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Religious Education in England: Adjusting to a new context |
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Feb 06, 2012 at 10:34 AM |
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STATEMENT
BY THE CHAIR OF THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COUNCIL
1. Religious Education (RE) as we have known it
nationally is changing again. In the 1970s and 80s the provision and quality of
RE in schools in England was very poor - RE really was a ‘Cinderella’ subject. The
local and national partnership working for RE, started under a Conservative
government in 1993, improved RE greatly[1]. Now
what was put in place to improve and support RE since then seems to be being
dismantled by government. This could have a devastating effect on the provision
and quality of RE. |
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RE materials removed from DfE website |
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Feb 06, 2012 at 10:24 AM |
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There has been considerable concern recently that support materials for RE which were formerly available on the QCDA website, alongside other national curriculum subjects, seemed to have disappeared without notice from the DfE website. The REC has been assured that there was no intention of undermining the status of RE when this was done but there was an acknowledgement that there should have been some notification before the change took place. The materials for both primary and secondary RE continue to be available in the National Archive at the following link (then click 'Subjects' and 'Religious education').
Visit therelated National Archives web-page. |
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REC Newsletter February 2012 |
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Jan 27, 2012 at 11:35 AM |
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REC NEWS
The REC is moving forward with its Strategic Plan, to be implemented by five committees, one each on Curriculum, Assessment and Qualifications, Public Relations, Professional Development, Resources and Governance. Details of committee membership and terms of reference will be on the website at www.religiouseducationcouncil.org during the first week in February. Through the CAQ committee, the REC has just appointed John and Linda Rudge to carry out a scoping exercise for a review of RE to run alongside the government's review of the National Curriculum. The PR committee is about to commission a YouGov survey on attitudes to RE to inform its campaigning and is also close to setting up an All Party Parliamentary Group on RE to bring together MPs and peers from all backgrounds who have an interest in supporting the subject. Other important developments are highlighted elsewhere in the newsletter, including the RE Quality Mark and the report on the REsilience phase 2 pilots (see below). |
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Letter to HMCI at Ofsted |
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Jan 23, 2012 at 12:33 PM |
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A letter has been sent to Sir Michael Wilshaw, newly appointed Chief Inspector (HMCI) at Ofsted, regarding the new Ofsted framework and our concerns about RE. The letter has gone jointly
from the RE Council and NATRE.
Click here to download a copy of the letter. |
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Report on RE Community Weekend |
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Jan 20, 2012 at 11:51 AM |
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The full conference proceedings of the Wokefield Park RE Community Weekend on 1 - 2 October 2011 are now available.Click here to access the full report.
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Faith Education |
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Dec 22, 2011 at 05:32 PM |
The Times | Thursday 22 December 2011 | Letters
If the Prime Minister is serious about
religious values, he should ensure that RE stays on the curriculum at all
levels.
Having underlined the significance of the religious
dimension in underpinning personal and communal values, David Cameron is in the
ironic position of having an Education Secretary who appears to be dismantling
the very school subject committed to teaching about these issues.
Already Michael Gove has left RE out of the English
Baccalaureate; last week he put two-thirds of the secondary RE university
teacher training courses at risk of closure, and has so far failed to include
RE in the review of the school curriculum.
A new year's resolution by Mr Gove to reverse the downward
spiral in RE would still be in time.
John Keast
Chair of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales |
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News 