Resources

Places of Worship • Stories to Remember • Christian Special Places • World Faiths • Teddy Horsley • Children & Communion • A-level  Journal  • Exploring Why • Exploring Our World  • Learning Church • Place of Trust • Cumberland • Randalph's Spiritual Quest and Search for Meaning


Exploring Our World Series

(Free resources for 3- to 7- year-old learners)
           
                   
        Journeys - Popular Themes                   Myself and Others - Popular Themes
                            
                       Journeys (5-7 year olds)                                        Myself and Others (3-5 year olds)



                                                   Times and Seasons - Popular Themes
                                               
                                                         Times and Seasons  (3 -5 year olds)


What is the series about?

Aled and Siān love doing exciting things and exploring the world around them. In the Exploring Our World series, Aled and Siān share some of their experiences with their Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim friends. Aled and Siān also enjoy listening to their friends' stories, and learn about how these relate to their own. This helps the friends get to know one another better.

The series takes seriously the social significance of religion and is based on extensive research into how children learn about themselves, others and the world in which they live.

This curriculum development project for 3-7 year olds is a Welsh Government commissioned resource, which is created and managed by the St Mary’s Centre, working with the St Giles’ Centre, Wrexham. All the resources are available in both Welsh and English, and were published in October 2016. These books are influenced by the Young People's Attitudes to Religious Diversity Project.

  • FREE downloads are available at the bottom of this web page.
  • The B5 paperback versions of the storybooks are available from the Welsh Books Council.

           
There are six storybooks in the series, which are devised for different age groups in the Foundation Phase including:
  • Journeys (5-7 year olds)
  • Special People (5-7 year olds)
  • Signs and Symbols (5-7 year olds)
  • Celebrations (3-5 year olds)
  • Myself and Others (3-5 year olds)
  • Times and Seasons (3-5 year olds)
Each storybook begins by exploring the popular theme from the perspective of two ordinary children (Aled and Sian), who then engage with the experiences of their Jewish, Muslim and Hindu friends. 


           
Each storybook is available in four different formats, which can be used flexibly, according to individual contexts. The four storybook formats comprise:
  • short text version
  • long text version
  • key question version
  • pictures only version
The short text version is the only one available as a hard copy, while the others are available electronically alongside the teachers’ and pupils’ information / activities.


           
The teachers’ and pupils’ information and activities follow the same pattern for each storybook title. This material is deliberately non-prescriptive and inherently flexible, recognising the nature of the Foundation Phase classroom today and also the importance of stimulating and supporting teacher creativity and individuality. For each double page of the storybook, there is:
  • a page of ideas for activities for each of the seven areas of learning for the Foundation Phase;
  • a pupil activity sheet/s to support one of these activity ideas;
  • a symbol link which takes you to further ideas for developing specific RE connections.
In total, for each storybook title there are at least 140 ideas for activities and 11 pupil activity sheets.
 

Accessing the Exploring Our World series


Journeys Story Book Cover    Journeys
    Short Story
    Extended Story
    Key Questions
    Pictures
    Resource activities for teachers and learners


Special People Story Book Cover   Special People
    Short Story
    Extended Story
    Key Questions
    Pictures
    Resource activities for teachers and learners


Signs and Symbols Story Book Cover   Signs and Symbols
    Short Story
    Extended Story
    Key Questions
    Pictures
    Resource activities for teachers and learners


Celebrations Story Book Cover   Celebrations
    Short Story
    Extended Story
    Key Questions
    Pictures
    Resource activities for teachers and learners


Myself and Others Story Book Cover   Myself and Others
    Short Story
    Extended Story
    Key Questions
    Pictures
    Resource activities for teachers and learners


Times and Seasons Story Book Cover   Times and Seasons
    Short Story
    Extended Story
    Key Questions
    Pictures
    Resource activities for teachers and learners