A New Start Part 1

I have always seen change as part of growing and developing and this year certainly involves change. I am getting married, turning 30, buying my first house and moving the length of the country. With this move comes a professional change. After eight years in the same school I have taken on the role of Head of RE and Personal Development in a new setting. As well as trepidation there is an overwhelming sense of excitement at the opportunity to drive change. I will be documenting my successes, failures and lessons learnt as I grow and develop a Religion and Worldviews department in a new setting. In my previous school we had 6 specialist teachers, compulsory, universal GCSE RS and a pupil attitude that was overwhelmingly positive. In contrast, in my new school, there is one specialist and RE has been taught in conjunction with PSHE and there has been a struggle for GCSE uptake in the subject. Religion and Worldviews is in a position where it needs further identity and drive in its own right. There is however a strong appetite on SLTs part to give the department scope for growing in profile and impact, an essential ingredient. The key to my new role is vision. What is my vision for Religion and Worldviews in this school? and what vision does the school have for the subject? Without being able to answer these questions I would be setting myself and the department up for failure. While there is a much wider debate about the aims of Religion and Worldviews, the very basic principles that I am working around are:

• Designing a Religion and Worldviews curriculum that is relevant to the pupils I am teaching.
• Planning a curriculum that challenges pupils’ own views and gives them opportunities to explore a wide variety of religious and non-religious worldviews.
• Developing pupil’s religious literacy, critical thinking skills, reading and writing skills.

This role is so exciting due to the autonomy given by the school to drive change in the subject. The school envisions Religion and Worldviews as subject in its own right, detached from PSHE. As of September we will be moving towards this vision with a designated hour for Religion and Worldviews on the timetable. We are an Academy so I have the freedom to bring some creative curriculum design into play, in order to excite, challenge and enthuse pupils. At this early stage I can see my biggest challenge will be changing pupil’s negative attitudes; the most common comment is that RE is boring and/ or pointless. Therefore as well as high quality teaching and learning, branding and marketing is vital. The name will change to PRE (philosophy, religion and ethics) as part of this essential re-brand. This term I will be refining and further developing my vision, ready for a September launch. Key factors will be early ‘quick wins’ to generate enthusiasm in the classroom. A test of my curriculum design will be interest in taking the subject for GCSE. However my priority is building relationships with pupils and learning what inspires and drives them. I would be delighted to hear from and engage with other teachers and leaders as I document my journey. Contact me on twitter – @AdamHoldsworth1