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The Autumn is a time of many festivals (follow this link to a list of them)
http://www.reonline.org.uk/supporting/festivals-calendar/
It is worth asking the question about whether we are celebrating or remembering at each of the festivals
and whether there is a difference.
Remembrance Day this year will be particularly poignant, as 100 years to the day, the day and the date for
Remembrance Sunday will coincide.
First World War centenary 2018
To commemorate the centenary of the First World War, the Church
of England has partnered with Oasis INSPIRE to encourage our pupils
to become agents of peace. INSPIRE aims to remember the sacrifice
of all those who gave their lives in violent conflict by working to build
peace in our communities. All schools are encouraged to research,
discuss and engage in activities that explore the armistice and what
it means to build peace.
You can get involved by exploring the values of peace through the
INSPIRE Peace Charter, holding a remembrance and peace service on
Friday 9th November and by using these lesson resources specially
created for Church of England schools.
The Church of England has also launched prayer and worship materials and further school resources can be
found on the Bible Society website and on Hope’s Remembrance 100 website.
RE NEWS Autumn 2018 EDITION
Celebrating or
Remembering?
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Contents
Local RE Networks – CPD for teachers and subject leaders ................................................................................. 3
Further CPD opportunities ................................................................................................................................... 5
New to RE Subject leader training day ............................................................................................................ 5
RE Conference - 2019 ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Education Sunday – Celebrating Schools in Church ............................................................................................. 5
Celebrating Diversity and Plurality ....................................................................................................................... 6
RE Ambassador Project Update ............................................................................................................................ 7
Stop Press – News Items and Resources .............................................................................................................. 7
Modern Slavery Resources .............................................................................................................................. 7
A New Settlement Revised: Religion and Belief in Schools ............................................................................. 8
Report from the Commission on RE ................................................................................................................ 8
Remembrance Day resources .......................................................................................................................... 8
Interfaith week ................................................................................................................................................ 9
Celebrating RE in the new SIAMS schedule .......................................................................................................... 9
Oxford Schools Chaplaincy ............................................................................................................................ 10
Oxford Diocesan Chaplaincy .......................................................................................................................... 10
RE Support ..................................................................................................................................................... 10
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Local RE Networks – CPD for teachers and subject leaders
The New SIAMS schedule places more emphasis on CPD for all staff. Diocesan training will contribute towards CPD records for staff who attend. These meetings are free of charge to enable all staff to attend, regardless of school budgets. To book please email: [email protected] unless indicated otherwise.
Oxfordshire
North Date: Tuesday 4th December 2018 Time: 3.45-5.15 pm Venue: Deddington School, Deddington, OX15 0TJ Topic: Planning the learning journey in RE
South Date: Tuesday 13th November 2018 Time: 3.45-5.15 pm Venue: Benson School, Benson, OX10 6LX Topic: Planning the learning journey in RE
West Date: Thursday 4th October 2018 Time: 3.45-5.15 pm Venue: St John’s School, Carterton, OX18 1JF Topic: Planning the learning journey in RE
Central Date: Wednesday 17th October 2018 Time: 3.45-5.15 pm Venue: Church House Oxford, Langford Locks, Kidlington OX5 1GF Topic: Planning the learning journey in RE
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes
Central Date: Thursday 15th November 2018 Time: 3.45-5.15 pm Venue: Buckingham Park School, Aylesbury HP19 9DZ Topic: Planning the learning journey in RE
South Date: Tuesday 6th November 2018 Time: 3.45-5.15 pm Venue: Hazlemere School, nr High Wycombe HP15 7PZ Topic: Planning the learning journey in RE
North and Milton Keynes Date: Monday 12th November 2018 Time: 3.45-5.30 pm Venue: Kiln Farm Gurdwara, Kiln Farm House, Tilers Road, Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes MK11 3LH Topic: Sikhism and the Gurdwara To book this session please contact: [email protected]
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East Berkshire
Bracknell Forest Date: Thursday 1st November 2018 Time: 4.15-5.30 pm Venue: Easthampstead Park Education Centre, RG40 3DR Topic: Planning learning with the new syllabus To book, contact Patricia White: [email protected]
RBWM and Slough Date: Wednesday 28th November 2018 Time: 4.00-5.30 pm Venue: Charters School, Sunningdale, Ascot, SL5 9QY Topic: Planning learning with the new syllabus To book, contact Elaine Norstrom: [email protected]
Support for RE in other areas of Berkshire is provided by the local authorities and their SACREs. Please see their websites for further information.
