A KS3 Religious Studies lesson, using an enquiry based approach to learning and based on beliefs in the paranormal as a way to explore belief in the afterlife. 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 1 of the topic ‘Do you only live once?’ Students start by considering why some people believe in an afterlife and use the stimuli of several video clips to consider what evidence there might be for life after death. Students then complete a diamond 9 activity about reasons why people might believe in ghosts, followed by applying the belief in ghosts to theist, atheist and agnostic belief systems.

A lesson suitable for GCSE or A-level Philosophy and Ethics to introduce Jeremy Bentham and his concept of Hedonism in moral decision making. Includes an introduction to the notions of Teleology, Utility and happiness in Utilitarian morality. Includes a 'peer teach' activity which always goes down extremely well with students - I usually choose the most able students in a class to become 'teachers' and ask them to relate the information to the rest of the class in groups, which then rotate from teacher to teacher every few minutes. (NOTE: at GCSE this PPT will take 2 lessons of 60 minutes, whereas A-level students normally manage in 1). There are also 3 moral dilemmas for students to apply Bentham's ideas to which engages even the most dis-disillusioned students.

A lesson suitable for KS3, KS4 and KS5 - in my experience all students love to try out meditative yoga, whatever age they are. The teacher input can vary depending on age and ability, but there is scope to delve deeper into the relationship between Atman and Brahman and Moksha and A-level students tend to give much more analytical answers when reflecting on their experience of the meditation. This works best when the teacher gets the whole class involved and is also confident to participate in the meditation themselves (in my experience). On slide 2 it goes through the 8 stages of meditative yoga in Hinduism and I tend to attach a student action to each one, e.g. abstention involves them giving up their shoes or mobile phone, for the duration of the meditation. There should be no problem with 100% student engagement if this is the case - I always get fantastic feedback, especially from students who are usually difficult to keep quiet. Likewise, be confident to ask the whole class to get comfortable in a specific position and practice deep breathing. Most importantly, all students (and the teacher) should close their eyes during the meditation.

NEW GCSE Edexcel Religious Studies specification lesson on the origin and value of human life. A Diamond 9 task starter introduces students to the evidence for the theory of evolution. Two video clips, one from the Simpsons and one from the film Noah to compare and contrast evolution to the Christian creation story. Sources of wisdom and authority allow students to suggest the value and origin of human life as presented in Genesis. This lesson includes an information sheet with Creationist, Conformist and Non-conformist Christian perspectives on creation and the problems posed by evolution linked to an exam style question with a mark scheme for self-or peer assessment.

NEW KS3 History curriculum on British Reforms following the NEW 1-9 grading criteria. This lesson focuses on the Reform Act of 1832 and how this led to the People's Charter in 1838. Students explore the divergent attitudes of Moral Force Chartism and Physical Force Chartism and have the opportunity to write a speech from either viewpoint to support an equal society. This lesson builds analytical skills and allows students a creative way of investigating the changes to voting laws in the UK through the use of De Bono's hats as the platform for deeper questioning. All tasks are clearly differentiated and this lesson is suitable for all abilities.

A Philosophy for Children lesson suitable for KS3, exploring the concept of philosophy and facilitating independent thinking about the origins of the universe. Key words: God, Looking for God, who is God, did God make the world, philosophy, what is philosophy, the universe, who created the universe, the nature of God, KS3, RE, beliefs and values,

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.

AQA syllabus Religious Studies for Philosophy and Ethics. An A-level lesson introducing the concept of philosophy with a particular focus on exploring meta-ethics. There is an outline of the major branches of philosophy introduced through video clips from popular Hollywood films to allow students to connect with the quite abstract nature of philosophical inquiry; meta-physics, epistemology, meta-ethics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language and ethics. If watching all clips and allowing for discussion of student understanding, this can last a full 60 minute lesson, This is followed by a peer-teach style lesson on meta-ethics, where peer-teachers are chosen from among the students (I usually choose high ability) and the rest of the class carousel between them to gather information. This is followed by a reflection using De Bono's Hats. The meta-ethics element of the lesson can also be stretched to last 60 minutes, making this cover 2 sessions. This lesson always divides the class into those inspired and those who feel their brain has been squashed - I love teaching it.

