Staff Update

We’d like to formally welcome our new primary specialist to the team;

Chloe Sargent

Chloe Sargent has joined the team as our new primary specialist. Chloe studied Primary Education at UWE and graduated with First Class (HONS) in 2017. Since then, she has taught in a variety of schools across Bristol and South Gloucestershire and now works part-time with us. She’s a wonderful addition to our team; she brings energy and enthusiasm to the classroom and is highly skilled in creative planning and resourcing.

Christianity in the Media

We have a brand new Secondary lesson - also available as an online resource pack!

Christianity in the Media is a KS3 session that examines whether it is possible to accurately and fairly represent a person’s beliefs in the media. It addresses topics such as bias and fair reporting and we ask students to evaluate 2 recent stories about Christians in the news.

To book us to come in to deliver this session in your classroom, or to request the online resource pack, email us at bookings@encounterchristianity.co.uk.

Black Lives Matter: A Christian Response To Marvin Rees

Redland Green School have been creating a unit of work in response to the toppling of the Colston statue, during the BLM protests, in June last year. This will form part of the RE Live project, shared amongst other Bristol schools.

As part of this, they have invited us to create a video response with the opinions and reactions of Christians across Bristol. We are delighted to be part of this project, and one of the benefits of having to work virtually, is that we have been able to invite a variety of people to join in who might not usually be able to join us for in-school sessions. The video focuses on a response to some of Marvin Rees’ words on Jesus’ view of injustice. Thank you to all who took part in sending thoughtful and engaging responses for this video. You can watch it here!

March 2021: adapting to lockdown learning

Primary Update

This season has been a challenge to navigate in so many ways, not least in terms of emotional and mental wellbeing. This is why we have continued to provide wellbeing resources for Primary schools by releasing a video during Lockdown 3.0 entitled Exploring Emotions.

This short assembly and accompanying activity pack were designed to be sent to students learning from home. It supports children in pausing to take notice of their emotions; enabling them to identify some of the physical clues to how they are feeling. It encourages them to act, express through art, write, and talk about their emotions.


Secondary Update

Many of our GCSE sessions are being adapted to video format, to support students learning from home. The videos are accompanied by supporting questions and worksheets to engage students in deepening their reflections on the topic. In our most recent lesson, Lydia and Sharon unpack the terms mission and evangelism - what do they even mean? – and take a look at some real life examples of Christians who have taken Jesus’ command seriously to go and take the news about God near and far.

Images clockwise from top left: Sharon acting out the story of David in a Primary assembly; online Q&A with Lydia; task taken from our GCSE Mission and Evangelism session.

Supporting schools in a pandemic

September 2020 and schools are returning to the ‘new normal’ of life during a pandemic. This is a tough time for schools with many challenges such as helping students transition back into school life, promoting mental and emotional wellbeing and catching up on missed learning whilst making sure everyone is staying safe and healthy.

We have been getting creative with ways to support schools during this time..

We have created wellbeing resources for Primary schools. This has been well received by teachers who are helping children through an unprecedented change.

As well as offering to come into schools for sessions, following the government guidance, we have created a series of resource boxes that schools can borrow to explore different topics in their Christianity units.

This is a season of being creative and trying out new opportunities, and we have started by creating video content for assemblies. As a large gathering of year groups will not be possible in schools, this is a helpful tool for teachers to use in their classrooms.

As we look to the future under this new way of life, we are exploring new and creative options for supporting schools and providing resources to enhance their teaching of Christian RE.

Keep safe.