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CUMBRIA SACRE NEWSLETTER

Summer: 2020 (Twitter @CumbriaSACRE #CumbriaSharingRE)

Cumbria Updates, National Updates, Resources& CPD, Forthcoming Events

Unprecedented Times: In the unprecedented times of this global pandemic two important RE conferences in Cumbria have had to be cancelled: the annual Cumbria SACRE conference for primary schools scheduled for June 23rdand the NATRE RE conference for secondary schools scheduled for July 10th. Young people who were due to take A Levels or GCSEs in RE related subjects have had, of course, their examinations cancelled. Although arrangements have been made to ensure they get the results they need to progress, it is without doubt an unsettling time for the young people in our County who have missed out on an essential ‘rite of passage’ for completing their education.

Impact on Faith and BAME communities For Faith and BAME communities the last few months have been extremely challenging and worrying times. First and foremost has been the concern of Covid 19 and the disproportionate impact on BAME and Faith communities; the first few deaths in the NHS were BAME and Muslim. Research published has highlighted serious concern that systemic discrimination has contributed to BAME communities being disproportionally affected by Covid19. Latterly Black Lives Matter, has highlighted the ongoing racism and discrimination within society. This impact on Faith and BAME communities has many implications on how we address this issue sensitively in schools and tackle some of the myths and rumours circulating as well as children and young people being targets of Faith and Race hate crime. Education has a crucial role when having these challenging and difficult conversations in schools and incorporating this important work into the curriculum. The following are links to online CPD: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/why-is-covid-19-disproportionately-affecting-the-bame-population-tickets-111852467742?utm_source=eventbrite&utm_medium=email&utm_content=follow_notification&utm_campaign=following_published_event&utm_term=Why+is+Covid-19+disproportionately+affecting+the+BAME+population&aff=ebemoffollowpublishemail&fbclid=IwAR0FLESz-ML3KCF6ZZSpbq8dXqi_AHOQ19m5sFQ_HBQs2g6e5VgMGYVJSg8

Cumbria Updates:

“Our aim is to enrich the quality of learning in R.E. and Collective Worship for all pupils in Cumbria”:

Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education

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Cumbria Updates: (Continued)

RE TeachMeet:

Since the start of Lockdown, we have in Cumbria developed an online RE TeachMeet where separate groups of primary and secondary teachers have been meeting via Zoom on a monthly basis. Sessions have been led by RE National Ambassador for RE, Katherine France and Chair of Cumbria SACRE, Jane Yates. This has been a real opportunity to strengthen RE networks across our geographically diverse county, and there are plans to continue to meet virtually even when teachers are fully back in school. Beyond the mutual support for discussing Covid-19 arrangements for schools, these networks have also provided the opportunity for deeper conversations about the important role of RE as pupils return to school. Recent agenda items have included: managing home learning, RE planning and assessment, Year 10 filling the gaps, how to drive forward an inclusive BAME curriculum in Cumbria RE and how we can support Year 7 transition.

A projectthat has been influenced by some of these discussions is CDECs (Cumbria Development Education Centre) new CARE (Compassionate and Restorative Education) approach which is a new training programme and toolkit, in response to the challenges schools are facing at the moment as a direct result of COVID-19. Cumbria SACRE Working Group has been able to support this new programme with members being involved in the development group and delivery of the training and support. Please contact CDEC for more details www.cdec.org.uk The next RE TeachMeets are on Thursday 16th July (primary) and Friday 17th July (secondary) both at 11am. Please see details in the RE Teachers in Cumbria (Facebook group) or contact either jane-cumbriasacre@outlook.comor Katherine.france@queenkatherine.orgfor the Zoom link. All welcome.

Visits and Visitors for Religious Education for Cumbrian schools: Despite this difficult time, Cumbria SACRE’s working group has continued to produce a revised guide for Cumbrian schools to places of significance for religious education that can be visited as well as giving information about faith or belief representatives who are able to visit schools. We would particularly like to thank Wendy Ridley for leading this work and faith and belief representatives of Cumbria SACRE for their research. The guide is now complete and will be going out to schools, in the first instance as a virtual document and will be available on the Cumbria SACRE website. Importantly, at this time, the guide has a section in it about virtual visits and visitors.

The guide includes sections on: ‘Religion/Faith Statistics In Cumbria’, ‘Points to Remember About Visits and Visitors’,‘Virtual Visits and Visitors’, Multi-Faith visits, ‘Questioning Characters of Faith In Books’,‘Guidance on Parental Concerns About RE Visits,’‘Sample Letter To Parents’, ‘Code of Conduct for Faith or Belief Visitors’, as well as listing places to visit or faith or belief visitors for Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Humanism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

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Cumbria Updates: (Continued)

Welcomes: As mentioned in the last SACRE newsletter, Charlotte Tudway has been Acting Deputy Director of Education in the Anglican Diocese of Cumbria, since the departure of Deborah Smith. We would now like to congratulate her on being appointed the permanent Deputy Director.

