NEW GCSE Edexcel RS specification on Matters of Life and Death. A lesson inspired by philosophical enquiry and focusing on the Humanist response to belief in life after death. An excellent lesson to get students thinking about 'life after death' in general and therefore suitable as a KS3 lesson on 'big questions' as well as for KS4 on non religious arguments against belief in life after death, or alternatively as a revision lesson for KS5. A very student centred lesson with plenty of opportunities for independent enquiry and team work as well as active participation.

A GCSE or A-level lesson introducing Situation Ethics and Joseph Fletcher's core principle of Agape. Introduces the Working and Fundamental principles which govern moral decision making in Situation Ethics. Each task is designed and differentiated to work either as written work or class based discussion. The attached work sheet gives a summary of Situation Ethics which students have found very helpful for revision.

A lesson suitable for GCSE or A-level to introduce John Stuart Mill's development of Jeremy Bentham's concept of Utilitarianism. Introduces 'Rule Utilitarianism' as well as the notions of higher and lower pleasure and allows students to compare the 'Principle of Utility' with the 'Greatest Happiness Principle'.

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.

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.

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 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 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).

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.

NEW 2018 AQA Religious Studies Specification ‘A’ lesson on ‘Buddhist Beliefs and Teachings’ following the 1-9 grading criteria. The lesson includes differentiated tasks for every activity, designed to stretch and challenge all students. The first task gets students to explore the definitions of the three marks of existence, before completing a specific task on each mark of existence; dukkha, anicca and anatta. For dukkha, students investigate different causes of suffering. For anicca, students consider ways in which humans change over time in different ways. This is extended during the anatta task, to include specific elements of a person and what makes someone who they are. Students then respond to 'sacred writing' through the story of Kisa Gotami and link it to all three marks of existence. As a plenary, students complete a 'why-tree' based on the key question: why does suffering happen?

NEW 2018 AQA Religious Studies Specification ‘A’ lesson on ‘Buddhist Beliefs and Teachings’ following the 1-9 grading criteria. The lesson includes differentiated tasks for every activity, designed to stretch and challenge all students. Students are hooked into the lesson by considering if it is possible for humans to overcome suffering. Students then have the opportunity to consider how the life of the Buddha could link to him considering suffering to be a major problem that needs to be overcome. Students then listen to the Rolling Stones song 'satisfaction' and link the message of the lyrics to Buddhism and suffering in particular. Students then summarise the Four Noble Truths by responding to a definition of each and respond by giving an example of suffering that can be applied to the Four Noble Truths (model answer provided). Students then consider evidence for Buddhist beliefs about the Four Noble Truths by analysing sacred writing, before summarising their learning as the plenary.

NEW 2018 AQA Religious Studies Specification ‘A’ lesson on ‘Buddhist Beliefs and Teachings’ following the 1-9 grading criteria. The lesson includes differentiated tasks for every activity, designed to stretch and challenge all students. Students respond to an overview of the Eightfold Path by considering its nature and the role it plays in overcoming suffering before explaining how following the Eightfold Path can lead Buddhists towards enlightenment. Students then attempt a 12-mark GCSE style exam question, which has scaffolded sentence starters as well as a fully written model answer and a student friendly mark scheme, which can be used for self- or peer-assessment. Finally, students reflect on their learning using PLTS.

A revision summary of the topic ‘Buddhist Beliefs’ following the new ‘AQA Religious Studies A’ syllabus, which had its first exam during Summer 2017. The pack contains core content, condensed into student friendly bullet-points, along with reference to ‘sacred writing’ in the form of quotes. This is excellent revision material for students of all abilities. The content is presented in managable chunks of three key ideas for each sub-topic, supported by quotes, which allow the more able to go into more depth interpreting Christian beliefs and perspectives. The content can be applied to past exam papers, or students can create their own flashcards, quizzes, or graphic organisers in support of their revision.

A KS3 Religious Studies lesson, using an enquiry based approach to learning and based on Christianity as a way to explore belief in God. Following the 2018 Berkshire SACRE agreed syllabus with a focus on exploring the principles of ‘believing, belonging and behaving’ in a religious and secular context. This is lesson 2 of the topic ‘Does God have a message’. This lesson introduces students to the Holy Trinity and the incarnation of Jesus through the use of quotes from the Bible. The key question for this lesson is; ‘Why is the incarnation important to Christians?’

A KS3 Religious Studies lesson, using an enquiry based approach to learning and based on Christianity as a way to explore belief in God. Following the 2018 Berkshire SACRE agreed syllabus with a focus on exploring the principles of ‘believing, belonging and behaving’ in a religious context and secular context. This is lesson 3 of the topic ‘What do I believe’. Students start off by discussing a ‘diamond 9’ list of reasons why people might believe in God, before going on to exploring the nature of the Bible, miracles, near-death experiences and prayers coming true as possible evidence for the existence of God. This is followed by a whole class discussion about the key question; ‘Is there any good evidence for the existence of God?’

A set of individual lessons or thorough revision resources (using PPT) following the 2016 Eduqas Religious Studies A-level course focusing on Christianity Topic 1E. This resource requires the use of the WJEC/EDUQAS RS FOR YR 2/A2 CHRISTIANITY textbook (ISBN: 978-1-911208-36-5). Each slide represents 60 minutes worth of work, which can be done as a class or independently. The rationale is to encourage students to be as independent as possible when working through the information. Each slide includes a list of relevant key words (without definitions), a brief overview of core content, as well as a series of tasks, which can range from reading, to quote analysis, probing questions and graphic organisers. Each slide also features a ‘take it further’ task which allows students to explore the topic further. Wherever reference is made to resources other than the course textbook, these will be included as separate files. Topic 1E includes; The early church, Kerygmata, Dodd and Bultmann on the Kerygmata.

A set of individual lessons or thorough revision resources (using PPT) following the 2016 Eduqas Religious Studies A-level course focusing on Christianity Topic 1D. This resource requires the use of the WJEC/EDUQAS RS FOR YR 2/A2 CHRISTIANITY textbook (ISBN: 978-1-911208-36-5). Each slide represents 60 minutes worth of work, which can be done as a class or independently. The rationale is to encourage students to be as independent as possible when working through the information. Each slide includes a list of relevant key words (without definitions), a brief overview of core content, as well as a series of tasks, which can range from reading, to quote analysis, probing questions and graphic organisers. Each slide also features a ‘take it further’ task which allows students to explore the topic further. Wherever reference is made to resources other than the course textbook, these will be included as separate files. Topic 1D includes; The biblical canon, Diverse views about the authority of the Bible, John Calvin’s accommodation theory.

A selection of 34 - tried and tested - colourful and captivating pictures that will engage your students and motivate them to engage in Religious Studies lessons. Covering all major faiths and philosophy, they are perfect as presentation backgrounds (think powerpoint) or as hooks on individual slides.

NEW 2018 Edexcel Religious Studies GCSE following the 'Religion, Peace and Conflict through Islam' unit on Crime and Punishment. Students respond to four aims of punishment and then analyse and evaluate Muslim attitudes to the different aims using sources of wisdom and authority. Students are asked to think critically about the nature of dealing with criminals and divergent interpretations of Allah's commands. Students then get to practice an exam type question and self- or peer-assess their work.