Our next conference: GOD AND THE GOOD: EVENT FOR STUDENTS OF A LEVEL RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Latest News and Info

Heaven?

LIVE Event for students of GCSE Religious Studies
With Dr Peter Vardy

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Dates for 2023-24

● London, Thursday 30th November
● Coventry, Tuesday 27th February
● Manchester, Tuesday 5th March
● Somerset, Thursday 14th March

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Building on the success of “Rights and Wrongs” in 2022-23, Candle Conferences presents an all-new LIVE event for students of GCSE Religious Studies.

“Heaven?” will explore content specified by ALL ENGLISH EXAMINATION BOARDS in relation to the study of Christianity and Ethics, aiming to get students really excited about the subject, enriching and extending their knowledge and understanding as well as supporting them in analysing, evaluating and making informed, well-reasoned academic judgements.

● Tickets to the live event come with FREE access to our GCSE Masterclass for the academic year 2022-23 (worth £5 per student) and providing more than 2 hours of expert online tuition designed to improve writing skills and improve grades.

  1. The Concept of God
    The event will begin by exploring the Christian concept of God, considering the various attributes God is believed to have, the extent to which some of these might seem to conflict and the extent to which the Doctrine of the Trinity helps to make sense of God’s nature. This session will conclude with a practical activity, enabling students to apply what they have learned.
  1. The Problem of Evil and Suffering
    After a short break, the second session will consider how God can be both Omnipotent and Omnibenevolent given the extent of evil and suffering in the world. A solution to this problem found in the Book of Job will then be explained and evaluated. This session will conclude with a discussion.
  1. Sin & Salvation
    In the third session we will explore Christian beliefs about sin and salvation in more detail with reference to the ideas of St Paul and St Augustine. Dr Vardy will consider whether all the evil and suffering in the world can really be said to result from sin and whether the salvation God offers ensures that this is the best possible world. This session will conclude with an activity designed to support students in answering mini-essay style questions.
  1. Life After Death & Debate “This house believes that all good people will go to heaven.”
    The final session of the day will move to Christian teachings about Life after Death, asking what the afterlife would have to be like in order to punish sin adequately and make up for unjust suffering in this life. Finally, we will have a debate. Dr Vardy will outline arguments for and against the motion and will guide students in developing their own arguments in writing, which they can then present to the group before a final vote is taken.

The Puzzle of Christianity LIVE

Event for students of Christianity for AS/A Level Religious Studies
With Dr Peter Vardy

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Dates for 2023-24

● London, Thursday 29th February 2024
● York, Thursday 7th March 2024

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The Puzzle of Christianity LIVE is Candle Conferences first live event specifically designed for students of Christianity for A/AS Level Religious Studies and, at least in Dr Vardy’s opinion, one of the best events we have run! Exploring content specified by ALL ENGLISH EXAMINATION BOARDS the event aims to get students really excited about the content, enriching and extending their knowledge and understanding as well as supporting them in analysing, evaluating and making informed, well-reasoned academic judgments.

● Tickets to the live event come with access to an exclusive online resource-area, which provides participants with video-clips, detailed notes on each topic as well as activities, model-essays, revision-tips, reading lists and more. Participants also get FREE access to our A Level Masterclass for the academic year 2023-24 (worth £5 per student) and providing 4 hours of expert online tuition designed to improve writing skills and improve grades.

