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Durgamata's Shop

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(based on 485 reviews)

A specialist Religious Education and Art Teacher - I retired a few years ago. Now I am an Entrepreneur. I have created a Programme called The Seven Steps to Happiness. It is all about Reducing Stress, Building Resilience and Increasing Happiness. Before Coronavirus came along I gave Workshops and Retreats from my home. Now I am moving my work online. I share resources on TES to support my wonderful Teacher-Colleagues. Most are free but I spend hours on these so I charge for some of them. Enjoy.

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A specialist Religious Education and Art Teacher - I retired a few years ago. Now I am an Entrepreneur. I have created a Programme called The Seven Steps to Happiness. It is all about Reducing Stress, Building Resilience and Increasing Happiness. Before Coronavirus came along I gave Workshops and Retreats from my home. Now I am moving my work online. I share resources on TES to support my wonderful Teacher-Colleagues. Most are free but I spend hours on these so I charge for some of them. Enjoy.
Reflctns on Lf no commentary peace, war, glbl wrmg
durgamatadurgamata

Reflctns on Lf no commentary peace, war, glbl wrmg

(0)
Another in this popular series, no commentary. 212 slides C 20 minutes. Some disturbing images. Explores natural beauty, spirituality, family diversity, peace, war, poverty, harmony with nature, Global Warming, responses to suffering, diversity of age, disability etc with some great quotes. 'If you made a slide-show, reflecting on life from your perspective - what would you change- (add or take out?) What other causes of suffering can you think of? Collect relevant poems and quotes, etc Listed as video = use it with music. Contact me if you would like a list of music that works well.
Process Theology
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Process Theology

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An interesting 'paper&' on Process Theology by two authors with a brief biography at the start. The biographies alone would be useful in exploring the way that our beliefs change and are shaped by experience - and the problem that some people find with traditional or fundamentalist-Christianity Process Theology is at the cutting edge of Christian Theology today, one of the most interesting and challenging responses to the life and teachings of Jesus. For example, God, in this article is referred to as &';She.'
Exploring Religious Identity using Faith Journey
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Exploring Religious Identity using Faith Journey

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Taking part in Inter-Faith experiment 'conversations of the soul' at the St Ethelburga Centre for Peace and Reconcilliation. One activity was to share our own Faith Journey. An interesting and effective way of deepening dialogue and encouraging empathy and understanding so I have tried to adapt it for KS4 and Post 16 RE. I have added a second and third version (the first is age &'up to 20&'; and about 20 pages long, the second is 'up to 19&' but over 30 pages long, the third is over 40 pages long.. Later versions explore family and relationships and asks more questions. Do give some feedback.
The Holy Land. An Introduction to Christianity.
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The Holy Land. An Introduction to Christianity.

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This is a lesson plan for introducing Christianity and the Holy Land. It includes an overview of the history of Europe - with particular attention to the Holy Land - from the 21st Century back to the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. I aim to create a Power Point to go with this plan.
paranormal, demons, exorcism, occult and spirits
durgamatadurgamata

paranormal, demons, exorcism, occult and spirits

(1)
Not a topic that often comes up in RE but if it does I guess there are not many resources to refer to. Some GCSE syllabus' do cover paranormal so this may be useful there. (eg Edexcel Religion & Life in the belief in God unit. ) This resource began with my response to a question that the Atheist Science Teacher asked in our on-line conversation - so the first file comes from that. However I then looked for other resources which may shed some light on this question. I will add any comments or articles others may offer from the forum.
Pagan and Neo-Pagan perspectives - Imbolg, Tiw
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Pagan and Neo-Pagan perspectives - Imbolg, Tiw

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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!
chartere23  - Holy Quible Important texts for GCSE
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chartere23 - Holy Quible Important texts for GCSE

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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
Religious Prejudice Christian Muslim, Israel, Shia
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Religious Prejudice Christian Muslim, Israel, Shia

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a range of articles on these topics from Internet including about the relationship between Shia and Sunni Muslims in Pakistan (most recent example of Religious Prejudice resulting in deaths that I know of - in 2013.) and some history of the Israel/Palestine conflict. I will add to this should other examples arise.
Christian Theology and the God question
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Christian Theology and the God question

