Table of Contents:
1. Teacher’s background information.
What is a parable?
What are the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, and the other parables of Jesus all about?
The topics covered are:
- Parable of the Lost Son/Prodigal Son
- The Parable of the Good Samaritan
- How should we behave?
- Who am I important to?
ASSESSMENT AIM: 1. Sacred Texts (Stories, Scriptures, parables & teachings)
Can retell a religious story or parable
Can identify a sacred book (e.g. Bible)
Can explain why a sacred text is important to believers
The children will learn about:
- Getting lost.
- What can happen when you selfishly put yourself first?
- Loving and helping your neighbours.
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2. Lesson plans and resources for The Parables of Jesus
[a] The Parables of Jesus. The lesson plan is a downloadable PDF document to present to the children.
[b] The Parables of Jesus lesson plan is a PowerPoint slideshow viewable or downloadable for teachers to show the children. (Opens in a new tab on www.slideshare.net) featuring the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan parables.
[c] Parables of Jesus free lesson plan video based on a PowerPoint presentation. Created with 5-second slides, so pause the video to enable the children to study each slide: (Same material as the PowerPoint above).
[d] Free videos and songs:
Cartoon videos of the parables of ‘The Lost Sheep’ and ‘The Sower’, see below.
For fun children’s songs, see below.
3. The Parables of Jesus – video Bible Stories
[a] The Parable of the Sower explained – a children’s cartoon Bible story (2.52 minutes long)
[b] The Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin explained – a children’s cartoon Bible story. (3.37 minutes long).
4. Free children’s songs about Resilience, the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan.
These songs can be used in R.E. lessons, assemblies, collective worship, church children’s talks, Sunday schools, etc.
[a] Bouncing Back Song – Resilience & Wellbeing Song. By John Hardwick.
Life is full of ups and downs – highs and lows!
But life is worth ‘living’, not just hiding away, so here is a fun, catchy, bouncy song to encourage us to Bounce Back. Perfect song for schools!
[b] The story of ‘The Prodigal Son’ by Saddleback Kids.
[c] ‘The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)’ by Saddleback Kids.
[d] Love Thy Neighbour – But Who is my Neighbour? (1.59 minutes long)
A poem for Kids.
5. How to fulfil the locally agreed syllabus on ‘The Parables of Jesus lesson plan’
Hopefully, you will be able to match your local agreed syllabus with what is here.
This lesson plan is based on the UK RE Attainment Targets.
Here is the Mapping Grid for the Attainment Target Categories:
- Sacred Texts – stories, scriptures, parables, teachings
- Beliefs – ideas about God, truth, meaning, purpose
- Practices – worship, prayer, festivals, rituals, lifestyle
- Identity – belonging, community, worldview, personal reflection
- Values – moral ideas, attitudes, virtues
- Living – how beliefs affect actions and everyday life
🎯 Why This Grid Works for UK Schools
✔ Matches Agreed Syllabus expectations
✔ Supports progression from KS1 to KS2
✔ Aligns with Ofsted language (knowledge, understanding, impact)
✔ Works for lesson planning, assessment, and inspection evidence
✔ Non-political, non-denominational, UK-appropriate
For many local syllabi, in KS1, Christianity plus at least one other major religion is studied.
Effective RE should combine:
- knowledge (stories, beliefs, practices)
- understanding (why people believe/do what they do)
- reflection (personal response, values, empathy).
Typical Key Questions for KS1
Here are common “core/enquiry” questions or themes that appear in most KS1 agreed syllabi:
- “Who am I?” (Identity).
- “What does it mean to belong?” (Belonging).
- “What makes some people so important?” (Important people).
- “Where did we come from / how did the world begin?” (Simple beliefs).
- “What makes some stories so important to different people?” (Sacred books).
- “Why are festivals, symbols or special stories important?” (Stories & moral values).
- “Why are some places so important?” (Important places).
These then required merging within the Assessment Aims, but as can be seen, there had to be some overlapping of the themes/core questions:
- ASSESSMENT AIM: 1. SACRED TEXTS (Stories, Scriptures, parables & teachings) – [SACRED TEXTS & WHO AM I?]
- ASSESSMENT AIMS: 2. BELIEFS (Ideas about God, truth, meaning & purpose) – CREATION & IMPORTANT PEOPLE]
- ASSESSMENT AIM: 3. PRACTICES (worship, prayer, festivals, rituals & lifestyle) – [FESTIVALS & PLACES]
- ASSESSMENT AIM: 4. IDENTITY (belonging, community, worldview & personal reflection) – [BELONGING & IDENTITY]
- ASSESSMENT AIMS: 5. VALUES (moral ideas, attitudes, virtues, right & wrong) – [FESTIVALS & BELONGING]
- ASSESSMENT AIMS: 6. LIVING (how beliefs affect actions and everyday life) – [IMPORTANT PEOPLE & FESTIVALS]
Each assessment had its own set of questions to answer. These are included in