The Role of Faith in British Schools/Education

The Role of Faith in British Schools/Education

http://se-faithforum.net/national-events/conference-2015

Religion and belief in school – a Westminster Faith Debates report

Religion and belief in school – a Westminster Faith Debates report 

http://faithdebates.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2015/06/A-New-Settlement-for-Religion-and-Belief-in-schools.pdf.

A Westminster Faith Debates report ‘A New Settlement: Religion and Belief in Schools’ by former Minister Charles Clarke and Professor Linda Woodhead was published in June.

18 policy recommendations are made by them, covering the act of collective worship, the content and formation of the legally required RE curriculum and the operation of faith schools.
Among these there are proposals that:

1. the requirement for schools to have an Act of Collective Worship should be abolished; 
2. consideration be given to using the phrase ‘Religious and Moral Education’ rather than ‘Religious Education’ in describing this part of the statutory curriculum; 
3. and the Religious Education syllabus in county and voluntary controlled schools should no longer be set by a system of locally agreed syllabuses, but be an agreed national syllabus which would have a similar legal status to the requirements of other subjects in the National Curriculum. 

The full report can be downloaded at: http://faithdebates.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2015/06/A-New-Settlement-for-Religion-and-Belief-in-schools.pdf.

RE: GCSE and AS: dates for Reformed Exams

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timeline-of-changes-to-gcses-as-and-a-levels/changes-to-gcses-as-and-a-levels-that-will-affect-each-current-school-year-group

GCSE and AS: dates for Reformed Exams

Ofqual update today to confirm dates for reformed exams: Aut 16: First teaching of new GCSEs and ASs Sum 17 First AS exams Sum 18 First A level and GCSE exams

RE Council Newsletter : October 2014

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a742773f8f89e11e47d388c29&id=b0c5318120&e=a0f1d3deed

RE Council Newsletter : October 2014

In This Issue

• Putting RE on the map
• Government change of heart on bursaries
• RE Council Patrons
• RE Quality Mark
• APPG on RE
• RE PD Portal
• Young Ambassadors for RE
• New on the RE Council website
• Regional Strategy for RE CPD
• Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life
• The Teach RE course
• The 3forRE scheme
• E-mail a Believer
• New: Online secondary seminar from RE Today Service
• REtoday Re-Styled
• Strictly RE: the first ever NATRE national conference
• NATRE launches its new website
• New publications from FBFE
• The Hockerill/NATRE prize for innovation in RE teaching: winners announced
• News from the Hindu Council UK
• Institute of Jainology: Ahimsa day celebrations
• New articles on JAINpedia

THE DFE GOVERNORS' HANDBOOK, REVISED AND RELEASED ON 11.9.14

http://www.nga.org.uk/getattachment/Guidance/Legislation,policies-and-procedures/Government-advice-and-guidance/Governors-Guide-to-the-Law/Governors_Handbook_Sept2014.pdf.aspx

THE DFE GOVERNORS' HANDBOOK, REVISED AND RELEASED ON 11.9.14

USEFUL NEW TEXT FROM THE DFE GOVERNORS' HANDBOOK, REVISED AND RELEASED ON 11.9.14

3.1.2 Religious education


All state-funded schools must teach religious education. Maintained schools without a religious character should follow the syllabus agreed by the local Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE).

Voluntary aided schools with a religious character should provide RE in accordance with the trust deed or religious designation of the school, unless parents request the locally agreed syllabus.

Foundation schools and voluntary controlled schools with a religious character should follow the locally agreed syllabus, unless parents request RE in accordance with the trust deed or religious designation of the school.

Religious education is also compulsory in faith and non-faith academies and free schools as set out in their funding agreements.



3.1.3 Collective worship



All maintained schools without a religious character must provide a daily act of broadly Christian collective worship for their pupils. In community schools and non-faith foundation schools, the head teacher is responsible for arranging this after consulting the 46

governing body. In voluntary aided schools, voluntary controlled schools and foundation schools with a religious character, the governing body is responsible for arranging collective worship in accordance with the trust deed or religious designation of the school after consulting the head teacher.

In some maintained schools without a religious character, the family backgrounds of some or all pupils may lead the head teacher and governing body to conclude that broadly Christian collective worship is not appropriate. The head teacher can apply to the local SACRE to have the broadly Christian requirement disapplied and replaced by collective worship distinctive of another faith and should consult the governing body before doing so.

Academies and free schools without a religious character must also provide a daily act of broadly Christian collective worship by virtue of their funding agreement. An academy or free school wishing to have the broadly Christian requirement disapplied and replaced by collective worship distinctive of another faith should apply to the Secretary of State via the EFA.
previous version of the doc
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270398/Governors-Handbook-January-2014.pdf

The Importance of Religious Literacy

http://www.aquila-style.com/focus-points/religious-literacy/50529/

The Importance of Religious Literacy

Our knowledge about Islam and other religions must come from education for social cohesion, writes Alayna Ahmad.

