Viewing archives for RE Community

The pandemic meant we had to speedily flip the way we worked, and our subject community did it pretty well but nearly 5 years later have we missed something with fewer face-to-face encounters? We asked a primary and a secondary teacher, Saima Saleh and Chris Giles to share their thoughts. If you agree with them do book StrictlyRE, face-to-face on Saturday 25th January 2025 and look out for the face-to-face AREIAC/AULRE conference on 26/27 June 2025.

Attending subject conferences allows teachers to network with like-minded people and immerse themselves in current thinking. Teachers are exposed to new ideas and resources, helping to reignite their passion for teaching! (Saima)

Finding other people that teach similar specifications or religions as you is invaluable to build skills and synoptic links beyond the curriculum. Conferences create knowledge exchange, support you to innovate, and think more objectively -all so much easier face-to-face. I love to learn about the latest research and developments in education and realising there are other like-minded RE geeks out there has an impact on wellbeing too. According to Forbes insight, 85% of people say face-to-face meetings are key to successful long-term relationships. *Business_Meetings_FaceToFace.pdf

RE Conferences face-to-face provide a community that helps you develop new friendships, important support groups that can be sustained in a subject where you can sometimes feel isolated, and out of your depth. It allows for professional growth in a dynamic and more interactive way, making connections and bonds that often last beyond the day. Building trust and rapport with RE enthusiasts and likeminded people takes time and when an email pops into your inbox sharing resources and creative ideas from someone you have connected with, it makes my day. The access to new ideas helps build my own CPD as an RE professional, and I can share these ideas with my team when I return to school. (Chris)

Face-to-face conferences mean I can network! I can connect with my peers, share experiences and build professional relationships. The sense of building human connections is one that is trickier to establish when online. (Saima)

I love being able to shop at the best of times, but the stands at a ‘real’ conference offer all the latest resource publications that I can use in school to help enhance what I teach. (Saima)

I value going stall to stall in the exhibitors’ area looking at new resources and speaking to different organisations. As humans we are social and value interaction. Nikki McGee states, “A conversation with ISKCON stand at Strictly helped me plan my first trip as a head of department to London and also helped me build a relationship with them that meant I could approach them for CPD and subject knowledge support. I am still in touch with them eight years later.” (Chris)

‘Real-life’ workshops, where I can handle resources, sit next to people, converse, and share ideas. I have no distractions unlike being online- my full attention goes into concentrating on whoever is speaking and on the practical ideas being showcased. I know I will remember more when I do more! (Saima)

The buzz and excitement of sitting in a seminar where you can have immediate feedback and interaction between people where you can ask questions, seek clarification, and engage in real-time discussions. (Chris)

The next big conference in the RE/ RVE/ R&W calendar is Strictly RE, NATRE’s annual conference. I think the feeling of knowing that you’re not alone is a very important one. In this busy world, where teachers have so many demands being made of them, knowing that there’s always someone nearby who can help you. (Saima)

Saima Saleh is the Local Groups and Network Lead for NATRE (National Association for Teachers of RE), where she is also on the Steering Group. She leads R&W at Ravenscote Junior School in Surrey. Saima is also a member of the Surrey SACRE and she has delivered much CPD nationally. She co-runs a Race and Education Film club that allows her to speak at conferences across the globe.

Chris Giles is Head of RS and leads Teaching and Learning at South Bromsgrove High School. He is RE Hub lead for the West Midlands, is on the Executive for the National Association for Teachers of RE (NATRE) and has delivered CPD on RE nationally.

In my research of the month, I talk about a hospitable approach to religion and worldviews, and a pedagogy of embrace. Someone pointed out to me this week that in many ways this was ‘lived out’ recently when photos emerged of Muslims embracing protesters outside UK’s oldest mosque in Liverpool.

Creating space, encountering others and listening for wisdom lie at the heart of what I propose as a hospitable approach to religion and worldviews education. I use the analogy of an embrace to capture the heart of what this means not only in terms of pedagogy, but in terms of what it means ontologically for those enacting the embrace. It seems to me this approach is needed more than ever before.

I was on holiday in Portugal when the horrifying scenes in many cities across the UK emerged on my social media feed. On Culham St Gabriel’s social media feed, we got behind the Faith and Belief Policy Collective Statement which so clearly articulated how many of us feel in the charity sector and faith and belief space. We held on to and continue to hold onto hope and love amidst the displays of hate.

At Culham St Gabriel’s our vision is for a well-informed, respectful and open society.

In a recent board meeting, prior to the recent riots, trustees agreed to make the following a key focus area for future grant making in 2024-25.

• interfaith/belief dialogue and promoting warmer community relations in schools and communities, including consideration of ‘the common good’

Do you or your organisation have a project which you need funding for to bring communities together? Do you have a grassroots project that needs some funding to get off the ground?