NEW 2016 Religious Studies KS3 curriculum on Christian denominations in the UK. A short introduction to the history of the Church of England is followed by a detailed comparison between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Churches. The Nicene Creed is used as a source of wisdom and authority for students to analyse how far Christian denominations share core beliefs and if the split in the Church seems reasonable or not. Students then complete a Venn diagram to compare any areas of overlap between Protestants and Catholics. The plenary follows the Blooms taxonomy structure and offers stretch and challenge of all abilities with a specific question for students to answer following each level of Blooms from 'description' through to 'evaluation'. The homework asks students to research another Christian denomination and explain what separates them from other Christians, with a choice between Baptists, Methodists, Quakers and Jehovah's Witnesses.

A KS3 lesson investigating the history behind the Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover) and asking students to explore why it is still central in Judaism today. The main task is a peer-teach, with student teachers teaching groups of students who circle from teacher to teacher. I usually choose high ability students to be peer teachers (five are needed for this lesson). There is a work sheet for the students to fill in as they visit each peer teacher. The lesson also introduced the Seder plate and finishes with a creative De Bono task of writing a diary entry from the perspective of a modern day Jew.

NEW 2018 Edexcel Religious Studies GCSE lesson on Living the Muslims Life, with a focus on Sunni and Shi'a festivals and commemorations. The lessons follows the new 1-9 grading criteria with stretch and challenge tasks built into every activity. The main task revolves around using De Bono's Hats to thoroughly examine four Muslims festivals; Id-ul-Fitr, Id-ul-Ghadeer, Id-ul-Adha and Ashura, including their origins, purpose and relevance to Sunni and Shi'a Muslims respectively. Students then get the opportunity to respond to sources of wisdom and authority relating to Muslim festivals, before applying their knowledge to a practice exam question. There is a student friendly mark scheme to allow for either self- or peer-assessment. The plenary allows students to reflect on their performance using Personal Learning and Thinking Skills as prompt questions.

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 context and secular context. This is lesson 2 of the topic ‘What do I believe’. Students are hooked into the lesson by listening to Joan Osborne’s ‘What if God was one of us’ and then explore the Christian belief about the nature of God. The key question for this lesson is’ What is God’s most important characteristic?’

KS3 lesson on the Bible as a source of authority in Christianity following the NEW SACRE KS3 specification for Religious Studies. The focus of the lesson is on independent and peer-to-peer learning and encourages the use of HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills). Also ideal as a recap or 'skeleton' lesson for KS4 students.

NEW GCSE Edexcel RS specification. A lesson focusing on Christian attitudes to prejudice and discrimination, leading into a discussion on divergent Christian denominations and their views on women playing a leading role in the Church. There is a practice exam question built in at the end of the lesson for students to examine both sides of the argument for women as Church leaders.

NEW 2016 KS3 Religious Studies curriculum lesson on the topic of 'Belonging' using the 1-9 grading criteria. There is specific focus on Hindu Samskaras and in particular the Sacred Thread Ceremony. The first task allows students to gain a general understanding of the nature of Samskaras followed by an in-depth examination of the Sacred Thread Ceremony and how it links to Hindus starting a 'new' religious and spiritual life. There is analysis of a source of wisdom and authority through the Gayatri Mantra and students get an opportunity to write a diary entry from the perspective of someone who has just undergone the Sacred Thread Ceremony, with a specific emphasis on how it shows belonging. All tasks are differentiated and suitable for all abilities.

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.

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 1 of the topic ‘What do I believe’ and asks students to differentiate between fact, opinion and belief and apply this to a discussion about theism, atheism and agnosticism. The key question for the lesson is; ‘Is it reasonable to believe in God in the 21st Century?’.

Excellent revision tool to use with GCSE and A-level students to stretch them in their written work and improve paragraph fluency, particularly in Humanities subjects.