West Berkshire – Understanding Christianity Support Group
Date: Tuesday 25th September 2018 Time: 4.00-5.30 pm Venue: Aldermaston School, Aldermaston, RG7 4LX Topic: Planning effective learning using Understanding Christianity
Please note this session is for teachers who have completed Understanding Christianity training and will assume knowledge of the resource.
Further training on the resource is scheduled for early 2019.
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Further CPD opportunities
New to RE Subject leader training day If you are new to the role of RE subject leader and are looking for some targeted training, then this one-day
course is for you.
During the day you will have opportunities to consider the purpose of RE, explore the role of the RE leader in
a Church of England school, learn about the expectations of locally agreed syllabuses and look at a range of
resources.
Date: Wednesday 3rd October 2018
Time: 9.30 am – 3.30 pm (lunch provided)
Venue: Church House Oxford, Langford Locks, Kidlington, OX5 1GF
Cost: £95 + VAT for schools in the service level agreement; £140 + VAT for all other schools.
Further details about how to book are in the Excellence in Schools brochure sent to all schools and on the
diocesan website in the RE section: https://www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/religious-education/courses-
and-training/ or https://www.oxford.anglican.org/event/so-youre-the-new-re-subject-leader/
RE Conference - 2019 Every two years the Diocese of Oxford holds a conference to celebrate Religious Education and enable teachers
to engage with some of the big issues in RE teaching. The date of the next conference is 26th March 2019, this
time held at Moor Hall Conference Centre in Cookham, Berkshire SL6 9QH.
With the title Contradictory Convictions: Conflict, Dialogue and Debate this conference aims to equip
teachers with the skills they need to handle some controversial issues and topics that cause division. Much
research recently has identified the need for teachers to develop the skills of handling dialogue and debate to
promote genuine understanding between different religious groups and so the conference will cover religion
and non-religious world-views; science and religion; conscience, community and culture in the Reformation
and art as a means of expressing conflict.
This conference is a bargain at £90 + VAT for schools in the SLA and £100 + VAT for all other schools.
Further information can be found in the Excellence in Schools brochure and on the diocesan website. A
brochure with more details will be sent to schools soon. https://www.oxford.anglican.org/event/re-central-
re-conference-2/ or https://www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/religious-education/courses-and-training/
Education Sunday – Celebrating Schools in Church The Church of England has designated Sunday 9th September as Education Sunday. Find out if your local church
is doing something and see if there is anything you can do to help. This year the theme is ‘Faith and Works’
and the resources for schools and churches are now available on the Education Sunday 2018 webpage. If your
local church is not yet planning anything, can you share this information with them or even offer to share your
expertise.
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Celebrating Diversity and Plurality The new SIAMS schedule, now in force, makes it clear that pupils need to be
learning about the diversity within as well as between religions. How can
schools best achieve that, given how long is available for RE teaching? The
following list contains some suggestions that you may find helpful.
• Ask pupils to take photographs of places of worship when they are on holiday or out
for the day and bring them into school. They could form the basis of a display or a lesson.
• Explore any links that your local church has with churches in other countries or other parts of the UK.
If they regularly host visits from these link communities can they combine that with a visit to school
or bring some resources (artefacts or photographs) from the other community.
• Invite people from churches other than your local Anglican church to come and talk about a relevant
issue. Could you organise a “question time panel” with representatives from different communities
who answer the same questions? Remember even two people from the same community may have
different responses to some of the big issues.
• Remember to use the language of “Some, many, most, a few, a small number, a large number…” when
talking about any religious group. This could equally apply to how often certain practices are pursued
– “sometimes, always, usually, regularly, occasionally”. This allows pupils to understand that every
believer is different, even though there may be things they have in common.
• When reading a text look at more than one version. Remember that most of the sacred texts that our
pupils encounter have been translated. Look at different translations; read different interpretations.
Allow pupils to engage with the text from their own context. Allow different ideas about a text or a
practice to be accepted. Most believers accept that every time they return to a text they gain new
insights.
• Think about the historical context – not only of the text itself but of the different interpretations and
commentaries. For example, 300 years ago, slavery was accepted by most Muslims and many
Christians as acceptable. For the majority today, that is no longer the case. The sacred texts have not
changed, but the interpretations (and sometimes the translations) have.
• Try avoiding talk of Christianity, Islam or Judaism and talk about Christians, Muslims and Jews instead.
The same is true of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Bahai’s, Rastafarians etc. Avoiding talking about groups
may help pupils to recognise the individual, rather than a stereotype.
• Carry out an audit of the books and resources that you use. Do the pictures you choose reinforce
stereotypes? Do they contain a range of cultures, ethnicities and values?
