NEW 2016 KS3 Religious Studies curriculum lesson on the topic of 'Belonging' with a specific focus on Judaism and the Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremony for Jewish boys and girls. This lesson introduces the notion of the Jewish covenant and the concept of promise-keeping and responsibility. A YouTube video follows a modern Jewish boy as he prepares for his Bar Mitzvah and students take notes before getting the opportunity to write a piece of creative writing in the form of a diary entry, immediately following the ceremony. The plenary uses HOTS (higher order thinking skills) and invites students to analyse a picture of a Bar Mitzvah ceremony and pose questions of their own to cement their learning.

NEW KS3 History curriculum on British Reforms following the NEW 1-9 grading criteria. The lesson asks the key question if Emily Davison's death was an accident or an act of protest and students investigate reasons to support both claims before analysing how far Davison's death played a part in the campaign for women to get the vote. A YouTube clip summarises Emily Davison's role in the Suffragette movement and another clip analyses how far her actions were a deliberate act of protest or not. The main task supports student's literacy as it is a reading task; this can be done in pairs, groups or as individuals and allows students to pick out reasons for and against the key question as well as evaluating the impact Emily Davison's death had on the Suffragette campaign. The plenary asks students to reflect on the information they have learnt during the lesson. All tasks are clearly differentiated and this lesson is suitable for all abilities.

NEW KS3 History curriculum on British Reforms following the NEW 1-9 grading criteria. This lesson examines how women were treated in prison and how the Suffragettes fought against the government by going on hunger strike. Two video clips introduce the Suffragette movement leading up to the hunger strikes and students then analyse a primary source from a Suffragette publication on the Cat and Mouse Act (Temporary Discharge for Health Act) linked to information about how the government reacted to Suffragette hunger strikes and how the Suffragettes used the Cat and Mouse Act to their advantage in campaigning for the right to vote. All tasks are clearly differentiated and this lesson is suitable for all abilities.

NEW KS3 History curriculum on British Reforms following the NEW 1-9 grading criteria. This lesson focuses on the different reasons why women got the vote, including changing attitudes of men and society in general, new opportunities for women through education and work, as well as the role played by women themselves in campaigning for their right to vote. Students are asked to analyse a variety of reasons and place them into the above categories. This forms the basis of a creative task where students produce a leaflet to show why women eventually got the vote. In the plenary, students are asked to reflect on their target grade and the work they completed during the lesson and set a target for future learning. All tasks are clearly differentiated and this lesson is suitable for all abilities.

NEW KS3 History curriculum on British Reforms following the NEW 1-9 grading criteria. This lesson focuses on the work of the Suffragettes (WSPU) and the tactics they employed to gain equal rights for women including getting the vote. Students get to practice the skill of chronology in assembling Suffragette tactics. Students then have the opportunity to write a piece of creative writing in the form of a speech from the point of view of a Suffragette. The teacher can choose students to sit in a 'hot seat' at the front of the class to read out their work (alternatively, this task can be carried over into a second lesson to give every student the chance to read out, or perform their speech). In the plenary, students vote in a secret ballot to decide if violent action helped women to get the vote. All tasks are clearly differentiated and this lesson is suitable for all abilities.

NEW KS3 History curriculum on British Reforms following the NEW 1-9 grading criteria. This lesson focuses on the work of the Suffragists (NUWSS) and the tactics they employed to gain equal rights for women including getting the vote. Students are given the opportunity to practice source analysis skills by investigating the successes and failures of the Suffragist movement. Students reflect on their learning by using De Bono's thinking hats to examine the strategies employed by the Suffragists. All tasks are clearly differentiated and this lesson is suitable for all abilities.

NEW KS3 History curriculum on British Reforms following the NEW 1-9 grading criteria. This lesson focuses on the Reform Act of 1832 and how this led to the People's Charter in 1838. Students explore the divergent attitudes of Moral Force Chartism and Physical Force Chartism and have the opportunity to write a speech from either viewpoint to support an equal society. This lesson builds analytical skills and allows students a creative way of investigating the changes to voting laws in the UK through the use of De Bono's hats as the platform for deeper questioning. All tasks are clearly differentiated and this lesson is suitable for all abilities.

NEW 2016 Edexcel Religious Studies lesson on the role of the prophets in Islam following the 'Religion, Peace and Conflict through Islam'. Students start off exploring the nature of prophet-hood and the importance of prophets in religion. Students investigate the history and importance of all the prophets in Islam including; Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma'il (Ishmael), Musa (Moses), Dawud (David), Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad. Students then get the opportunity to create a Facebook profile for one of the prophets. Finally, students evaluate reasons why the prophets are still important and relevant to Muslims today. The plenary involves students reflecting on their learning and progress through the PLTS (Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills).

NEW 2016 Edexcel Religious Studies GCSE lesson on the importance of Al-Quadr in Islam, following the 'Religion, Peace and Conflict through Islam' unit. The lesson is split into Muslim beliefs on predestination focusing on the universe as a whole as well as relating to human lives in particular. There is a strong focus on using sources of wisdom and authority from the Qur'an and for students to interpret Muslim beliefs based on religious teaching. There is also an exploration of the concept of Free Will in Islam and how this is interpreted differently by divergent Muslims following both the Sunni and Shia traditions of Islam. Students use the Hadith Sahih Al-Bukhari 78:685 as a source of wisdom and authority to suggest if Free Will can be compatible with a belief in predestination.