  1. The Nature of God
    This first session will explore the concept of God in Christianity, considering the status of Jesus, the significance of the doctrine of the Trinity as well as the meaning and implications of attributes such as omnipotence, omniscience and omnibenevolence. Is the Christian concept of God coherent and to what extent is it compatible with the “God of the Philosophers”? The ideas of Boethius, St Anselm, St Thomas Aquinas, and Richard Swinburne will feature in this session and Dr Vardy will set students a short activity at the end of this session, which they can try during break.
  2. Christianity and other Religions
    After a short break, Dr Vardy will consider whether being a Christian is necessary for salvation, and if so, being a Christian in what sense. Are universalism, inclusivism and/or pluralism compatible with the Christian concept of God, Scripture and Doctrine? If not, what does this mean for inter-faith relations? The ideas of St Augustine, Karl Rahner, Hans Kung, John Hick and Gavin DaCosta will feature in this session and the morning will end with a group discussion and opportunity for Q&A.
  3. Secularism and Secularisation
    After lunch, the third session moves forward to the 20th Century, outlining how secularisation has changed Christianity in the developed world and evaluating both a range of arguments for secularism – including those associated with Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Richard Dawkins – as well as different Christian responses to those arguments. Dr Vardy will set students a short activity at the end of this session, which they can try during break.
  4. A Theology of Liberation?
    After a short break, the final session of the day will explore how the Roman Catholic Church responded to the emergence of Liberation Theology and the implications of this response for understandings of Jesus and of Authority in the Church, the interpretation and use of the Bible and the relationship between Religion and Politics. The ideas of Karl Marx, Gustavo Gutierrez, Leonardo Boff and Alistair Kee will feature in this session and the event will end with a group discussion and opportunity for Q&A.

God and the Good

LIVE Event for students of Philosophy of Religion and Ethics for AS/A Level Religious Studies
With Dr Peter Vardy

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Dates for 2023-24

● London, Friday 1st December & Friday 1st March
● Worcester, Monday 20th November
● Coventry, Monday 26th February
● Manchester, Monday 11th March

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Building on the success of “The Religious Experience” in 2022-23, Candle Conferences presents an all-new LIVE event for students of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics for AS / A Level Religious Studies.

“God and the Good” will explore content specified by ALL ENGLISH EXAMINATION BOARDS, focusing on the compulsory Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics papers. The event aims to get students really excited about the subject, enriching and extending their knowledge and understanding as well as supporting them in analysing, evaluating and making informed, well-reasoned academic judgements.

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● Tickets to the live event come with FREE access to our A Level Masterclass for the academic year 2022-23 (worth £5 per student) and providing 4 hours of expert online tuition designed to improve writing skills and improve grades.

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  1. Can God be good?
    The first session of the day will explore the concept of God, considering if and how God can be both omnipotent and omnibenevolent in the light of evil and suffering in the world God created. The logical problem of evil will be explained with reference to David Hume and JL Mackie and Dr Vardy will then evaluate theodicies proposed by St Augustine and John Hick. The extent to which horrendous suffering constitutes evidence that God cannot exist and whether the defence proposed by Alvin Plantinga is successful will then be considered. The session will conclude with a discussion.
  2. Does saying “God is good” mean anything?
    The second session will dig deeper into the concept of God and ask what a claim such as “God is good” could even mean. Assuming no prior knowledge, Dr Vardy will outline and explain different approaches to understanding meaning in religious language and how these relate to two different models of God, that of the Classical Theists and that of Theistic Personalism. The implications of these insights for how we read the Bible will be explored and the session will conclude with a Q&A.
  3. A Natural Law?
    The third session will turn to Ethics. Beginning by considering Plato’s Euthyphro Dilemma and asking whether it disproves the existence of an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God, Dr Vardy will then consider whether the Natural Law tradition offers a way around. St Thomas Aquinas’ ethic will then be explained and modern developments of it from Germain Grisez, John Finnis and Bernard Hoose outlined, before this approach to making ethical decisions is evaluated. The session will conclude with an activity.
  4. Conscience & debate “this house believes that conscience is a poor moral guide.”
    After lunch we will explore the concept of conscience, considering and evaluating the views of scholars including Aquinas, Kant, Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer, Fletcher and Freud and asking if conscience should override other sources of moral guidance when it comes to making practical ethical decisions. Dr Vardy will then introduce the motion and students will be invited to contribute their arguments before a final vote is taken.

Bespoke Events 2023-24

“Today was a huge success!  Our students were captivated by Peter and they went away feeling enthused and motivated towards ethical thought.  The structure of the day worked brilliantly and contributions from students during the debate at the end of the day demonstrated just how engaged students were in the topics Peter addressed throughout the day.”

Maria Webb, Head of Theology, New Hall School

Candle has been offering Bespoke Events since 2010. Since then, we have visited hundreds of schools across the UK and further afield in Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australasia. We have worked with many thousands of young people, their teachers, governors, parents & friends.

