The latest of my slide-shows which asks 'What is Religion? using beautiful images, inspiring quotations, thought provoking text and interactive activities. The slides are timed to progress and some animation is used but the activities progress with a mouse-click and can be timed to suit. This resource is great to stimulate thought about religion in its widest aspect or to set the scene for any new Scheme of Work. It takes viewers through two models of religion - the jigsaw and the garden and introduces the great Eternal Questions, exploring identity - body, vital, heart, mind and soul. comments and feedback welcome.

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.

this is an issue which may affect pupils in your school. Although it is a cultural not a religious practise it could be introduced as part of Human Rights, Citizenship, Coming of Age ceremonies or (as Islam takes a stand against it) within a unit on Islam. The Times reported in 2009 that there are 500 victims of FGM every year in the UK. According to the Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development, 66,000 women in England and Wales have experienced FGM, with 7,000 girls at risk.

this is a fairly comprehensive article about the 2911 Census with table of statistics - How Christianity rose in some regions but decreased overall but Hinduism Sikhism Islam and Buddhism all increased slightly. A great article from the Guardian with articular focus on the changing patterns of religious belief and practise.

An assortment of war poems which include some from Iraqi and American poets and one from a 15 year old girl written on reflecting her visit to Auschwitz. I researched this in relation to work on Remembrance Day but there are poems here which could be used in many other topics including The Holocaust and all topics related to suffering, good and evil, war and peace.

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.

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.

In preparing the Reflections on Life Slide Shows I researched quotations from many different sources. This is a great collection of Native American ones. I pasted onto this file from many sites and will, when time, try to include references to the original websites. There is a lot of material here including part of an autobiography by Chief Black Hawk, dictated to a government interpreter in the region, and edited by John B. Patterson, an Illinois journalist, who published it in 1833. As always, any rating and comments would be appreciated.

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Part One with ten minute (reflections on life, part 1) lead-in. this is the first of four parts 1) Religion and Me - which explores religion as a universal subject made up of the beliefs and perspectives of each and everyone. This includes an exploration into what it means to be a human being.

This is also good for KS4 and post 16. The poems explore ideas about God and several are powerful atheistic and agnostic responses. Finally Johar's poem spans over a year. He has written about 35 pages, each exploring different aspect of Islam and his views as a British Muslim. I want to publish this and would value any feedback or ideas regarding this. Great material for stimulating serious discussion about the concept of God and many issues relating to Islam here.

Most of these relate to the conflict between Israel and Palestine - the 'Gaza Crisis&' of July-August 2014. A separate resource is being prepared relating to individuals and organisations which are working towards Peace and Reconciliation. please let me know of any resources you find that may help inform our classes about the conflict in the Middle East - aiming for a greater understanding of the issues underlying both sides of the conflict and pointing towards hope + enduring peace.

My approach aims to be practical and experimental. students who can be hostile towards other religions because of an atheist mentality are quite interested in Buddhism because it is such a practical faith which does not require belief in God. Buddha spoke of Truth and Nirvana. Many Hindus interpret this as God in the abstract form of qualities such as Truth, Peace and Bliss. I will add to the files in this folder

115 images and texts which explore life and meaning on earth encompassing many different faiths, races, cultures and ages etc on the way. Designed to use as part of a Community Cohesion programme to stimulate reflection and discussion - this should ideally be accompanied by music. It was designed with ‘Windmills of your Mind’ (All Angels version). I

This is copied from a thread on my messages. Tonight I answered the atheists statement in some detail and it occurred to me that this conversation would be useful when exploring the God question in school. I would love some feedback, especially questions that your own pupils may ask - so I could make my response more comprehensive and useful. the one I have just put up - (in progress) is probably the last in this series as I am now working with the atheist teacher to turn it into a book which will, hopefully, do justice to both our different viewpoints.

In response to a question about the use of SMART targets in RE, some ideas plus, in relation to one - to reduce the use of unqualified generalisations - some info about Pope Francis' survey of Catholics worldwide which highlights the diversity of belief even within one denomination of Christianity.

This is a visualisation or meditation that I have used a lot. It is based on Buddhist philosophy of loving kindness. Do give some feedback if you use it - what age and ability group, size of class, responses, artwork and poems etc. One year 10 group objected because they said we are not all good - what about all the bad people - which led to some great analysis of the causes of crime. I have added a bit to the outline and introduction with this possible problem in mind.

This began with a question - how to teach Salah to year 7's. I was haunted by this topic and added more until it ended up as this resource. The main file covers everything but from it I&'ve created a worksheet for the initial part of the lesson and an information sheet on the exploraton of Wonder, Awe and the God Question which I feel is essential to address in a &';religiously neutral' way before any consideration of prayer or worship.I welcome feedback. Love and Peace - DurgaMata

This resource is in process. There is an outline describing how to play the game, a blank table in which you or your pupils can suggest Key Words to include, a page of Key Words to begin with (1A) and an outline of the 1B table which will give meanings to the words in 1A. What is best about this game is that 'wrong&' answers are encouraged. Those who know the answer can think about the key words they are holding and try to link them with the meaning given.

starting a new 'chapter&' with May - hope you find this month interesting even though a bit disjointed. More disjointing came when Mum fell in May.- a very tough month emotionally in work and in the family. But that makes it interesting spiritually too. Slowly trying to get back up to date. August now. still a week behind. Much time going into a resource for Peace and Conflict, looking at Gaza - my thoughts and prayers are with all affected by war in this troubled time. Aug 5th part 1 good for RE - reflecting on Peace Concert pilgrimage in 1985