I work as a Head of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics in one of the country's highest achieving state schools.
I am passionate about ensuring that my subject is engaging, relevant and academically rigorous.
I devote time imagining, creating, differentiating and tailoring my resources so that the students benefit from quality teaching materials and I hope that they are of real benefit to your own practice.
I work as a Head of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics in one of the country's highest achieving state schools.
I am passionate about ensuring that my subject is engaging, relevant and academically rigorous.
I devote time imagining, creating, differentiating and tailoring my resources so that the students benefit from quality teaching materials and I hope that they are of real benefit to your own practice.
Firstly, I’d like to say a HUGE thank you to the more than 1000 of you who have downloaded this display pack! I hope your classrooms look gorgeous!
This is a complete 200+ page pack of a number of classroom displays that I have developed over the last couple of years to invigorate my department. Two updated booster packs have already been added.
Original Display Pack:
- Philosophers and Religious Figures Timeline (Over 40 thinkers with pictures, dates and outlines of their thinking).
- Famous quote callouts to add along the timeline (one for almost every philosopher). Get students talking!
- Custom-made colourful lettering for timeline eras.
- Over 20 ethical and philosophical questions in colourful speech bubbles to inspire thinkers in your classroom (A great one for open-evenings or tutor time discussions!)
- Steps/Levels display with optional number arrows. Department levels policy documents included.
- ‘How to’ guides for all displays.
Booster Pack 1:
- Philosophical Language Literacy Display with sentence starters for knowledge/explanation and assessment/evaluation.
- Agree --> Disagree continuum signposts to make human bar charts in your classroom!
- Blooms thinking guidance for teachers with question prompts. Great for shrinking and sticking on desks or displaying at the back of the room.
Booster Pack 2:
- A raft of additional thinkers to give greater flexibility to the Philosopher Timeline across exam boards.
- Quotes for every new thinker of course!
I’ve also added another high-quality display pack covering Logical Fallacies and Cognitive Biases. Find it here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/logical-fallacies-and-cognitive-biases-display-pack-philosophy-psychology-11925635
KS3 RE Assessment.
Three or four lesson assessment task. I use this as the culmination of a Year 8 SOW on the holocaust entitled 'Faith and Suffering'.
The lesson could be adapted for use in History SOWs.
Lesson one:
You require the PPT slideshow, the memorial stations (preferably printed onto A3 and laminated) and the ideas board.
I encourage students to write on the stations sheets using board pens so they can be rubbed off and re-used.
The ideas board can be set as a homework.
Lesson Two (possibly with an additional lesson):
Students working in pairs to complete the A3 proposal blueprint for their own memorial design.
Lesson Three:
Students to write a letter to the local council to ask permission to erect their memorial. This is individual work to be levelled alongside the pair work.
Lesson designed to enable students to give arguments for and against and evaluate our duty to shelter refugees in the UK. The lesson is designed as a KS4 RE lesson though source content is not expressly religious in nature and therefore I believe the lesson could be employed in other subject areas.
This lesson follows on from an introduction to Human Rights but if students don't have their own copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they will need to be provided with one to complete the starter if you choose to use it.
The source material is taken from recent publications and is designed to allow for stretch and challenge at the top end. There are a large number of sources available and you may wish to choose to omit some based on time pressure and/or ability range of students, though they should be able to differentiate for themselves since the sources are designed to be traffic lighted using different colours of card.
I hope you find it enables students to respond with evidence and justification to this relevant and engaging debate.
Spice up your GCSE feedback with these spiffing cover sheets.
I've broken down the mark scheme to make accurate feedback based on the assessment criteria a breeze. Just tick boxes and circle scores.
On the reverse is a reflection task where students set targets. It also includes a swish multi-purpose thermometer for all sorts of miscellaneous measuring.
BRAND NEW scheme of work which runs over 9-10 lessons on the topic of human nature, for use with KS3. Addresses questions of human nature, value, purpose and free will. Builds critical thinking, analysis and independent learning. Student-led and with rigorous AfL throughout. All resources of a wide variety for all lessons are included. Games, card sorts, learning grids, reading and much more.
Complete SOW document included with lesson sequence, differentiation, key skills and suggested homework/continuation opportunities. Powerpoint for every lesson. This really is ready to go straight out of the box!
Lessons include:
1. What makes you, you?
Explore ideas of body and soul with your students and introduce them to dualist and materialist views.
2. How much is a person worth?
Ask your students to make some tough decisions and pin down what gives life value. Compare and contrast these with philosophical and religious standpoints.
3. Are humans special?
Consider what sets us apart from other creatures and address the question of our unique position and status.
4. What is the purpose of human life?
Give your students an opportunity to reflect on their ideas of the good life and what gives life meaning. Compare these with others and consider the implications for us as people. Compare their views with philosophical and religious perspectives.
5. How free are human choices?
Assessing the idea of free will and outline some constraints on freedom.
6. What does the future hold for humanity?
Reflect on the modern world and our technological advancement and consider the ethics of memory manipulation, artificial intelligence and designer babies.
7. Creative assessment which runs over 3-4 lessons with planning and reflection.
And finally, a massive thank you to the more than 150 of you who have purchased the SOW!
This is a tutor time activity we have used across all year groups. Students discussed the questions (choosing slides appropriate to the year group) and created a large collection of tiny torn pieces of red/blue paper.
You can then arrange these into the shape of the union flag to display as a representation of your school's attitude to British values.
In this challenging lesson students take on some A Level style discussion about the nature of salvation. Going beyond the GCSE course, students not only learn about sin, its nature and origin, but also discuss the Pelagian controversy and the long-standing debate between salvation through works or through God's grace.
