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sacre news spring 2011 sacre news issue 30 from the chair welcome to this edition of sacre news i can hardly believe that it is my last as chair and that two years are nearly up coupled with incredulity is a sense of disappointment a concern about effectiveness and a tinge of relief what a lot has happened in the meantime and so much change and yet `plus ça change plus c est la même chose it seems that we are constantly struggling with the place and security of re in the curriculum it may well be that we are at a more critical juncture than for many years certainly the apparent inability of the current government to appreciate the potential impact of their policies english baccalaureate national in this issue from the chair does re work research report conference free church sacre membership so we celebrated re what s worth fighting for in re backpage p6 p7 p9 p12 p1 p4 need to hold the government to this positional statement that now has been sent out to hundreds if not thousands of people and ensure that these are not mere empty words or political rhetoric we also need to bear in mind that as i took up the role of the chair we were very concerned about the curriculum review academies and the diminishing importance of the la the previous government s policies had us concerned about the place and security of re in our schools i cannot help but wonder why this is we have just been celebrating re and there have been some truly inspirational people and events both extolling and embodying everything that is best in re those of you who were at the nasacre conference were fortunate to meet claire currently doing her gcses whose ambition is to be an re teacher ­ because it is the most important subject what an inspirational young woman and what optimism for the future curriculum review academies and free schools the role of the la on re does not bode well the re community very ably led by the rec continues to put pressure on the dfe to reconsider what will be included in the ebacc and how re can be included in the curriculum review we can only hope that the pressure put on the ministers often through mps will bear fruit the position at the time of writing is that the government values re that it already has special status in our schools and that it is statutory and so does not need to be part of the ebacc nor part of the curriculum review whatever the outcome of the political decisions and nasacre thanks all of you who have contacted the dfe and/or your mp we page 1

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sacre news spring 2011 re helps pupils with their literacy creativity thinking reflecting on experience debating reasoning expression relationships selfunderstanding and development understanding of identity-in-difference search for meaning purpose and value and their sense of humour and enjoyment it helps schools with their ethos values sense of community and belonging relationships for learning behaviour expectations and aspirations it helps society to grow share understand deal with controversy learn to disagree whilst living together explore meaning and truth live by values and to understand ­ and respectfully challenge and be challenged by people of different lifestyles beliefs and practices it helps us as humans to explore visions of humanity and at the same time reflect on the depths to which that humanity can sink so why do we always seem on the back foot and feel it an up-hill struggle as sacres as the national association for sacres and as the wider re community the rec i think we really need to look carefully seriously and determinedly at this question and look at what we can do about this we cannot legislate we cannot coerce we refuse to beg or play dead we can influence persuade argue protest and celebrate but only if we all do all we can given what we have got to ensure that re in our schools is everything it can and should be in approaching this last phase as chair i have naturally been reflecting on the last two years and looked back at my first `from the chair and i am going to cheat and quote from this i am running out of ideas i stated that what i hoped to do in these articles was to `stimulate thinking discussion and action within and between sacres to improve learning and living for the children and young people in our schools and communities unless we recognise that ultimately re is for the pupils in a school context we will not get headteachers parents governors and pupils valuing re and wanting to see it have a prominent role in the curriculum this means producing educational and challenging agreed syllabuses that reflect the local dimension whilst also staying in tune with educational standards and priorities the recent partnership between sacres the qcda and ofsted has laid a foundation for this to happen and nasacre is going to be involved in partnership with the association of re inspectors advisers and consultants areiac is going to contribute to guidance on at2 progression and concepts in re as las struggle to support sacres it may well be that such collaboration and partnership will be the way forward ­ for `quality re i have tried to explore what `quality re means not because i think i have the answers ­ or that any on agreed syllabus can ­ but because re is too important for us ever to let go of that question and this is because re is about `life-enshrining concepts in which tensions between individual and community self and other illusion and reality knowledge and faith truth and falsehood can be explored in a meaningful way that relates to the lives of the children and young people the question remains ­ how are we to do this when local support for sacres is so diminished that may well be our greatest challenge we will not get there without a clear vision for and of re one in which we all share and to which we all contribute ­ because we will need to support each other in this look to share and help and to work in partnership with each other and with new and different groups as well ­ academies maybe the association of school and college leaders if they see the value of the work we are doing part of the difficulty of all this is that for many of us the value of re lies in a philosophy of education that goes beyond the purely functional and narrowly academic what is school for should we help children page 2

