- Teacher network meetings
- RE artefacts project
- RE Hub website
Minutes:
The SACRE RE Adviser informed SACRE Members that a primary teacher network meeting had been held that day, and was the first time it had been held in person since before the COVID-19 pandemic. The SACRE RE Adviser reminded Members that the syllabus was statutory. A full set of primary curriculum materials had been provided, separated into statutory and non-statutory. Work would continue to produce further materials with schools and towards moderation as part of the non-statutory sections, allowing the reflection of good RE practice. A teacher representative said that it had been great to meet with colleagues face-to-face – and despite the pandemic, they had managed to move RE forwards within their schools. Being able to share best practice was extremely valuable – the network meetings were a great resource and provided a source of support. These comments were echoed by another teacher representative who said the networks provided reassurance and guidance.
The SACRE RE Adviser informed SACRE Members that she had been working on a RE artefacts projects with the RE Faith Forum, which promoted interfaith dialogue and the sharing of views. This was a national project, aimed at engaging with parents in terms of what was taught and how pupils were learning about RE in schools.
The SACRE RE Adviser said that parents would be invited to take the artefacts home and investigate with their families what the objects were and what concepts they related to. Their thoughts and feedback would be collated, and from these, further classroom resources created. The pupils would use the artefacts in the classroom, along with the responses, to promote interfaith dialogue. Video clips of people talking about the artefacts would be created. Local schools involved in the pilot would be hosting events to reveal what the items were, which it was hoped SACRE Members could support.
The SACRE RE Adviser then passed around some artefacts from different religions and worldviews used as part of this project. SACRE Members were divided into groups to discuss the artefacts then fed back, reflecting on the types of conversations that could held in RE classrooms that supported the pedagogy outlines in the locally agreed syllabus.
In response to a question regarding helping people to expand conversations to include all worldviews, which were not necessarily religious, the SACRE RE Adviser said that when pupils were investigating a new item they automatically brought in non-religious worldviews as they were linking the item to their own experiences. It was important that the conversations promoted thinking about ideas and concepts relevant to both religious and non-religious experiences, and that an inclusive approached was used. It was noted that in the network group they had developed the primary curriculum, ensuring that the core questions at the centre of it were ones that everyone could engage with and answer.
Dr Taha left the meeting at 8.00pm.
The SACRE RE Adviser informed SACRE Members that the RE Hub website was a national project, funded by national organisations that were involved in RE. The project was the creation of a website, which would house information about places of interest to visit and speakers who could visit, which every school could access. SACRE Members who had not yet engaged with the project were encouraged to do so, and more information could be accessed via the following link: https://www.re-hubs.uk/get-involved/get-involved/
In response to a question, the SACRE RE Adviser said that guidance had been produced for Bromley schools and speakers, in terms of what the school would like the speaker to discuss and what the speaker would be happy to talk about. Ideally, the school and the speaker would engage in these conversations before the visit took place. It was noted that a requirement of being listed as a speaker on the RE Hub website was attendance to a free online session, which would discuss best practice.