Core knowledge for pupils
RE expects some tough thinking.
• You will learn to use some key words such as Blessed, Bible,
Gospel, Beatitudes, justice, mercy. Can you apply these ideas
for yourself? Try to use the words and explain how and why
Christians try to put the teaching of Jesus into action.
RE always encourages you to be thoughtful and imaginative
Can you learn to:
• Respond thoughtfully to some ‘wise words’ from long ago,
thinking for yourself about Jesus’ teachings.
• Explore and describe some Christian beliefs and sources of
wisdom so that you can say how and why Christians try to
follow Jesus.
Which sentences won? Which
ones did you think should
have done better?
32 Sentence Knockout
• We are going to play a knockout discussion, to decide on
the winning ideas about what makes us happy. You will
have to think!
• The ‘knockout’ activity, works like a sports draw: each of
the sentences is ‘drawn against’ one other, and you have to
decide by discussion which one is most likely to make us
happy. That one goes through to the next round.
• By the time you get to the quarter finals, semis and final,
the sentences left will probably include some of the major
things which make us happy
• After the discussion, then you will be asked to create your
own ‘8 sentences for the road to happiness.’
32 Sentence Knockout: You are happy if…
You are happy if you are
loved
You are happy if you
have a friend
You are happy if school
is over
You are happy if you
have no worries
You are happy if there is
peace in your country
You are happy if your
family is together
You are happy if there is
chocolate in your hand
You are happy if you
have plenty of money
You are happy if you are
helping someone else
You are happy if you
have love in your life
You are happy if you are
safe
You are happy if
nothing scares you
You are happy if you
You are happy if you
You are happy if you
can forget tomorrow
feel God near you
don’t expect much
and yesterday
You are happy if you You are happy if you are You are happy if you are
You are happy if the sun
don’t let the rain get to
together with your
together with your
shines on you
you
mates
family
You are happy if you
You are happy if you
You are happy if your
You are happy if you
have a new games
feel thankful, and say it!
pet loves you
make peace in your life
console and phone
You are happy if you You are happy if you are
You are happy if you
You are happy if you
know your mum loves
dancing to your
take time to notice the
forget your troubles
you
favourite song
beauty of the earth
You are happy if you
You are happy if your
You are happy if you You are happy if you are
can be alone, but never
pray
win
loved by God
lonely
You are happy if you get
the joke
Make a cartoon to show what Jesus meant by
one of his 8 sentences for happy life.
• This activity takes some difficult teaching of
Jesus – the Beatitudes, from the Sermon on
the Mount, and asks pupils to create a
cartoon-style drawing that expresses the
teaching.
• Look at three other children’s work.
• Look at the sayings of Jesus and decide which
one you could turn into a cartoon. Think
hard!
9 year olds made these
cartoons of their own
beatitudes.
Do you think being
happy with what you
have is important?
Why?
How would you draw a
cartoon to show your
ideas?
What do you think Christians
mean by ‘having your heart right
with God’? How would you draw
this one?
Dan, 10, shows what he thinks
about how you should react if
people pick on you for no good
reason.
Sometimes Christians have
been picked on like this: it is
called ‘persecution.’
Can you create cartoons for
some more of Jesus’
surprising sayings? Try to get
at the real meaning of the
teaching.
On the next side is a simplified
version of Jesus’ 8 Beatitudes
or Blessings
8
The road to happiness: Jesus said:
• You are happy if you rely on God, not yourself
God’s kingdom belongs to you
• You are happy if you wish things were better
You will be comforted.
• You are happy if you think you are low down
God will give you all the Earth
• You are happy if you long for justice.
One day you will be satisfied
• You are happy if you are full of mercy
Others will then show mercy to you
• You are happy if your heart is pure
You will see God
• You are happy if you make peace
You will be known as a child of God
• You are happy if you are picked on for doing good
God’s kingdom belongs to you.
8 sentences for the road to happiness
My sentences for the road
to happiness
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
I think this makes people
happy because…
I try to put this into
practice by…
My Beatitudes
Aiden Tompkins, age 8
Blessed are those who starve and thirst
For they understand God's feeling.
Blessed are those who appreciate others' respect and love
For they will respect and love back.
Blessed are those who tolerate the world
For they listen to each other.
Blessed are those who are responsible for their actions
For they are responsible to God.
Blessed are those who care for their neighbours
For they care for God's love.
Blessed are those who trust their neighbours
For they trust God and the world.
Blessed are those who feel friendship in others
For they will be friends with the world and God.
Blessed are those who show happiness to the world
For they show happiness to God.
Well done! Here are some things you may
have achieved in this work
Working towards the expected outcomes for 11 year olds, pupils working at level 3 will be able
to:
 Describe simply what Jesus taught his followers in the Beatitudes;
 Make links between ‘ancient wisdom’ and modern life, talking thoughtfully about what makes
us happy;
 Give a simple reaction to one or more of Jesus’ sayings, asking their own good questions
about what makes us happy.
Working at the expected outcomes for 11 year olds, pupils working at level 4 will be able to:
 Use words like ‘blessing’. ‘beatitudes’, justice and mercy to show they understand some
meanings of Jesus’ teaching
 Show their understanding of Jesus’ ideas about blessings and happiness, in a cartoon,
discussion or piece of writing
 Apply ideas from the Beatitudes to a story of Christian action in the contemporary world
(from SUNARMA in Ethiopia).
