Are you ambitious for RE?

I wonder as teachers how you view the start of term and the new school year? I always remember having very mixed emotions!

Have you approached it with anticipation? Hope of change? Having ambitions? Set with worry? Wanting a fresh start?

Wherever you are in your career as a teacher of RE, you may have a complex mix of all these going through your mind. One of our aims here at Culham St Gabriel’s is to support you through all stages of your career journey. We want to nurture those who have just started out on initial teacher education, to resource those who are already teaching, and to equip leaders of the subject.

This year, I believe we should be ambitious for RE in our schools, academies, colleges and in university settings. I am beginning to use more widely the term ‘religion and worldviews’ (R&W). I’ve blogged before about why I think this is such a positive way forward for our subject. Having been a bit sceptical about a name change, I have come to realise that this sums up what our subject should be. I’ve been working on a summary of the Commission on RE (2018) proposed Statement of Entitlement. I thought I’d share this here with you. It is a work in progress and I welcome comments:

Pupils are entitled to be taught knowledge and understanding of:

a. what religion and worldviews are and how they are studied;

b. the impact of religion and worldviews on individuals, communities and society;

c. the diversity of worldviews in society

by well-qualified teachers who are given adequate time and resources to fulfil this entitlement.

What is your ambition for our subject this year? I was at the ResearchEd National Conference this weekend and a few themes came through for me. The first was the use of the language of disciplines gaining ground across subjects. Secondly, discussion and research around curriculum is obviously high on the agenda. Thirdly, how to ensure that research impacts on classroom practice and leadership so that pedagogy and curriculum are evidence based was an underlying theme through the whole day.

At Culham St Gabriel’s we want to journey with you as you work through these and other questions. Let us know how we can support you. Have you ever considered applying for a grant to develop a really ambitious, innovative project? Have you checked out our resources? Have you considered the Teach:RE course? Have you interrogated any of the research available?

Have a great term everyone and be ambitious for religion and worldviews!

Find out more about our support for Primary ITT and NQTs here: https://www.teachre.co.uk/teach-re-course/teachre-primary/

Find out about our subject knowledge enhancement programme for secondary ITT here:

https://www.teachre.co.uk/teach-re-course/religion-and-worldviews-ske/

Find out more about our resources here: https://www.reonline.org.uk

Find out more about how we are equipping all teachers of RE, including leaders here:

https://www.teachre.co.uk/teach-re-course/teachre-tailor-made/

Find links to research relating to RE here: https://researchforre.reonline.org.uk

Find out more about our grants programme here: https://www.cstg.org.uk/how-we-help/grants/

Email your questions to our Email a Believer team and ask them about their beliefs http://pof.reonline.org.uk/