We are currently supporting several projects which aim to foster warmer community relations, religion and belief literacy, as well as researching where religion and worldviews education takes place beyond schools. These include work led by Theos Think Tank, Queen’s University Belfast, Faith and Belief Forum, The Religion and Belief Literacy partnership and the Open University. These varying projects are engaging with children and young people, faith and belief community groups, parents, the civil service and public sector employees. We will continue to support initiatives which aim to provide a positive narrative in terms of dialogue and interfaith and belief engagement.

Next weekend we are hosting a stand at the Greenbelt Festival. The festival organisers say:

Our history is firmly rooted within a Christian tradition which is world-affirming, politically and culturally engaged. Ours is a belief that embraces instead of excludes. And, as such, the festival is an inter-generational celebration, inclusive and accepting of all, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, background or belief.

This vision seems more appropriate than ever before. Our team will be there welcoming and accepting all.

Kathryn Wright

CEO, Culham St Gabriel’s

Further reading

Kathryn’s research of there month: https://www.reonline.org.uk/research/research-of-the-month/

BBC News article: Mosque leaders find moments of hope after violent disorder: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84jjv7kp1wo

Faith and Belief Policy Collective Statement: https://faithbeliefforum.org/working-to-quench-the-flames-of-hatred/)

Greenbelt website: https://www.greenbelt.org.uk/

I decided before I went to Iceland that I’d write a blog about its interesting religious and spiritual history rich in Norse tradition of Asatru (which is notably on the rise again) as well as over 1000 years of Christian traditions and heritage. As we travelled around for 10 days there was no doubt that the number of church buildings per head is very high. The countryside is dotted with small largely Protestant Lutheran churches often serving one small farming community. There were also some stunningly unusual structures some of which had rainbow roads as a sign of acceptance leading up to them.

However, top of the list of things we wanted to do as a family was whales watching. On land/online there are numerous companies to choose from, all wanting you to take a tour with them, all offering something unique or special. We had pre-booked online. However, when out at sea they all work together. They are on radios to each other, they let each other know of sightings, they all want their customers to have the best experience. The competitive drive disappears once out at sea. Alongside this the companies have collaborated in the town of Husavik to advocate for a ban on whaling.

This reminded me of how the religion and worldviews community, which sometimes seems diverse and divergent, and perhaps even a little competitive at times, has come together on numerous occasions over the last year to provide the best professional development possible for teachers and promote the importance of the subject. I’m sure I’ll forget some things, but the following particularly come to mind:

• The Open Letter to the previous secretary of state calling for return of a bursary for beginner teachers of RE in England as well as other recruitment and retention intiatives throughout the year
• The National Content Standard for RE in England being recommended by multiple organisations and school providers
• The highly successful joint AREIAC-AULRE Conference last month, and plans for another in 2025
• Various steering groups drawing on many of the RE organisations which support RE Hubs, RExChange, Culham St Gabriel’s Leadership Programme
• Using joint social media assets across the RE community prior to the election to set out our asks from the new government

This collaboration and fostering of partnerships is a huge strength of the religion and worldviews community. We should celebrate it!

Oh… and yes… we did get to see some whales!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Kathryn Wright, CEO Culham St Gabriel’s

Hello! My name is Taylor Hatch, and I am delighted to have recently joined the team at Culham St Gabriel’s where I will be working as the new Communications Officer. Having worked in the public sector for the last few years I am very well versed in the world of communications – I am passionate about connecting with others and building relationships that create meaningful impact. I also graduated from The University of Manchester with an undergraduate degree in Religions and Theology, and I am always eager to integrate this knowledge and understanding when interacting with others.

I was always conscious that a degree in theology and career in comms may never perfectly align – no doubt the skills I gained in both fields have been of utmost use to me – however, I realised that the chances of finding a role which directly linked the two together would be scarce. This soon changed when an opportunity to work for Culham St Gabriel’s arose, I couldn’t have been more wrong! It seemed as though the stars had aligned and created this job especially for me.

I am so excited to be taking up this role and to be a part of an organisation who is just as passionate about the Religion and Worldviews curriculum as I am. From first-hand experience I can confidently say that an education in Religion and Worldviews sparks imagination, curiosity, and exploration… and I want everyone to know about it! Not only within the immediate world of RE professionals but I am also eager to spread this message to the public, policy makers, and other influencers.

Working in comms provides me with a sense of purpose and motivates me to connect with other like-minded people. Ultimately, no one day is the same and we must dig deep to understand our audiences and to effectively make change. I accept this challenge with open arms.

I am particularly looking forward to creating a new comms strategy, as I can fully immerse myself in the needs, mission, and priorities of the Trust. Relationship building is also an integral part of my role, and I am eager to network with our trustees and stakeholders to help shape the impact of the Trust.

I hope this brief introduction has perfectly encapsulated my enthusiasm! If you would like to get to know me a little better or throw some ideas around, please do not hesitate to contact me: taylor@cstg.org.uk

My RE career began in 1973-4 taking a PGCE at the London Institute of Education. My only experience of RE were my very varied lessons at school! I became intensely interested in the study of religion, gaining a London BD, or a Bachelor of Divinity, in 1969. Although my career eventually took me to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), now abolished, my best experiences in RE were seeing young people engage with the study of religion and becoming stimulated by it in terms of their own development.

