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Exploring varied worldviews with pupils in Early Years

Steph Shirra teaches at Oxon CE Primary School in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
We asked her to explain some of her Early Years RE practice.

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Engagement 8: tackling the problems

Pete Edwards, who teaches RE in Bristol, recommends eight ideas for engaging students with the new GCSE or any examination course. In each case, he focuses on a problem encountered and the solutions he is trying to...
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The best of religion: our top 20

The REtoday Editorial Team considered this term’s theme. We made this list of our top 20 manifestations of religion globally. What an arrogant idea! Make your own list if you wish before reading on: did you share...

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Art for RE

Illustrator Si Smith, from Leeds, has been the creative brain behind the covers of the Essential RE series of books we have published termly over the last four years. Teachers and students have loved these covers for...
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Jewish compassion in action: Triptych on Charity

Karen Van Coevorden, a former RE teacher, works for the Jewish Museum in London. We asked her for an example of the best of the museum’s collection. This one really repays study! There is a PowerPoint sequence on...

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The spirit of the city:

India and Maddy, both 17, went on an amazing school trip with their teacher, Debbie Lewis, from James Allen’s Girls’ School in Dulwich, to Israel.

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‘Here I stand. I can do nothing else.’

REtoday Editor Lat Blaylock suggests that Martin Luther’s anniversary might prompt reflection in RE classrooms. Teachers are invited to send in pupils’ work on this theme. Pupils are invited to express their...
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Ten fresh ideas for RE visits with soul

Katie Clemmey is a Senior Lecturer in RE at Canterbury Christ Church University. She is also RE Hub leader for Kent and Medway and a member of AULRE Executive. Here she shares her tips on how to make RE visits hum and...

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A scheme of work on Judaism: what influences the Jewish people?

Rebecca Ostler wanted more thinking in her lessons on Judaism. Here is how she aimed to get it.

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Fiction and RE: From Dahl to Dharma

Primary teachers are a creative bunch! They love to innovate and find new ways to reinvent and reintroduce old concepts (some could argue that we make too much work for ourselves – but don’t tell the DfE!)....
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Connecting RE and British Values:

Julie Dunbar is Head Teacher at Stretton Handley CE (VC) Primary School in Derbyshire. She wanted all her pupils to connect their work on British Values with their RE and with the values the school promotes. She used...

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The angel’s message:

At Riverside Primary School in Southwark, our 5- to 6-year-olds were learning about Islam. They thought about the messages that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) received from the Angel Jibril, and began to learn about the...

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Important words that changed the world –

He stood quite still, almost overwhelmed by the moment, listening to his heartbeat pounding in his head as well as his chest. He was very aware of the silence that seemed to be closing in on him and the anticipation...

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Losing my identity:

the story of life as it fades away Of others there is no memory; they have perished as though they had never existed; they have become as though they had never been born … Ecclesiasticus 44:9 In an issue focusing on...
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On reading the Gospel of Mark as if it were fiction

One must be an inventor to read well. Ralph Waldo EmersonThe American Scholar, 1837 Let me start by making quite clear that I do not classify the Gospel of Mark as fiction, but I do recommend the attempt to read it as if...
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A baby called Peace

Emma Harwood is an RE teacher and a Christian mother. She faced an agonising dilemma when she was pregnant in 2015. Generously, here she shares her experience to open up moral and spiritual questions about the...

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The ‘Islam in Britain’ quiz in action:

My Year 11s were greeted with REtoday’s ‘Muslims in Britain today: a reality check’ on their first day back after the holidays. It looked like a win-win; they show off their knowledge, I gain a sense of any...

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The stories we tell ourselves:

three examples to address preconceptions and assumptions With increasing Islamophobia in the British and worldwide press, teachers might be inclined to readjust the balance and tell the story of ‘good Muslims’ or...
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Creation stories of the world:

We teach many creation stories, especially to younger children in the primary phase. However, older children can benefit from returning to well-loved creation stories and taking a sociological or psychological view,...

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Retelling the Bible in comic-book style

Sergio Cariello has drawn for Marvel and for DC Comics. Now he has created The Action Storybook Bible: key stories from Christian scripture in comic-book style for children aged 4–8. It is drawn for those inside the...