Policies and procedures, school inspections

In our opinion, one of the best comprehensive resource directories available is the Salisbury Diocesan Board of Education Resource Portal - it contains a wide range of documents for school governors and head teachers to set policy and deal with situations from school inspections to admissions and appeals.

You can also find a full range of documentation relating to SIAS inspections at The National Society for Promoting Religious Education.

Recommended resources

Earlier this year, we ran a survey to find out which resource sites school and church workers use and recommend. Here are the sites you mentioned (most popular at the top):

• BBC Schools - includes broadcast information, materials for each key stage and media including tours of sacred buildings. Katy Staples recommends the forums and chat rooms for students which can now be found at the Student Life site (formerly "Onion Street")
• Teachernet was a popular home for government advice and resources. Since the change of government in May 2010, the most up to date official resources can now be found at education.gov.uk
• Primary Resources has been online since 1998 and hosts a formidable stash of lesson plans, presentations and ideas, and is highly used by teachers in our Diocese
• The Culham Institute and their family of sites also come highly recommended. These include REOnline (designed as a starting point for RE with teacher and student resources for all Key Stages), the Collective Worship Resource, the Story Keepers and a special site for clergy dealing with RE in schools
• RE Today is another popular site which is also recommended by Katy Staples
• Scripture Union and its family of sites was popular with both schools and churches in our area. Specialising in Bible-based resources, Scripture Union offers not only written material but community projects and events such as X:site for 7-11 year olds - running in Swindon and Chippenham
• Roots also provide popular Bible-based resources to help with worship
• Schoolswork is an attractive, resource-rich, networking site packed with lesson and assembly plans. The ability to join free as a member and connect with other members who may be able to help you is one of this site's most popular features
• Youthwork is Schoolswork's sister site for church-based work. It is also the website for the magazine of the same name

Other websites recommended by readers include: The Children's Society, Christian Aid, Bible Gateway, Barnabas In Schools, Danielle's Place of crafts and activities, YouthPastor.com, Colllective Worship, the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education, YFC Schools Resources and the media illustration site Wing Clips.

I.T. and video

• If you are looking to make the most of technology, Katy Staples recommends exploring the online materials of Cumbria and Lancashire Education Online
• For those who can access YouTube, the RE Teachers group is a shared resource of clips teachers have found useful.
• A more specialised site for videos related to PHSE, RE and citizenship is TrueTube
• Looking for material written by other teachers, or would you like to share your own and earn royalties? The Methodist Church has produced Twelve Baskets for sharing all kinds of media.
• A couple of example videos for starters - Teenage Affluenza is a witty way into studying wealth and poverty, and Muslim Prayer - No Excuse To Miss It is good for the study of Islamic prayer.

What do you recommend?

Tell us about a site or resource you find useful, and what you like about it, and we'll publish suggestions to help other readers of this site. Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it