REC News

REC NEW APPOINTMENT

The Council has appointed a Communications Officer to bring professional expertise and experience to the campaign to improve public awareness and understanding of RE.  Tracey Gurr will take up her post on 1st January 2012 and will be working with the Board and the PR Committee with a particular remit to improve understanding of the value of RE amongst head teachers, governors and school providers and also to strengthen relationships across the RE community through better communication. Amongst other things, she will take on the production of this newsletter.

REC EGM 3 NOVEMBER 2011

This November's general meeting of the RE Council was held at Wesley's Chapel in East London and was attended by forty-eight people representing twenty-seven different member organisations.  As usual there were updates on finance, membership, projects and other core activity and members had the opportunity to publicise their individual activities.  The main business of the day was a detailed discussion of the REC's Strategic Plan (see www.religiouseducationcouncil.org) when members identified ways in which their organisations could contribute to the activities of the plan and also at what the REC could do for them as its members; their wide ranging contributions will be fed into the implementation process (see below).

NEWS FROM THE BOARD

The REC Board will meet on 8 December, when as well as reviewing core activity, members will be discussing areas of work such as the Sacred Spaces Partnership Group and projects including the REsilience pilot and a proposal for an RE Mark.  The main business will be to make progress on the implementation of the Strategic Plan, and there will be initial reports on the committees that have now been established to carry this out.  These committees are Curriculum, Assessment and Qualifications (chair: John Keast), Public Relations (chair: John Gay), Professional Development (chair: Phil Leivers), Resources (chair: John Keast) and Governance (chair: Deborah Weston).  Further details will be uploaded to the REC website as they become available and there will be regular updates in this newsletter.

CULHAM EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

Following the appointment of Mark Chater as Director of Culham, the work of the Foundation in supporting RE continues. Plans are quite well advanced for the merger of Culham with the St Gabriel's Trust, to form one major educational foundation supporting RE through teacher development, research and policy promotion. The new trust will probably be launched in the first three to four months of 2012, and will then announce its priorities for its investment programme and grant-giving. Watch this space.

RESILIENCE PROJECT

As part of the REsilience pilot project, a student conference was held at Liverpool Hope University on 2nd November. Organised by Joy Schmack from the University (who is also one of the REsilience mentors), the aim was to explore controversial issues and to challenge stereotypes.  It brought together Y9 and Y10 students from five secondary schools and they participated in four interactive workshops which were led by trainee teachers and, in one case, by the local Jewish community. Around 50 teachers and trainees also attended two workshops on REsilience with some practical classroom strategies, led by Alastair Ross. The conference seemed to have an important impact on trainees, students and teachers and the management group will evaluate this model as part of its overall assessment of the future options for REsilience.

JAMES HEMMING PRIZE

The British Humanist Association, in association with New Humanist and the South Place Ethical Society, is pleased to announce the 2012 James Hemming Essay Prize. Launched in honour of Dr James Hemming (1909-2007), a passionate advocate of an education system that would value and encourage every child, the essay prize provides an opportunity for students studying at AS or A2 (or equivalent) level to think critically and creatively on the chosen topic.  This year's question, inspired by British philosopher A J Ayer, invites students to discuss the quote that: ‘No moral system can rest solely on authority. It can never be sufficient justification for performing any action that someone commands it.'

For more information on the prize and details on how to enter please visit http://www.hemmingprize.org.uk/

BOARD OF DEPUTIES EDUCATION POLICY AND PROJECTS MANAGER

Sara Leviten writes: May I introduce myself? I am the new Education  Policy and Projects Manager at the Board of Deputies, having replaced Hannah Ashleigh.  Having set up the Jewish Resource Centre for Merseyside I was responsible for lectures at HE institutions on understanding Judaism and tours of Jewish Life. More recently I have become the Haringey rep for SACRE and have just completed nearly six years at Haringey Council as a community development officer. In my new post I shall be organising Jewish Life tours, the Board's flagship exhibition, ‘Jewish Way of Life' and be available for advice, resources and speaking to schools.  You can contact me at