Kendal Unity Festival: The 20th June saw the return of the Kendal Unity Festival; this year with a difference. Like so many events in 2020 impacted by the pandemic it moved on line.

Some creative thinking meant the festival took new directions and some may remain a feature in future years. Instead of the school art exhibition planned at The Brewery Arts Centre pupils were invited to create a window display at home using whatever materials they had. Fitting well with the theme of ‘think global, act local.’

A whole series of ‘fringe’ events were held in the week leading up to the festival: music sessions, crafts, creative writing and a look at unity in nature from the kitchen garden.

Local bands and singers kicked off the big day with a bang. There was storytelling, a cooking demonstration and workshops. AWAZ led a lively session on Black Lives Matter. KASTLE looked at environmental issues and Kendal Torchlight explained how to get involved with this year’s parade. The Baha'is of Kendal held a Unity Cafe focusing on unity in action exploring the idea ‘so powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth’ and asking how we can use the power of unity in our community.

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New Ofsted Subject Lead for RE There is a new OFSTED Subject Lead for RE. This is Dr Richard Kueh. Richard is well-known to the RE world through his work on curriculum and as a keynote speaker and workshop leader at national conferences for RE over the last few years. We look forward to working with Richard in his new role to continue to promote excellence in the study of religion and worldviews.

RE Council statement on Covid-19: The REC has been following Government Guidelines and moved to an online method of working. Staff were asked to work from home and events have been being moved online, postponed, or – as a last resort – cancelled. This has not stoppedthem from carrying on the work of the REC.

The 2020 Annual General Meeting: The 2020 annual general meeting of the RE Council took place online this year due to the ongoing public health crisis. A two-minute silence and act of remembrance at the start of the meeting marked the passing of four members of the RE community who are victims of Coronavirus.

RE Quality Mark The REC is responding to government advice and theyhave changed the way they manage the award. Schools can still apply for the award but theyhave moved to an online assessment process, and will review their traditional method of visiting schools later in the summer term.

NASACRE Statement on Covid-19: During the current challenging pandemic situation, many SACREs and ASCs (Agreed Syllabus Committees) around the country had to cancel or postpone meetings. NASACRE, therefore, sought advice from the DfE about some of the possible ways in which SACREs might continue to function in these very challenging times.

National Updates

The Religious Education Council (REC)

( www.religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk , Twitter:

@RECouncil, Instagram: religiouseducationcouncil )

The National Association of SACREs (NASACRE) (Twitter: @NASACRE, www.nasacre.org.uk)

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National Updates(Continued)

(NASACRE continued) NASACRE asked the DfE that if in order to ensure a quorum it might be acceptable for members to participate and vote via various online platforms. A DfE official advised: “In my view, the legislation doesn’t specify the way/format in which a meeting should be held or voting conducted. As long as the approach is accessible to all and enables every member to fully contribute and to register their vote, this should be acceptable.” NASACREemphasises that this is advice only and not statutory in anyway, but it may help SACREs (and ASCs) to find practical ways ahead and continue to function in at least some form during these difficult days. Cumbria SACRE are delighted to have taken up various online opportunities to meet.

Support for schools – Materials to support RE for children at homes while schools are closed: NASACRE adapted a letter produced by Lesley Prior for SACRE’s to circulate to schools with relevant links for activities at home follow link https://nasacre.org.uk/useful-documents

NATRE statement on Covid-19: NATRE CEO, Fiona Moss, provided an update of what NATRE and RE Today are working on and the support and resources available for teachers during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. You can watch the You Tube film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLeTr-SNVyA&feature=youtu.be NATRE statement on Black Lives Matters The protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd have drawn attention to the ongoing presence of racism in our society and has given many people the opportunity to reflect on issues that ought to have been more prominent. The RE classroom is a place where diverse voices can be heard, and important ideas such as justice and diversity can be learned about, and honestly and safely discussed. Teachers of RE often make a fine contribution to education against prejudice in all kinds of ways. However, there have been some criticism that the RE curriculum lacks contemporary voices from a range of backgrounds. While NATRE has been working to promote greater inclusion of contemporary and diverse voices in the classroom, we recognise that there is more to do across the whole age range, and this work needs to be done with greater urgency.