Schools love the quality and flexibility of our events, as well as our fixed prices. We don’t charge extra for VAT, travel and accommodation or booking fees and we don’t cap the numbers attending within one school. Every member of our team is a qualified, experienced teacher, so we really understand how schools work and what young people need.

For some recent examples, we have organised:

  • GCSE Religious Studies events for King Edward VI School, Southampton and Gordon’s School, Woking (Islam) and St Mary’s School, Ascot (Catholic Christianity)
  • A Level Christianity events for the Grammar School at Leeds, Notre Dame College and Haileybury School, Hertfordshire, Philosophy & Ethics Masterclass for Portsmouth Grammar School
  • Made to Measure events for Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Boys, Hertfordshire, Dulwich College, London, and Kelvinside Academy, Glasgow.
  • Gifted and Talented events for at Colfe’s School, City of London School for Girls and Portsmouth Grammar School.
  • Sixth Form events – for Skinner’s School “A Grand Design?” And “Ethics Matters” and for Ewell Castle School and New Hall School “Life and Death” as well as for Shebbear College and New Hall (Sixth Form RS).
  • Enrichment events for Year 10-11 students at Haslingden High School, Queen Mary’s High, Walsall, Alderley Edge School for Girls, King Edward’s School Birmingham and Simon Langton Girls Grammar School.
  • “Money Matters” events for Sixth Formers at Bacon’s College, SE London & Queen Mary’s High School, Walsall
  • An evening public-lecture for Bolton School, Greater Manchester

Why not email bespoke@candleconferences.com or call Moira Siara to talk about the possibilities on 0208 133 2241.

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Religious Studies & Philosophy Events

For students of GCSE and A Level Religious Studies and for Sixth Form enrichment and/or general RE we have this collection of tried-and-tested workshops…

Alternatively, we can design a “made -to-measure” event just for you, or you can choose one of our other “pret a porter” options…

  • Catholic Christianity (GCSE RS) – Catholic Moral Philosophy, The Theology of the Body, Laudato Si, the Environment and Animals, Catholic Social Teaching, rights & poverty.
  • Islam (GCSE RS) – Islamic concept of God, Islam & Relationships, Islam & Medical Ethics, Islam & Conflict, Debate: This house believes that it is right for Muslim teenagers to fast during Ramadan!
  • AQA A Level Philosophy – Introducing Epistemology: What is Truth? Philosopher Focus: Aristotle, Evaluating the Teleological Argument, Is stealing always wrong?
  • IB Theory of Knowledge – Theory of Knowledge, Critical Thinking, 2 options from Art, Maths, Faith and Language plus debate “this house believes that “of that which we cannot speak, we must be silent!”

From £499 online / £899 face to face (£1299 if other local schools are invited)

Bespoke CPD

Candle also offers a range of Bespoke CPD options for teachers, either online or face-to-face, to suit your needs.

As a guide, recently, we have organised:

  • coaching for a newly appointed Head Teacher in an Anglican School
  • governing body away-day considering the wider purpose of education
  • a twilight event for a local RE network
  • online mentoring for a newly appointed Head of Religious Studies
  • GCSE and A Level training for Religious Studies teachers across a multi-academy trust
  • a whole-staff INSET day on Christian ethos for a Diocese
  • an INSET day for a school focusing on Pastoral Care and Tutoring
  • consultancy support in developing policy documents, specifications, curricula.

Prices from £299, by negotiation

Gifted & Talented Events

We have long experience of running inspiring events for the most able students around the world. Our events challenge young people to think across and beyond the curriculum and help them to develop the skills in critical thinking, developing and presenting persuasive arguments that they will need to make the most of their potential.

We have a range of tried-and-tested “pret a porter” events, or you can go “made to measure” and create a one-off event to suit the interests and needs of your students.

  • Ignite (Gifted and Talented Y9-11 students) – Introduction to Critical Thinking, Ethics Matters, Genetic Modification, Debate: This house believes that what is right and wrong depends on our culture!
  • Education Matters (Gifted and Talented Y9-11 students) – What is Truth? Education Matters” It’s the Economy, stupid… Debate: This house believes that education should only aim to fit young people for the workplace!

