Concerning current developments in OfSTED and Religious Education, Agreed Syllabuses and Academies,
Minutes:
The Chairman welcomed Mr Brine to the meeting and informed those present that he would be providing members with an overview of the position of RE at a national level in order that Havering SACRE would have a better understanding of what was happening across the country – especially since the introduction of the e-Bacc and the rapid expansion of academies.
Mr Brine began by saying that there had been no RE inspection in Havering for some time. He mentioned Broughton Secondary School which had been awarded the RE Quality Mark for the excellence of its RE provision. He said that there was much that was good and there were pockets of excellence across the country. He thought that there were RE teachers who contributed enormously to the mental and spiritual development of pupils, but he also warned about the trend away from having dedicated RE lessons and informed SACRE that it had – in a good many instances – been relegated to philosophical and morality elements in the generalised PSHE classes of a growing number of schools.
He explained that RE faced an uncertain future in education above KS1 and 2 as the government moved further away from keeping it distinct and academies sought to shape their own curriculums to deliver what they considered the education system needed to provide – and this was being done with very little (if any) accountability or scrutiny.
Certainly there was now (with the demise of the QCA) no central organ to promote good practice nationally and so, whilst many schools (increasingly confined to voluntary controlled schools) continued to pursue the teaching of RE, many others were losing a sense of its importance and he could see growing apathy and indifference among staff and pupils alike – though curiously, when pupils were challenged about whether the loss of RE was a good or bad thing, he had noticed that their indifference was largely due to poor teaching which they considered was uninspiring and irrelevant, though many conceded that they would be interested if the subject was taught in a challenging and imaginative way. He felt that this would be a critical area which needed to be developed.
On the other hand, he said he knew of young teachers who were prepared and able to deliver this, but who found their efforts frustrated because of the lack of support in the school and the lack of support from either the government or from a national body.
Mr Brine said that he didn’t want to leave a too negative impression because there were positive developments as well: He mentioned the growing influence of the All Party Parliamentary Group, the use of “ambassadors” (older pupils interacting with younger forms to share their faith) in Redbridge which had been note-worthily successful and the importance of teaching Spiritual/Moral/Social and Cultural (SMSC) values. He encouraged SACRE to consider co-opting a representative of Havering’s academies and even to explore the possibility of setting up a “junior” SACRE formed from older pupil school representatives which could sit alongside SACRE and pursue issues among pupils.
He concluded by saying that the future of RE was important because the country was culturally so diverse that a failure to address the differences and explore the similarities in a positive manner was essential to dispel stereotypes and reduce tensions borne out of misunderstanding and ignorance. He felt that in order to ensure social cohesion, teachers needed to be taught how to engage with other faiths and pass that onto their students in a positive manner.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks for Mr Brine and said that she felt there was much for SACRE to think about over the coming months and that decisions being made now would impact and shape religious education for years to come.