summer 2017 edition - diocese of oxford · crossing the bridges directory and project teachers from...
TRANSCRIPT
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Welcome to this latest edition of RE NEWS.
The RE Central Conference key note question was “Who needs RE anyway?”
Through the day the answer came loud and clear that we all do.
Encounter, Diversity and Religion Now were the key themes and these are
developed further in this newsletter.
RE NEWS Summer 2017 EDITION
The impact of faith
encounters
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Contents Understanding Christianity ...................................................................................................................................3
Local RE Network Meetings ..................................................................................................................................4
RE Conference Report ..........................................................................................................................................5
Crossing the Bridges Directory and Project ..........................................................................................................6
Maids Moreton Visit Queen’s Park in Bedford .....................................................................................................7
Be Spaces and Prayer spaces ................................................................................................................................8
Strictly RE: Report on the National Conference ...................................................................................................8
Hindu resources for Secondary Schools ...............................................................................................................9
Baha’i Resources for Primary and Secondary Schools .........................................................................................9
Faith Visitors in schools ........................................................................................................................................9
Exploring Values Dance Workshop .................................................................................................................... 10
RE for Life in Modern Britain ............................................................................................................................. 10
Updated Diocesan Website ............................................................................................................................... 11
Keeping up to date with RE ............................................................................................................................... 11
STOP PRESS! ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Diocesan RE Competition .................................................................................................................................. 12
Contact Details .................................................................................................................................................. 12
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Understanding Christianity
This resource is designed to help schools to offer an enquiry based approach to the teaching of Christianity, using the Bible as a basis, as recommended by the
National Statement of Entitlement. Each unit contains background information for teachers, core and deeper learning activities and outcomes for pupils. This
resource is only available to schools that participate in the training.
Training Dates for 2017 (Cohort 1)
Group 1: 5th May 9 – 4; 22nd September 9 – 4; 17th November 9 – 12 (due to high demand 10 extra places have been made available)
Group 2: 23rd June 9 – 4; 29th September 9 – 4; 23rd November 2 – 5
Group 3: 3rd July 9 – 4; 3rd November 9 – 4; 1st December 9 – 12
The same person from each school should attend all the three dates. Full
access to the Understanding Christianity website and materials will only
be available to those who complete the course
Funding from The Bayne Benefaction and the support of ODBE means
that this first cohort (Max 100 schools) will receive this training for
£30 instead of £235 – a saving of £205!
Schools in the SLA only – full price for other schools
More details are available on the Diocesan website:
http://www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/religious-education-
new/courses-and-training/
Venue: Church House Oxford, Langford Locks, Kidlington, OX5 1GF
To book this training course, please contact Donna Finlay via e-mail [email protected] or 01865 208272
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Local RE Network Meetings The focus at each of these meetings will be on the latest developments in RE, resources, assessment and
we would particularly like people to share examples of good practice. These meetings are for you so if you
have ideas or requests for a topic, please let me, Anne Andrews, know and we will endeavour to tackle all
your requests. Please make sure that you book in plenty of time for the sessions you wish to attend
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes: Please book with: [email protected]
Hazlemere School, Amersham Road, Hazlemere, High Wycombe, HP15 7PZ
Wednesday 26th April from 3.45-5.15 Topic: Concepts and Activities for teaching Hinduism Weston Turville School, School Approach, Main Street, Weston Turville, HP22 5RW
Monday 22nd May from 3.45-5.15 Topic: Concepts and Activities for teaching Hinduism St Mary & St Giles CE Junior School, King George Crescent, Stony Stratford, MK11 1EF
Thursday 29th June from 3.45-5.15 Topic: Exploring the new Milton Keynes Syllabus
Oxfordshire: Please book with: [email protected]
St John the Evangelist CE Primary School, Bluebell Way, Carterton, Oxfordshire, OX18 1JF
Thursday 18th May from 3.45-5.15 Benson CE Primary School, Oxford Road, Benson, Oxfordshire, OX10 6LX
Tuesday 20th June from 3.45-5.15 Church House Oxford, Langford Locks, Kidlington, OX5 1GF
Tuesday 9th May from 3.45-5.15 Deddington CE Primary School, Earls Lane, Deddington, Nr Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX15 0TJ
Wednesday 21st June from 3.45-5.15 Topic at all Oxfordshire venues: Concepts and Activities for teaching Hinduism
Berkshire * Please book Through the Appropriate LA * - Bracknell Forest – Easthampstead Park Education Centre, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 3DB
Thursday 25th May from 4.15pm-5.30pm
RBWM: St Edward`s Royal Free Ecumenical Middle School, Parsonage Lane, Windsor Berkshire SL4 5EN
Wednesday 7th June from 4 pm – 5.30pm
Topic for both these meetings: Open forum Discussion on the Locally Agreed Syllabus in preparation for the summer term syllabus review. Come and have your say!