I became acquainted with Culham and St Gabriel’s, two Anglican trusts established when church training colleges closed with the enlargement of state education. These trusts devoted funding to the development of Religious Education in schools. I cooperated on some projects with these trusts. When I left QCA in 2003 I was invited to join both of them. Later on, I chaired the Committee that negotiated their merger, creating the Culham St Gabriel’s Trust. I became Chair in 2018 when the renowned Dr Priscilla Chadwick retired. It was very satisfying to see how Culham St Gabriel’s makes a real difference by using its funds to support individuals and organisations.

In 2004 I became a consultant at the Department for Children Schools and Families (Department for Education today). I oversaw the development of the Non-Statutory National Framework for RE and established a partnership between the DSCF and the RE Council (REC). This greatly increased the REC’s status and available resources, securing a national “£1m” RE Action Plan from 2005-10.

In 2010 the arrival of Michael Gove as Secretary of State changed everything. I was retired from Department of Education work, having been awarded my OBE, and became Chair of the REC in 2011. I attempted to continue the same partnership with the Department for Education, but faced significant challenges. RE was neglected by the DfE and this damaged the subject. An increasing academisation agenda, the instigation of the EBacc, examination and National Curriculum changes have had a negative effect on RE’s provision and status. The fragmentary nature of RE provision, patchy professional support for teachers and inconsistent classroom practice continue as challenges today.

Despite this, in 2013 I published the REC’s Review of RE, with a foreword by Michael Gove. This enabled developments in RE, for example, the evolution of regional RE hubs, an RE Policy Unit at the REC, and the report of the Commission on RE. Educational provision in England has changed radically for people like me brought up under the 1944 settlement and the national support for RE by the QCA. There has been a clear RE decline in many schools since 2010, especially those not of a religious character. The diverse and variable provision now in existence, within which RE tries to thrive, is harder to engage with and manage, so I fear for RE provision and teachers in the short term. But have no doubt that the study of religion and worldviews will survive because of its intrinsic value. I just hope that in the next half century the REC will be successful in reforming the structure of RE, in articulating the subject in ways that the public, media and government positively value, and in supporting it with sufficient training and resources. If the REC cannot bring this about, I am not sure who can!

Culham St Gabriel’s Trust turns 10 years old on 21^st June 2022! 2012 was an important year in many different ways- the Diamond Jubliee and the London Olympics spring to mind- I also turned 40 that year too! However, the birth of Culham St Gabriel’s bringing together two church college Trusts was a very significant moment for the religious education community. In this blog a former Chair and director express their reflections, alongside the current chair. I also draw out some themes running through the last 10 years and what these might mean for the next decade.

Reflections from the first Chair of Culham St Gabriel’s, Dr Priscilla Chadwick OBE…

‘Culham St Gabriel’s was created in 2012 by the coming together of two church college trusts which had worked in close partnership for several years prior to the merger. St Gabriel’s Trust arose originally from the college’s closure by Mrs Thatcher in 1977, leading to the transfer of its buildings to Goldsmith’s College. At that time, St Gabriel’s had only enough money to offer a few book grants each year, but a wise legal adviser had inserted a footnote to the transfer that, should Goldsmith’s ever wish to relinquish the buildings, these would revert to the St Gabriel’s trustees at the original price! Thus the trustees were able to sell the college on to another educational institution, thereby providing the Trust with a significant charitable endowment for the future.

The charitable objects enabled the trustees to support RE teachers wishing to enhance their postgraduate qualifications and later created an important partnership with the Culham Educational Foundation, setting up the St Gabriel’s Programme. This initiative developed innovative resources for RE and established the annual St Gabriel’s Weekend, firstly in Sunningdale and later at Wokefield Park, offering a free of charge opportunity for RE teachers to come together in a residential setting and share good practice, something that most would otherwise be unable to do, isolated in their own schools and often undermined by government educational policy: for many, these weekends were utterly transformative professional experiences which inspired them as they returned to their schools.

When in 2012 the two clerks of St Gabriel’s and Culham were both planning to retire, the opportunity arose for the two trustee bodies to come together, building on the cooperation over many years, to create the Culham St Gabriel’s Trust. Thus the significant legacy of both colleges would be safeguarded for future generations of RE teachers. With a generous endowment, this now meant that the Trust could more easily support major national initiatives such as the RE Council and the 2018 Commission on RE. This commitment vital to RE continues to flourish under the strong leadership of Kathryn Wright.’

What strikes me about Priscilla’s reflections is that the Trust’s focus on free, transformative, and inspiring resources and professional development still very much lies at the heart of the Trust. The reimagining of RE:ONLINE over the last few years, our scholarship programmes and the recent launch of our free e-learning platform continue to fulfil this mission.