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sacre news spring 2011 priorities and use our resources the subject sef the retool and each other as effectively as possible so we are still where we were then as i finished off the last statement no mean task then i have thoroughly enjoyed the last two years i have learnt a lot above all i have found the work of colleagues in the nasacre executive and in sacres nationally supportive first-rate and inspirational i am confident that under bruce gill who takes over in may sacres and nasacre will have someone whose experience and political acumen are exactly what is needed at this critical juncture i am sure you are aware that this month brian gates steps down as chair of the rec on behalf of nasacre i would like to thank brian for his commitment hard work tenacity and above all passion for re he has kept the flag waving and ensured that governments have been made aware of the importance of and issues facing re in our schools colleges and universities on a personal note he has been a great source of support wisdom and encouragement during challenging times all the best brian we are still waiting to hear the outcome of the campaign to have re included in the e-bacc we will let you know via the website as soon as we hear anything we are also still waiting to find out what we should do with sacre reports and will chase this up with the dfe again we will let you know via the website and young people explore visions of humanity that contain hope and beauty but which also take as real the ways in which individuals and communities fall short of these shouldn t we precede the question `what is a good citizen with the questions around `what does it mean to be me to be a person we each are engaged in sacre because we have a vision for humanity our children are nurtured into our particular vision but they also need to be encountered by other visions what is the role of schools in this what is the place of re and what about collective worship how will sacres contribute and what is our role what can each group in your sacre do and how do you as an individual participate in this enterprise how do we work with other groups involved in inter-faith dialogue and community cohesion i could add to this that the body of knowledge that is re is precisely about the different responses to and experiences of life s mysteries religious and secular that help people make sense of life ­ and that if we fail our children and young people in this we fail them in everything so where have we got to in two years if `our role as sacres has to be to enable re in our schools to be so good that headteachers pupils parents and staff want good re have the framework to achieve this the locally agreed syllabus and adequate training support and resources have we got any closer i don t know and that is a frustration we seem constantly to be forced into positions of rapid response fire-fighting and last-ditch defence this is not a good place to be maybe we need to start to identify our friends convince the political and education world that we have a lot to offer towards their bill page 3

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sacre news spring 2011 does re work launch of findings conference university of glasgow march 1st 2011 this conference reported on the findings of a major esrc/ahrc funded three year project in brief the project reports that after one hundred a forty years of the subject re remains a `site of contest the project states that `the legacy of the conscience clause has shaped religious education in particular ways that have undermined its effectiveness as a contemporary educational enterprise the key findings of the project are the positive findings are religious education · · · · · · · · is often led by highly committed and thoughtful teachers teachers are often highly regarded by students makes a positive contribute to multicultural awareness is often shaped around local demographic and cultural needs and expectations occupies a liminoid or threshold place in the school ­ this has positive and negative aspects ­ allows religious education to be different but sometimes those differences allow hts to marginalize it in some cases emphasizes skills of debate reflection and creative discussion in contrast to an increasingly exam-driven curriculum in other subject areas stands as counter cultural within the school even religiously sponsored schools1 departments that are fortunate to have a significant body of staff in religious education would appear to offer many advantages in coping with the myriad entailments and expectations of the subject the negative findings are religious education · · · does not in the main make students religiously literate sees pupils demonstrate widespread ignorance of basic religious concepts suffers from ooooo too many competing expectations under-resourcing limited time allocations placing examination and non-examination pupils in the same class being too dependent upon local conditions and the disposition and skills of the teacher page 4