NEW 2016 Religious Studies KS3 curriculum assessment based on a unit of work including the following lessons, available in my shop. 1) The nature and purpose of Church in Christianity 2) The importance of worship and prayer in Christianity 3) The Bible as a source of authority for Christians 4) Christians denominations in the UK. 5) Symbols and Artefacts used during Christian worship. There are two assessments included, which offer a choice for students. Assessment option 1: Students to create their own religious symbol to be used during worship. Assessment option 2: Students to create a podcast about worship in Christianity. There is also included a confidence and revision sheet for students to reflect on their progress during the topic.

NEW 2016 Religious Studies KS3 curriculum lesson on the symbols and artefacts used by Christians during worship. The lesson focuses on symbols and artefacts linked to Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Church services. Quotes from the 'Last Supper' in the Bible are used as sources of wisdom and authority to get students to explore why religious symbols have survived thousands of years and are important to Christians today. The plenary asks students to use scrabble tiles to create between 2 and 5 words linked to the lesson and compete to get the highest scoring words.

NEW 2016 Religious Studies KS3 curriculum on Christian denominations in the UK. A short introduction to the history of the Church of England is followed by a detailed comparison between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Churches. The Nicene Creed is used as a source of wisdom and authority for students to analyse how far Christian denominations share core beliefs and if the split in the Church seems reasonable or not. Students then complete a Venn diagram to compare any areas of overlap between Protestants and Catholics. The plenary follows the Blooms taxonomy structure and offers stretch and challenge of all abilities with a specific question for students to answer following each level of Blooms from 'description' through to 'evaluation'. The homework asks students to research another Christian denomination and explain what separates them from other Christians, with a choice between Baptists, Methodists, Quakers and Jehovah's Witnesses.

NEW 2016 Religious Studies KS3 curriculum lesson on the Bible as a source of authority for Christians. A visual starter asks students to identify the content of the Bible through the interpretation of pictures to each represent certain elements, e.g. the life of Jesus. Sources of wisdom and authority are used through quotes from the Bible to suggest why it has such authority within Christianity, focusing on the elements of worship, the conscience, the nature of God and the creation story. Students are then asked to complete a diamond 9 activity in pairs, to evaluate a number of reasons why Christians consider the Bible as a source of authority. The plenary asks students to reflect on their learning through the PLTS (Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills).

NEW 2016 Religious Studies KS3 curriculum lesson on the purpose of worship and prayer for Christians. The lesson is based around the Lord's prayer as a source of wisdom and authority and introduces the concepts of liturgical and non-liturgical worship. Students are also introduced to the difference between worship and prayer through video clips from 'Chuck knows Church' which offer an engaging and student friendly introduction to the two. Quotes from the Bible ask students to suggest what kind of relationship Christians hope to achieve with God through worship and prayer. This allows a fantastic opportunity to stretch and challenge the more able students.

NEW GCSE Edexcel Religious Studies specification lesson on the origin and value of human life. A Diamond 9 task starter introduces students to the evidence for the theory of evolution. Two video clips, one from the Simpsons and one from the film Noah to compare and contrast evolution to the Christian creation story. Sources of wisdom and authority allow students to suggest the value and origin of human life as presented in Genesis. This lesson includes an information sheet with Creationist, Conformist and Non-conformist Christian perspectives on creation and the problems posed by evolution linked to an exam style question with a mark scheme for self-or peer assessment.

GCSE Edexcel Religious Studies lesson on the role of women in society for the topic Community Cohesion. The idea of gender stereotypes is introduced through a variety of posters and videos to engage the students and then followed by discussion of gender roles in society. A team work task with information about the legal and historical changes of the role of women in society is delivered through peer-to-peer 'experts' from each team sharing specific knowledge for students to fill in a worksheet. Finally, students can consider gender equality in the 21st century through their own experiences.

A KS3 lesson investigating the history behind the Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover) and asking students to explore why it is still central in Judaism today. The main task is a peer-teach, with student teachers teaching groups of students who circle from teacher to teacher. I usually choose high ability students to be peer teachers (five are needed for this lesson). There is a work sheet for the students to fill in as they visit each peer teacher. The lesson also introduced the Seder plate and finishes with a creative De Bono task of writing a diary entry from the perspective of a modern day Jew.

A KS3 lesson on the Jewish Kashrut laws with a killer starter task that students love every year. The kashrut laws are cut out into jigsaw pieces and the students have to assemble them correctly in teams, where only one person is allowed to touch the pieces and the rest have to give verbal instructions - AND the student assembling the jigsaw is blindfolded (N.B. this does require blindfolds of some sort!) This task really encourages team work and motivates even the most disengaged students, especially if the teams compete for a prize. Covering the main Kosher laws and with a main task where students are asked to create their own Kosher menu. A winner with the kids every time.

A lesson suitable for KS3 about Jesus' miracles. Students explore the meaning of what a miracle is and miracles of nature versus miracles of healing are introduced. Students take on the role of police detectives who have to 'solve' the mystery of two miracles and decide if it is a genuine miracle or can in fact be explained by science. A great lesson to get students engaged and can be taught with students working individually or in pairs.