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Durgamata's Shop

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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.

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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.
John the Baptist - Story and Symbolism
durgamatadurgamata

John the Baptist - Story and Symbolism

(1)
this is a power-point, quite straightforward - giving an outline of who St John the Baptist was and outlining something of the meaning behind 8 symbols associated with him - The Head - The Lamb - The Shell - The Holly -The The Maltese Cross - The Reed -The Grasshopper and The Camel Hair. All suggestions for improvement and feedback or comments - welcome. I will be adding - after these images - all the texts which relate to St John the Baptist - but this is enough for teachers to work with so it is a useful start.
Pilgrimage - 6 religions, Shia, Sufi, Sunni + more
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Pilgrimage - 6 religions, Shia, Sufi, Sunni + more

(7)
40 slide PPt with videolinks - introduces pilgrimage in an interactive way. Designed to set the scene for and inspire some extended group work involving research and presentation activity on pilgrimage + a simple assessment aid - My initial Pilgrimage resource is getting cluttered. I hope to create separate resources for each of the religions - an overview and exploration of them all - controversy version explores Shi'ite Sufi + more video links - 66 slides. For music/CD of Here in a Blind World please send a personal message.
70 posters to inspire - religion / spirituality
durgamatadurgamata

70 posters to inspire - religion / spirituality

(5)
I love using inspiring posters on my classroom walls – and indeed in my home. There are some wonderful combinations of photography with quotations from a vast range of cultures and inspiring people which I have used in the past – mostly from Argus. Argus is now part of ‘Trend’ so they may have stopped creating some of those I am familiar with. I was looking for these ‘old favourites’ but couldn’t find them. However I did find the following – and hope some may be useful. I will try to find out what happened to some of my favourites. Meanwhile – I hope you enjoy this sample.
Sanctity of Life and Euthanasia
durgamatadurgamata

Sanctity of Life and Euthanasia

(2)
This is my own reworking of an exercise which I found on one of the RE forums. It gives a powerful experiential insight into the meaning of Sanctity of Life. I follow this with an exercise of voting and statistical analysis which offers a simple opportunity for cross-curricular maths and citizenship.
Eid-ul-Adha revised scrapbook Google articles
durgamatadurgamata

Eid-ul-Adha revised scrapbook Google articles

(2)
In response to a question about teaching Eid-ul-Adha to a year 5 class I have collected a range of articles which inlcude pictures and the web address of a BBC site which has a 3 minute video. I hope this is helpful for the year 5 teacher but it will also be very useful for Secondary RE teachers. It includes many perspectives. I will add to it if/ as and when/ time permits. (note - I have not yet read all this. It is not me who has to plan the lesson - but I have increased the text size to make it easier to read.
Hindu Weddingts
durgamatadurgamata

Hindu Weddingts

(1)
In haste - several hours of research here but many things still not covered. It will give anyone planning to explore Hindu Wedding in an experiential or role-play way, some ideas and basic information. I hope to add to this.
Resources for teaching Hinduism / Hinduism Day
durgamatadurgamata

Resources for teaching Hinduism / Hinduism Day

(20)
Great resources which you can adapt for any age. Power Point Slide Show has over 80 slides and covers many topics. Save with different headings then delete slides to give many shorter slide shows - and show with music. Stories are versions of traditional stories about episodes in the lives of deities or the Ramayana and Mahabarata. Over a week’s work in these - and I’ll add to them. Don’t forget to give ratings and comments/feedback to help others find what they need. Contact if you would like a workshop - info@bluelotus.co
The Parabe of the Sheep and the Goats - InterFaith
durgamatadurgamata

The Parabe of the Sheep and the Goats - InterFaith

(5)
This is a Power Point slide-show which explores the Parabe of the Sheep and the Goats in some depth, looking at examples of people who have devoted their lives to helping others. There are reflective activities and exercises which engage with and explore forgiveness and self-giving in an experiential way. The extended version includes visualisations and a memorial I conclude with an overview of my approach to teaching RE and some tips on how to avoid pitfalls and make the subject real and alive. In process
The Great Fire of London - informative PPTs and Group-Work
durgamatadurgamata