From £499 online / £899 face to face (£1299 if other local schools are invited)

PSHCE Events

We can design a one-off event to suit your needs, or you can choose one of our tried and tested “pret a porter” options…

  • Sex Matters (Y10-13 students for SRE) Sex Matters, The Ethics of Contraception, Having it all! Pornography Matters
  • Money Matters (Y10-13 students for Finance & Enterprise Education) Money Matters, Boom, Bust and Crunch! Balancing the Books, Trade or Aid?
  • Sports Ethics (Y11-13 students of sport) What are Ethics? Virtue Ethics and Sport, Leadership, Debate: “This house believes that winning is all that matters in the end!”

From £499 online / £899 face to face (£1299 if other local schools are invited)

Ethics Matters

Sixth Form Religious Education Workshop
With Dr Peter Vardy

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“Ethics Matters” is a face-to-face bespoke event designed to support general Religious Education in the Sixth Form. Combining pacy, engaging lectures with activities, discussions and debates, “Ethics Matters” helps students to understand and think through their responses to some of the hottest hot-button issues confronting our society today. In each lecture, a range of religious perspectives will be outlined and explained, along with non-religious perspectives and students will be encouraged to evaluate these perspectives, considering which they agree with and why.

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Schools will be provided with a .pdf resource booklet to duplicate and distribute to each student at the beginning of the event, so that students can fill it in as they go and have a useful record of what they have done for their files and a basis for follow-up discussions and activities.

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Sessions include:

  1. Genetics
    The first lecture will explore the fast-developing world of genetics. Since CRISPR was unveiled in 2012 a whole world of new possibilities have opened up, ranging from “healthy” cooking oil to fry chips (made from genetically edited plants) through to editing the genomes of embryos to create babies immune to HIV. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should… so, what are the moral objections to tampering with genetics and should we be worried? This session will conclude with an activity and a Q&A session.
  2. Fertility
    According to NICE and the NHS 1 in every 7 heterosexual couples now have difficulty conceiving, and rates of infertility are rising. This second lecture will explore the current state of fertility treatment before opening up the ethical questions surrounding this whole area, ranging from who should fund treatment through to whether commercial surrogacy should be legalised. This session will end with a debate.
  3. Artificial Intelligence
    The third lecture will turn to Artificial Intelligence and its potential for changing everything from the way we surf the internet and browse netflix to the way we drive and even how countries wage wars. Is artificial intelligence a threat to humanity? Will it lead to mass unemployment? This session will conclude with an activity and a Q&A session.
  4. An Aging Population
    Despite the ravages of COVID19 average life expectancy across the UK rose by 0.15% last year to 81.5 years. Putting that in context, life expectancy in 1921 was 57.6 years. While this is great news on many levels, it has and will continue to cause problems; projections suggest that by 2050, 25% of the UK population will be over 65! The final lecture will open up the implications of our aging population for a whole range of issues ranging from politics and taxation through NHS funding and debates over paying for social care and assisted dying, considering whether human life is sacred and should be preserved and extended at all costs, or whether its value depends to an extent on its quality. This session will conclude with a group discussion.

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Arranging a Bespoke Event with Candle Conferences couldn’t be simpler – just send us an e-mail and our administrator will get back to you to discuss possible dates and then answer any questions you may have.

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Developments in Christian Thought

A Level Religious Studies Workshop

with Dr Peter Vardy

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“Developments in Christian Thought” is an intensive one-day workshop for students of A Level Religious Studies, that has been designed to be run as a face-to-face bespoke event in your school. Combining pacy, engaging lectures with plenty of activities, discussions and debates, “Developments in Christian Thought” will bring content related to all four English specifications to life and help students to appreciate their significance.

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Please note that this is NOT a revision or exam coaching event; no prior-knowledge will be assumed and the aim will be to enrich and extend students’ learning in Religious Studies. Sessions are suitable for Year 12 or Year 13 students – or a mixture of both – and the event works well at any point during the academic year. Some schools have invited the most able Year 11 students to similar events in the past to give them a “taster” of the A Level and support recruitment.

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Schools will be provided with a rich .pdf resource booklet to duplicate and distribute to each student at the beginning of the event, so that students can fill it in as they go and have a useful record of what they have done for their files.