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sacre news spring 2011 teachers · · feel under a lot of pressure under-confident and in many cases undervalued struggle to find a pedagogic middle path between allowing pupils to develop their own values and offering more substantive accounts of particular values/claims doctrines are not infrequently under qualified with the result that their coverage of a given subject can be limited · in my view one of the most interesting aspects of the findings includes the claim that unlike curriculum subjects like history geography or maths which `are heuristic devices for interpreting and interrogating the world religion `represents a way of standing in the world in other words religion is like education itself a social practice according to the project re carriers an `explicit burden to address many of the `normative concerns social expectations economic considerations and cultural anxieties inherent in education `as part of its charge to shape young people s spiritual moral and social attitudes and behaviours conroy 2011 2 so unlike most other subjects religion is not so much a subject to be studied as a unique way of understanding the world but as a social practice consequently politicians and policy makers have burdened re with a list of expectations not all equally shared or understood the result of which is that the subject has become `freighted with too many expectations conroy 2011 5-6 it is worth listing these · · · · · · · · · · · · · religious literacy citizenship education dealing with truth claims and pluralism multicultural awareness spiritual and social cohesion-contributing to school ethos nurturing pupils in particular communities-including catechesis philosophical understanding moral development very particular `socratic dispositions spiritual life and religious observance understanding heritage enhancing local demographic considerations sex and relationship education it is because of this impossible burden that re `struggles to enjoy a well-defined academic space in schools conroy 2011 6 there was much to ponder on and anyone wishing to read more should visit the website www.gla.ac.uk/schools/education/research/currentresearchprojects/doesreligiouseducati onwork geoff teece page 5

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sacre news spring 2011 so we celebrated re the re celebration was a fantastic undertaking and due to the involvement and enthusiasm of many different individuals establishments and groups an enormous range of events and experiences took place funding was raised from many charities and organisations to enable the celebration to happen and we are grateful to them all what a great commitment this was at a local level too especially at a time of confusion budget cuts and local anxieties about the subject and its support the celebrating re committee on behalf of the re council of england and wales want to thank each and every one of you for your involvement in the celebration month and its events during the month there were lectures exhibitions conferences debates for and including pupils and teachers sacres and faith communities events have involved learning outside the classroom faith workshops inter faith dialogue and presenting good re to the local community and the wider world in many fascinating ways a huge range of venues hosted celebrating re events during the month including universities colleges as far apart as huddersfield liverpool hope warwick york st john st mary s university college twickenham bishop grosseteste college newcastle university and the st giles centre for re and faith development in wrexham faith belief community venues were homes for events too these included cathedrals e.g liverpool st albans derby st paul s leicester and manchester the national baha i centre manchester buddhist centre churches in redbridge tower hamlets and thurrock the network of buddhist organisations conway hall the al khoei foundation catford bromley synagogue and the islamic cultural centre of england then there were events in libraries museums galleries and heritage centres the celebration planning committee were delighted to note a huge range of organisations involved for example inter faith groups india dance wales the bible reading fellowship dioceses as far apart as exeter and york the board of deputies of british jews and many many sacres e.g sacres in hackney newham swansea kirklees wokingham thurrock bexley portsmouth bridgend caerphilly rhonnda merthyr tydfil cambridgeshire and norfolk the four humber region sacres working together page 7

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sacre news spring 2011 camden islington working together greenwich hosting visitors from bexley lewisham sacres and many many more and then there were teacher groups natre local groups and schools working alone in groups clusters and across phase right across the two countries as far apart as monmouthshire cambridgeshire london dorset links were made with world book day islam awareness week climate week and red nose day prizes were offered for competitions from publishers faith and belief communities and other organisations all of these have demonstrated the rich tapestry that is re in england and wales today the range and quality of the subject and what we would lose if the subject is not taken forward seriously fortunately the events have awakened public interest clarified public understanding helped members of the re community to establish new friendships and partnerships and supported them as they cemented old ones these will all stand us in god stead in the months and years ahead the website has been very well used and since it was set up there have been in excess of 1.8 million hits on the site many users have downloaded materials from the wide range of resources available ­ from the celebrating re song to the `what do people say about re powerpoint not forgetting wordles and the `what can we do activity resources have been well used over the next few months the site will be updated to continue its sustainability sections for example `competitions and `what can we do will be reworked to ensure that the rich vein of activities for all ages and abilities can be used whatever the time of year in addition a compendium of celebrating re events and happenings is currently being created anyone who held a celebrating re event has been invited to submit some photos and text to tell us about what happened and the impact it had each will be turned into an individual page in the style of a graphic novel this is available online [see the website anyone who has made a contribution will be sent their individual page as a memento this album will also leave a legacy for celebrating re the diversity of happenings and their impact will provide another source of inspiration an evaluation of the celebrating re project and month is being drawn together by former hmi barbara wintersgill and we will disseminate its findings as soon as is possible now for the next challenge denise chaplin and sharon artley page 8

