Better RE: a new syllabus for RE in the city of Derby thoughtfulness standards spirituality

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Better RE a new syllabus for RE in the city of
Derbythoughtfulness / standards / spirituality

• Lat Blaylock
• Editor, RE Today
• Join RE Today and get magazines, books, discounts
  and the members website materials
• www.retoday.org.uk

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RE with the new Derby syllabus key
contributions to learning for the whole child

• Thinking in RE how to make it deeper
• Philosophy and RE for any child
• Inclusion religions and beliefs
• Methods Curriculum Standards
• New units of work for 4-19s
• My world / Our world / All our worlds
• Personal / local / global

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Three Rockets My Spiritual Life Conor. Age 8
My picture is based on the theme of 'My
Spiritual Life'. I chose to do a picture of three
rockets because they are a powerful image. In
words on the rockets are how I feel inside, but I
dont always do the thing on the rockets. The
rockets are for truth honesty, hope courage,
friendliness and gratefulness. I feel proud of
myself. When I am older I want to be the sort of
person that I think that I am now and to be like
a rocket that everyone else can see.
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Thoughts Of Mine Tierney, Age 9 Wow! Gob
smacked! Shocked! Proud! These are the thoughts
about the new destination and re-opening of my
life. There is only one life time and only one
soul, theyre yours and they are what makes you
and you feelings. Things of mine, belong to me.
My heart body and soul, belong to me. Things you
see, belong to us. The world, universe and land,
belong to us. Things of yours, belong to you.
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Curtis, 7 This is my spirit. I am always crazy
and not tidy. I have good ideas. I like life.
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Up in the Sky By Eliot, Age 8 My picture is
about where I think God is. The balloons and
kites are messages to God - like his mail,
instead of a postman. This picture shows me where
God is not far away.
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Letting go Spiritual Life The hands in my
picture represents when you have had to let go
because someone has died or left you. The star
shows a new life after death. My heart represents
death and how all comings and goings must come to
an end until its time. Judges comment Many of
us learn the hard lesson of letting go after
decades of life. Annas picture speaks volumes
for her spiritual insight at a tender age 10!.
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Spiritual Life The Soul in Space Priya, Age 13
My picture shows a soul, which is the droplet
of God that is inside every living thing. The
soul is the real you. This soul is traveling,
traveling through the space of the skies, to go
to its next body.
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• God is always with you.
• This is a question which is challenging and
  people find God in different ways and places and
  sometimes not at all. I based my design on my
  response / belief that God is everywhere. As a
  Christian, I believe that God is omnipresent and
  responds to individuals when they call upon him.
• The person in the middle of the picture
  represents people who might feel alone and in
  need of help and guidance. The coloured strips of
  paper represent the Holy Spirit surrounding all
  people, even though they may not realize this.
  The words are verses from the Bible Gods word
  that people might read to reassure them that
  God is always present to protect and guide them
  if they should ask for it Do not be anxious
  about anything. The peace of God, which
  transcends all understanding, will guard your
  hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
• Jo, 14

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The Lord is with you always This picture shows
objects from different areas of my life God is
in all my life. The pictures a mess life is not
tidy. CDs and my MP3 represent music. When Im
depressed, I listen to music, and this is a place
that God is. School tie and books represent work.
God is with me in everything. A scrap of paper
from my notebook (which I use to help me make
decisions) is in the bottom left hand corner. God
is with me in the choices I make. Photos of my
friends and family, my dad, the people I love. My
cuddly toy, that I have with me when I sleep,
shows that God looks after me when Im
vulnerable. My open diary shows that God knows
everything about me. It also represents prayer I
sometimes use the diary to talk to God, to help
straighten out things in my life. In the centre,
the cross necklace represents religion. This is
God amongst all my clutter. It shines like God
shines through my life, a shining light. The
Bible verse The Lord is with you always is the
point of my picture.
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• Spirituality Discover the Power within You
  Marielle, Age 15
• I believe that in each and every person, there
  are 7 key elements, represented by 7 colours.
• Red the boldest, coarsest colour, no subtlety,
  is for the physical , down to the molecular level
  of atoms and DNA.
• Orange halfway between red and yellow, halfway
  between the physical and emotional
  characteristics which are pleasing to the
  senses music, light, touch, pleasure.
• Yellow symbolizes the emotions and feelings that
  we may experience
• Green balance in life.
• Blue a calming, soothing colour of thought and
  dreaming, takes emotions and reflection to a
  greater level.
• Indigo it takes awareness and thought to a
  higher level, towards the intellectual.
• Violet much used throughout history to symbolize
  spirituality and royalty. I feel violet
  represents the spiritual part of a person.

• These are always present, whether or not they are
  identified, or their existence revealed, after
  all, in the words of Marcel Proust The real
  voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new
  landscapes but in having new eyes.
• The order is progressive it is easiest for us to
  see the physical, hardest to discover our
  spiritual side, but all aspects are always
  present. Symbols have been chosen to signify each
  of the seven key aspects. The clouded prism
  represents our ability to see ourselves .This
  concept symbolizes the occasions when aspects of
  ourselves suddenly become clear to us. The grey
  newspaper background represents the surrounding
  world irrelevant in our quest for a spiritual
  life. We should be looking within us, not around
  us. Real spirituality comes through the journey
  of discovering ourselves, finding who we truly
  are, becoming more aware of ourselves on a
  deeper, more philosophical level.

