MST Years 9-10
Each lesson plan has a link to a document which gives you the background to the unit and helpful information on planning it. Please take time to read it before you begin.
If your students have not done any MST units before, we recommend starting with one or two 7-8 units. They are challenging enough for years 9-10 and provide an easier “way in”.
Use these “full” units if you have up to 9 weeks in a term to teach RE, and have lessons of longer than 30 minutes. For shorter units and shorter individual lessons, try the Lite versions.
Some schools have found their year works best if they aim for three MST units in the year, beginning the first one half way through Term 1. The first half of term 1 can be given over to orientation to chapel etc, or an introduction to the Bible as a whole, or a particular theme suited to the school’s strategic plan. By starting mid-term, the opening lessons of the MST unit, which are generally light-hearted and highly interactive, are held in the latter part of the term when students are getting tired. The slightly more demanding second half of each unit is then positioned at the start of the next term, when students are fresher. This model means that the final half of term 4 is free for a Christmas or Advent focus.
What's the purpose of my life?
Philosophy and Vocation. What does it mean to have a purpose? What is the difference between something having a use and having a purpose? How have people found purpose in their lives, and what does the Christian concept of "vocation" have to say?
Do I know anything or just believe?
How are knowledge, belief and faith connected? What do we really know? When do we all have to believe, or have faith? When we talk about "faith" in God, what do we mean, and how does it connect with knowledge and belief?
Am I really free?
What does "freedom" mean? What does it mean to have "Free will" and how do things like love shape that will? What does it mean for God to be free, and how did God use freedom on the cross?
What is evil? Is it anything?
What makes a particular action evil? Is it a straightforward concept? How does one person's wrong action affect others? What does the Hebrew Bible think about evil, sin and death, and what was their understanding of God's way of dealing with it? What, in turn, does that tell us about Christ's atonement?
Is death the end?
This is an important question for young people, and one we tend to avoid. This unit helps students develop an understanding of the Christian doctrine of resurrection and how this doctrine differs to those of other worldviews. It also draws on themes from “What is evil?” and discusses the final outcome of the atonement they studied in that unit.
How do I listen to God?
To introduce students to the practice of silence and contemplation. Students are helped to understand the “why”, “how” and importance of silence and contemplation, particularly in our noisy and over-stimulated world. During the unit they are given regular opportunities to experience it themselves under careful guidance.
Can I be by myself?
Christian love and identity. This unit covers issues such as working in groups, being excluded, forgiveness and responsibility for others. This unit references the story of the woman at the well, and the parable of the Good Samaritan. It also makes use of Simon Wiesenthal’s powerful story from the beginning of the book, The Sunflower, and the story of Father Maximillian Kolbe.
Why are bread and wine body and blood?
The unit picks up the ideas of remembrance, symbolism, and building community (including covenant), by recognising that the Last Supper was in all probability a Passover Meal and that the elements Jesus re-designated as his body and blood were already rich in meaning for those present.