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sacre news spring 2011 what s worth fighting for in re conway hall 19th march 2011 keynote by dr mark chater this event s highlight was a brilliant passionate and clearly argued presentation from dr mark chater i have tried to summarise mark s main points and at times have quoted directly from his text this is indicated in the normal way by use of speech marks mark began by saying that when he began writing the presentation several months previously it seemed to then that there were dozens of possible answers things to fight for included a better share of the timetable less teacher isolation more money and time for itt and cpd a more workable system of support for re locally and/or nationally an end to the right of withdrawal local determination national curriculum status a better public understanding of the subject and at the time most people in re would agree with him however in mark s view `since then re has been hit by a crisis so profound that we are now fighting for more the continued existence of our subject in the recognisable form in which it has evolved since 1944 is under threat mark then went on to list a number ofr forms of threat · the drive toward deregulation and the cuts are combining to weaken the infrastructure that has supported re locally and nationally the system of standing advisory councils on re sacres local advisers and national organisations that has held re in place is now crumbling the new ofsted inspection framework will not make judgements about curriculum provision the imposition of the english baccalaureate ebac excludes religious studies from being counted as a gcse humanities subject with the effect that many schools are dismantling their gcse rs provision immediately and thus removing young people s opportunity to take the qualification the current curriculum review does not include re even though the secretary of state michael gove promised in parliament that it would i m sure we would all agree with mark that it is `alarming that re is outside any national definition of essential knowledge the current review of qualifications may abolish short courses thus cutting off another highly successful route for young people to take religious studies the expansion of free schools and academies is likely to make the sacre system where it still exists increasingly irrelevant there is a worry about the expansion of the faith school sector not in terms of what might be classed as `traditional faith schools but new ones where re might be in the hands of a `new type of faith school sponsor the ideology of the secretary of state to move ite into schools and away from universities despite the fact that ofsted has reported that the most outstanding ite is in institutions of higher education the possibility that theology religious studies and related subjects are under threat of non-viability which could cause the supply of re teachers to dry up finally concern over centralising powers to control funding directly to schools power over the content of teacher training powers to determine the aims and content of the school curriculum and to convert schools into academies without parental or governor consultation · · · · · mark stated that whilst there is no deliberate intention to disable re it would seem that government is unable to see the possible dire consequencies of their policies for our subject re needs to change the answer though is not to fight for the `same old re because re needs to change 1 we must begin in earnest a discussion about the future shape of the subject we must be clearer about our narrative your narrative it will make us stronger page 9