The lesson was designed for use with the new AQA Religious Studies A - 'Beliefs and Teachings'. It will, however, work with any specification including Sin. Target grade is 7-9.
Ready to teach this lesson includes:
- Full Lesson Plan
- PowerPoint
- Worksheets
- Card sort
Students are challenged in this lesson to understand the range of different reasons why Christians believe Jesus was sacrificed on the cross. They will use extracts from 'Love Wins' by Rob Bell and explore some recognisable hymns to make links between theory and lived religion.
The lesson was designed for use with the new AQA Religious Studies A - 'Beliefs and Teachings'. It will, however, work with any specification including Jesus and Salvation. Target grade is 7-9.
PowerPoint and worksheet included.
A new bundle combining the best-selling ‘Complete RE/Philosophy Display Pack’ that’s now sold over 800 copies and my new high-quality ‘Logical Fallacies and Cognitive Biases’ displays to root out any irrationality in your classroom.
Between them there is plenty to cover any classroom’s wallspace:
The awesome Philosophers Timeline with 68 thinkers and pop-out quotes for each
Bloomin’ good questions display
RE skills/levels wall-chart
Blooms questioning chart
Classroom opinion line
Philosophical Language display
21 Common logical fallacies display
18 Cognitive biases we’re all guilty of
Make your classroom a joy to look at!
Spruce up your assessment feedback and reflection time.
How to use:
Step 1: Students fill in the topic, name and date then add targets from previous essay on the reverse side.
Step 2: Write an essay, attach cover sheet and hand in.
Step 3: Teacher circles mark on criteria. Highlight in green what has been done, pink what hasn’t.
Step 4: Fill in teacher feedback on reverse.
Step 5: Students complete reflection on cover sheet and choose three targets.
Super-charge your DIRT by highlighting a paragraph that needs improving in line with your feedback before handing back. Ask students to redraft. Immediate progress!
I love teaching these fundamentals of philosophical argument.
The lesson goes through what is meant by:
a priori knowledge
a posteriori knowledge
analytic statements
synthetic statements
deductive arguments
inductive arguments
I use a range of examples to explain and to test knowledge.
Included also is a a brief run down of AO2 considerations:
How do you defeat a deductive/ inductive argument?
What is the difference between valid and sound reasoning?
This is a game I created and use with Y9 as part of a SOW that addresses the question of 'What is real?'
This game features in a lesson on the Matrix and we explore whether or not students think it's always best to know the truth. The link to the film is made through the choice of the red and blue pill.
I devised the game in order to help students find reasons and give justifications for deciding to either stay in the Matrix, or leave and discover the truth.
It's necessary to print the game board as A3 and the cards as A4.
The empathy person task is a way of showing understanding of concepts/ideas or events by forcing students to categorise their thinking.
I've used this task to accompany video material often. Such as the key events like Passover ('Prince of Egypt' works well for this) or ritual events like weddings/funerals. I've used it when teaching prejudice and discrimination, wealth and charity, the list goes on.
A tailored reading for information sheet with an accompanying analysis triad.
Students are tasked with creating their own religious festival subsequently.
***NOW INCLUDES KS3 CARDS as seen in the complete 'What is a person?' scheme of work.***
For use with teaching moral responsibility, free will, libertarianism and determinism. I have used the game with the AQA and OCR Religious Studies A2 , though it can be useful in a variety of situations.
The game will encourage students to develop responses to the following questions:
- What is free will?
- How free are we?
- What limits our freedoms?
- What is necessary for a free choice?
- How do culture, upbringing or genetics have an influence on our opinions of free will?
This display pack is designed to engage students in reflecting on their thinking and argument. The pack includes two displays:
Logical fallacies covering a range of 21 examples of irrationality including:
Strawman, slippery slope, ad hominum, black or white, appeal to authority, bandwagon, middle ground, begging the question, non-representative sample, moral equivalency, non sequitur, red herring, splitting hairs, non-testable hypothesis, anecdotal support, genetic, post hoc ergo propter hoc, appeal to tradition, appeal to emotion, affirming the consequent and denying the antecedent.
Cognitive biases covering a range of 18 reasons why we all fail to be objective including:
Anchoring, confirmation bias, declinism, framing, fundamental attribution error, the halo effect, backfire effect, reactance, groupthink, belief bias, availability heuristic, clustering illusion, conservatism bias, blind spot bias, the ostrich effect, zero risk, in-group bias and the Dunning-Kruger effect.
All of the displays are styled in a high contrast white on black or black on white (apart from the red herring of course…) They are eye-catching and informative for your students of all ages from Year 7 through to Year 13. Great for an RE, Philosophy or Psychology classroom. Maybe these should be in every classroom - just think about the world we could create!
Instructions: Just cut around the shape leaving a small border of white. You could create a board for each or put both together! I’ve uploaded a model of how they look in my classroom.
Lesson intended for use with AQA Religion, War and Peace unit.
It details different types of pacifism and scriptural sources from the Gospel narratives. A card-sort encourages students to analyse the scriptural sources.
Students will learn key scripture in support of pacifism.
Furthermore, students are asked to compare contrasting accounts in the Bible and evaluate whether or not Jesus was a absolute pacifist and if not, what he really thought about violence.
I teach this lesson at the start of the Relationships and Families thematic unit (Chapter 3).
I want students to understand the diverse world we live in and put the learning we will do into context. I also want the students to understand that we embrace all of them and are not interested in pigeon-holing them into badly defined categories of sexuality.
The aim here is to open the debate, challenge preconceptions, build a welcoming and open discussion environment and show them how relevant this topic area is to all of us.