religious e news€¦ · rwm: wednesday 7th october 2015 4 – 5:30 maidenhead gurdwara 31 rutland...
TRANSCRIPT
Keep up to date with the latest developments while
sharing and learning from colleagues by joining
the session most convenient for you.
Berkshire (all to be booked through the appropriate LA) Bracknell Forest: Wednesday 30th September 4.15-5.30 Easthampstead Park Education Centre, RG40 3DF West Berks: See Local Authority for details Reading: Tuesday 13th October 2015 4-5.30pm Caversham Park Primary School, Queensway, Caversham Park Village, Reading,Berkshire,RG4 6RP Wokingham: Thursday 8th October 4-5.30 Emmbrook Infant School Emmbrook Road Wokingham RG41 1JR RBWM: Wednesday 7th October 2015 4 – 5:30 Maidenhead Gurdwara 31 Rutland Rd, SL6 4HZ Slough: See local Authority for details Buckinghamshire ([email protected]) Weston Turville: Tuesday 20th October 3:45 – 5:15 Weston Turville School, Main Street Weston Turville HP22 5RW St Mary’s Beaconsfield: Tuesday 17th November 3:45-5:15, Maxwell Road, HP9 1RG Milton Keynes: See Local Authority for details and additionally: (for the additional meeting book with [email protected]) SS Mary & Giles School: Tuesday 3rd November 4- 5:15 King George Crescent, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes, MK11 1EF (this meeting is open to teachers from North Bucks as well) Oxfordshire ([email protected]) N. Oxfordshire: Tuesady 10th November 3:45—5:15 Deddington OX15 0TJ S. Oxfordshire: Tuesday 13th October 3:45-5:15 Benson OX10 6LX W. Oxfordshire: Thursday 8th October 3:45-5:15 St John’s, Carterton OX18 1JF Central Oxford: Thursday 15th October 3:45—5:15 St. Swithun’s OX1 5PS Please send suggestions for topics to be discussed at these and future meetings. The more you put in, the more you will get out. All the groups are NATRE affiliated, but to take full advantage of the resources that NATRE provides it is worth exploring whether
school membership may be of use to you. They offer training events, webinars and purchasable resources, with discounts
offered to members. www.natre.org.uk
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS AUTUMN 2015
Twilight CPD for RE subject leaders
CPD Courses
Picture from the Prayer &
reflection day at St Nicolas
CE combined School,
Taplow
So You’re the New(ish) Subject leader?
If you have taken over as RE subject leader recently and
feel that you need a helping hand to get started, then this
course is for you.
During this course participants will listen to presentations, discuss and work in groups to:
Explore what is meant by good RE including how it contributes to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cul-tural development
Get to grips with the ideas about standards, continui-ty and progression in the RE curriculum, considering examples of planning and assessment
Discuss ways in which they can support and monitor RE in their schools
Discuss school self-evaluation of RE
Consider issues of resourcing in RE
Look at how to write a school RE policy statement
Date: 6th October 2015 Venue: Diocesan Church House North Hinksey, Oxford
OX2 0NB Cost: Schools in Diocesan Service Agreement: £90 (+VAT)Schools not in the Diocesan Service Agreement: £135(+VAT)
If you would like to attend this training session please contact: Emma Nawrocki on 01865 208272 or email
[email protected] Coming next term: Enquiry Based Bible teaching 4 beginners on 29th January In the summer term: Making the most of visits to places of worship on 5th May This course will meet in Oxford at the cathedral and we will
walk to the university church and the synagogue to take photographs, and create materials for use in school.
The Diocese of Oxford is launching a competition for primary schools with the aim of encouraging excellence in RE and recognising the fantastic work that is currently being produced in our schools.
This year’s question is “Do believers need a place to worship?”
and entry to the competition is free. HOW TO ENTER: Take this year’s “Big Question” and create a unit of
work for your year group or class. This could be part of a larger unit or the basis for an RE day or week.
