One of my colleagues has a coffee cup that says “Keep calm and pretend it’s on the lesson plan”. Now, I’ve always liked a subversive mug, but I must say that this one doesn’t resonate with me. The notion of scripting what should happen in a religious education lesson is like suggesting that you will arrange sports day for next Wednesday because you have planned that it won’t rain. Pretending that you can predict every question, problem or difficulty in understanding that could possibly occur during a lesson is not helpful. Suggesting that the only questions that matter are the ones that you, as a teacher, can pre-empt is a recipe for disengagement, and inextricably linked to poor behaviour. I don’t blame students for becoming disinterested when th