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sacre news spring 2011 2 we should continue fighting for a place in the e-bacc and continue fighting for the importance and statutoriness of re in every local authority every constituency every school every year group mark s view is that the notion of a broad and balanced curriculum is under attack it is as though education is a laboratory for ministers ideas but `ideas have consequences and this is the year of consequences 3 now that national organisations are being swept away we should be using technology as our main way of keeping in touch with each other to ensure that our messages and demands are consistent we should be using facebook and linkedin as well as national association of re teachers natre networks to make as much noise as possible 4 we need a better public understanding of the importance of re and this should include a far greater base than the religious communities alone it needs to include the wider society including parents and pupils mark makes a radical point in saying [a]ny parent and young family should recognise the need that children have to be able to ask and deal with challenging questions about life to evaluate answers and to develop the attitudes we need in a diverse society does the name of our subject help ordinary parents to understand this i suspect not and i think the time will soon come when we need a debate about the brand name 5 it is a year before the foundation subjects start to be written we can use this year to reflect and regroup we should take note that there are some interesting possibilities hinted at in the curriculum consultation questions we need develop a document that could sit alongside the national documents `we can be captains of our own ship but it should be one ship 6 we should ask ourselves what kind of preparation makes a good re teacher is a theology or rs degree the best in the age of technology we need teachers with a knowledge of the discipline not necessarily the detail of how a discipline s rules work not necessarily how they are enforced in specific fields of the grammar not just the vocabulary of our subject 7 this point is specifically about sacres and lays down some challenges `we need a review of sacres what they are called what they do and how they are composed we need to call them something else and we need them for every subject a system proposed by robin alexander in the cambridge review as curriculum resource panels sacres should morph into curriculum resource panels for re drawing in a wider membership from universities employers parents and all relevant faith and belief communities without discrimination all of them or none they should have responsibility for working with the subject s national document interpreting it and resourcing it for schools they should not have responsibility for writing local syllabuses for which in the digital globalised age there is no need 8 `we should move towards a better understanding of the relationship between curriculum and pedagogy in re we need to ask ourselves whether our favoured design ­ two attainment targets ­ works well enough for us and whether syllabuses have become too complex to be used flexibly by teachers we can steer a middle way here towards a distinctive `signature pedagogy for re one that gives us coherence and progression across the country in doing this it is vital that we stay in dialogue with each other it is worth quoting mark s conclusion in full to this brilliant and passionate and closely argued piece when we have done all this ­ fought alongside other subjects for the children s right to a broad and balanced curriculum used networking to call up a storm and a debate about re placed a significant marker in the national consultation on the curriculum defined the pedagogical and curriculum perspective that our teachers need made sacres more equal and effective established a better public understanding and support for our subject and what it does for young people and society ­ then we will be able to address one final problem what to call ourselves the name of our subject should change as an indicator of how we ourselves have changed we have a choice the perfect storm has hit us we can either cling to the wreckage of the present model of re ­ a course which i believe will leave us drifting and dying on the open seas or pick our direction carefully and set sail for new directions undaunted geoff teece page 10

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sacre news spring 2011 backpage some dates for your diary june july 2nd 6th 8th 10th 12th 16th 21st 22nd 23rd 26th 29th 1st 9th christian sikh pagan pagan christian christian muslim zoroastrian baha i christian chinese jewish ascension tuan yang chieh shavuot begins rec officers meeting pentecost whit sunday martyrdom of guru arjan midsummer summer solstice thanksgiving for holy communion corpus christi prophet s night journey jashn-e-tirana martyrdom of the bab july august 13th 15th 17th 23rd 31st 1st 6th 9th 9th 13th 13th 14th 15th 19th 22nd 23rd 24th 27th 31st hindu buddhist muslim rastafarian pagan muslim chinese jewish zoroastrian hindu japanese chinese christian zoroastrian hindu muslim zoroastrian muslim muslim ratha yatra ashlar puja night of forgiveness birthday of haile salessie lammas lughnasadh start of ramadan ch i hou chieh tisha b av farvardigan muktad rakish bandana o-bon chung yuan assumption of the bvm nervosa janmashtami lailat-ul-qadr shi a khordad asl lailat-ul-qadr sunni eid-ul-fitr on the website do keep an eye on the website where you will find news updates information about nasacre news about events news on projects the newsletter archive the faq archive agenda items for your next sacre meetings a membership list exemplar documentation contributors bill moore denise chaplin sharon artley geoff teece please also check your details and if necessary update the membership section and add to the exemplar documentation contact us at web@nasacre.org.uk sacre news the newsletter of the national association of sacres published termly the opinions expressed in articles are those of their authors and not necessarily of the nasacre executive for details see the website copies of this e-newsletter may be distributed to sacre members but content may not be altered or adapted unless specifically stated this spring issue is edited by geoff teece and paul hopkins newsletter design by mmi web www.mmiweb.org.uk page 12

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