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People who are developing spiritually...(a
multi-religious view from Clive Beck)

• Love
• Awareness
• A broad mind
• A holistic outlook
• Integration (avoiding hypocrisy)
• Wonder
• Thankfulness
• Hope
• Courage
• Energy
• Detachment
• Acceptance
• Gentleness

• Why is a plural understanding of spiritual
  development useful in RE?
• What can RE contribute to the schools SMSCD
  intentions?
• How can teaching RE provide opportunities to
  explore these qualities of spiritual growth?

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Questions for God

• This activity enables a close connection between
  AT1 and AT2, showcasing simply some P4C methods
• It asks pupils for their own thoughts in
  mysterious areas and deepens theological
  engagement (with 6 year olds and others)
• The work shows progression, range and variety.
  Its not very dependent on literacy skills
• It exemplifies the power of spiritual thinking
  skills and good structures to energise RE on the
  frontier with philosophy.

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• Questions for the all-knowing
• If your pupils could ask the person who knows
  everything five questions, what would they ask?
  How do they think the all-knowing would reply?
  This activity is an opening to wondering like no
  other in RE and can be used in any age group.
• Set the process in 4 steps
• Every child make up 3 questions
• Lay them all out round the class, and each choose
  the best one.
• Say why it is puzzling, interesting, hard to
  answer
• Suggest three ways in which God might reply to
  the question

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This task, to ask the questions youd like to of
the person who knows everything is versatile
across many levels. Aaron is able to work at
level 2. In the RE context, he asks questions
about things that matter to him. This is a high
achievement for Aaron, who is in Year 1.
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The task was to suggest questions to ask of the
one who knows everything. This piece of work
shows that Duncan can work at level 3. Duncan can
ask important questions about religion and
belief. Next steps might be to suggest answers
that might come from religions studied.
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The task was to suggest questions to put to the
divine, the one who knows everything. This piece
of work shows the child can work at level 3. She
can ask important questions about religion and
belief. Next steps might be to examine Muslim and
Christian ideas (from Qs 1 5).
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The task was to devise questions to ask of the
one who knows everything. This piece of work
shows the child can work at level 3. She can ask
important questions about religion and
belief. Next steps might be to suggest varied
answers to some of these questions
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Zoe (9) gives evidence of achievement at level 4
suggesting a range of answers to her puzzling
religious questions and applying religious ideas
for herself
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Wenxin is working in one of her additional
languages. She has selected the best question
to ask of the omniscient, and suggested why it is
a good question, why it is hard to answer and
three things God might say in reply. She applies
ideas well to the topic, and if you think she can
express and explain her views in the light of
religious ideas (which I do) then you can give
level 5 for this piece.
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• In this piece of work Calum and Faraz , both 13,
  show they are able to use the tools of religious
  study to analyse questions of meaning and truth,
  offering coherent critical evaluation,
  characteristic of L7
• The task used a P4C style process to elicit the
  questions students would most like to hear God /
  Allah answer.
• The progression of the writing then asked the
  learners to consider different kinds of reply to
  the question what would god say? How would a
  Muslim, a psychologist or a philosopher respond?
• This speculative approach enables Calum and Faraz
  to develop their work at L7 in dialogue and
  through sharing ideas.
• High achieving pupils sometimes produce their
  most coherent RE when working together.

• Our question to God Is there any life after
  death or do we cease to exist entirely?
• This is a great question because it would erase
  any doubt about the afterlife and help the human
  race conquer our fear of death.
• How might God respond?
• There is no life after death because you humans
  would still be imperfect as you are human,
  therefore, you will continue to create suffering
  because you are so small minded. Im sorry I
  created you this way, its my fault, but I realise
  my mistake and limit your suffering with death.
• How might a psychologist respond?
• This is a pessimistic view of humanity. What has
  lead you to think this way about humanity? The
  psychologist might ask whether the fear of hell
  after death is just as powerful in making people
  behave in certain ways as the fact (which we can
  never know)
• How might a Muslim respond?
• God is more optimistic about humans, God will
  forgive our small-mindedness and wants to reward
  us in an afterlife out of love. This life is made
  by Allah or our benefit and enjoyment
• How might a philosopher respond?
• Why does Allah / God rely on the Bible for
  telling us about heaven and why does he not come
  and tell us about it and confirm our hopes and
  our ideas? The philosopher would continue into
  the question in more depth and come up with
  varied answers.

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For better, thoughtful, spiritual engagement and
response in RE, what to do?

• Use and build RE links to the creative arts,
  energising self expression around spirituality in
  imaginative ways (do join RE Today for more help
  like this morning!)
• Ask pupils the questions of learning from
  religion and set up structures for their thinking
• Speculate about questions and answers together
• Try some of the frameworks for reflection in many
  units, lessons and settings
• No lively questions, no real RE
• Make time for AT2 and for spiritual development

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