• Be aware that there are many kinds of diversity: cultural, socio-economic, political, doctrinal and as
an identity-marker.
• Think about some of the ways in which diversity is expressed: architecture, music, practice, lifestyle,
vocabulary (and its meanings) and art.
Remember you will never know all the possible different ideas and interpretations. Keep an open mind; try to
identify your own (often unconscious) bias; be ready to be challenged. Teaching RE can be part of a spiritual
journey just as much as learning it (if not more so!). Learn from your pupils and they will learn from you.
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RE Ambassador Project Update Pupils from four secondary schools in the diocese have been exploring
diversity in practice. As part of the RE Ambassador project they have been
going into their local primary schools to give presentations on an aspect of
religious faith or religious education that is personal to them. This is what four
pupils from Ranelagh School wrote for their school magazine:
On Wednesday 2nd May a group of twelve RE Ambassadors from years 10 and
12 visited Jennett’s Park Primary School to educate children from years 3-5
about an RE topic of their choice. The scheme, which is run by the Oxford Diocese aims to raise the profile of
Religious Education in primary schools and encourage secondary school students to be confident and proud to
talk about their faith and belief. It was an extremely successful event and the students at Jennett’s Park all fed
back that they had learnt a lot.
During the process, the students took part in training sessions, exploring a variety of methods they could use
in primary schools, including activities to retain engagement. They learnt how to best express their religious
views, whilst also being inclusive of other beliefs. Students felt that the process was excellent, providing them
with a platform for public speaking and an opportunity to work with students from different year groups. The
topics students presented on ranged from exploring religious commitment in different religions to posing
challenging questions such as ‘does God exist?’ The primary school students responded well to the
presentations and asked some excellent questions at that really challenged the Ambassadors’ knowledge.
If you are a secondary school teacher interested in taking part in the scheme, there is a celebration of the
scheme in Church House Oxford on 14th September to which you are invited. The invitation was sent to schools
on 19th June.
For more details contact [email protected]
Stop Press – News Items and Resources
Modern Slavery Resources New resources to be released in September will help Church of England schools raise awareness of modern slavery and protect their students from becoming victims. The resources are a result of a collaboration between The Clewer Initiative, a project helping the Church of England to respond to modern slavery, and Just Enough UK, an educational charity who help children learn about difficult subjects like modern slavery and radicalisation.
The resources will include lesson plans for all five key stages, suggestions for collective worship, and guides for teachers. These resources are designed to raise awareness of modern slavery amongst the UK’s young people and make them aware when they themselves are at risk of being victims of this crime. The resources will be available through an online portal on the websites of The Clewer Initiative and Just Enough UK. Anyone who would like to be notified when the resources are released can visit www.theclewerinitiative.org/schools to sign up to a mailing list.
“Young people are an integral part of
the catalyst for change, while at the
same time being at risk of becoming
victims of trafficking themselves. This
project is a chance to prevent human
trafficking and modern slavery before
it even begins.”
Bishop Alastair Redfern, Bishop of Derby and
Chair of The Clewer Initiative
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A New Settlement Revised: Religion and Belief in Schools
This pamphlet, published on 17th July, is a follow up to the version published in 2015. It presents an evolution in the thinking of Charles Clarke and Linda Woodhead, although the recommendations are not radically changed. They are still calling for a national curriculum for RE, applicable to all schools including independent schools, but they have changed the call to abolish the legal requirement for Collective Worship. Instead they suggest: ‘All pupils in attendance at maintained schools and academies shall take part in a regular assembly or act of collective worship in keeping with the values and ethos of the school and reflecting the diversity and character of the school community.’ Another positive element is the recognition that Church of England schools are NOT faith schools, but schools with a Christians ethos, serving their local communities. They make other recommendations concerning RE, collective worship and SACREs. If you are short of time, all the recommendations are grouped together at the end of the document for a quick overview. The full document can be downloaded from: http://faithdebates.org.uk/ and is worth reading, even though the recommendations are likely to be superseded by the report from the Commission on RE.
Report from the Commission on RE The 12th September is the date on which the Commission on RE will release the final version of their
report. Since the interim report in September last year there have been further consultations
involving a wide range of religious, non-religious and educational groups, as well as interested
individuals. The commissioners are currently keeping very quiet about the content of the report,
but if anything is leaked it is likely to be on Twitter. In fact, there is a lot of RE debate on Twitter,
and it is one way that teachers can be in touch with the national RE scene. If you want to know
which groups to follow, find me - @AnneOxRE and look at the RE organisations that I follow. You
will recognise NATRE, REToday and the Commission on RE… among other diocesan advisers and
religious organisations.