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Sessions include:

  1. Christian Thought
    This introductory session explores the fundamentals of Christian thought and identifies key debates that have given rise to conflict and diversity within the religion through its long history.
  2. St. Augustine
    After a short break, the second session focuses in on St. Augustine’s contribution to Christian thought, considering how his work influenced responses to topics including the problem of evil and suffering, pluralism and gender.
  3. Secularism
    After lunch, the third session moves forward to the 20th Century and evaluates both a range of arguments for secularism – including those associated with Marx, Freud and Dawkins – and different Christian responses to those arguments.
  4. Liberation Theology
    After coffee, the final session will explore how the Roman Catholic Church responded to the emergence of Liberation Theology and the implications of this response for understandings of Jesus and of Authority in the Church, the interpretation and use of the Bible and the relationship between Religion and Politics.

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Arranging a Bespoke Event with Candle Conferences couldn’t be simpler – just send us an e-mail on bespoke@candleconferences.com and our administrator – a highly experienced RS teacher herself – will get back to you to discuss possible dates and then answer any questions you may have.

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Religion and Life

GCSE Religious Studies Workshop
With Dr Peter Vardy

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.“Religion and Life” is an intensive one-day workshop for students of GCSE Religious Studies, that has been designed to be run as a face-to-face bespoke event in your school. Combining pacy, engaging lectures with plenty of activities, discussions and debates, “Religion and Life” will bring content related to all four English GCSE specifications to life and help students to appreciate their significance.

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Please note that this is NOT a revision or exam coaching event; no prior-knowledge will be assumed and the aim will be to enrich and extend students’ learning in Religious Studies. Sessions are suitable for Year 10 or Year 11 students – or a mixture of both – and the event works well at any point during the academic year. Some schools have invited the most able Year 9 students to similar events in the past to give them a “taster” of the GCSE and support recruitment.

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Schools will be provided with a rich .pdf resource booklet to duplicate and distribute to each student at the beginning of the event, so that students can fill it in as they go and have a useful record of what they have done for their files.

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Sessions include:

  1. How do Christians make moral decisions?
    This introductory session introduces your GCSE students to Christian Ethics and explores the reasons why there is such diversity between denominations – and individual Christians – when responding to “hot button” issues. Particular attention will be given to how Christians do – and do not – use the Bible to guide their decision-making and the session will end with an activity designed to help students express their appreciation of diversity within Christianity and how Christians use the Bible on paper.
  2. The Environment
    The second session will explore Religious teaching related to the environment and will confront the tough question: are religions partly to blame for climate change and/or the failure to tackle it? This session will conclude with a group discussion.
  3. Animals
    The third session will explore religious teaching about the treatment of animals, including both eating animals and testing on them. This session will conclude with a written activity designed to support students in writing effective 12/15 markers.
  4. Euthanasia
    The final session of the day will explore the difficult issue of Euthanasia. Religious teachings about the sanctity of human life as well as quality of life arguments will be outlined and evaluated and the session will conclude with a formal debate on the motion: “this house believes that assisted dying should be legalised in the UK!”

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Arranging a Bespoke Event with Candle Conferences couldn’t be simpler – just send us an e-mail on bespoke@candleconferences.com and our administrator – a highly experienced RS teacher herself – will get back to you to discuss possible dates and then answer any questions you may have.

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What is Truth?

Sixth Form Religious Education Workshop
With Dr Peter Vardy

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“What is Truth” is a face-to-face bespoke event designed to support general Religious Education in the Sixth Form. Combining pacy, engaging lectures with activities, discussions and debates, “What is Truth?” will explore the most important question for our time and the implications of different answers to it for different academic disciplines… and for life!

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Schools will be provided with a .pdf resource booklet to duplicate and distribute to each student at the beginning of the event, so that students can fill it in as they go and have a useful record of what they have done for their files and a basis for follow-up discussions and activities.

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Sessions include:

  1. What is Truth?

This introductory lecture, which uses plenty of engaging film-clips and images, charts how ideas of truth have changed and developed through history from the Bible to the scientific enlightenment, to the development of fundamentalist ideologies and world war to the rise of postmodernism, Donald Trump’s post-truth presidency, gender theory and critical race theory. This session will leave students with some very big questions to discuss amongst themselves over coffee!