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RE Conference Report “I have to say it is one of the best training days I have ever attended, there was a lot of really helpful content from
enthusiastic and knowledgeable speakers and the way the time was set out meant although a lot seemed to be
coming in quite quickly there was the space to absorb in between.” – delegate feedback
The highlight and major focus of RE work this term has been the planning of the RE conference. Over 65 delegates,
including clergy and members of some of the local SACREs gathered at the Oxford Belfry on Friday 17th March.
Julia Diamond-Conway answered the question “Who needs RE anyway?” in an excellent key note speech, explaining
that RE has never been more important, as Britain becomes more multi-cultural. Encountering people of faith is
something that we will all do, and RE teachers have the responsibility and the challenge to help make these
encounters positive. Even imagining a positive encounter for two minutes can help to raise levels of acceptance and
lead to positive attitudes. Some activities followed, which helped delegates to think about some of the ways that
encounter can be facilitated in the classroom, and, in particular, how the diversity of faith can be presented.
Enabling pupils to make informed decisions about what they believe, how to apply knowledge
and how to interpret the ideas and images of faith that they encounter are at the heart of
religious literacy. How we teach pupils to do this was the focus of Kathryn Wright’s workshop
as teachers explored what they understood about “Enquiry” by making models out of playdoh.
The enquiry approach to RE is that recommended by OFSTED and the Church of England
Education Office. Teachers then had the opportunity to explore a variety of activities to raise
the religious literacy of pupils. Look out for some of these ideas in the RE network meetings in
the summer term.
Dilwyn Hunt addressed the issue of spiritual development, echoing the main points from the
key note speech but stressing the need for pupils to have the opportunity to reflect carefully
on their own values and beliefs, as well as the impact that these beliefs have on themselves
and others. The activities he shared aimed at giving pupils tools and skills to improve the
quality of their thinking. A diamond nine activity required teachers to decide which of the
reasons presented for a belief in heaven were most cogent and encouraging them to look for
the premises and assumptions that underlie the reasoning. He also demonstrated the use of
non-religious material to encourage spiritual thinking.
Alex Wolvers from Youth for Christ joined with Julia for the third workshop to talk
about ways to facilitate faith encounters in the classroom. They talked about the
need to ensure that encounters are positive and educationally sound (more of
that in the Crossing the Bridges section). Julia talked about the AFAB
(Ambassadors for Faith and Belief) project that she helped to set up in Redbridge.
The aim of this project has been to train up older secondary school pupils to talk
to younger children about their own faith, so that there is always a reliable
source of faith visitors. The impact of this would be to encourage the older
children to consider their faith, and be able to communicate their ideas, as well
as providing younger children with genuine faith encounters. This would ensure
that diversity of belief is promoted. They also shared some activities to encounter
faith through artefacts; using encounter boxes to make 3-D mind maps.
Jo Fageant shared the Crossing the Bridges materials that have been developed by the Pan-Berkshire SACRE hub.
These materials include booking and information forms that help teachers to establish a relationship with the place
of worship to be visited and identify the core learning objectives for the visit. She shared the sample booklets
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(available on the Diocesan Website) which show how the materials may be used
and talked about the directory that is being compiled to give teachers contact
for visitors and places.
The key message from both this and the previous workshop is that teachers
need to be clear about what they want a trip or a visitor to achieve. Sharing
information about the knowledge that pupils already have, as well as the
desired outcome will help to make the trip meaningful and positive, and ensure
that the educational aims are achieved.
Overall the message of the conference was clear; for RE to be meaningful is
must include the three elements mentioned in the key note – Diversity,
Encounter and Religion as it is lived now. What can you do in your classroom to
promote these things?
Huw Humphreys, Head Teacher of Christ the Sower in Milton Keynes has shared his thoughts on the conference in a
blog. To read his response follow this link: https://huwhumphreys.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/re-as-central/
Crossing the Bridges Directory and Project Teachers from all over Berkshire joined the Crossing the Bridges Project to visit a range of places of worship.