Reflections from the first Director of Culham St Gabriel’s, Dr Mark Chater…

First, the merger itself: I gather that the idea first occurred to Priscilla and John Gay while on a walk. From this the idea grew, building on the many years in which the two former Trusts had worked together. Mutual trust, confidence and enthusiasm deepened. John Keast chaired the Implementation Committee which looked after the details – of which there were many! Within only a few years, Trustees saw themselves as ‘CSTG’ rather than ‘Former C’ or ‘Former St G’. Now, everyone takes the existence of the merged Trust for granted. But it was a major achievement at the time, based on shared vision and painstaking care over detail. 

Modernising the grant application process to make it more user-friendly for applicants, and less burdensome for Trustees, was an early achievement. Putting it onto an online process with new, RE-focused grant criteria helped to place CSTG on the map. The feedback from grantees was positive. Sharing information and ideas with other RE grant-givers has also grown gradually. 

Three significant CSTG grant decisions which, perhaps, have deeply influenced the course of RE for the medium term: Understanding Christianity, the NATRE/RE Today regional champions, and the Commission. The first of these had a long and at times lively gestation, but eventuated in resources which really enhanced the rigour and excellence of RE. The regional champions have strengthened the infrastructure of support available to teachers, and contributed to the growth and sustainability of NATRE. The Commission, which submitted its final report and recommendations in 2018, changed the conversation about the future of RE (or Religion & Worldviews) and we wait in joyful hope for a government bold enough to implement the much-needed change which it envisaged. 

But that is not the end of the story. I hope and pray that CSTG will continue its vital leadership, support, and innovative thinking for many years to come. 

Having worked with Mark for a number of years as a CSTG Consultant I think he instilled in me an understanding of the Trust’s forward-thinking approach. Mark’s reflections show how the Trust has always been sensitive to the ever-changing educational landscape, responding to new contexts. At its heart, though always remains the focus on serving others in the best possible way. Therefore, we have some exciting new grant making plans to announce. Firstly, we are launching special 10^th Anniversary grant awards for small, innovative projects that make a difference. Secondly, later in the summer we will be sharing details of our new scholarship programme series to run alongside our current masters and leadership programmes. Watch this space!

Reflections from our current Chair, John Keast, OBE…

So CSG (as I think of it) is ten years old. How time flies! As we commemorate this milestone, my mind goes back to the two constituent trusts, with their illustrious Chairs, trustees and staff, as well as to CSG itself. There are too many to mention them all in this short piece, but their vision, dedication and skill not only served those trusts well, but led to the formation of what is now a very effective force for good in the world of religious education. As I retire as Chair of CSG this year, I indulge myself below in surveying the whole period from 2003 when I first became a trustee of both constituent trusts then the merged trust. What highlights come to mind?

First, the people:

• Three prominent and very effective chairs – Colin Alves, Tony Williamson and Priscilla Chadwick, each of whom had distinguished but varied careers in their own right, but brought their considerable expertise and experience to bear in building up the separate and then joint trusts.
• Four extremely competent and dedicated officers (although they had different job titles) – John Gay working for both Culham and St Gabriel’s separately, though often in partnership with Brenda and Peter Duffells at St Gabriel’s, and Mark Chater, first CEO of the merged trust. All of these excellent people served the trusts so well, along with some many other partners and consultants over the years, with whom they worked.
• The many trustees, who so well connected CSG to other organisations and spheres of influence, who brought the benefit of their links and experience to the work of the trust.

Second, specific events:

• The massive teacher conferences, mostly held at Wokefield, which did so much to inspire and build the confidence and morale of teachers in RE classrooms. Not cheap to put on, but how exhilarating, powerful and enjoyable they were!
• The smaller but very visionary colloquia, conferences and meetings which did so much to influence how RE both survived and thrived after the introduction and development of the National Curriculum, after the Great Education Reform Bill 1988.
• Working in partnership with other organisations in RE, again too many to mention.

The reference to teachers, meetings and partners above encapsulates some of the core aims of the trusts over the years – the importance of the teacher of RE, and providing opportunities for training and support via grants and events; the need to influence policy and curriculum development in RE both nationally and locally; and the support of RE in schools of all kinds, not just those with a religious character.

Times change, and so must the capacity of RE to respond. CSG is now very properly focussed on clear strategic objectives. These have become so important in the past ten years when the threats to the wellbeing and structure of RE, based as it still is on the 1944 Education Act model, have become more serious. So in the past ten years, in addition to its continued focus on teachers, CSG has developed a leading role in helping to bring the stakeholders in RE together, not least through its support of the RE Council, which is essential to the future of the subject. With its current CEO and Board, CSG will become and even more significant player in the RE community of the future. Long live CSG!

