After six successful years as a resource for Primary schools, Cracking RE has been relaunched! Cracking Infant RE and Cracking Junior RE have been developed in response to requests to make the material more age specific. The two magazines therefore feature the same topics; the material is then developed appropriately for each age group.

In addition to the high quality RE material which teachers who have previously subscribed to Cracking RE will be familiar with, Cracking Infant RE and Cracking Junior RE also use the Christianity topics within RE as a springboard for teaching PSHE and citizenship. The magazines also contain links from the main topics to other areas of the curriculum. In addition, a number of assemblies explore the topics further.

The age-specific magazines are accompanied by a Teachers' Supplement, which contains features and articles on effective teaching and learning in RE.

Content:

Cracking Infant RE and Cracking Junior RE have been designed with the needs of the busy classroom teacher in mind. Each magazine is packed full of practical ideas for teaching and for leading assemblies. The material can be used with local syllabuses, QCA and RE Programmes nationwide; it can also be used to supplement and resource the QCA school designed units and the topics also link with PSHE and citizenship guidelines.

Each magazine contains:

• 36 full colour A4 pages
• Two substantial topics, developed both in RE and PSHE
• Ideas for extending the topics into other subjects
• Full teacher's notes
• Differentiated learning activities, including for pupils with Special Needs
• Photocopiable activity sheets
• 8 assemblies with photocopiable illustrations

Teaching strategies:

In the past, Cracking RE has used a number of teaching strategies, most recently MICE, which introduces religious material to children in a way which is interesting and easy to understand. MICE is an acronym for Mystery (for example, a picture, song, story or poem), Investigation (pupils are encouraged to explore the Mystery through conversation), Content (activities and stories cover the content), Experience and Expression (relates the material to pupil and Christian experience).

With the relaunch of the resource comes the introduction of two new teaching strategies, one of which will be used to develop the RE material, and the other to develop the PSHE material.

• CLIC is the teaching strategy applied to much of the RE material, and is explained as follows:
  

  Child's experience - the activities start with experiences familiar to pupils. These Link to religious beliefs or practice. There is some Input, allowing for Inquiry into the religious beliefs or practice. Activities allow pupils to Consider what they might learn from this aspect of religion.

• PEG is the teaching strategy which is used to teach the PSHE material. PEG is an acronym for People, Experience, Generalise. Each section focuses on people, and, in particular, the people from the virtual community in Park Road. (Click here to find out more about the characters living in Park Road.) Their experiences are considered and compared with pupils' own experiences, then generalised with questions such as: Is this experience common to all people? How is it expressed in different ways?