The trip began at the Reform Synagogue in Maidenhead; we saw the ark opened and the
Torah Scrolls, dressed like High Priests in blue velvet with silver. The teachers learned
about some of the differences between Reform and Orthodox Judaism, particularly about
the authority of the Torah. The traditional Orthodox view is that the Torah was revealed
to Moses by God, whereas the Reform synagogue understands the Torah as being
inspired by God, but written by a variety of people over time. The Torah is therefore
open to interpretation. The response to the Shabbat is one of the key differences;
Orthodox believers may well spend the whole of Friday preparing for Shabbat, and follow
the majority of the rules concerning work and rest, whereas those in the reform tradition
may have a more relaxed attitude. Sheila Veniar explained the history of the synagogue
and the types of experience available for school visits.
The second venue was Slough Baptist Church, where the focus was on community engagement and the support that
is offered to schools. Christmas Unwrapped and Easter Cracked Experiences are offered to all the local schools. The
church workers, Wayne and Sarah are prepared to go into primary and secondary schools in the area, and are happy
to talk about many aspects of Christianity.
Then it was on to the Gurdwara, where we ate in the Langar before visiting the Prayer
Hall. Nirmal, our host, explained that being a Sikh is more a way of life than a religion and
was founded on the principal of bringing people together rather than dividing them. This
is one of the reasons why the Langar is always vegetarian. Because the Gurdwara is the
“Doorway to the Guru” no tobacco or alcohol are allowed and respect is shown by
washing hands, removing shoes and covering the head. Teachers also watched a short
PowerPoint about Sikh beliefs, supported by quotations from the Guru Granth Sahib Ji,
while a Granthi read quietly from the scriptures.
The final stop for the day was the Mosque in Stoke Poges, where we were given the opportunity to ask questions
and see the provision that is made for school visits. It was clear to see that the Mosque is the centre of the
community for the Muslims in Stoke Poges, and that the Muslim community is world-wide as we met a woman from
Portugal as well as from more traditionally Muslim countries.
Teachers had the opportunity to engage with the crossing the bridges materials (freely available to download from
www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/religious-eduaction-new/resources and www.discoveryschemeofwork.com)
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Maids Moreton Visit Queen’s Park in Bedford In February Maids Moreton CE School came off their normal timetable to host a special multi-faith week, where the children were given the opportunity to learn about and compare three different religions: Sikhism, Islam and Christianity. As part of the week, we took the whole school on the Queen’s Park Faith Tour in Bedford, where we visited a Gurdwara, Mosque and Church all in one day!
Queen’s Park in Bedford is an area rich in both culture and religion, with Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and others of all faiths and none, living together in harmony. The three main faith communities have places of worship within three hundred metres of each other, and faith leaders have developed a very successful ‘Faith Tour’ for schools.
The faith tour enabled our children to experience RE through first-hand experience, as well as actively promoting SMSC, British Values, and one of our core Christian values: Respect for others. In the context of our small village infant school, [58 on roll] with limited ethnic and religious diversity, we felt that it was very important that the children became more aware of the different faiths and places of worship within the UK, enabling them to broaden their appreciation of diversity and make comparisons from a position of knowledge.
Throughout the day the children and staff noticed many similarities and differences between the three places of worship and the beliefs and practices of each religion. We were particularly impressed to see how members of different faith communities have worked together to provide this experience for school children and to experience community cohesion so successfully at work in such a rich and diverse neighbourhood. I would highly recommend this experience to other schools.
Keira Ainsworth Head Teacher Maids Moreton CE School [VA] For more information visit: http://faithinqueenspark.org.uk/
Has your class been on any trips or had any excellent visitors?
Send a brief report, with photographs if possible to me, Anne Andrews at:
for inclusion in the next newsletter.
