CAFOD launches new GCSE Religious Studies resources to highlight global justice issues

CAFOD has launched a new set of GCSE Religious Studies (RS) resources - in time for the start of the new school year - to help teachers tackle global justice issues within the classroom.

The dedicated website, found at: www.cafod.org.uk/gcse, contains more than 40 free resources including activities, films and factsheets specifically designed to fit with the AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas exam specifications of the national GCSE RS curriculum.

The resources cover a range of topics including the causes and effects of poverty and Christian responses, Stewardship of creation and CAFOD's approach to sustainability, and issues around conflict and peace-building, including Christian responses to refugees.

Created specifically for the Catholic Christianity element of the GCSE RS exam, the resources are suitable for any Christianity paper, and can be used in any secondary school.

The website includes a selection of short and engaging films on key principles of Catholic Social Teaching, including an animation on Human Dignity, alongside CAFOD's existing RE resources which support the new RE framework for 11-14 year olds, People of God.

A dedicated 'Learning hub' page for students is also available on the site, at: www.cafod.org.uk/learninghub.

The dedicated RE curriculum website works by grouping all CAFOD's resources for each unit of the course by exam board and under easy-to-access headings. CAFOD hopes the site will become an invaluable hub of information for teachers looking for new RS materials over the next few years.

Charmaine Clinch, a former secondary head of RE, who helped create the resources for CAFOD, said: "The new resources are designed to make young people think critically about the world they live in and to challenge perceptions. They provide opportunities to explore a range of global justice issues such as exploitation - of people and the environment. They also offer an encouragement for them to do something about it. The feedback from pupils who have trialled some of the activities shows that they enjoy the challenge."

Ms Clinch, who also has over 30 years' experience working in schools, said: "When the decision was made to reform GCSEs in England and Wales in 2014, there was excitement that this might be a chance to 'get it right' yet also trepidation as to what we might end up with.

Now, with the new specifications in place, comes the opportunity to provide current, relevant and above all, useful resources.

CAFOD has been proactive in both seeing and responding to this need, and as far as I am aware, they are the only organisation to organise and link resources to specific exam boards.

No matter how many good resources are on a website, few teachers have time to trawl through and link/adapt things to suit their needs. What CAFOD is offering is invaluable."

To register for free GCSE RE resources this September and find out more about the global justice resources visit: www.cafod.org.uk/gcse