increase in love&' If we reflect on ourselves as human beings we also reflect on ourselves as &';earthlings' with a genetic history and relationship with the entire universe.

This is a ppt slide show which combines inspiring images and texts which share and celebrate the wisdom found in many different cultures and religions around the world. Texts explore and reflect on many aspects of life and look for common threads in the teachings of many different religions. There is a focus on peace and overcoming conflict - as well as a celebration of the beauty and wonder of life and the universe. thanks for comments. I will add the music I use if possible.

a great and inspiring person who is doing much for peace and education in Africa. This is during the Olympics. I met her and her assistant stayed with me for a few days. Not overtly religious but profoundly spiritual. I will explore that side of her work in more depth and add another file regarding our conversation if I can. But a great resource to share and discuss when looking at issues of peace and conflict, inspiring people, real education, citizenship and sport

looked on internet tonight to find the address of my friend Professor John Hick, to send him an invitation to A Moment's Peace although I know he may not be able to travel that far. When I saw him last - about a year ago, his back was bad and restricting his travelling. Instead of finding the address I found this obituary. It will be useful, interesting and inspiring to look at with G and T KS4 and with KS5 pupils. I also include an outline of a conversation we had with him when I took our A'level students to ask him about Death and the Afterlife in Christianity.

The first article here is from Al Jazeera. It includes a reference to a video interview which you may use part of to shed light on this important issue. I am looking for any articles and videos which will help our students to understand what is happening and how it relates to them, to religious principles of fairness, justice, care for all, compassion and charity etc. I am looking for resources which will inform GCSE or older students and they will be useful for Citizenship and Economics subjects as much as for RE.

This is a great way to introduce the world religions to KS3 pupils. Ideally set it in Autumn term so the observational drawing can stimulate some wonder-muscles. Cross curricular with science and art this approach gives a strong grounding for the world religions and is popular, improving attitudes to RE in the process.