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BeSpace and Prayer Spaces
BeSpace- Creating Space to ‘be' in schools. BeSpace is an Oxford based Christian charity. They equip churches to run day/week long interactive prayer spaces in their local schools and the wider community. These spaces support SMSC within school life and can be used to explore the nature of Christian prayer through set activities or themed activities tailored to the school setting. BeSpace has seen over 250 prayer spaces happen in over 100 schools in Oxfordshire. This includes community primary schools, CE primary schools, state secondary schools and private schools. One Primary school RE Coordinator said “The Prayer Space was a massive success and the benefits of such a place are evident. The spiritual development of children is often overlooked in schools and this week showed just how important it is" BeSpace can: 1. Talk through with you what is involved in running a prayer space week. 2. Work with the you and your local church to organise the prayer space. 3. Provide access to our comprehensive resource kits. 4. Run training for volunteers 5. Help to set up, host and run the prayer space. If you are interested in finding out more about how prayer spaces could compliment the SMSC/RE/Collective worship provided in your school, you can get in touch with BeSpace by e mailing them at [email protected]. Please also look at their website www.bespace.be for more information. For Prayer Spaces in Schools outside of Oxford more information can be found on: http://www.prayerspacesinschools.com/
Strictly RE: Report on the National Conference Report by Lizzie Stone, Holy Trinity School, Marlow
This January saw the return of NATRE’s annual RE conference – Strictly RE. As always, this was a wonderful
opportunity for RE professionals across the UK (and some from further afield) to network and be inspired through
various seminars and talks. After a delicious pastry breakfast, the day began with a thought provoking talk by the
first of two key note speakers - Stephen Pett, who spoke on ‘Where do you stand on knowledge? Insider and
outsider views on religion in RE.’ The day then continued with numerous seminars ranging from creatively using
scripture in KS1 RE and using fiction texts to support RE in KS2 to sessions on being technologically savvy in RE and
taking pupils beyond the frontier of the factual. The seminars were all incredibly practical and inspiring; such as
support with planning sessions on building knowledge through coherent curriculum planning in KS3 and teaching key
concepts of Christianity with the new GCSE. Mixed into the day were delicious meals and snacks, a range of stalls
with support material and of course a great opportunity to network with people from all over the country. As always,
chatting with other professionals encourages, motivates and inspires you to do even more to develop and promote
RE within your school. The day ended with the second key note speaker – Vanessa Ogden, who spoke on the role
and importance of RE in our 21st-century world. Her story was inspirational and encouraging; from entering the RE
teaching world at a time when the subject had little status, to the way she developed it within her schools and
continues, as a head to give it such high status. It reminded us all why we do what we do. I am already counting
down the days to next year’s conference and would strongly recommend anyone to attend who can.
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Hindu resources for Secondary Schools One way to encounter other faiths is to use some of the resources available. For teenagers, the Hindu Council has
produced a range of videos to explore philosophic and practical issues that youngsters struggle. Produced with
students from Eton College, this You Tube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eyTLfA3cqs tackles questions
such as:
Should religions evolve to take account of the way that society is changing?
How does Hinduism relate to other religions?
How does Hinduism handle challenges from rationality?
How do we stop violence in the name of religions?
Other videos are also available and can be found in the same section on You Tube.
Baha’i Resources for Primary and Secondary Schools
A new website: http://re.bahai.org.uk/ aims to provide good quality and engaging materials to help teachers of RE explore the Bahá’í Faith with pupils across the primary and secondary age ranges. The site provides basic information as well as freely downloadable presentations, lesson plans and schemes, ideas for activities, and links to other online resources. Another aim of the Bahá’í RE website is to put teachers in contact with local Bahá’ís, who are happy to be invited to come into school and lead assemblies or participate in the classroom.
If you have any queries or would like to provide feedback or suggestions for improvement, please e-mail the Bahá’í RE team at [email protected] or use the contact page on the site.
Faith Visitors in schools In addition to finding visitors through the Crossing the Bridges Directory and the Baha’i website
mentioned above, there is a local Rabbi, Zvi Solomons, who is available to come into schools. He
can be contacted on: [email protected] and as an Orthodox Rabbi will be able to talk knowledgeably
about many aspects of Judaism and orthodox praxis. Rabbi Zvi charges for his visits and more
information can be found on the Jewish Community of Berkshire website: http://www.jcob.org/
In the north of the Diocese, Harkirat Singh is happy to visit schools to talk about the Sikh faith. He
can be contacted on: [email protected]
If you use either of these visitors or any others, please let me have a review for the next edition of this newsletter.
Contact details at the end of this newsletter.
