Wiltshire RE Starter Stimulus
Starter ideas for the following key question from the 2011 Agreed Syllabus:
KS2.1 What do different people believe about God?
These images offer a way in to getting your pupils thinking about this
question.
The slides give some pupils’ responses, revealing different beliefs about
God.
You might pose some questions and get pupils to pose their own: e.g.
Is God in a person’s heart? Is God in a place of worship? In the sky?
Beyond the stars? Underneath everything? Through the whole world? Is
God hiding? Is God quiet, or does God speak? What is God like? How does
believing in God help some people?
It offers a flexible resource for you to use with pupils – for example, you may
decide to select some images for your pupils rather than all of them. Some
suggestions for use are given in the notes with some slides and on slides 1517.
Josh, 7, says:
God is in my heart.
God is bigger than me.
“This is spiritual because
the colours stand for all
the good things the
person is praying for.
God loves everyone just
as much as everyone
else.”
Olivia and Hannah, 11.
Can God be found in
prayer?
This Muslim boy is 9. His picture
shows that Muslims don’t make
pictures of God, but they do believe
God is able to see everything that we
do.
7 year old Shahzad says that God
/ Allah is everywhere. She drew
this mosque to show that humans
can draw near to God at the
mosque, but really they are never
apart from God.
“The reason I chose this title is because
God is everywhere; in shells, in animals
and in your mind. You might not see God
but God is everywhere and constantly
looking over all the people and animals in
the world, from when you wake up in the
morning to when you fall asleep at night.”
Chloe, age 10
Allah is the Islamic word for “God”. In Islam, Allah
cannot be pictured. This pupil has used a repeater
pattern. It shows that God – Allah – is in all things.
Sophie is 10.
If you had to give the prize for Spirited Arts,
which picture would win the prize for…
…being the happiest?
…being the most lively?
…telling the most about what God is like?
…being the one that makes you ask the best
questions?
These resources are intended as a flexible starter stimulus for the unit “What
do different people believe God is like?” They give answers from within
Christian, Muslim and Hindu traditions.
Here are some suggestions for ways you can use the images, and ideas for
taking the unit further.
1. Key words
Give pupils the following key words that fit a Christian understanding of God.
Help them to find out what they mean if they are unsure of any terms.
Give them a selection of images from this resource and ask them to match
these terms with the images, where possible. Where there are no images to
match the words, ask pupils to think about how to express that idea in art.
loving
invisible
omnipotent
Father
Spirit
Creator
omnipresent
omniscient
perfect
good
eternal
indescribable
2. Key texts
Give pupils one of the following texts. One is from the Jewish and Christian
scriptures, the other from Islam.
Put the text in the centre of the piece of paper. Ask pupils to label where
part of this text is illustrated by the artwork in this resource. E.g. Jade
(slide 9) has illustrated the idea that God is Creator, “setting the earth on its
foundations”. Can pupils match the words from slide 16 too?
The Lord is compassionate and
gracious, slow to anger, full of love.
As high as the heavens are above
the earth, so great is his love for
those who worship him.
The Lord has set his throne in
heaven and his kingdom rules over
all.
He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
(from Psalms 103 & 104)
In the name of Allah, Most
Gracious, Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, the
Cherisher and Sustainer of the
Worlds;
Most Gracious, Most Merciful;
Master of the day of
Judgement.
It is You that we worship and to
You alone do we turn for help.
Show us the straight way.
(from Surah 1, Al-Fatihah)
www.natre.org.uk/spiritedarts
All of these images come from pupil entries to
the annual Spirited Arts competition. Have a
look at the amazing gallery on the website.
Why not enter your pupils into the annual
competition?
Details are online, including the themes for the
year.
Closing date: end of July each year.