Teach the unit and submit the lesson plans, materials used and a representative sample of pupil outcomes. These could be a selection of written work (prose or poetry), art, ICT, DT and can be sent in in electronic format (photographs or scanned work). (Only one entry per school please, either at KS1 or 2).
Lesson plans should show the relevant syllabus questions addressed and links to age-related expectations.
Pupil work submitted should show evidence of feedback, given according to the schools own marking policy.
There will be an award at each of KS1 & KS2, with three runners up in each category and winning entries lesson plans and pupil work will be published on The Oxford Diocesan website. There will be a plaque for each of the winning schools presented by the Bishop and the Diocesan Director of Education and class teacher or RE Subject leader will be invited with the Head Teacher to a reception, date and venue to be confirmed. Fliers will be sent to all Diocesan schools with all the details and the panel of judges are looking forward to examining the results of the teachers and pupils hard work.
The closing date for entries is the 18th March 2016 and can be submitted by post or electronically to
Diocesan Church House, North Hinksey, Oxford OX2 0NB
Two Diocesan schools held
prayer and reflection focused
sessions last terms.
The Blake School in Witney had a
whole week of RE & art related
work, focused on Psalm 23. The
children made mosaics to reflect
their understanding of the
Psalm, learned songs, skyped
with their partner school in Uganda and visited a Prayer
Space in the local church. Here they watched the bubble
tube take away their worries, created pipe-cleaner people
to help them think about the world, hang prayers of
thanks on the prayer tree and wipe away their sins on
whiteboards.
If you want to host a prayer space contact: Catherine
Clayton at [email protected] if you are in
Oxfordshire or go on the Prayer Spaces in Schools website
for more information:
http://www.prayerspacesinschools.com/
The prayer and reflection day at St Nicolas’ CE Combined
School, Taplow was a multi-faith affair with an ambitious
set of aims:
• To teach children the foundation principles of
Christianity by exploring its beliefs and practices. • To teach other world faiths, by exploring beliefs and practices. • To develop a positive attitude towards other people of all faiths or none. • To enhance the teaching of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. There were representatives from many Christian Denominations, as well as the Buddhist Centre in Taplow, the Hindu society from Maidenhead and the Humanist Association. Children experienced 4 workshops
throughout the day and feedback from the children was positive. Class teachers worked with the children to produced mind maps about what they had had learnt and how they would like to pray as well as ideas to begin to write a school prayer. The majority felt that they had learnt and broadened their knowledge of different religions and that it had changed their views on different ways of praying and reflecting. If your school has any exciting events like these, please
let your school link adviser know, invite us to see what
is happening or write an article for this newsletter or for
The Door (the Diocesan Newspaper).
Why do we pray like
this?
Rev Alan Dibden at St.
Nicolas, Taplow
RE Competition
News from schools around the Diocese
But when you pray, go into your room, close the
door and pray to your Father who is unseen.
Then your Father, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6 verse 6
Follow this link to a really useful calendar of festivals: http://www.reonline.org.uk/supporting/festivals-
calendar/ There is a lot of information about each festival, with links to extra information. Here is the information on the Jewish festivals this term: 14th-15th September ROSH HASHANAH (HEAD OF THE YEAR) Genesis 22, Leviticus 23:24-25 (New Year’s Day, 5776 years from the creation of the world). Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of ten days of repentance and self examination, during which G-d sits in personal judgment on every individual. The blowing of the ram’s horn (shofar) in the synagogue is a reminder of Abraham’s sacrifice of a ram instead of his son, Isaac. Apples dipped in honey are eaten in the hope of a ‘sweet’ new year. 23rd September YOM KIPPUR (DAY OF ATONEMENT) Leviticus 16:4-34, 23:27-32 This is the final day of the ten days of repentance, and is the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar. The Bible calls it the ‘Sabbath of Sabbaths’, and it is marked by ‘afflicting the soul’ – expressed through a total fast lasting 25 hours. Jews spend the eve and most of the day in prayer, asking for