Better RE The Manchester Hub 2015 RE conference Enabling RE to offer lots of thoughtful and creative ways to set high standards in pupils’ learning Giving teachers confidence in subject knowledge Examining RE’s work in SMSCD and values education, including ‘British Values’

Danny: 6 “My open mind picture has a road going in to take every new idea. He has shut his eyes to think harder.” Teachers of RE need to be able to: UUnderstand the contributions RE can make to actively promoting British values and to SMSCD. BBe able to use numerous high quality learning approaches with pupils, promoting spiritual and moral development. This can help you think through: YYour practice in relation to handling questions about racism, prejudice and extremism. IIssues to do with RE leadership and management in relation to SMSCD and Values education.

Tolerance Mutual respect The rule of law Individual liberty Democracy Good RE has always explored these values – without coercion, enabling pupils to develop their own ideas with integrity

Can you create a Union Flag for all your pupils? Get every pupil to contribute both a blue and a red to the mosaic. On the blue, they write something unique to themselves: what makes me a special human being? On the red card they write something that makes them proud of Britain, or which links us all together in Britain. Avoiding repetition is good, but doesn’t matter too much. They should each contribute two thoughts. The cards are folded, so that they can be opened and read when arranged onto the flag and stuck down. A good team work activity might be for a small group of senior students to put the image together. How should it be publicised beyond the school? What happens next matters: pick up on Lauren’s ideas about P4C, further discussion, links with Citizenship and more. Make it RE with the next slide.

i) A man once asked the Prophet Muhammad what was the best thing is Islam, and he replied, “It is to feed the hungry and to give the greeting of peace both to those you know and to those you do not know.” Islam: Hadith of Bukhari ii) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength. Love your neighbour as you love yourself. Judaism and Christianity: Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 iii) Whenever you see someone else hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and you look after them, you look after me, said Jesus. Christianity: Matthew 25:31-46 iv) Let your aims be common and your hearts united, and all of you be of one mind, so you may live well together. Hinduism: Rig Veda v) The only possible basis for a sound morality is mutual tolerance and respect: tolerance of one another’s customs and opinions; respect for one another’s rights and feelings; awareness of one another’s needs. Non-religious: A J Ayer, The Humanist Outlook vi) There is no greater penance than patience, no greater happiness than contentment, no greater evil than greed, no greater virtue than mercy, and no more potent weapon than forgiveness. Sikhism: Guru Amardas

Extend the learning into an older age group. Thomas Paine, the great philosopher of the French and American revolutions, says ‘My country is the world and my religion is to do good.’ Can students make a 360 piece collage of global values and their own contributions? Does the world need a universal religion? Can our contemporary religions offer the world more peace?

Team church Team A: Here’s the church... Build a cardboard box church. Provide the children with a huge box, and tell them it is going to be turned into a church. Talk a lot before this starts! Team B: Here’s the steeple... A Tower and a bell This team are also going to do some big scale box modelling. Get them to look at some pictures of a church tower or spire, and tell them their challenge is to make one Team C: Lego furniture Talk to this team about the things they find inside church. There might need to be an altar for the sacrament, and a font to welcome new babies, some images and statues of saints or of the Blessed Virgin Mary Team D: Making Windows from stories of Jesus Give the team members an outline on paper of a blank church window, and tell them that we are making some windows for our class’s team built church. Ask what pictures Team E: Open the door and here’s all the people Tell this team that their challenge is to create the congregation for the church. Team F: All around the church Ask this team to decide how the whole model church can be put into a churchyard or garden.

Here you can see an acetate stained glass window, a stickle brick crucifix, two candles, an altar, font and organ. What will it look like if you move the camera up a bit?

The stained glass window was done with sharpie pens. It works better to do the windows on plain paper, then photocopy them onto acetate. Imagine what you see when you turn around and look down the church.

“Open the doors and here’s all the people” What will it look like if you move the camera back to see the whole church?

The tower building team did a fine job. Can children write about their work, using, for example, labels, lists and captions?

Julie got her pupils to make a plan of the church and draw some of the things they had learned about in their plan. Some pupils wrote about the drawings as well.

I put a candle because Jesus is the light of the world I put the cross because I saw Jesus or God on the cross It’s good thinking and creative energy that makes this team task into good RE

Get each team to share its work with the others. Tell children that the Bible compares the church to a body, where the hands do one thing and the feet another, the tummy matters and so does the tongue. Tell the children that their teamwork is like the church itself, in one way. Christians believe God is pleased when we all co-operate, when we all do our bit. Ask the children to make up some prayers or meditations, and to practice a song for the ‘opening’ of the church, and have a little ceremony. Can some of your writers make a poster inviting people to come? Ask children to take and use photos of the teams working to show how the church is built. Link community and activity together as a way to learn what it means to belong to the church.

Hallsville School in Newham used similar ideas with the Reception class, creating a church in their classroom for children to play inside. What do you think the inside looks like?

Lots of work for the TA here, but lots of experiential and fun learning for the 4-5 year olds. What if you adapted the ideas for older pupils?

Team Church for 7-11s Older pupils might try… Designing and making two faith community buildings, from different religions, and considering similarities and differences. They could invite the 4-6 year olds to come and see their work Developing ideas for a ‘shared sacred space – e.g. a chapel for an airport, hospital or shopping centre: how could this be made to wrok for Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus? What about non-religious people?