It has been a pleasure to work with John over the last three years. He will step down as Chair this summer, and the Trust will enter another new chapter. John’s emphasis on the importance of people shines through his reflections. Nurturing relationships with all our grantees is vital. Yes, we provide funding for individuals and projects, but we also want to invest in people. We often talk about becoming part of the CSTG family. Empowerment and collaboration are two of our values, and we aim to live these out through all our work. As we enter a season where a new Education Act is on the horizon, John’s final words will be vital. We will continue to strive towards our vision by:

• Increasing public understanding of religion and worldviews education
• Engaging with, informing and influencing decision makers
• Creating well-informed, empowered and influential educationalists
• Establishing and building strategic and collaborative partnerships and networks
• Commissioning and publishing focused and accessible research
• Championing and developing inspired and well-resourced teaching and learning

Here is to another ten years… and beyond!

Kathryn Wright and guests

I was always going to be a linguist. My Dad was a French teacher and, not wanting to be lectured on the conjugation of French verbs at home, I threw myself into every opportunity to learn languages other than French. I took German and Russian A Levels, discovering along the way a love of poetry, etymology and collecting alphabets. When it came to choosing what I wanted to do at university, I was torn between pursuing languages and RE, my other great love.

What swung it for me was the fact that most Theology and Religious Studies degrees required the study of a language associated with sacred texts – Sanskrit, Qur’anic Arabic, Hebrew, Greek. I jumped in enthusiastically, getting from zero Hebrew to the equivalent of A Level in 7 weeks. Despite the odd mistranslation, the journey of discovery into these text’s original languages opened my eyes to entirely different ways of living in and thinking about the world. For example, in Hebrew, thinking is something you do with your heart, rather than your head; so where ‘Moses thought…’ in an English Torah translation, in the original Hebrew “Moses said in his heart…”. That puts an entirely different spin on decision-making.

This was powerful: it gave me permission to step outside my own worldview and temporarily inhabit someone else’s. The impact of doing this was something that I wanted to share. I continued my studies, earning a Masters and then working on a PhD. However, life intervened, and despite reaching the writing-up phase of my PhD, ill health meant that I never completed it. I moved into teaching Secondary Religious Studies and Philosophy and *loved* it.

Writing as a postgraduate researcher was both frustrating and daunting; the audience were the experts and I was just starting out. In teaching however, my teenage audience was curious (usually) and enthusiastic (sometimes), and my job was to explain things never before encountered. My writing changed – I needed to make complex, abstract ideas accessible. It was at this point that I started blogging and through this, connecting with other RE teachers.

In my current role as an adviser to a huge range of Lincolnshire schools, my writing changed once again. I had the chance to re-engage with research in my field, considering its adaptation to the classroom. I was now writing for an audience not of academics or teenagers, but teachers, and needed to speak into their contexts in practical and useful ways. Several generous colleagues shared their time and expertise, providing collaborative writing opportunities which opened doors for me; Mark Chater, Kathryn Wright, Olivia Seymour, Jane Chipperton, and many more. Writing can feel like a lonely and isolating activity, and I was astonished by the power of collaborative writing. I can say with absolute certainty that my writing improved a hundred-fold. I have taken that lesson into my day job and intentionally seek opportunities to work collaboratively with teachers who are writing for publication, for research and for their own professional development.

I did not set out to become a writer, but throughout my professional life, writing has challenged me to present what I know to others and, perhaps most importantly, to a range of different audiences. It can often feel, at the end of a long working day when the laundry still needs doing and paperwork needs sorting and there are still 50 unread emails in your inbox, that writing is an added extra – something you’ll get round to once you’ve sorted out everything else. I would urge you to revisit that assumption. For me, writing has been a way of trying out ideas, of improving my ability to communicate effectively to different audiences; it has provided me with a space to think and to work collaboratively with others. Writing has helped me grow professionally and it has become an invaluable part of who I am.

There are lots of ways in which you can get involved in writing – why not start with a blog post for RE:ONLINE?

This summer we are delighted to be hosting a new blog series from our vibrant and energetic subject community! Each of the main RE/R&W organisations will be sharing their reflections on 2020-21, and looking forward to the coming academic year. We will be posting one blog per week and are very grateful to the Chairs/CEOs of these organisations for contributing their thoughts. We start the series with the Religious Education Council of England and Wales.

Kathryn Wright

CEO, Culham St Gabriel’s

NATRE aims to support the development of high-quality teaching and learning in RE/Religion and Worldviews for all pupils in all schools.

Looking backwards

The aim of NATRE didn’t change in the last challenging year in fact it became even more important as our members, and all teachers, learnt to educate pupils in new ways, in new places under unbelievably challenging circumstances.

Whilst NATRE always work hard to resource schools, for example, through our publications, local groups, Spirited Arts, training, social media presence and #REChatuk this year we tried to support teachers in their new circumstances. This meant creating digital copies of magazines so you could read it even if it was delivered to school when you were teaching from home, providing extra RE chats, supporting local groups (thank you Saima Saleh) to go virtual and providing far more online training. We continued to provide home learning resources for our members and for all teachers and at third lock down made our member home learning resources free to all.

