in response to a question on the thread - here are a few resources from the web. in haste. I will try to process them and create something better later.

material here from several different websites - will save a lot of time but still needs some unpicking.\n\nThe Lotus symbolism explained in different ways, including symbolism of the colour.\n\nLotus in Chinese art -

25 pages of quotes and poems with a couple of essays at the end - all about patience and dealing with life's problems and trials. Useful for many units of work including interfaith as quotes from many sources, secular and from various religions.

Here are the lyrics of another of Jill's songs from the aforementioned CD. I have used this a lot in teaching KS3 and KS4, it is funny and direct - engaging but very serious and quite soulful too. Please appreciate that my sister Jill has given me permission to share her songs - but only part of them. If she sees too many people downloading them free from here she may ask me to include only the first few lines of the music. She had to payva lot to get the recordings done. Once costs are covered all profits will go to charity. Contact - info@bluelotus.co (it is .co - not .com)

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 a Power Point with 40 slides - all images of Jesus from an African perspective. It gives a sense of the way that Christians everywhere think of Jesus as their Brother, as their Friend, His divine aspect is for all, beyond the confines of one time or place, one nation or race. Christians everywhere can and do claim Jesus as their own.

I love using inspiring posters on my classroom walls – and indeed in my home. \nThere 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. \nI 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. \nMeanwhile – I hope you enjoy this sample.

These articles cover many aspects of village life - including local democracy, provision of water, education and opportunities for women, caste problems etc. Useful in any international work, citizenship, community cohesion and Religious Education topics with KS3 KS4, GCSE etc.

In response to a non specialist asking about the best way of approaching teaching RE I have collected the web-addresses for some of my most popular resouces and listed them grouped under headings to hopefully make them easier to find. First are the Exploring Religion and Reflections on Life slide-shows which are most popular. Then there are the poems and quotations, some files grouped with others from that religion, and finally some role-play exercises. I hope this will be useful especially for nonspecialists and NQT's

Parts 1 - 4 are here. 3 also part 7 is up. parts 3, 4 and 7 are not yet finalised. see also Exploring Religion Conversation/Introduction - about 4 resources further on,145 slides you can use over 10 weeks, up to and including an 'activity&' each week. &';part 3 A Quest for Truth.' explores many concepts including science and religion and the great Eternal Questions + a section on poetry and symbolism with 10 selected poems. ? before or after part 4, the Religio / Relationships episode. This is a work still in progress and I would appreciate feedback.

Continuation of my Meditation Blog. This started on 28th September in New York and ends on 30th October back in England. I have some notes in my diary which still need to be written up to include in this so I will add a few more files over the next few days. Some friends say I should edit the whole record and make it into a book!!! Well we will see about that.

The latest of my slide-shows which asks 'What is Religion? using beautiful images, inspiring quotations, thought provoking text and interactive activities.\nThe slides are timed to progress and some animation is used but the activities progress with a mouse-click and can be timed to suit. \nThis resource is great to start year 7 RE 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.\ncomments and feedback welcome.

This is a list of schools that teach the OCR Buddhism unit at AS / A'level. There is also a resource list. I will add to both of these as I get more info. The aim is to help those who are teaching this to present it in a lively and engaging way and prevent it becoming dry and boring. (This is in direct response to a request for help on the RE forum.)

A play about the life of Buddha, staged in a small Off Broadway theatre last year. I give a brief outline of each episode and links to the episodes found on Youtube. This is and amateur video but still manages to capture something of who Buddha was and what he taught. If anyone would like a copy of the full video I can supply it if they contact me on a pm. As always it would be great to get some good feedback, comments or rating etc - as a guide for anyone else who may be interested in this.

A range of resources including personal anecdotes of some miracles and spiritual experiences in my life. I work as a free-lance RE consultant and will happily come in and talk about my own spiritual life or make a presentation on any aspect of RE (free - expences only)

Resources to support teachers preparing lessons or activities for RE / Humanities Days. There is an overview plus stories and legends associated with Raksha Bandhan plus contemporary articles. Many ideas re making Rakis and Cards. A slide-show of cards and Rakis.

This resource talks teachers through a powerful Experiential lesson on pilgrimage based on an exercise which is part of the Pilgrimage to Iona. Two stones are taken from the beach where St. Columba landed and used for reflection on letting go of guilt/regret and recognising inner qualities which we need to value more and treasure.

This is also good for Post 16\n\nPart 1 = overview of Christianity\nPart 2 = three 'Christnn perspectives&' to aid understanding of what Christians are really like.\nThe Poster-information-sheets in bothPublisher and PDF \nChristian beliefs - Part 1 + 2 of a series by Emma Newby, adapted to give more insight into the diversity of Christian interpretation and belief.\nFiles of Bible References.\nThree files on interpretation of The Book of Revelation - extension work / Post 16\nPPt Slide-show on Parable of Sheep and Goats includes interfaith reflections.

The most popular song from the CD All Shall Be Well by Jill Blackadder - my sister who is a Primary teacher in the Shetland Islands. for the CD and sheet music contact 'Jill Slee Blackadder' <Jill.blackadder@btinternet.com>, You can find a 'taster&' of this song and others on another resource on prev. page - http://www.tes.co.uk/ResourceUpload.aspx?storycode=6058026&navcode=98 This is a truly inspiring and very soulful song for all ages. It celebrates our world where the beauty is in the diversity. Great as a stimulus for art-work, too.

Hi guys, I sometimes go on a forum which is about spiritual experiences. This morning I read a message posted by a Christian who had been directed to their (contemporary) spiritual teacher by Jesus, in a moving way. I was inspired to share some experiences of my own which relate to Christianity. I couldn’t have shared this story with my classes, but please feel free to use it. I guess in relation to Religious Experience, pluralist and exclusivist views - and an example of why generalising removes you from reality. (Jackie – who meditates - and my ‘Old Lady’ are both Christians.)