The National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) (Twitter: @NATREupdate, www.natre.org.uk)

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National Updates(Continued)

(NATRE continued) It is also true that the RE curriculum has not always sufficiently acknowledged the role of religious and non-religious worldviews in injustice, both in the past and in the present. Again, this is an area that those of us with roles in curriculum design need to take action on. NATRE promotes RE that is inclusive, pluralistic and critical, but we accept that there remains work to do to ensure that what our pupils learn better reflects this intention. We are taking steps to do more of this work. The NATRE Executive Committee is becoming a more diverse group, though there is still some way to go before the Executive Committee, and especially the leadership of that Committee, reflects the diversity of the RE teaching community. It is pleasing to see that there is a diverse group of people currently standing for election to the Executive, and NATRE commits itself to thinking and acting further to improve in this respect.

UK Council for Subject Associations Launches Directory to Support Educators (including NATRE): Subject associations experienced a surge in demand for practical resources to support home learning as schools closed except for key workers and vulnerable children. In response, the UK Council for Subject Associations (CfSA) has created a new online directory of organisations to guide parents and education professionals in need of specialist resources and support across all subjects.

Following calls from teachers, parents, and the UK Government, subject associations have tailored hundreds of pupil resources for use by parents as standalone materials while retaining links to wider learning programmes. Some of these were made available via BBC Bitesize and other BBC channels on April 20.

Meanwhile, associations are providing advice and support to thousands of schools and other education institutions around the world.

NATRE was quick to provide a series of home learning resources free for all primary and secondary schools with further resources made available for NATRE members. See details in the resources section. These resources have proved invaluable to a great number of teachers supporting pupils to continue learning in difficult circumstances. Lat Blaylock of RE Today and NATRE has been pleased to be able to support the BBC with their provision. RE teachers have taken a Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course, having graduated in another subject.

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National Updates(Continued)

(NATRE continued)

The Grading of GCSE and A Levels: NATRE remain in conversation with OFQUAL about approaches for grading examinations. In a joint meeting of subject associations the information below was shared from the government:

Consultation outcomes on revised approaches for Summer 2020 grades for GCSE, AS and A level, Extended Project Qualifications and Advanced Extension Award in maths.

Publication of a statement, analysis and decisions in response to our consultation on exceptional arrangements for awarding GCSEs, AS, A levels, Extended Project Qualification and Advanced Extension Award in maths. They have also published an infographic on the process for awarding GCSEs, AS and A levels summer 2020 and updated our information for students and schools and colleges films.

Updated Guidance for teachers, students, parents and carers document and Information for Heads of Centre, Heads of Department and teachers on the submission of Centre assessment grades document.

Consultation outcomes on the assessment and grading of vocational, technical and other general qualifications.

Published the consultation decisions on the assessment and grading of vocational, technical and other general qualifications.

Consultation on an additional GCSE, AS and A level exam series in autumn 2020.

Surge in RE Teacher Trainee Numbers as Candidates are Drawn from other Humanities: New data obtained by the National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) via a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Education reveal that 196 Initial Teacher Training (ITT) students preparing to become RE teachers have taken a Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course, having graduated in another subject. Four out of ten new PGCE Religious Education students have become teachers after graduating in other subjects such as History, Philosophy, or Sociology, boosting the number of new RE teacher trainees to its highest level in almost a decade. The overall number of new ITT RE teachers increased significantly – by 30 per cent – to 488 in the 2019/20 recruitment cycle, compared with 376 in 2018/19. The number of new RE teacher trainees is at its highest for nine years; 860 students were recruited in 2010/11, exceeding the Government’s target by 131 per cent. This surge in numbers follows a decision by the Department for Education to cover the cost of SKE courses for RE and to provide students with a bursary of £200 a week for the eight-week programme.

Governor Evaluation for primary and secondary schools:

This resource is an exclusive to NATRE members, provided for governing bodies as part of their school membership of the National Association of Teachers of RE. It aims to help governors evaluate the quality of their provision for Religious Education by sharing some quotations from Ofsted reports over the last two years.

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National Updates(Continued)

(NATRE continued)

Teachers Lack Confidence in Teaching about Islam:

