BELIEVE IT OR NOT

St. Gabriel's Weekend

I have just come back from a weekend conference in Reading with 300 other RE teachers!  The conference, put on by The Culham Institute, enables delegates to attend various seminars about teaching the subject of RE, provides an opportunity to ask questions to HMI, QCA and Ofsted representatives (the people who decide what we teach in schools!) but, more importantly, it enables teachers to share chat and share ideas about something we all love - teaching RE!  I attended seminars on ICT in RE, using Learning Styles (watch out Miss Garcia!), levelling assessments and the new non-statutory Framework for RE.  I've also come back with some great, fun activities to use in class which I am going to try out tomorrow - so watch out and let me know what you think!!

Radio Five Live

Nodehill hits the headlines (part two!)  Well not headlines really but definitely fame!  Radio Five Live asked Nodehill to compose a podcast of all our subject blogs as we are, apparently, the school with the most departmental blogs in the country!!  Have a listen and leave a comment about what you think.  (Obviously if there was a competition about the best one at Nodehill...)Download Nodehill_bloggers_on_Radio_5_Live.mp3

Centenary Celebrations

My Slideshow 10/8/07

Get a Voki now!

Every class, during their weekly RE lesson, transferred their draft design onto acetate.  The 'top ten' designs from each class were then given to members of the School Council who had to decide on the best from each class as well as a best overall - an unenviable job!  In fact they found it so difficult that in the end they chose a design by Macauley Buchan (8JH) as the best 'logo' design and a design by Laura Burnett (8NW) as the best 'stained glass window' design.

Winning designs were made into a display in readiness for our Open Day last week and each class has an array of designs decorating the windows in their classrooms.

Have a look at the slideshow of the best in each class and leave a comment to let me know what you think.

By Laura Burnett 8NW

By Macauley Buchan (8JH)

Five minute quickies

             Year 7s and 8s get their RE brains in gear at the start of each lesson by discussing with a partner their views on the BIG question of the week.  This week's 'quickie' is 'Why do some people believe in God?'  Pupils have a few minutes to discuss this with their partner then different opinions are aired to the whole class.  Hopefully it gives pupils the opportunity to respect other's views and help give them the confidence to express how they feel about such huge issues.  Pupils are also invited to write their own burning questions on post-it notes which will be looked at another week.  Any suggestions via blog comments would be great also.

Daily Bread

The whole school got to taste a range of different types of bread this week.  Have you clicked on Mrs Hume's new cookery blog by mistake?  No!  At our Special Act of Services a Christian visitor, Mrs Alison Holbrook, brought in the bread as part of her talk on our theme of the week, Caring and Sharing.  Pupils were told the story of Moses and the Manna from the book of Exodus and how the manna was shared between the Israelites.  Well done to the readers in Years 6 and 7 and thank you to the pupils from each class who lit a candle to represent us joining together in worship.

What do you think of our Special Acts of Service?  What would you like to see included?  Is there a particular theme/religion/festival you think would be interesting to look at?  Let me know your views by leaving a comment.

Welcome Back!

Just thought I would welcome you all back to school after the summer (!) holidays and welcome also to all the new Year 5s.  Some of you may have realised that there has been a major change in RE at Nodehill over the summer.  Some of you may have realised that I am no longer in Year 5 but have made the giant step to Year 7!  Some of you may have realised that you have ALL got me as your RE teacher - unlucky!  Yes that is right I have the privilege of teaching RE to all 650ish of you!  Some of you may also have realised there has been a transformation in C6 from a Geography/ECO room to an RE room, full of displays, artefacts and even a Chinese dragon!  Well I think it is an extremely exciting time for RE at Nodehill and I can't wait to convince you all that RE is a FAB subject!  See you in C6!

Special Acts of Service

This week saw further Special Acts of Service for KS2 and KS3.  On Tuesday Roger Whatley, a Governor of the School came to take the service for pupils from years 5 and 6. The theme of the week was 'Seeing is Believing' and he spoke of Thomas' doubts and that it is OK to doubt as long as you question things and research the answers to those questions. 

KS3 Special Act of Service looked at the theme of the week through the Muslim faith.  Year 8 pupils have recently been looking at the belief in God from various religions and some classes have developed this further by questioning whether our Special Acts of Service meet every pupil's needs.  Pupils were able to see the year 5 pupils perform their Muhammad play, as it is the month of his birthday.  Muhammad was concerned with the behaviour of the people of Makkah and went to the hills to pray.  Pupils were invited to think about things that concerned them about their world, and were given time to reflect on those things.    They listened to some Islamic music and watched images of our world, the creatures that inhabit it and humans, their impact, whether good or bad, all created, Muslims believe, by Allah.

Let me know your thoughts on these services.

S.A.C.R.E. A.G.M.

The Annual General Meeting of the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education took place last Wednesday at Medina Theatre.  Before all the business side of things there was a celebration of RE by Island schools. Summerfields Primary School performed some Caribean songs and music, Ryde High School showed a powerpoint and displayed pupils work and some year five pupils from Nodehill performed a play about Muhammad's life.  Year 5 have been learning about Islam this term and they have not only been able to retell the story of Muhammad but they have looked at why he is important to Muslims today and the importance of the various events to Muslims.

R.E. work from each year group was also on display and received many positive comments.  Year 7 work on Christianity and Year 8 work on 'Respect' was considered very high standard. 

I would like to thank all pupils who took part, whether in the play or their display work. I was very proud of you all.

KS2 and KS3 Special Act of Service

Nodehill pupils have this week taken part in Special Acts of Services which have been led by one of our Governors, Rev. Roger Whatley.  The services were divided into two with Years 5 and 6 on Tuesday's Key Stage Two's Service and Thursday's Key Stage Three Service. At the beginning of the service a representative from each class lit a candle as a sign of gathering together. Both Services followed the theme of the week which was Teamwork and pupils participated through listening to music, playing music, even signing hymns.  But, most importantly, they had an opportunity for some quiet time to reflect. Leave a comment on the blog and tell us what you thought.