The RE and Community Cohesion project which began in January of this year and ended on June 29th, involved identifying and coordinating about a dozen Greater London RE teachers who are already developing the role of RE in community cohesion. Each teacher was asked to develop examples of best practice from within their teaching which could then be used as exemplars for national dissemination via a website and for a local exhibition within the City towards the end of the summer term.

RE and Community Cohesion Project Web site  - http://www.religiouseducationcouncil.org/cohesion

Although the time-frame was very tight, a great deal was achieved in the five months of the project. The schools that participated produced a range of resources that were interpreted in a wide way ranging from film demonstrations, Powerpoint presentations, schemes of work, posters, banners and displays. The community cohesion issues involved gender, age, disability, culture and as well as religion.

It was a privilege to work with these dedicated teachers and arrive at the culmination of five months hard work with such positive results. They immediately grasped the importance of what was required which was  to show how community cohesion can be expressed through Religious Education, and build on the comment from HMI that one of the great strengths of RE is the way it delivers issues related to community cohesion. They were able to demonstrate that community cohesion is all about building up social capital and making communities more reflective and pro-active about the manner in which they communicate and act – with young people, with peoples from different and diverse religious and cultural backgrounds, with people of different ages, with people with handicap and disadvantage.

The six secondary and seven primary schools who participated in the project reflect the extraordinary range of cultural and religious traditions to be found in the city of London today. All are within the greater London area and are from a range of school traditions –non-denominational, Roman Catholic,  Anglican, Jewish, Muslim and a large special school catering for the needs of educationally disadvantaged children.

The products of the five months work, culminated in an exhibition at the proposed new National Centre for Religious Education, St Nicholas Cole Abbey in the heart of the City of London. It is hoped that the work produced by these schools will be an inspiration to other schools.  

RE and Community Cohesion Project Web site  http://www.religiouseducationcouncil.org/cohesion