Many teachers, including RE specialists, lack confidence when it comes to teaching about Islam, research by NATRE has revealed.According to an online poll conducted in May 2020, 25 percent of primary and secondary teachers said they were ‘not very confident’, ‘not confident at all, or ‘not sure’ when asked about their views on teaching about Islam. The poll echoes a 2018 survey of primary teachers, which found that only 52 percent felt confident teaching about Islam, compared with 95 percent who were assured about teaching Christianity. The studies also reflect a lack of understanding about Islam in wider society. A report by Ipsos Mori in 2018 reported that 57 percent of the British public did not feel that they had much knowledge or understanding of Islam, and that misconceptions are often widespread. At its conference last year, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers raised concerns about parents withdrawing their children from lessons on Islam Dr Matthew Vince, Research Associate from Cardiff University’s Centre for the Study of Islam, who is leading a research project into teachers’ experience of teaching about Islam and Muslims, said, “Islam has been particularly vulnerable to misrepresentation and stereotypes in the media and, sometimes, in classrooms. Often these portrayals focus on theology and belief at the expense of their plural and everyday expressions of religion insociety. It’s important that the teaching of Islam includes the experience of individuals and communities.” To help address the issue and improve the understanding and representation of Islam and Muslims, RE Today has created a new cross-phase teaching resource: Picturing Islam, Picturing Muslims. It features 24 picture cards and 72 learning activities and lesson ideas, learning activities and lesson ideas, connecting central Muslim concepts and ways of living. Created by RE subject experts, it explores both British and global Islam, and includes well-known Muslims who are in the public eye, such as footballer Mo Salah; Mayor of London, Sadiq Kahn; and chef author and TV presenter, Nadiya Hussain MBE.See the resources section for more details.

Guidance for teacher representatives on SACREs using school websites to support their evaluation of RE: Many SACREs routinely conduct surveys of school websites as a means of monitoring provision for RE in schools. NATRE advise that these reviews should be conducted within the context of government guidelines about what schools must publish about their curriculum online in Academies and Maintained Schools. The NATRE national executive conducted a small scale investigation into the way that Religious Education is represented on school websites and found some wonderful examples of methods of helping those outside the school, including parents, appreciate the importance of RE, what is taught and how. NATRE has offered a set of criteria as a support for this monitoring exercise. They may also be useful to schools reviewing their curriculum. The criteria reflect the views of the National Executive of what constitutes best practice currently. These criteria can be downloaded by NATRE members as part of their school membership. (the link is:https://www.natre.org.uk/news/latest-news/guidance-for-teacher-representatives-on-sacres-using-school-websites-to-support-their-evaluation-of-re/ )

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Resources

Resources for RE REonline:www.reonline.org.uk(as recommended for Cumbria Units of work)

NATRE Resources during Covid-19 www.natre.org.uk/about-natre/free-resources-for-you-and-your-pupils/

NATRE held its weekly Twitter chat, #REChatUK, on Monday 27th April 2020. The topic of discussion was 'Using video clips to aid remote learning'. All the links shared were captured and have been collated as a free resource for teachers and parents to provide further support during this uncertain time. https://www.natre.org.uk/news/latest-news/rechatuk-produces-huge-list-of-video-resources/

Research in RE http://researchforre.reonline.org.uk/

The Inter Faith Network has been collating and publishing the ways that faith communities and inter faith bodies are responding to the Corona virus/Covid-19 crisis. The link can be found at: https://www.interfaith.org.uk/news/faith-communities-and-coronavirus. This is being updated on a weekly basis as more responses come in. The Inter Faith Network has produced a resource for primary schools, aimed at teachers in upper Key Stage 2, which explores inter faith activity in the UK – with a focus on England. The resource has a teacher introduction and four units that can be used to explore inter faith activity, looking at issues such as dialogue, social action and sport. Each unit has a series of hyperlinks that link teachers and pupils to actual projects across England with a series of possible tasks to assist learning. It can be found at: https://www.interfaith.org.uk/resources/learning-about-inter-faith-activity-a-primary-resource

The Church of England has produced faith sensitive and inclusive Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (RSHE) resources and guidance https://www.churchofengland.org/more/education-and-schools/church-schools-and-academies/relationships-sex-and-health-education

RE Today has been working with the BBC for many months on a new RE project for 11-14s. This new, free BBC Bitesize RE content for Key Stage 3 is very timely as it is designed for pupils to use themselves, rather than needing a teacher to tell them what to do.There are 22 new short films with accompanying information and activities which are now live and ready for your pupils. Access the BBC bitesize films and resources here

Listening to Children and Young People Talking http://old.natre.org.uk/db/

Belonging and Believing by Gill Vaisey for EYFS and KS1 http://www.booksatpress.co.uk/consultancy.html

Visits and Visitors:

Points of contact for information about RE visits and visitors in Cumbria:

Mohammed Dhalech (Islam) cumbriamosquevisits@awaz.info

Wendy Ridley (Buddhism) wendyridley1@gmail.com

Dr Shelia Gewolb (Judaism) Sheila.Gewolb@bod.org.uk

Karen O’Donoghue (Baha’i) kareninkendal@gmail.com

Jane Yates (Humanism) janeyatesp4c@outlook.com