It was nerve racking creating an online Strictly RE conference for almost 500 delegates but we were really pleased to see that spreading it over the whole weekend and the evenings leading up to the conference weekend meant that more people could attend more sessions, the recording of the majority of sessions provided ongoing CPD for delegates who couldn’t attend.

Over the summer NATRE (and RE Today) were spurred into action to create a series of anti-racist RE resources a small but important step towards a more diverse RE/Religion and worldviews curriculum. Whilst NATRE had been working to promote greater inclusion of contemporary and diverse voices in the classroom, we recognised that there was more to do across the whole age range, and this work needed to be done with greater urgency. The RE curriculum has not always sufficiently acknowledged the role of religious and non-religious worldviews in injustice, both in the past and in the present. This led to a project supported by the Free Churches Group and Methodist Schools. Project partners whom this work would not be possible without include black, Asian and minority ethnic teachers, academics, religious and non-religious voices from many communities and managed, written and edited by Lat Blaylock, RE Adviser and editor of REtoday magazine. As you may know in the summer term these resources were somewhat castigated in certain parts of the media and by one or two politicians and a Bishop. We were so heartened by those of you that had read and used the resources who were able to put the record straight as we had to do too. We were pleased to finally be able to speak about our amazing and essential subject on the BBC.

The year 20/21 was a year of change for NATRE as we said thank you and goodbye to an old executive and welcomed a new one. It is essential that NATRE is driven by the voice of teachers and once again you voted in an amazing bunch. Ben Wood has been an amazing advocate for RE but has now stepped back from being chair to be assistant to the chair and we welcome Katie Freeman, the first Primary Chair for almost 20 years! What has not changed is the importance of working together with the whole RE community to ensure all pupils get excellent RE/Religion and Worldviews education. One of the ways NATRE do this is as part of the Religious Education Policy Unit (REPU), a partnership with the Religious Education council and REToday Services designed to promote political change that supports RE. Through this group we have spoken to shadow cabinet members and MPs from the government and had many questions asked in parliament. We are working together on ensuring RE/Religion and Worldviews is better understood and supported by key stakeholders. We hold regular meetings with the DFE and are able to help them understand the subject and sometimes even correct errors and omissions. We also work together to gain positive media attention and understanding.

NATRE have always worked hard with key stakeholders such as professional associations, OFQUAL, exam boards, Universities, DFE and OFSTED. We aim to support organisations to work with us to improve RE and to ensure all pupils in all schools receive the RE they deserve and are entitled too. Some of this liaison, advocacy and lobbying work we can speak publicly about and much more goes on behind the scenes. Rachael Jackson-Royal leads our work on qualifications and higher education and has been incredibly busy this year sharing teacher views, queries, and concerns with OFQUAL and exam boards.

We also take data and surveys seriously as we know this information has the power to change the minds of senior leaders in school and key stakeholders such as DFE and OFSTED. Thank you to all those of you who fill in our Secondary and Primary surveys and to Deborah Weston who is our research officer. Do check out our latest data section to see what you can use in your school. You might also find the RE defender toolkit or the report of a complaint at a school that was not providing sufficient RE useful too.

As you can see a busy year…

Fiona Moss, CEO NATRE

Looking forward…

In March 2021, I was elected as Chair of NATRE.  Becoming the Chair of our subject association what somewhat of a daunting role but also one that I am really excited about. As we look forward to the next academic year, NATRE has many plans to further support teachers of RE.

In January 2022, NATRE plan to hold another Strictly RE conference. We are grateful for the feedback that teachers of RE share with us each year and we strive to ensure that we act upon this to ensure that delegates receive the best quality training. There has been much discussion in the RE community surrounding a Religion and Worldviews approach to teaching RE and this theme will feature in the planning for the conference. One of the strengths of all of our Strictly RE conferences is that it is cross phase, for this reason, we will continue to ensure that a range of speakers from different phases will lead workshops that will feature ‘takeaway’ ideas for use in the classroom. Many teachers also shared that they really valued time to network with other professionals so we will be ensuring that this is a key feature of Strictly 2022.

In his time as Chair, Ben Wood planned to hold NATRE’s first ever curriculum symposium event.  The executive has been really excited about this idea and it has formed a key part of our action planning to move NATRE forward. As an executive, we felt that this symposium needed to be a face to face event so that teachers could discuss their curriculum design in detail and have support from other professionals that would help to move them forward. As the restrictions linked to the pandemic begin to lift, NATRE is putting plans in place for this event to take place. We have been excited to receive expressions of interest from teachers from different phases of education from across the country. Delegates that take part in the symposium event will be invited to write up their experiences so that other teachers can draw upon them and we hope that this will have impact on their own curriculum design. NATRE would like to extend its thanks to CSTG for helping to fund this event.