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most of an essay I wrote on Christian Theology in around 1990 when working for my degree in Theology and Religious Studies. This is a good text to discuss with GCSE and A'level students.
songs to use in teaching RE or assemblies
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songs to use in teaching RE or assemblies

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My Wish or Somebody Loves You would be great to use as a reflection exercise or starter in RE or pshe. I will add other useful songs with video as I come across them. ' please share your own favourites and I will add them too.
Conversations about religion / God / R Education
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Conversations about religion / God / R Education

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This section aims to share conversations about all sorts of important subjects. The first is in response to the email I sent about Religious Education and the English Bacc. - with a French Anarchist. It explores many interesting ideas and can be used to stimulate class discussion about what religion means and why we study Religious Education. If using with KS3 then some 'unpacking' may be needed, but the G + T fringe may enjoy it and some may respond by joining the campaign to support RE. A great example of how a potentially confrontational argument can end up as accord.
Patience / dealing with life problems / suffering
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Patience / dealing with life problems / suffering

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25 pages of quotes and poems with a couple of essays at the end - all about patience and dealing with life's problems and trials. Useful for many units of work including interfaith as quotes from many sources, secular and from various religions.
Lyrics for It's Christmas, Get Cracking,
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Lyrics for It's Christmas, Get Cracking,

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Here are the lyrics of another of Jill's songs from the aforementioned CD. I have used this a lot in teaching KS3 and KS4, it is funny and direct - engaging but very serious and quite soulful too. Please appreciate that my sister Jill has given me permission to share her songs - but only part of them. If she sees too many people downloading them free from here she may ask me to include only the first few lines of the music. She had to payva lot to get the recordings done. Once costs are covered all profits will go to charity. Contact - info@bluelotus.co (it is .co - not .com)
Village Community - based on a Bengali village
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Village Community - based on a Bengali village

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The slide show is in the process of development - to support a family member who is studying Early Years Childcare in Kolkata, Having been to Bengali villages I googled things that I remember seeing there and this is a complete jumble of images. I suggest you edit it, arrange the images you wish to use and add text as required. I googled India Village and found some very interesting bits of contemporary news which may be useful in citizenship and international studies. The Stories may be good for drama and to give insight into village life and characters past and present.
Love and money - a Valentine's Day reflection
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Love and money - a Valentine's Day reflection

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Starting with an article from the Guardian 'A World Ruled by Money Has Failed. It's Time to Reclaim Love.' by Jeanette Winterson I will add other relevant articles as I find them. Please suggest your favourites.
The Problem of Evil and posters to aid reflection
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The Problem of Evil and posters to aid reflection

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A video shared on an RE Forum with my thoughts on the matter - ideas to stimulate thought and discussion. also links to more videos. I plan to add to this and create some activities to go with these resources. some pictures to print out as posters to encourage thought and reflection on this subject.
articles -  Villages in India -- progress + change
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articles - Villages in India -- progress + change

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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.
Many of my most popular resouces for reference
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Many of my most popular resouces for reference

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In response to a non specialist asking about the best way of approaching teaching RE I have collected the web-addresses for some of my most popular resouces and listed them grouped under headings to hopefully make them easier to find. First are the Exploring Religion and Reflections on Life slide-shows which are most popular. Then there are the poems and quotations, some files grouped with others from that religion, and finally some role-play exercises. I hope this will be useful especially for nonspecialists and NQT's
Exploring Religion slide shows
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Exploring Religion slide shows

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Parts 1 - 4 are here. 3 also part 7 is up. parts 3, 4 and 7 are not yet finalised. see also Exploring Religion Conversation/Introduction - about 4 resources further on,145 slides you can use over 10 weeks, up to and including an 'activity&' each week. &';part 3 A Quest for Truth.' explores many concepts including science and religion and the great Eternal Questions + a section on poetry and symbolism with 10 selected poems. ? before or after part 4, the Religio / Relationships episode. This is a work still in progress and I would appreciate feedback.