REC: Primary Headteachers : Guidance on RE

http://religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/educators/briefing-papers/primary-headteachers-guidance-on-re

Primary headteachers: Guidance on RE

The provision and training of teachers of Religious Education: Guidance for headteachers of primary schools
The purpose of this paper is to make headteachers aware of the findings and recommendations of Religious Education: the Truth Unmasked, which reports the outcomes of the recent inquiry held by the All Party Parliamentary Group for RE (APPG).

NATRE: Guidelines on Teaching RE

http://www.natre.org.uk/free.php

Free NATRE resources

10 Beginnings for Foundation Stage RENATRE
10 flexible sets of learning ideas for children in the 4–5 age group.
View document

10 Beginnings for RE in the Reception ClassNATRE
Here are 10 flexible sets of learning ideas for children in the 4–5 age group. What could your school make more use of from this list? Which ones are you already doing well? And what would be numbers 11–15 if you wrote them? How does each idea connect to Early Learning Goals and to other curriculum areas of learning?
View document

10 Ideas for better visual learning in RENATRE
Everyone signs up to the importance of visual learning these days, but there’s a risk that it stops with adding a few illegal pictures from the web to your worksheets. After deciding that visual learning matters, then what? How can the strategies of visual learning enhance RE? Images may add zip, pzazz and vim to tired lessons, but can they also deepen learning, broaden awareness and challenge attitudes? Try these ten ways forward.
View document

10 Ideas for rubbish RENATRE
Rubbish RE: The ten worst examples we could find!!
View document

NATRE: Making the case for GCSE Full Course (for all?) in your school

http://www.retoday.org.uk/media/display/Accountability_measures_NATRE_final.docx

Making the case for GCSE Full Course (for all?) in your school

 At the start of the new calendar year, many schools begin to turn their attention to planning their curriculum for the next academic year. The fact that from 2014 the short course no longer counts towards the performance measures, even though it remains an accredited GCSE qualification for pupils, has put some provision for RS at risk. It is NATRE’s position that short course remains a valuable means of accrediting pupils’ learning at key stage 4. This article suggests however, that in many schools around the country, full course RS for all might be a serious and viable option which is in the best interests of both the pupils and the school as a whole.

A new method of calculating school performance based on each student's progress between key stage 2 and 4 was confirmed by the government in October 2013. This measure is called the Progress 8 score. The Progress 8 score will complement the Attainment 8 score. Reformed GCSEs will be awarded at grades 1 – 8 as they are introduced. Attainment 8 and Progress 8 measures will be used to measure school performance from 2016.

 

These two indicators of school performance are based on pupils’ performance across 8 subjects. These subjects are:

A) a double weighted English element (the best result of the English Language and English Literature qualification will count for this element, but will only be double weighted if the pupil has also taken both qualifications); B) a double weighted mathematics element; C) three slots reserved for other EBacc subjects (sciences, computer science, geography, history and languages). D)three slots that can be taken up by further qualifications from the range of EBacc subjects, or any other high value arts, academic, or vocational qualification. RS GCSE counts as one of these 'high value' academic qualifications. The other English qualifications not counted in (A) can also count in this group of subjects.

 

How will Progress 8 work?

Pupils with a point score of 29 on their Key stage 2 tests achieve, on average, 8 C grades at GCSE. If a pupil with this level of prior attainment achieves 8 B grades in a GCSE then she has made an average of one grade more progress than expected. The average of all pupils’ progress scores across 8 subjects will create a school’s result.

The Progress 8 measure replaced the 5 A* - C score as the main measure in performance tables.  This means schools will be deemed to fall below the floor standard if pupils make an average of half a grade less progress than expected across their 8 subjects. However, schools in which pupils make an average of one grade more progress than expected across their 8 subjects will not be inspected by Ofsted during the next academic year.

So a school that wishes to give its pupils the best opportunity to demonstrate the most progress and also wants to achieve the highest possible Progress 8 score should obviously be looking closely at the value added scores of individual subjects, especially those in category D above.  In many schools, most students already take two sciences, in which case, only ONE further EBacc subject is required to complete category C.

Some students, despite the best teaching, find particular subjects, including EBacc subjects more difficult than others. This may apply to languages for example or history/ geography. In these circumstances schools that have compelled all students to study each of the EBacc subjects may not only be reducing pupils opportunity to demonstrate the best progress and attainment, but may well find themselves falling down the performance tables.

Likewise, schools that maximise their students' opportunity to achieve the highest value added score will be encouraging them to study the subjects where they are most likely to make most progress within a broad and balanced key stage 4 curriculum. These schools will usually be rewarded by a break from OfSTED for the next year recognising the good service they are providing their pupils. 