Fiona has already mentioned the success of our local groups and how they have supported teachers of RE throughout the pandemic. Over the lockdown period, teachers took part in a range of virtual training opportunities and Zoom meetings have now become a real feature of CPD for schools. NATRE wanted to draw upon these virtual meeting opportunities has started to set up a range of national groups to bring teachers together from across the country who want to focus on specific themes, provision or issues within the RE community. A great example of these national groups in the group set up by Sarah Payne to support teachers of RE in special schools. Huge thanks to Sarah and to Saima (our local groups officer) for all of their hard work in this area. Watch this space for more virtual national groups coming to a screen near you soon!

Throughout the pandemic, NATRE continued to create online resources to support teachers of RE, this work will continue over the next year so please do continue to check our website for news and updates. We will also continue to hold a monthly #RECHATUK and our social media team (Joanne Harris and Catriona Card) have worked hard to create a comprehensive list of topics and themes for the next year.  We are always keen to ensure that more teachers get involved in these discussions so I would encourage you to bring a friend to our September chat.

Over the last eighteen months the teaching community has had to adapt and work in so many different ways. I am proud of our profession, the work that we have done and how we have come together to ensure that our children receive the best learning experiences possible. I am sure that the next year will hold challenges and as a community many of us will have different ideas about how we think our subject should be taught or how it should develop. Let us remember though that we are a community who are united in wanting the very best for all of our pupils. In a world where we can be anything, let us be kind to ourselves and kind to one another.

Katie Freeman, NATRE Chair

This summer we are delighted to be hosting a new blog series from our vibrant and energetic subject community! Each of the main RE/R&W organisations will be sharing their reflections on 2020-21, and looking forward to the coming academic year. We will be posting one blog per week and are very grateful to the Chairs/CEOs of these organisations for contributing their thoughts. We start the series with the Religious Education Council of England and Wales.

Kathryn Wright

CEO, Culham St Gabriel’s

We are delighted to host this blog for Culham St Gabriels to talk about AREIAC’s work to support high quality RE.

We are the first Co-chairs of AREIAC and we began in our role September 2020. If you are not sure what AREIAC does, we are an organisation for anyone who is a Religious Education inspector, adviser or consultant, whether they are part time or full time, new to the role or with years of experience. Our members come from all fields – some are Diocesan, others are independent and some are currently serving teachers who advise other schools on RE. We have also welcomed the Culham St Gabriel leadership programme candidates to our meetings and conference as part of their own leadership development in RE. We are here to provide advice, challenge, leadership, training and support for all those who advise others on multi-faith religious education in all schools and colleges.

AREAIC has an executive, organising committee and regional groups which meet regularly to share and develop resources, to support advisers and teachers and to discuss national issues around excellent religious education.

In our first year one of our priorities has been to reach out to as many advisers as possible through our programme of meetings and events throughout the year. For the first time this year we have introduced online webinars and an RE book club for our members as part of their professional development. Topics have included curriculum development, the future national framework for RE, Dharmic religions and the Cadbury lectures. We will be building on these in the year ahead and working with Culham on projects such as the RExChange programme to ensure that RE advisers have plenty of opportunities for such development on a regular basis.

 Last year with help from our membership secretary Stacey Burman and our web adviser Paul Hopkins, we updated and added further information to our website so that it is current and helpful for users. It now regularly features our Twitter feed, contains our members’ details for further advice and connects members with CPD that is of interest to them.

We continued to engage with other RE stakeholders throughout the year and we were part of the steering group with Culham St Gabriels developing the Leadership Programme for RE. This, of course, has built on the fabulous pioneering work of AREIAC through the Revitalise programme. Many of AREIAC’s advisors are involved as mentors on this programme and we have actively welcomed newer RE leaders through this route. We would like to encourage as many of these leaders as possible to join AREIAC in the future so do contact us for further information.

We produce two newsletters a year for our members and we have also introduced bulletins for the first time this year, which are shorter but keep our members up to date throughout the year.

A number of our members have been involved with other projects throughout the year, including the young ambassador project, the 5 Cities media project and the joint Collective Worship project with NASACRE. Information about these will be shared with members during the forthcoming year.

Growing the membership of AREIAC has been a priority for us this year and especially reaching out to advisers who are part time and working in schools. We have established a working group on membership that has met throughout the year and which has resulted in a new part time membership rate. Details of these are on the AREIAC website.

The highlight for us this year was the two day online conference held in July this year which many of our members and other guests attended. We were delighted with the positive feedback from this and we look forward to planning a face to face conference with our conference organiser Gill Vaisey next year in July.

A key project for us to work on this coming year is developing our response to research in AREIAC and we look forward to working with our AREIAC research group that can report to members on a more consistent basis in 2022 and build on the work started in our members’ CPD programme.

Finally, our review of the year would not be complete without thanks to our executive committee, who are always supportive of everything we do and who provide consistently good advice and expertise for us to draw on. We also would like to thank all of you for your own work in ensuring high quality RE in 2020-2021 and we look forward to working with you in 2021-2022,

Justine Ball and Julia Diamond-Conway, Co-chairs of AREIAC

This summer we are delighted to be hosting a new blog series from our vibrant and energetic subject community! Each of the main RE/R&W organisations will be sharing their reflections on 2020-21, and looking forward to the coming academic year. We will be posting one blog per week and are very grateful to the Chairs/CEOs of these organisations for contributing their thoughts. We start the series with the Religious Education Council of England and Wales.