forgiveness for past wrongs and resolving to improve in the future. The Book of Jonah is read. 28th September – 6th October SUKKOT Leviticus 23:33-43. A seven day harvest festival also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, which commemorates the 40 years that the Jews spent in the wilderness on the way from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. A temporary hut or booth – called a sukkah – is used during this time for eating meals and for visits and socialising. In hot countries families may live in their sukkah during the festival. The roof, which has to be open in part to the elements, is covered with branches and decorated with fruit. Four species of plant, the lulav (palm branch), the etrog (a yellow citrus fruit), the hadas (myrtle) and the aravah (willow) are used at the festival. 6th October SIMCHAT TORAH This festival, which means ‘Rejoicing in the Torah’, marks the completion of the annual cycle of reading from the Torah. As the reading should be continuous, a second scroll is begun again as soon as the final portion of the Torah has been read from the first scroll; as the reading
from Deuteronomy ends, with the next breath, Genesis begins without a break – the Torah is a circle that never ends. All the Torah scrolls are paraded around the synagogue, with children dancing and singing, as do many of the adults, giving as many people as possible the honour of carrying a Torah scroll. Most progressive Jews celebrate this one day earlier, combining it with the eighth day of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret. 7th – 14th December HANUKAH Hanukah is the Jewish Festival of Lights, which celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it was recaptured from the Syrian Greeks by the Maccabee brothers in 165 BCE. For the eight evenings of the festival, candles are lit from right to left in a hanukkiah, a nine-branched menorah – one candle for each evening. The ninth candle is the shamash (the servant candle) from which the other candles are lit. Foods cooked with oil – such as doughnuts and latkes (potato cakes) – are traditional to remember the miracle with oil that kept the Temple lights burning so many years ago. A game of dreidel, a special small spinning top, is popular with children to commemorate ‘the great miracle that hap-pened there/here’. If you use any particular resources or activities when you teach these festivals, please let us know and we can share them with others. Two useful websites are: Board of Jewish Education: http://bje.org.au/learning/judaism/kids/index.html Jewish Heritage Centre for children: http://www.chabad.org/kids/article_cdo/aid/1347962/jewish/Why-I-Like-Being-Jewish.htm The Core beliefs of Judaism: There is One Creator G-d; He is so holy, he is not
named There is a covenant relationship between G-d with
His people, started with Abraham The Torah, (which includes the Law of Moses, con-
tains 613 Mitzvot (commandments) which are rules to be followed.
There is a Holy Land given by G-d to the Jews There is a coming Messiah, who will restore all
things The Jewish family expresses and passes on Jewish
tradition Jews believe that after death comes the judgment,
leading to heaven or hell. Some Key Vocabulary: Torah Menorah Mezuzah Tallit Tefillin Yad Yahweh Covenant Pesach Shofar Bar Mitzvah Yarmulke Synagogue Kosher Shabbat Aramaic Hebrew Canaan Israel David Isaac Moses Abraham
Focus on Judaism
RE Today: www.retoday.org.uk NATRE: www.natre.org.uk RE Quest: www.request.org.uk RE Online: www.reonline.org.uk BBC clips on line: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education REQM: www.reqm.org.uk Heart of Hinduism: http://hinduism.iskcon.org/ Sikhiwiki: http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page Islamkids: http://www.islamkids.org/ Stories about the Buddha: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/storybuddha.htm
When a group of white boys hurl racial epithets at young Desmond, he turns to his mentor, Father Tre-vor. The priest’s advice—forgiveness instead of retribution—isn’t what Desmond wants to hear. “Let me tell you a secret, Des-mond,” Father Trevor advises him. “When you forgive someone, you free yourself from what they have
said or done. It’s like magic.” This is a morality tale by the Archbishop, Desmond Tutu and based on his own experi-ences. It is a great story for exploring the notions of for-giveness and reconciliation. Suitable for ages 6-10
A guide for teachers is available free from: http://candlewick.com/book_files/0763652296.btg.1.pdf Have you found any books that support your RE teach-ing? Let us know and we can recommend them here.
Barnabas in Schools can help you as you
tackle financial aware-ness through RE and Collective Worship.
