There are lots of RS textbooks on the market.  Less than ten years ago, textbooks were available from a variety of publishers, including Lion, who published the original versions of Mark: A Gospel for Today and Today's Issues and Christian Beliefs.  Widely used in schools, in both non-denominational and Church sectors, sales were in the region of 150,000.  Since then, exam boards have published their own textbooks.

It has to be said that many heads of RE aren't entirely happy with all the books now on the market.  So what can we at St Mark's Press offer you and your students?

Well, in the first place, Simon and Chris Danes - the authors of The Today Series - have a huge amount of teaching experience.  Both were heads of RE and both were senior managers in schools.  Chris had to take early retirement because he is disabled.  Simon still teaches, though his main focus is now on running St Mark's Press.  Both of them had a major focus on leading teaching and learning throughout their schools, within and beyond the RE departments.  So, they know what works in a classroom.

Both of them are experts in their field, too.  The information in the books is accurate, up to date and carefully researched.  Concerns have sometimes been expressed by teachers that textbooks make factual mistakes.  Ours don't.

The coverage of the material is detailed, not superficial.  But this doesn't mean it's too difficult for GCSE students.  The ideas are broken down into pupil friendly terms.  Examples and comparisons are carefully chosen to help the students to relate to those ideas.  So they're led gently through the subject matter, and are helped to develop their skills.  As a  result, the books are suitable for a wide range of ability.  Certainly, they're accessible to most students, and they've been successfully used with less able pupils when the teacher selects the key paragraphs from the chapter and the questions most accessible to the less able.

So, The Today Series helps you to achieve effective differentiation.  One concern that is raised about some books is that more able pupils are not stretched.  The Today Series means you can achieve the right level of challenge for your A*, A and B grade candidates.  And they aid value added for all abilities.

The exam grades matter, of course.  Our books are real grade boosters.  But they don't just teach to the test.  They genuinely enable your students to become religiously well educated!  There are lots of imaginative tasks and questions for each topic, for you to select from.  Some are exam style questions - but not all of them are.  There are plenty of suggested topics for discussion, to improve students' exam skills and also to deepen their thinking skills.

And they're carefully designed for all the examination boards, not just for one.

As far as possible, we've tried to make them 'exam board proof', so that if the specification changes, you don't have to buy a new textbook.

The graphics have been carefully selected.  They're not just illustrations:  where we can, we've used pictures which will themselves provoke debate and deepen students' understanding of the topic.

So, whether you decide to adopt the books as your class textbook;  whether you use a selection of books in class to help with differentiation;  whether you buy copies for your department colleagues or for students' reference in the school library - do have a look at The Today Series.  Mark: A Gospel for Today and Today's Issues and Christian Beliefs have been revised on the basis of what's needed for the specifications - and on the basis of what works in the classroom.  Indeed, 70% of our edition of Today's Issues and Christian Beliefs is entirely new.  Philosophy of Religion for Today in the same series is designed to have the same strengths - and, while it's a GCSE textbook, a lot of teachers are successfully using it as a support book for A Level.

And, most importantly, the books are really popular with students.

We offer generous discounts, including discounts if you are upgrading from the Lion editions, and a 'buy now, pay later' scheme so that you can start using the books even if your department funding is low.  We'd sooner the books were being used rather than languishing in a warehouse, so we're happy to accept payment when your next departmental funding comes through.