  1. Language Games

The second session explores the role that language plays in relation to truth. Is what we say true or false depending on what the words refer to… or is truth more a matter of whether what we say is acceptable to others? Do words have a true meaning, or is everything open to multiple interpretations? Can what somebody says be both true and false at the same time? This session will conclude with a group discussion.

  1. Truth and Ethics: Are right and wrong just a matter of opinion?

The third session considers the implications of challenges to the idea of truth for ethics. The scientific enlightenment and resultant process of secularisation made it difficult to rely on revealed moral laws outside of a faith-community, so without God are there any moral absolutes, or is right and wrong relative to one’s culture or even one’s personal preferences? This session will conclude with a lively debate.

  1. Critical Thinking: Spotting fake news and bad arguments!

The final session introduces students to some basic tools to support critical thinking, showing them how to evaluate evidence of different types and how to spot a fallacious argument. Plenty of contemporary examples will be used and the session will conclude with an activity before a final Q&A session.

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Arranging a Bespoke Event with Candle Conferences couldn’t be simpler – just send us an e-mail on bespoke@candleconferences.com and our administrator will get back to you to discuss possible dates and then answer any questions you may have.

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GCSE MASTERCLASS

IMPROVE YOUR WRITING-SKILLS FOR GCSE RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Online Course with Charlotte Vardy

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Academic Year 2023-24

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GCSE Religious Studies is not easy!

Not only are students expected to learn a huge amount of detailed, challenging content in very little time, but they also need to be able to evaluate any aspect of that content in the exam, making and defending a well-informed academic judgement… in 15 minutes or less!

● Even when they know and understand the material, many students struggle to write good answers to the 12/15 mark questions, and this stands in the way of them achieving the top grades.

● Other students struggle to know how to develop the points they make, using and analysing evidence appropriately.

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Building on the success of our Masterclass for A Level Religious Studies, this unique online course, written and presented by Charlotte Vardy, aims to support GCSE RS students in improving their writing-skills for GCSE Religious Studies, whatever exam-board and options they are working with…

● Each student receives their own login details by e-mail, which will provide access to the course until 31st July 2024.

● The course comprises a .pdf booklet to print off and work through as students watch a series of video-units, each a maximum of 20 minutes long.

● Students can work through the course at their own pace. In total the course will take at least 2 hours to complete.

● We provide a multiple-choice “theory test” which schools can use to test students understanding of the course-content, should this be appropriate.

Being Good

Candle Conferences on demand lecture series for students of A Level Religious Studies are unique. As always, the lectures are pacy and engaging, designed to provoke deep thought and further discussion and debate. Each lecture is accompanied by detailed student resources, providing an overview of the content, useful scholars and quotations, suggestions for extra reading and learning activities. Overall, the lecture series offers 4-5 hours of video content accompanied by 40+ pages of digital resources.


Being Good
Exploring content specified by ALL ENGLISH EXAMINATION BOARDS, “Being Good” will take students on a “deep dive” into Normative Ethics, helping them to analyse, evaluate and make informed, well-reasoned academic judgements about different approaches to moral decision-making.

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1) Natural Law
This first lecture will explore and evaluate Natural Law as an approach to decision-making, tracing its development from the work of Aristotle through St. Thomas Aquinas to its role in shaping Roman Catholic Moral Philosophy and then modern versions in the work of John Finnis and Bernard Hoose. Special attention will be paid to the relationship between Natural Law and Virtue Ethics as well as to how Conscience relates.

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2) Kantian Ethics
The second lecture will move on to consider Kantian Ethics, another absolutist, deontological approach to decision-making but with a very different understanding of what being fully human and good consists in. The strengths of Kantian Ethics will be outlined with reference to the work of modern Kantian moral philosophers and then the weaknesses of the Kantian approach will be explored and evaluated.

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3) Utilitarianism
The third lecture will turn to Utilitarianism, which at first seems to be a completely different approach to decision making, but which turns out to owe something to Kantian Ethics at least in versions presented by John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick and Peter Singer. Particular attention will be paid to the extent to which the problem of prediction undermines Act and Weak Rule Utilitarianism and the extent to which Utilitarianism is compatible with Christian Ethics.

