The big picture

John Holroyd taught RE in schools in and around London for 30 years before lecturing at the London School of Philosophy and writing his book Judging Religion: A Dialogue for Our Time.

priceless pages of art from the Jewish Bible

Religions often make a festival out of a rescue or a struggle for freedom that was won. Here is a Sikh example.

Editor: I was introduced to Raj Singh Tattal by his former RE teacher Anne Krisman, known to many readers of REtoday for her expert work in SEND RE in Redbridge. I interviewed Raj, who has generously given us...

REtoday interviewed Muslim artist Ali Caligraff, who works in France, about his dynamic and intriguing Islamic art, often infused with joy and vitality

Christianity lies across the land of the UK in ancient places as well as in modern architecture. Can teachers of RE studying pilgrimage find local connections to the theme and to the ancient histories of religion in...

Hebrew Manuscripts: Journeys of the Written Word, an exhibition at the British Library, provides a fantastic way to study Judaism for primary and secondary pupils, exploring the history, culture and traditions of...

Saarah Bokharl and Ayaz Ali share their experiences and photographs of the Shi’ah Muslim Arbaeen pilgrimage to the city of Karbala, which since 680 CE has drawn huge numbers of pilgrims to remember the martyrdom of...

The British Library recently launched its exhibition of Hebrew manuscripts – amazing online resources go with this. Have a look: www.bl.uk/events/hebrew-manuscripts. The big picture here shows the traditional silver...

Show the picture to your pupils and ask them in pairs to discuss what it might show, and what the photo-artist might be thinking about. It is a ‘made up’ photo, by Nikolay Lamm, based on the prediction that global...

Julie Grove, of the RE Today Editorial Team, provides learning ideas from the Big Picture.

This image is full of significant learning about Islam. Unpack it with your students and see how many connections they can make to the syllabus they study. Provide the information points one by one, but begin by...

Jewish microcalligraphy by Ellen Miller Braun Microcalligraphy, or micrography, is a Jewish form of art which developed around the ninth-century CE. The second of the Ten Commandments (do not worship idols in place of...

This term’s visual learning idea is simple. The four artefacts in the pictures show four key aspects of Sikhism. These pictures are also available on a PowerPoint from the REtoday website (the password is always...

The huge tower of Makkah’s newest hotel seems to dwarf the minarets of the Haram Mosque. As pilgrims approach for the night prayer, what impact might this view have upon their spiritual thinking? RE teacher Aysha...

Theresa Borg works in a school with a Christian character, and describes here her use of the work of art Je Cherche Ton Visage to explore a spiritual idea from Christianity – that Jesus can be seen in others.

Show this picture to your pupils, on the whiteboard.  Discuss some questions:  What can you see? What do you think you would see if the camera zoomed out?  Who might buy this statue?  How many hours might it...

Show pupils the picture (you can download it from the RE Today members’ website for your whiteboard). Tell the story, perhaps while the picture is displayed. This account is based on the 21st chapter of the Fioretti...

Hell on earth: the realm of the hungry ghosts What is evil? Where is evil? The traditional view of a devil who tempts us and, if we really don’t shape up, a hell where we will suffer eternal punishment are familiar...

Can artwork promote enquiry-based RE learning? Claire Parkin wanted to encourage her pupils to think more widely and generate their own questions during RE lessons. She found that artwork can aid deeper thinking. This...