Beliefs

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Lesson Overview:

This RE lesson was the first in a new topic entitled ‘Beliefs’, which is the last topic looked at in Year 1. The topic enables the children to reflect upon what they have learned throughout the year.

We started off the lesson by reading two poems from the book ‘We are Britain’ by Benjamin Zephaniah. The book is a celebration of modern day Britain, with the varied beliefs and traditions of British people today. We sat in a circle and lit a candle to encourage an atmosphere of thoughtfulness and respect and introduced the first question, ‘What do you think about the idea of God?’ We passed an object around the circle and on receiving the object, the children could choose whether to ‘pass’ or answer the question. It was lovely to see the children so respectful of the viewpoints of others.

After this, we moved to the discussion. Instead of raising their hand, the children were encouraged to show they wanted to contribute by putting one of their hands with the palm facing upwards. This was to encourage the children to wait patiently to take part. As the discussion moved forwards, the children shared their beliefs, listened to the contributions of others and commented on what had been said.

All in all, it was a very positive lesson and I was extremely pleased with the level of understanding and respect shown. I look forward to building upon this as the children move up to Year 2 and beyond.

- Teacher - Mrs Mathison