The Great Fire of London - informative PPTs and Group-Work

(0)
The basic PPT takes pupils through this topic and includes videos. It begins with a youtube link and has another youtube link in the middle. Activities are positioned at the end of each day of the fire. I did this with year 8 students and we moved on to a Group-Work project. Some of my methods and materials for successful groupwork will be included here. After the project I did not want to lose the additional research that had not been used by our class, so I added additional research to make an 'extended PPT' and added colour to the slides. I've added Team Leader Record Sheets, Checklist for preparing the presentations, Presentation and Feedback Worksheet and some completed Presentation and Feedback Sheets. After the informative slides (50 for the standard one and 75 for the extended one) I added some of the displays the groups in my class produced for their Group Presentations.
Pilgrimage - All 6 Religions
durgamatadurgamata

Pilgrimage - All 6 Religions

(7)
Introducing the concept of pilgrimage - Mostly focussing on Christianity but an overview of pilgrimage in all 6 Religions. More detail on Iona, Lindisfarne, Walsingham and more to come. There are some excellent links to videos from Iona, Taize and more + flute music for meditative/reflective time/starter/coming into the classroom quietly etc.
Human Rights, Women's Rights The UN, Pakistan
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Human Rights, Women's Rights The UN, Pakistan

(1)
Ra'ana Mahmood is a Pakistani Doctor who started a non-govermnental organisation called the Geriatric Care Foundation. She is in New York for a Human Rights Conference, presenting a paper about the situation in Pakistan, regarding Women's Rights and the position of Elderly people in Pakistan. Ra&'ana is a good friend of mine and emailed me last night to ask if I would check through her report and correct her mistakes in English. Her report is quite moving AND a rich resource for both RE and Citizenship. Ra&';ana says I may share it here. Please give feedback / rating if you use this.
Reflection on Tolerance and Belief, British Values, Similarity and Difference
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Reflection on Tolerance and Belief, British Values, Similarity and Difference

(0)
For KS 3 Religious Education A Power Point of images and questions explores similarity difference and change using leaves. Then reflecting on similarity and difference in people - not just physical similarities and differences but also in thoughts and beliefs. Exploration of prejudice, bullying and intolerance in the lives of the pupils present and in wider society. Moving on to reflect on the question 'What is the Purpose of life?' - with some food for thought taken from the six major religions.
Poems4 Crtive Imagn Wrdswth's Daffs + youtube vids
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Poems4 Crtive Imagn Wrdswth's Daffs + youtube vids

(0)
Links to 23 different youtube videos of Wordsworth's poem Daffodils. Then many other poems by Wordsworth. A few videos for his poem 'Rainbow.&' Other poems which stimulate creative imagination - including Tiger Tiger. A friend took his Early Years class out to sit among daffodils and listen to a reading of Wordsworth&';s poem. He prepared them well, but once he started to read Daffodils, one just said, 'Boring.&' I seek good ways to develop more Creative Imagination. I include the thread about this and will update + add poems / ideas which you suggest.
The Geography Weather Song
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The Geography Weather Song

(1)
A resource prepared for year 7 Geography, learning about climate and weather - this song or rap is designed to introduce or revise the topic using musical intelligence. See if you can improve on it. Give me a pm if you would liike to turn it into a youtube video. Enjoy and learn, learn and enjoy!
Village Community - based on a Bengali village
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Village Community - based on a Bengali village

(2)
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.
Belief in God, Spirtual Experience, science/Spirit
durgamatadurgamata

Belief in God, Spirtual Experience, science/Spirit

(1)
A range of resources including personal anecdotes of some miracles and spiritual experiences in my life. I work as a free-lance RE consultant and will happily come in and talk about my own spiritual life or make a presentation on any aspect of RE (free - expences only)
'Is it fair?' - questions of justice and rights
durgamatadurgamata

'Is it fair?' - questions of justice and rights

(4)
A range of resources to use when planning a unit on questions of human rights justice, suffering and the age old issue of 'Is it Fair?&' The oxfam unit is excellent and I have made a worksheet for our students to create cards inspired by the ones created by the students at the school in South Africa which is featured in the Oxfam resources.
Reports / Articles relating to RE and the Eng Bacc
durgamatadurgamata

Reports / Articles relating to RE and the Eng Bacc

(2)
Here are some reports and articles which relate to the danger RE is facing. This is relevant to everyone who has a voice in managing a school or planning the curriculum. If RE is undermined then the quality of spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is under threat. Without good RE, our whole society becomes more intolerant, prejudiced, divided and dangerous. RE must keep its position as a core Humanities subject with Geography and History. We all need to work together to defend the position of RE. Contact me (PM) if you have related articles/reports and I will attach them.