1. Wiltshire RE Starter Stimulus
Starter ideas for the following key question from the 2011 Agreed Syllabus:
KS2 16 Justice and poverty: can religions help to build a fair world?
This resource aims to provide some stimulus images and ideas to help pupils begin to address the above question.
It links to the following learning outcomes from p64 of the syllabus:
Pupils can:
i. Make connections between the teachings of Jesus and Paul and the work of one Christian agency today
ii. Make connections between the teachings of Islam and the work of Islamic Aid today
iii. Ask and respond to questions about fairness and justice in the world today
Many of the slides have notes to give suggestions for use. Look at the slide show in Normal mode and look for the notes at the bottom of the page.
© Wiltshire Council
Images © Christian Aid; permission given for their use in Wiltshire schools in this form.
Some possible learning outcomes from this resource: L3
I can describe Christian beliefs about justice and say how these are put into practice by Christian Aid
I can ask some questions of my own about justice in the world today and suggest two different answers to the questions. L4
I can describe how Christian and Muslim beliefs about justice might have an impact on the way someone lives their life.
I can express my own ideas about justice and poverty, referring to two ideas from religions or beliefs I have studied

2. On the next slide are a logo and strapline for a charity.
Use only the information on the slide.
In pairs, try and work out everything you can about the charity.
For example:
What do they do?
Why?
What do they think is important?
What kinds of things do they not like?
Why does there need to be a charity like this?
What kinds of people might be involved?

3. “We believe in life before death.”
The arrow logo is current in Christian Aid have used the strapline “We believe in life before death” for some years.
Christian Aid works to serve the poor in the world, to alleviate the effects of poverty, and ultimately to eradicate poverty.
The charity is motivated by its Christian commitment to bring justice through love, care and charity to those who are vulnerable. It is keen to focus on the present world, rather than imagining that Christian ideas of eternal life after death mean that we should not worry about suffering in this life. This explains their strapline.
Christian Aid is clear that it serves any people in need, regardless of their religion, ethnicity or nationality.
Details can be found here:
“We believe in life before death.”

4. Here is another Christian Aid logo.
What else does this show about what Christian Aid try to do?
Imagine you invite a Christian Aid worker in to your school. What questions would you like to ask them?
What answers might they give?

5. Christian Aid Week
Each year, Christian Aid volunteers distribute envelopes around the UK to collect money to support their work with poor people across the world.
Here is one of their posters for Christian Aid Week 2009.
What do you think it means?
Have a look at another poster on the next slide.

6. Think about the ways that Christian Aid try to get their message across.
Could you design a poster to encourage people to support the work of Christian Aid?

7. Who gets your money?
18% of the world do not have clean, safe drinking water.
14% of the world are hungry or malnourished.
12% cannot read (Source: )
You win a prize in a school raffle!
It was your birthday recently so you already have lots of good presents.
Now you have an extra £100 you weren’t expecting.
How are you going to spend it?
Look at the next slide for some ideas. Work in pairs to decide how you might spend the £100.
Explain why you are using your money like this.
Check out for a powerful video about the world as a village of 100 people, together with some good links to other sites relevant to this topic.
For current prices and loads more present ideas at Christian Aid’s Present Aid site

8. £9 will buy books and a uniform so a child can go to school.
£50 will buy you a noisy 4-piece drum kit!
£19 will pay for a goat, and provide an income from selling milk.
£71 will pay to send a child to school for a whole year in Bangladesh.
£25 will get you a Star Wars Darth Vadar dressing up kit. Just what you’ve always wanted!
£18 will pay for a floating garden, to give a farmer a source of income in times of flood.
£10 will complete your Barbie collection with a Barbie Hairtastic doll!
£86 will provide crutches for two children injured in conflict.
£15 will save lives by providing malaria test kits. These diagnose illness in minutes, so patients can be treated quickly.
£50 will buy you an interactive Buzz Lightyear and Woody
Millions of people are refugees from war or famine. £25 will buy food for a family for a whole month.
£12 can buy three watering cans. Where there are droughts, watering cans are essential tools for farmers.
Blow your full £100 on a 20” mountain bike.
Save a bit more and pay £120 for a bridge, so women will have a much easier walk to collect clean water.
£31 would buy a flock of ducks. A flood-proof income from eggs.
Save your money. Buy another raffle ticket. Perhaps you can buy a 12GB PS3 for only £160.
Change the items to ones that will be more appealing to your pupils in your class, so that there is a real dilemma about whether to spend on themselves or others. Make the items as appealing as possible!!

9. Some Christian teachings:
“Whatever you do or don’t do for anyone in need, you do or don’t do for me,” says Jesus. (Believers should treat everyone as though they were Jesus.
From Matthew 25:31-46)
Love one another (John 13:34)
Treat others as you would like to be treated. (Luke 6:31)
Love your neighbour as you love yourself. (Mark 12:31)
Some Islamic teachings:
“What will convey to you what the steep path is? It is to free a slave, or to give food in the day of hunger to an orphan near of kin, or to some poor wretch in misery.” (Qur’an 90)
“Believers, stand up firmly for justice, as witnesses for Allah… If you twist or turn from justice, Allah is well aware of what you do.”
(Qur’an 4:135)
How do the work of Christian Aid or Islamic Aid put these teachings into practice? Give some examples.

10. Taking it further:
Explore the websites of Christian Aid ( ) and Islamic Aid ( ). Find out what they do, where they do it and why. Both sites include resources for teachers. Explore the motivation for their work – what does it tell pupils about what matters to Christians and Muslims?
Use the information from . Get 100 of your pupils and divide them up according to the statistics. What would it be like to live in this village of 100 people, with all that diversity and all that injustice? (A version of this using jelly babies can be found in Opening Up Respect, ed. Fiona Moss, )
Take action! Explore some of the work that Christian Aid and other agencies do and see if your class can raise some money to contribute. Volunteering and working for the good of others is at the heart of religious faith, but it is also good citizenship, and beneficial for pupils’ well-being, character and spiritual and moral development.