Table of Contents:
1. Teacher’s background information.
Invite a Christian visitor, an active Christian, into school to talk about themselves and to answer the children’s questions.
Find out how they express their Christian faith:
- a) within their family?
- b) within the community?
- c) within the Church?
- d) within the nation/world?
What motivates them?
How did they become a Christian?
Why and how do they pray, etc?
It would probably be good to show the class before the visit, the moment Simon Peter (in the Bible) chose to believe in Jesus, or in other words, to become a Christian.
With that in mind, it may be good to have some understanding of what the Christian visitor may share about their faith. See the video below.
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2. Lesson plans and resources for the Christian visitor to talk at school
Try to ask someone who is a believer, who attends a church, who has a secular job, or who is retired. Preferably not the Vicar or Minister:
[a] Organise a Christian Visitor to talk in the RE lesson
[b] Questions to ask the Christian Visitor at school for the KS2 lesson
[c] Possible videos to show before the visit:
What becoming a Christian may look like.
We are all tempted to do wrong things. (Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness).
[d] Possible song to play before the visit:
‘Growing! Spring into Life’
3. Videos to show before the Christian visitor:
[a] A video that shows what becoming a Christian may look like. A Bible Story (2.12 minutes long)
[b] We are all tempted to do wrong things. Here is a video of Jesus being tempted. (4.15 minutes long)
4. A free children’s song about growing in faith.
This song by John Hardwick can be used in R.E. lessons, assemblies, collective worship, church children’s talks, Sunday schools, etc.
[a] ‘Growing! Spring into Life’ Kid’s Praise Song.
5. How to fulfil the locally agreed syllabus for a ‘Christian visitor to talk at school’
Hopefully, you will be able to match your local agreed syllabus with what is here, which satisfies eight councils:
These lesson plans are based on the Progression Documents of The Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Peterborough, and Rutland County Councils. This is in the light blue text.
The green text is from other Councils: Lewisham Borough, West Sussex, Hull and East Riding.
Here are the main aims of the lesson plan:
- Have an opportunity to talk with believers from different churches.
- If possible, engage with Christians from your locality who will answer questions about their faith and life.
- Investigate why and how people pray. Hear and talk about some famous prayers.
- Find out about Christian weddings in a church and compare them with other weddings known to your pupils.
- What is a wedding?
- What are the religious rituals and ceremonies connected with important times in life?
- Understand the challenges of commitment to a community of faith or belief.
- Suggest why belonging to a community may be valuable.
- Consider and apply ideas about ways in which diverse communities can live together for the well-being of all, responding thoughtfully to ideas about community, values and respect.
- What are the outward signs that a person belongs to a religious family?
- Discuss and present their own and others’ views on challenging questions about belonging, meaning, purpose and truth.
- Respond thoughtfully to ideas about community, values, and respect.
- Show understanding of the challenges of commitment to a community of faith or belief, suggesting why belonging to a community may be valuable.
Key vocabulary: Baptism, Bible, Christ, Church, Disciple, Faith, God, Gospel, Holy, Jesus, Prayer, Ten Commandments, Worship.