Working beyond the expected outcomes for 11 year olds, pupils working at level 5 will be able
to:
 Explain what some of the Beatitudes mean, giving examples
 Explain why these ‘8 Sentences’ are so important for Christian people, giving reasons for their
own ideas
 Express their own ideas and views about ‘the way to happiness’ in the light of the learning
from religion they have been doing.
The visions of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes
14 year old Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes saw a series of 18 visions of
Mary, the Mother of Jesus in a cave in 1858. A spring of water gushed up
from the ground during one of these visions, and still flows today. She
was amazed and overwhelmed by her visions.
She was mocked and ridiculed, but she maintained her story, and the
visions were eventually affirmed as genuine. Lourdes became famous
because the appearances of the Virgin Mary there, and it became a
centre for Christian prayer for healing. Over 160 years later, about 4
million pilgrims visit the grotto at Lourdes every year: it is a major place
of Catholic pilgrimage in Europe.
The children who did the work in this RE example had studied her life.
They were asked to consider whether she is a good example of a person
who put Jesus’ teaching, in the Beatitudes, into action. They created
some pictures to illustrate ways in which Bernadette put Jesus’ teaching
into action. Have a look, and see if you can do the same with another
key Christian leader.
Jesus taught his
followers: Blessed are
the merciful, for they will
receive mercy.’
Bernadette forgave
people who wronged her
even if they never said
they were sorry.
In this work you will
learn about the story of
Saint Bernadette and
about Jesus teachings.
You can think for
yourself: was she a good
follower of Jesus?
Does her story help us to
understand some of
Jesus’ teachings better?
“Bernadette didn’t react to the police man or anyone else who was mean to her.”
Children were invited to choose one of Jesus’ 8 Beatitudes and apply it to the story
of Saint Bernadette. Did she follow Jesus teachings? How?
This hard task enables lots of good thinking and real engagement with the
meaning of Jesus’ words. Simple version on the next slide>
The road to happiness:
Simple versions of what Jesus said in Matthew 5
• You are happy if you rely on God, not yourself
God’s kingdom belongs to you
• You are happy if you wish things were better
You will be comforted.
• You are happy if you think you are low down
God will give you all the Earth
• You are happy if you long for justice.
One day you will be satisfied
• You are happy if you are full of mercy
Others will then show mercy to you
• You are happy if your heart is pure
You will see God
• You are happy if you make peace
You will be known as a child of God
• You are happy if you are picked on for doing good
God’s kingdom belongs to you.
For Catholic Christians, Saint
Bernadette is famous because she saw
18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
People did not believe her, and laughed
at her. But she had faith in what she
saw.
Jesus said: “Blessed are the merciful.
They will receive mercy.”
“Bernadette forgave those who laughed
at her.”
In this work, Year 4 teacher
Trish Ebbrell of St.
Werburgh's & St.
Columba's Catholic Primary
School, Chester, wanted
her pupils to get to grips
with the Beatitudes. These
are tough texts for 9 year
olds, so she tried an
approach which linked the
sayings of Jesus to the life
of Saint Bernadette. She
asked the class:
Did Saint Bernadette live
out the Beatitudes of
Jesus? What do you
think?
Saint Bernadette loved to
take Holy Communion. The
children here think this
shows she was hungry for
righteousness, for God’s
rule of justice in her life.
This child interprets the modern version of the
Beatitude: “God will give you all the Earth: you are
happy if you long for justice. Bernadette really
wanted Holy Communion: that is how much she
loved God.”
Jesus said: You are happy if
you are poor in spirit. God’s
kingdom belongs to you.
Saint Bernadette was not
proud. She knew she was
just one person, but she
never gave up. Do you think
God rewarded her?
Today, Lourdes, where she
had her vision, is visited by
over 4 million Christians each
summer.
This pupil’s idea is that
Saint Bernadette was poor
in spirit. She may not have
believed in herself, but she
did believe in God, always.
“Bernadette: The Kingdom
is everybody’s if in God.’
“Bernadette got slapped in
the face by a lady. The lady
was not happy with
Bernadette because she
kept going to the grotto.’
Did this make her a good
follower of Jesus?
“Saint Bernadette still
believed in what she
saw even though lots of
people laughed at her.”
Did this show that she
was a good follower of
Jesus? How?
Task:
Can pupils write some blessings of their own?
• Remind pupils that Beatitudes
cane begin ‘Blessed are those…’
or ‘You are happy if…’
• The second line says what will
happen if a person follows the
wisdom of the first line:
• ‘You are happy if you forgive
other people. Then they will
forgive you when you go wrong.’
• Invite the pupils to discuss
and then write 4
‘Beatitudes; of their own,
with spiritually wise ideas
in them.
• Topics could include: love,
forgiveness, prayer,
money, pride and humility,
having an open heart or a
pure heart, kindness,
enemies and many more.
• The next slide, by 9-year
old Holly, shows how it’s
done.
Task:
More teachings, more inspiring lives
• Take another story of a leader from a
religious community and your teaching will
give you some sayings from the scriptures of
that religion.
• Consider: did this leader put the scripture
teachings into action? Draw a picture and
show how the teachings were put into action
by the leader you have been learning about.
Was this leader a good follower?
Well done… did you show that you can…
• Think carefully about the meaning of some sentences from
the Bible.
• Make a link between a famous life story and what Jesus
taught.
• Think of a simple ‘Beatitude’ of my own and illustrate it with
a picture. (Expected for most 9 year olds)
• Suggest different possible meanings for some of the
Beatitudes.
• Apply Jesus’ ideas about blessing and happiness to a famous
life story for myself.
• Express my own ideas about blessing and happiness in a
clear and well thought out way. (Expected for some 11 year
olds)