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Exploring Values Dance Workshop
Growing children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through dance. Springs Dance Company is offering to schools an engaging programme of workshops which explore the current British Values focus for schools. The workshops will examine these values through fun, creative, dynamic sessions based on one of three themes; Get Fit Go Green, The Magic Paintbrush or The Wemmick Story. Give young people a voice, stand up against injustice and encourage acceptance, respect and tolerance. Springs’ workshops will challenge young people and will help guide the next generation. To book and for more information please contact Springs Dance Company on [email protected] or call 07876 752 910 www.springsdancecompany.org.uk
RE for Life in Modern Britain
National conference for Subject Leaders of RE in Church Primary and Secondary Schools Tuesday 27 June 2017, 9.30-3.30 The Hallam Conference Centre 44 Hallam Street, WIW 6JJ The Keynote session with Professor Grace Davie will address questions such as: What is the lived reality of religion in the UK? Where are our pupils coming from? What sort of society are we preparing our pupils for? There is then a choice of workshops lead by a variety of speakers, to include Lorraine Abbott, Katie Freeman and Sushma Sahjpal, with a strong focus on religious literacy. Workshops include: • Approaching British Values in Church Primary Schools • Religious Literacy: What should we teach about Judaism in the Primary School? • Religious Literacy and the curriculum: An update • Religious Literacy: What should we teach about Hinduism/Dharmic traditions in the Primary School? • Managing the new RE GCSE: Using Biblical text • The new SIAMS: An update for RE leaders Delegate fee: £180 (including VAT) (booking form available on diocesan website)
To apply please send a booking form to Gabriella Di Salvo: [email protected]
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Updated Diocesan Website For additional information about all things related to RE across the Diocese visit:
www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/religious-education-new/
This is the home for resources, materials and the newly revised Diocesan Scheme of Work. You should have received a new password for access to this scheme, but if you have not seen this, or if your school is not in the Service Level Agreement, contact [email protected] for more information.
Keeping up to date with RE One of the best ways to keep up to date with national developments in RE, including the latest resources is
to subscribe to the free monthly newsletter of the Religious Education Council:
http://religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/public-engagement/newsletters/2017-03-17/re-council-
newsletter-march-2017
There will be regular information about the work of the
Commission for RE, weblinks and latest publications for GCSE,
A Level and Primary teachers.
STOP PRESS!
Follow this link to find resources for the Great Get Together in memory of
Jo Cox: https://www.cuf.org.uk/ggt-school-activity-ideas
The Great Get Together is an event to mark one year since the murder of Jo Cox MP. It’s been organised by the Jo
Cox Foundation and various other charities across the UK as a chance to celebrate the message Jo Cox shared; that
we have more in common than divides us. The hope is that it will take on a similar feel to Jubilee street parties, with
Get Togethers happening across the country.
The Church Urban Fund (CUF) is taking part in the Great Get Together through the Near Neighbours programme. It is
an opportunity to celebrate the diverse communities we have in England, communities Near Neighbours has been
working to strengthen and bring flourishing to since 2011.
With support from Archbishop Justin and Brendan Cox (Jo’s husband) Near Neighbours is asking people across the
country to host Get Togethers. It would be good to see Diocesan Schools involved in this initiative.
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Diocesan RE Competition
How to Enter:
Take your “Big Question” from the list below and create a unit of work for
your year group or class. This could be part of a larger unit or the basis for
an RE day or week.
KS1 Question: What’s the best way to show what you believe?
KS2 Question: What’s the best way to demonstrate faith?
KS3 Question: Should people be free to express faith any way they choose?
Teach the unit and submit the lesson plans, materials used and a
representative sample of pupil outcomes. These could be a selection of
written work (prose or poetry), art, ICT, DT and can be sent in in electronic
format (photographs or scanned work). (Only one entry per school please,
either at KS1, 2 or 3).
Lesson plans should show the relevant syllabus questions addressed and
links to age-related expectations.
Pupil work submitted should show evidence of feedback, given per the
school’s own marking policy.
There will be an award at each of KS1, KS2, & KS3
There is no cost to enter and the competition is open to all year groups in
the primary phase.
The unit of work can be completed any time between now and the closing
date. All entries must be received by Friday 16th March 2018.
Awards will be presented in June 2018.
Submit your entries electronically to [email protected] or by post or in
person to Church House Oxford, Langford Locks, Kidlington, OX5 1GF
Does your school provide top quality RE?
Would you like Diocesan wide recognition?
If so, then we invite you to enter our Diocesan RE Competition ….
Recognising Excellence in RE
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Contact Details
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
Church House Oxford Langford Locks Kidlington OX5 1GF Tel: 01865 208238 Mob: 07884 655097 Web: www.oxford.anglican.org/schools/