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4) Situation Ethics
The final lecture will outline and evaluate Joseph Fletcher’s attempt to develop a “New Morality” making Christian love the end in a consequentialist ethic. It will then consider whether Joseph Fletcher’s version of Situation Ethics is really compatible with Christian Moral Principles and how it compares with other Christian approaches to decision-making that are situational and prioritise agape-love, such as those of William Temple, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Paul Tillich.

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Language

Candle Conferences on demand lecture series for students of A Level Religious Studies are unique. As always, the lectures are pacy and engaging, designed to provoke deep thought and further discussion and debate. Each lecture is accompanied by detailed student resources, providing an overview of the content, useful scholars and quotations, suggestions for extra reading and learning activities. Overall, the lecture series offers 4+ hours of video content accompanied by 40+ pages of digital resources.

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Exploring content specified by ALL ENGLISH EXAMINATION BOARDS, “Language” will take students on a “deep dive” into the Philosophy of Language, helping them to appreciate implications across and between the Philosophy of Religion, Ethics and Study of Religion papers and to evaluate different approaches to assessing the meaning of claims made in these contexts.

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  1. Language and Meaning

This introductory lecture considers how language conveys meaning and the implications this has for the Philosophy of Religion, Ethics and the Study of Religion. Are words auditory signs, pointing towards a meaning beyond themselves and taking their meaning from what they refer to? Or, does the meaning of language come from how we use it? The lecture will end with an activity for students to complete.

  1. Piercing the Veil

This second lecture will explore the medieval debate about meaning in religious claims. Cataphatic and apophatic approaches to speaking about God will be outlined and evaluated, before we explore Aquinas’ doctrine of analogy in greater depth. The lecture will end by focusing on a typical essay-question, which students can plan and/or write afterwards.

  1. Are religious claims meaningless?

The third lecture will move forward to consider 20th Century challenges to the meaningfulness of religious language from verificationism and falsificationism. Following this, Wittgenstein’s theory of language games and the development of postmodernism will be considered, and the work of Tillich and Randall on symbol will be evaluated. The lecture will end with an activity for students to complete.

  1. Meta-Ethics: What does “good” mean?

In the final lecture, we will turn to the relationship between language and ethics, exploring ethical naturalism, intuitionism and emotivism and how they relate to both normative ethical systems and ethical decision-making. The lecture will end by focusing on a typical essay-question, which students can plan and/or write afterwards.

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A LEVEL MASTERCLASS

IMPROVE YOUR ESSAY-SKILLS FOR A LEVEL RELIGIOUS STUDIES

WITH CHARLOTTE VARDY

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Academic Year 2023-24

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A Level Religious Studies is not easy! Not only are students expected to get to grips with a huge amount of detailed, challenging content in short order, but they are also expected to make academic judgments, advance and defend scholarly arguments in response to all aspects of that content. Even when they know and understand the material, many students struggle to write good essays, and this stands in the way of them achieving C+ grades. Many students ask…

  • Is there a “right way” of writing an A Level essay?
  • What actually is an essay beyond being an extended piece of writing?
  • What is the most effective way to structure an essay in the exam?

This unique and popular online course answers these questions and aims to support students in improving their essay skills for A level Religious Studies as they move through the course.

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Students can work through the course at their own pace. Each of the 10 video-units lasts around 20 minutes, but comes with a range of practical activities to complete. In total the course will take at least 4 hours to complete and concludes with a “theory-test”, the results of which can be certificated.  Each student receives their own login details, which will provide access to the A Level Masterclass from 4th September 2023 until 31st July 2024.

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Written and presented by experienced teacher and author Charlotte Vardy, this unique and popular online course answers these questions and aims to support students in improving their essay skills for A level Religious Studies as they move through the course.

● Students receive their own login details by e-mail, which provide access to the course from September 2023 through to the end of July 2024.

● Each of the 10 video-units lasts around 20 minutes, and comes with a range of practical activities to complete in a workbook.

● Students can work through the course at their own pace, but in total the course will take at least 4 hours to complete

● The course concludes with an online “theory-test”, the results of which can be certificated.

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“I’d like to thank you for this amazing learning resource. It has been incredibly helpful and was presented so clearly and effectively. Thank you!”

GP, Student 2021

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