articles and info relating to Religious Education and the effects of the Ebacc. Many MP's are on our side.

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.

Valentines Day today, but the first blog is just to catch up a bit. My computer is ill so I could only write on paper for a few days, 13th = background info about me and my hubbie, + when we went to Paris Disney last year to celebrate my mother-in-law's 90th birthday. 15th is mostly about Valentine's day, love and relationships in general - mostly me and my hubbie. I was asked to prepare a Biography for something else - but I thought it might interest my blog-readers. Sorry for blog-gaps. My laptop died and I have little access to a computer.

Rabia is just one example of a great and much loved and respected Muslim saint who did not follow the traditional 'pattern of behaviour' recommended in Islam. For one thing, she never married. This is a passage about her from Wikki.

a great example of the importance of looking at translation when seeking to understand any scripture. several articles from the Web give different perspectives on the way that translating ekklesia as church (a word that is derived from Kuriakon) has distorted the meaning of the Bible and given power to the institution, not the people. Because many reject religion in response to the misuse of power, this is particularly important to explore in RE. File on William Tyndall added. He was put to death because his correct translation threatened those in power.

Someone sent me a PM asking if they could quote me in an article they're writing about RE. I sent an outline of my approach and will add bits from old posts relating to my experience of teaching RE. Sharing this here as colleagues may find some useful ideas. As always, my only aim is to give support and encouragement to all my lovely colleagues and stay working in the field that I love so much and care about so passionately. I'm always happy to come in school to support you. And I offer great slide-show based reflective Assemblies and role-play workshops.

16 - 17th Jan - Homophobia and sex-education 18th - 20th parking frustrations + gratitude to friends for helping my daughter . 20 - 23 outline only - 24 - 25th includes comment on competition and ‘excellence’ in school and on some of the atrocities committed by the British Raj in India + news of the rest of the day. An article about Lahore and Partition with interviews. 26th - flier and business card for Silk-Painting + Monsanto. Is it the world’s worst company? 29th Jan + ‘Against all the odds.’ 6th Feb is about the snow and 7th about Mum and being independent.

These articles and other items come from an amazing kaleidoscope record that the educationalist, journalist and spiritual seeker Phil Hall has put together to celebrate the lives of his parents. They were journalists and anti apartheid campaigners in South Africa, his mother was imprisoned and later the whole family exiled. They worked in Africa, the Middle East and India. Great rich store of resources to aid discussion and make RE relevant and alive.

This is a resource to get classes thinking about many things - the meaning of life, what makes people happy, travel, taking risks and safety, what is pilgrimage? what makes our lives fulfilled? who and what is important to us? Who are the Sufis and how do they fit into the wider picture of Islam and more...

These files are all related to RE history or Pedagogy - put together in response to a question on the forum from an RE student who has to write an essay on RE Pedagogy. I will add material as I find it. I guess this is relevant for all who teach RE as CPD. Hope you all had a great Christmas - and best wishes for a great New Year. DurgaMata

My subject specialism is Religious Education and I am sharing here an exercise which I find very useful when presenting students with information about a new subject. They work in groups of three. This is designed to improve listening skills and understanding. The exercise is by no means only useful in an RE setting so I am sharing it with other subjects too. I also include here two articles forwarded from some my business mentor emailed to me - one on listening and one on leadership. I hope you find them helpful. Do give some feedback.

Just came across a sheet of rules / ideas for presenting written work. I hope you find them useful

Continuing blog. Will add more later. 12th - Moiza the cat 13th also - Quaker Meeting and visiting Mum's friend B now in a different hospital. 14 - 15 + an outline of my son's presentation on how to combat stress (which finished the College term off in a great way) quotes from Ch 2 of Gita 21st about Camden Market and Tagore 22-3 about gas charges 24th about family and Christmas, love and forgiveness Christmas Day about carols and a wild 'cheerfulness challenge' successfully met. 27th includes poems and readings about love and change from my Teacher's online library

details to follow in haste (referred to in December blog)

This resource is to gather together articles and video links which relate to Global Warming and the UN Climate Conference. It relates to issues we explore in RE with GCSE and older students, stewardship etc. But it is also an important subject in Geography, Science, Citizenship, Politics and Economics etc. Do let me know if you have good resources which I can add here - and give reviews.

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.

copy of the article (Express 27th Nov 2011) which reported on starvation in Britain - over 100,000 people going hungry at the moment and the way that charities are giving food parcels to many of them. Also info about The Trussel Trust - one such charity, with contact details for London. Updated with four more links including an article from the Independent 16th Oct 2013. The use of Food Banks has tripled this year. Massive suffering is being caused by the gov'ts changes to the benefit system and increasing numbers trapped with low pay and cost of living rising.

Creating a Faith-Friendly Learning Environment. Event on 4th February for teachers and TA's in Primary, Secondary and FE - from any curriculum subjects and schools outside the Faith Sector. Developing spaces for prayer and reflection in 'secular schools' - etc

This is a collection of stories about kings historical and fictional - and some fun videos from youtube which illustrate some Indian stories. It will be useful for literacy + English as well as RE. classes.

responding to a request for help on this topic for a year 5 teacher, I have given an overview of Islam and Muhammad which is based on KS3 but can be adapted for younger pupils. It will also be a useful revision guide and starting place for KS4 students. - (now added a few dates and pictures) As always, please give feedback - and send me more stories and anything else you think would be useful to include, to make this resource as useful as possible.