They have a new book “Valuing Money”
which provides teach-ing material to help
children at Key Stages 1 and 2 to explore moral and ethical
issues around money and what it represents,
and to think about what is truly valuable.
More information can be found on their website http://www.brfonline.org.uk/9780857461216/
Their newest RE Day theme 'What's Money Worth?' will be available from October 2015. More information can be
found on their website http://www.barnabasinschools.org.uk/whats-money-
worth/
Advent workshops and performances for schools
For ADVENT 2015 Springs is now inviting bookings
for workshops and performances based on the Christmas story.
During the workshops young people will explore the original Christmas story through dance, drama and discussion, and will be encouraged to think about the journey we make each year in preparation for Christmas Day. These workshops are most often delivered over three sessions and culminate in a performance by the pupils. This performance can be shown as a curtain raiser show prior to the professional performance of Journey of the Magi, a joyful, poignant and entertaining show, often seen as a great alternative to panto! This inspiring work for all ages is cross-curricular, covering:
Literature, Dance/ Drama and RE/Citizenship/PSHE.
To book for 2015 or for a friendly chat about what we do,
call Eliza on 07775 628 442 or email:
Each year many RE teachers apply for Farmington Fellowships. This allows teachers up to 30 days out of school to conduct some original research into an area of RE that interests them. This year’s fellows are just beginning their research and the closing date for next year in likely to be in early January. If there is some-thing you would like to research there is information on the website.
http://www.farmington.ac.uk/fellowships_and_awards/fellowships.html
Let me know if you apply. We may be able to support your work.
Financial education is on the national agenda
Resources Online
Recommended
Dancing towards Christmas
Think ahead!
If you are already teaching RE, but would like to develop your understanding of the subject further or perhaps refresh your thinking, the Teach RE Course is for you. Maybe your local Agreed Syllabus requires you to teach about religions and worldviews that you are less familiar with or feel less confident about. Perhaps you are considering a Master’s degree and would like to ease your way back into self-study and research. Or perhaps you would like to explore new ways of applying subject knowledge about world religions and beliefs to classroom practice. You may be a new co-coordinator for RE in a primary school and want to find out more about the subject.. I would thoroughly recommend the course to anyone wanting to increase their subject knowledge or confidence in RE. The support you get from Culham St Gabriel’s and from the tutor you are linked to is excellent and I can assure you that the benefits will be immeasurable! Rhiannon Love, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Development, responsible for Primary RE and Philosophy for Children (P4C) on the BEd/MEd and PG programmes at Winchester University. Whatever your professional learning requirements, the Teach RE Course is tailored to your individual needs. It is suitable for primary and secondary col-leagues, and is run as a distance learning programme. Support is provided by a tutor and a certificate of completion is provided which you can use as part of your CPD portfolio
More information about the course can be found on the website: http://www.teachre.co.uk/
If you decide to sign up for this course please let us know so that we can support you and celebrate your
achievements.
Wider training opportunities Diocesan Website updates
Do check out the Religious Education pages on the Diocesan website, where you will find some updated information.
www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/religious-education/
You will find updated statements about the expectations for RE in church schools, a link to previous editions of this newsletter, sample policy statements for VC and VA schools in all Local Authorities as well as information about training courses and syllabuses. There are also some units with a local focus that are free to access. The Diocesan Scheme of Work is still available and if you use it there will soon be a new document clarifying end of Y2, Y4 and Y6 expectations. I have plans to increase the content of this website further and hope to have a section where we can share and showcase the wonderful work that is happening in RE across the diocese. If you have resources, ideas, planning or pupil work that you would like to share, please send it to me and we can continue to enhance the ser-vice provided. Additionally, materials to support teachers in offering CPD to their staff will be made available on the website after subject leader sessions to those that have attended. Make sure you get to the nearest session to receive the information and support.
Anne Andrews, RE Adviser [email protected]
07884 655097 @AnneOxRE
Whether it is to share your ideas or ask for help and advice, I would love to hear from you.
Contact