Kathryn Wright

CEO, Culham St Gabriel’s

TRS-UK is the organisation that represents, co-ordinates, and supports those who teach and conduct research in Theology and Religious Studies in Higher Education. Our membership consists of units/Departments in 30 Universities, together with 12 subject associations (focused in various academic specialisms). At a time when the Government is prioritising STEM subjects, we are having to work hard (alongside others in Arts and Humanities) to re-emphasise the social and national significance of the understanding of religions/theology. We are confident that our colleagues will perform well, in both publications and impact, in the current assessment of University research being undertaken in the Research Excellence Framework. But there is acute pressure on several TRS units/Departments at the present, with some being forced to downsize, and TRS-UK has been active, both in public and behind the scenes, in lobbying on behalf of our colleagues.

A highlight of this past year has been the publication of a set of short videos of graduates in Theology and Religious Studies (generously funded by Culham St Gabriel’s), which are available on our own TRS-UK YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rWLXgsU6fzz4P3o9OBz2A).  These indicate the wide range of jobs to which a degree in our subject can lead, emphasising the value of the knowledge gained and the skills learned by studying theology/religion at University. The quality of these films (which are both individual profiles and compilations) has been much complimented. They do not promote any particular University, and so can be used by anyone and everyone to promote the subject. They are now being widely used in schools and Universities, in open days and careers events, to showcase the value of a degree in Religion/Theology. We have identified that a common block for prospective students is the question asked by parents or peers: “What would you do with a degree like that?” We hope that these films will help answer that question and will inspire students to undertake study in such a fascinating subject which can lead to such a range of interesting and socially significant careers.

The videos can be used to complement the recently launched British Academy slides on employability. The slides, which were edited by TRS-UK, show why TRS students are highly valued by employers for their varied skills. The slides can be downloaded here. These may be particularly relevant for schools to use during careers and university fairs.

Over this last year we have also established a strong collaboration with the Religion Media Centre, as we seek to raise the public profile of our subject area and to encourage more academics to contribute to public discussion and to enhance religious literacy. We have continued to develop our own social media presence (e.g., Twitter: @trs_uk) and have completely revamped our website (trs.ac.uk). We have also undertaken a survey of RE teachers to establish how best to develop the interface between schools and Universities. This has given us some significant pointers for future collaboration, and we have developed a network of ‘outreach’ officers in the Universities, to share good practice and to collaborate in providing resources for teachers and events for school pupils that will foster the study of religion/worldviews in schools.

Currently, Tim Hutchings (University of Nottingham) and Céline Benoit (Aston University) act as School Liaison Officers for TRS-UK. Their role is to work with schools and universities to address the decline in enrolment in TRS in Higher Education, support the teaching of RE in schools by fostering engagement with TRS departments, research centres and networks, map and monitor developments within the UK’s “RE world”, and to improve the perception of TRS and RE within education more widely.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) regularly offer resources and outreach events to their local schools. However, not all schools know how to contact their local TRS department and make the most out of their nearby HEIs. To address this issue, TRS-UK has collaborated with NATRE to launch a ‘Making Links’ webpage. The aim of Making Links is to foster networks between TRS departments and their local RE teachers by providing access to up-to-date information not only about degree programmes in Theology and Religious Studies, but also about the activities and support university departments offer to schools. The page also includes contact details for the admissions or outreach officer at every TRS department.

Moving forward: we are hosting a one-day online Symposium on the future of TRS in the University on Friday September 24^th 2021 (details from secretary@trs.ac.uk), which we hope will collect and disseminate wisdom on how theology and religion can flourish in the University context over the next decade. At our AGM on 3^rd December, we will have a change of leadership as both John Barclay (President) and Marion Bowman (Vice-President) will be passing on the baton to those newly elected at that event.

Recently, TRS-UK launched the first national network for HEIs Outreach Convenors in TRS departments. If you’re involved in outreach activities, please feel free to add your name to our new mailing list by clicking https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=TRS-OUTREACH&A=1 and/or forward to relevant colleagues. Subscribers to the mailing list can then be contacted via TRS-OUTREACH@JISCMAIL.AC.UK. The aim is to provide Outreach Convenors with a space to ask questions, disseminate good practice, organise informal catch-ups, or launch new joint ventures to support RE in schools.

We have also embarked on a significant piece of work on ‘Decolonising TRS’.  We are conscious that both staffing and curricula are not as diverse as they should be, although our subject-matter is (or should be) a prime context for exploring non-white narratives and perspectives. Many University TRS Departments/Units are exploring ways of enhancing diversity in their curricula, and we hope that we will be able to both spearhead and co-ordinate moves in that direction.

Professor John Barclay, President, TRS-UK

Tim Hutchings and Celine Benoit, School Liaison Officers, TRS-UK