There will undoubtedly be a Church of England Education Office response to the report; both the
report and the response will be made available on the diocesan RE webpages as soon as possible
after publication.
Remembrance Day resources In addition to those mentioned on the first page of this newsletter,
there are other resources available to help you and your pupils
engage with the 100th anniversary of the First World War.
Have a look at the Diocese of Guildford:
https://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/resources/world-war-1-
commemoration/ww1-resources-for-schools
Or the Diocese of Leeds: https://www.leeds.anglican.org/ww1REresourcesforschools
The Story of the Poppy is a fold out booklet available free from the British Legion. Contact your
local British legion office for free copies.
Find out how your local community is planning to mark the occasion and see if there is a way to
engage with the event.
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Interfaith week This year Interfaith week will begin on Sunday 11th November and run through to Sunday 18th
November. There is a website where local groups can post what they are doing:
https://www.interfaith.org.uk/ and many communities around the diocese will be involved in
hosting a range of events.
The three aims of the week are to:
• strengthen good inter faith relations at all levels;
• increase awareness of the different and distinct faith communities in the UK, celebrating
and building on the contribution which their members make to their neighbourhoods and to
wider society;
• increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious beliefs.
What could your school do to promote interfaith week? Share your ideas, try them out and send
me a report of what you do.
Celebrating RE in the new SIAMS schedule
Hopefully you are all aware of the new SIAMS schedule which comes
into force this September. The new schedule gives all schools the
opportunity to celebrate their achievements in RE, as strand 7 is now
to be completed by VA and VC schools.
The key differences for the RE are that schools need to show how the RE
supports the school’s distinctive Christian vision and how well it meets the expectations of the
Statement of Entitlement issued in June 2016. This schedule is much more closely aligned with that
statement and looks to teachers to be engaging with training locally, regionally and nationally. RE
needs to encompass core theological concepts, a balanced curriculum of theology, philosophy and
human science and continue to explore the diversity within as well as between religious groups.
There will continue to be ongoing training on the new schedule. Check the dates in the Excellence in
Schools brochure already in schools or the website:
https://www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/religious-education/courses-and-training/
If you have not seen the new schedule yet or the new self-evaluation document both are available
on the SIAMS pages of the diocesan website: https://www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/siams-
1617/siams-information-schools/
A summary document, put together after the last round of RE Network meetings, is available on
request from [email protected]
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Oxford Schools Chaplaincy The Oxford Schools Chaplaincy, a charity working in schools to offer support on
Collective Worship and RE, would like to invite Christians working in school to an
Encouragement Evening on Friday 5th October from 6.30 -9.30pm at St Ebbe’s
Church (Roger Bacon Lane), Oxford. The speaker will be Vaughan Roberts, Rector
of St Ebbe’s, who used to run the student ministry. Dinner is included, and the
cost is £10.
For further information about the event or the Oxford Schools Chaplaincy, or to book tickets, please
contact: [email protected]
Oxford Diocesan Chaplaincy The diocese welcomes Revd Charlie Kerr to the team as ODBE Chaplaincy adviser. A key event for
schools wanting to explore chaplaincy is taking place in November. Entitled A Safe and Welcoming
Place: church and chaplaincy as a source of nurture for the full flourishing of school communities
this event is essential for anyone considering school chaplaincy or wishing to revitalise their
relations with the local church.
Venue: Aylesbury Canal Society HP20 1AP Date: Tuesday 27th November 2018 10.00 am - 2.00pm To book: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/odbe-chaplaincy-group-a-safe-and-welcoming-place-tickets-48122830682 or https://www.oxford.anglican.org/event/a-safe-and-welcoming-place/ Although there is no charge for this event, booking is essential.
RE Support The diocese employs a dedicated RE Adviser who is available to visit schools to offer training, advice,
support and resources. Check out the RE pages https://www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/religious-
education/ of the website for the Diocesan Scheme of Work for RE, support materials and links to
teaching resources. New resources and additional units of work for the scheme of work are planned
for the new year. Look out for emails telling you when the updates are available. In the meantime,
do contact me on the details below if you have any queries or comments.
Any comments or suggestions for inclusion in future editions; any other questions or queries on RE, please email
Anne Andrews (RE Adviser)
Oxford Diocesan Board of Education Tel: 01865 208238 Church House Oxford Mob: 07884 655097 Langford Locks Web: https://www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/religious-education/ Kidlington OX5 1GF