CONFERENCE

The British Educational Research Association (BERA) Moral and Religious Education Special Interest Group and Canterbury Christ Church University will be holding a conference on Islam, Christianity and teaching in post-secular societies?  Practices and representations in education.  It will take place on Saturday 24 March at the University's Canterbury Campus and a substantial reduction in cost is available for those who book before Christmas.  Keynote speakers include Professors Jim Conroy and Mark Halstead; further details from www.canterbury.ac.uk/education/conference

NEW RESOURCES FROM DEVON

Graham Langtree, RE Adviser in Devon LA, has sent information about new resources available to order from www.devonldp.org  .  They include the locally agreed syllabus and other resources for schools including primary and secondary handbooks, ‘Encouraging Spiritual Development', ‘Who am I? Who are we? Where do I belong? A practical guide to community cohesion', and a DVD featuring Devon young people from a wide range of faith and belief backgrounds sharing their beliefs and experience - ‘It matters to me'. 

There is also some new guidance for parents and carers about RE: ‘It wasn't like this when I was at school!'  Further details from

HOCKERILL NATRE PRIZE FOR INNOVATION IN RE TEACHING - 2012

The Hockerill Educational Foundation and NATRE announce that they are accepting entries for the 2012 Prize.  Full details of the 2012 Prize and the 2011 Prize winners can be found at www.hockerillfoundation.org.uk. Please pass this information onto schools known to you.  The closing date is 31 January 2012.

HINDU COUNCIL UK

The Hindu Council UK is in the process of appointing regional directors to cover Hindu activities in various parts of the country. In order to do this they have started a series of consultations in various parts of the country. At the first stage they have appointed regional directors for East of England, North East and North West of England and Wales.

HINDU ACADEMY

Over the last month the Hindu Academy has conducted sessions on Hinduism at Maryvale Institute of Catholic Studies; St Mary's University Twickenham; Manchester University; Exeter University; Consciousness Cafe in Totnes; a series of assemblies at Forest School; a Diwali talk at Scotland Yard,  a wellbeing conference in Luton; sessions at the Interfaith Seminary in Borough and the Jain Vishwa Bharati in Edgware; an assembly for Fulham Prep School; a Faith Forum at Blackpool Town Hall; sessions at the Sixth Form College in Blackpool; Preston Temple; St George's School Lancashire; a Coventry temple; and a National Hindu Students Forum event at the Jewish Free School.

REEP - RELIGION AND THE ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME

Welcome to the 2011 Culham/REEP Advent feature, which you can view at: www.reepinfo.org.
This year's calendar explores the themes of Advent under four headings: Telling the Story, John the Baptist, Images of Judgement and Hymns and Carols. It comes with every good wish for your preparations for Christmas and 2012 from all at Culham and REEP.

THE OXFORD FOUNDATION

The Oxford Foundation has recently become a member of the RE Council.  Its aims and objectives and the nature of its work can be seen on its website at www.theoxfordfoundation.org.uk and readers can subscribe to its newsletter which gives accounts of recent successful programmes and projects.

POSTGRADUATE COURSES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WORCESTER

The University of Worcester offers Postgraduate Certificates in Religious Education and also in Church School Leadership. Each carries 60 Masters credits.  Further information about the programmes is on their websites here: http://www.worcester.ac.uk/courses/church-school-leadership-pgcert-education.html and here: http://www.worcester.ac.uk/courses/religious-education-pg-cert.html.

TAKING FAITHS INTO SCHOOLS - AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO RE IN NOTTINGHAM CITY AND COUNTY

The RS Resource Centre based at the Nottingham Bluecoat Church of England School has developed The Faith Experience, with the co-operation of Nottingham Inter Faith Council. Since September 2010, 40 schools with some 3065 pupils have benefited from the experiences in the last academic year.

 Details from  www.rsresources.org.uk

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