So how does the value added score for RS full course in your school compare with other subjects in category D? If RS is one of the top three, then the argument is compelling that all students should study full course RS and study it for the recommended time of 120-140 hours

NATRE: RE Regional Strategy Pilot launched

http://www.cstg.org.uk/2014/04/re-regional-strategy-pilot-launched/

Welcome to the RE Regional Strategy Pilot. The strategy to ensure that there are more robust arrangements for training and supporting teachers of RE is based on Recommendation 4 of the RE Council’s Review of Religious Education. This pilot version of the strategy has been worked out by the RE Council and NATRE working in collaboration with Culham St Gabriel’s. We are delighted to launch these documents, which we hope will help teachers of RE to develop a regional strategy in their own area, adapted and suited to their own professional development priorities.
Implementing a Strategy of Regional Support for RE: Report and Recommendations is an essential briefing document for any regional network reflecting on how to shape its own regional strategy.
Developing a Strategy of Regional Support for RE contains an Expression of Interest form for those regional networks that wish to apply for support from Culham St Gabriel’s for pilot activity during the summer term 2014.

REC: Projects and resources for teachers

http://religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/educators/projects

Useful guidance abd resources for teachers of RE

GOV: RE expert Advisory Group

http://www.shapworkingparty.org.uk/downloads/esgroups.pdf

15 teachers have been selected to serve on the Religious Education Expert Advisory Groups (EAG). We'll share more information about this project soon. To learn more about the work of this group, you might like to look at this useful diagram from SHAP.

The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) is a new government agency created to enable and support the development of a self-improving, school-led system.
The agency was formed from the merger, on 2 April 2013, of the National College for School Leadership and the Teaching Agency.) - from DfE website

TES: the teacher's opinion in the classroom

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6413991

Personal opinions will inevitably affect your teaching – but the pitfalls can be avoided if you share beliefs in a positive way

What is the Future of Religious Studies

http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/podcast-what-is-the-future-of-religious-studies/

This week we decided to do something a bit different. Every time David and Chris have conducted an interview, they have been asking the interviewees an additional question: “What is the Future of Religious Studies?”
The result is this highly stimulating compilation of differing perspectives and levels of optimism on what has become one of the most hotly debated topics in the academic study of religion at the start of the second decade of the twenty-first century.

TheGuardian: Why do schools sideline Religious Education ?

http://www.theguardian.com/education/mortarboard/2014/jan/15/dont-dismiss-religious-education-school

RE taught me valuable skills, but it is still isn't taken seriously in schools, writes a student blogger

BBC: A Question of Faith

A Question of Faith: http://retoday.org.uk/resources/18/read/163

A Question of Faith - classroom activities for the BBC programme

Link to Resource

Following the broadcast of A Question of Faith - 5 new short films for RE for 14-16s,here are some learning activities teachers can use to bring the programmes’ potential into focus for their students:
Question_of_Faith_Life_after_death_BBC_2014.pdf
Question_of_faith_Marriage_BBC_2014.pdf
Question_of_Faith_Revelation_BBC_2014.pdf
Question_of_Faith_Sexuality_BBC_2014.pdf
Question_of_Faith_Suffering_BBC_2014.pdf
aquestionoffaith

BBC: Dealing with Diversity in Schools

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-26901200

Dealing with cultural diversity in schools

5 April 2014 Last updated at 14:02 BST

How should schools in areas where there is a large Muslim population deal with the pressure that brings?

The question has been raised again this week because one of the Today programme's reporters was given access to a school in the Midlands which is said to have been the target of a group of extremist Muslims who, it is claimed, have been trying to infiltrate schools and introduce practises such as segregation of the sexes.
Sir William Atkinson recently retired as one of this country's most respected head teachers.
He has taken failing schools and turned them into outstanding schools. In one of them, 90% of the pupils were either Muslim or Sikh.
The Today programme's John Humphrys asked him about the problems associated with such a situation.

REC: statement on today's announcement about GCSE and A Level Reform

Here is a link to the joint NATRE and REC statement on today's announcement about GCSE and A Level Reform :

The National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) and The Religious Education Council (REC) are delighted that the Department for Education has accepted the case for the reform of GCSE and A level examinations in the subject on the same time scale as .......(see link)
http://www.natre.org.uk/news.php

http://religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/educators/news/2014-04-09/statement-on-gcse-and-a-level-reform

GOV: Michael Gove’s statement about the publication of reformed GCSE and A level

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/gcse-and-a-level-reform

Education Secretary Michael Gove’s statement about the publication of reformed GCSE and A level content

GOV: Arts subjects to get tougher exams

GCSEs and A-levels in arts subjects such as music and drama are to undergo a radical overhaul in a bid to make the courses tougher, it has been announced

RS GCSE and A level will be reformed on the same timetable as the EBacc subjects for first teaching in 2016. Great to know that the REC's Qualifications Committee including 5 NATRE people are leading this work in partnership with the JCQ and OfQual.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/education/arts-subjects-to-get-tougher-exams-1.309489