Al Fatihah – the first surah of the Qur’an “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Ruler of the Day of Judgment. You we worship, and Your aid we seek, Show us the straight way, The way of those to whom You have given Your grace, those whose portion is not wrath, and who go not astray.”

Muslims believe Allah – God – has 99 names. Ahmed Moustapha, a Muslim artist, painted the names like this. It’s called “The Attributes of Divine Perfection’. It is made up of 99 geometric shapes, each written with one of the ‘beautiful names of Allah’ So without drawing God – which Muslims never do – it is a painting of what Muslims believe about God: That Allah / God is merciful, lord of the world, ruler of the day of judgement, sustainer, and 95 other things.

The Kaaba at Makkah: empty of any image or statue since the time of the Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] But still full of the invisible presence of Allah. The centre of Islamic faith on earth: a billion face the Kaaba in prayer daily.

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Lord of the world Ruler of Judgement day HealerMerciful Evolver

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“I have worked with the concept that “we are created in the Image of God” and that the 99 names or attributes of God are reflected within us. So when the viewer looks at the “99 names” s/he sees the Self reflected in the mirror, and is reminded of the 99 attributes within one’s own self.” Yasmin Kathrada:

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Muslim artist Ahmed Mater uses iron filings and a magnet block to create the swirling effect of this work of art.

If the Kaaba in Makkah is a symbol for the presence of Allah on earth, it is good that it is empty. No image or statue is allowed. But in the emptyness, Allah is there. Allah is everywhere. ‘If you walk towards Allah, then Allah runs towards you.” (Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, PBUH)

Take the A3 sheet... With a partner, discuss the similarities and differences between the works of art Write into the bubbles on your page things that are similar about each pair. What is unique about each one? What do all three have in common? Think. Give reasons. Discuss.

Is it Ahmed Moustapha, or Yasmin Kathrada, or Ahmed Mater, who taught you best about the Muslim understanding of God / Allah? Check out Spirited Arts Copyright

Islamic art and the understanding of Allah RE teachers know that the Islamic rules for representing Allah are to be taken seriously. No image of Allah could ever capture the reality of God ~ so make no images. This activity and work enables the use of some brilliant Islamic art in exploring the concept of God in Islam It’s ideal and adaptable for thoughtful work for 9-11s Check out Spirited Arts Copyright

Al Fatihah – the first surah of the Qur’an “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. You do we worship, and Your aid we seek, Show us the straight way, The way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.” Check out Spirited Arts Copyright

Boy, aged 12, answering a question on belief about God. Check out Spirited Arts Copyright

NATRE NATRE for all RE teachers Check out Spirited Arts Copyright

“I believe in one God, ALLAH. I don't know what my God looks like because in the Muslim religion we are not allowed to see any pictures of 'him'. As a Muslim I think Allah is the most powerful 'thing' as I don't know what 'he' is like. I respect my God very much.” Girl, 14 “I think God is... well... God, I guess. God is God, our creator, and He is very powerful. That all I can say. He is not something you can measure.” Girl, 15 “I am a Muslim so my beliefs about God are fairly orthodox. I believe God is an entity which is beyond the scope of human perception (which is pretty limited to say the least...), God is within all of us, He is the voice which guides us down the path of goodness, The Hand of God is on all of us - it's our choice whether to take it or not.” Boy, 15 “I feel that Allah (God) is with me and looking at me wherever I am. I think Allah is the real God. No one can see him but he can see us. He is one, he has no partner and he wasn’t born. When you pray you feel closer to God You are thanking him for what you have got. I think religion completes your life. Without it you can get lost and confused.” Boy, 11 Check out Spirited Arts Copyright

“He in his essence is one, without any partner. Single without any similar Eternal without any opposite. Separate without any like He is one, prior with nothing before him From eternity without any beginning Abiding in existence without any after him To eternity without an end Subsisting without ending Abiding without termination Measure does not bind him Boundaries do not contain him.” Allah: by the medieval Muslim theologian Al-Ghazali Check out Spirited Arts Copyright

The Holy Name of Allah Jade, 8 Jade was inspired to make this by using a repeater pattern from the ICT equipment. Muslims are inspired by the holy name of Allah, Lord of the World. The painting uses Islamic rules, and doesn’t picture the divine. Check out Spirited Arts Copyright

Box of the Revelation Chidi worked on his own, creating a box of scrunched paper that shows the presence of the holy as little shards. These came about by drawing light around a human figure and then cutting out the beams of light and rearranging them, his own idea. He said he was thinking about God when he did it. Chidi, boy, age 14, SEN School This piece comes from a selection of work achieved by children with a range of difficulties including autism, speech and communication difficulties, behavioural difficulties, dyslexia, cerebral paly and Downs' syndrome. Some are among the least able children in their school. Check out Spirited Arts Copyright

God is Everywhere in the World Shadan, 12 “My painting is called God is everywhere in the world! I chose to do a world and a book on top and that book represents the Quran (or Bible). The bottom of the world represents dirt: the thoughts of people that don’t have any religion, the thoughts of people that don’t believe in God. At the top of the world there is a light (coming from the holy writings) and that light is growing to show that God is growing.” Check out Spirited Arts Copyright