The RE Council champions RE at all levels – from students and teachers, to politicians and policymakers. The Young Ambassadors’ scheme gives students aged 11 – 18 opportunities to:

  • share their enthusiasm and interest for RE and gain leadership experience
  • give their perspective to adults who work to support RE at the highest levels, such as the RE Council and MPs in parliament
  • develop skills in communicating successfully to a wide range of audiences
  • build up relevant experience for college, UCAS or job applications
  • meet and debate with other young people about why RE matters

What does being a Young Ambassador involve?

Although we encourage the Young Ambassadors to use their initiative and own ideas to promote RE at school and in the community, we set mini assignments throughout the year, which are not meant to be time-consuming but to inspire the YAs and help them to think about what they could be doing as Young Ambassadors for RE. We also set one long-term assignment each year which is to be completed over the course of the academic year, to be handed in or presented during the summer term. Finally, we try to arrange for YAs to be involved in at least one high-profile event each year.

To give you an idea of what the assignments might consist of, here are the ones that were set last year:

Mini assignment:

If you were to visit another YA team in another school, what would you like to experience or find out about? (relating to RE at their school and their work as YAs)

Some of our YA teams have shown enthusiasm for visiting another YA team at their school, to exchange ideas and discuss different ways of promoting RE in their schools and in the wider community, and see what another team has been doing in their school as YAs. We would therefore like YAs to think about the above question and make a list of points in response.

Long-term assignment:

Why is RE at your school successful? (10-minute presentation)

We would like the YAs to do some in-depth research about why RE is successful at your school and produce a presentation. This might involve interviews with members of the SLT, Headteacher, parents, governors and other pupils. We would like the presentations to be a resource which could be shared and used to inspire other schools and teachers who are trying to raise the profile of RE at their schools.

YA Handing in point

We ask that YA assignments be uploaded to the ‘YA Handing in point’ Dropbox folder, to which all YA teams have access.

Event

Last year the REC and NATRE organised a youth debate at Westminster about the role of RE in schools. We are hoping to organise a similar high-profile event in 2019.

Who are our Young Ambassadors?

We currently have ten teams of Young Ambassadors across England and Wales. Find out where they are located on this map, and click on each team’s webpage to find out more about the activities and events they have been involved in.

Contact

If you have any questions about the Young Ambassadors’ scheme, please get in touch with us at: youngambassadors@religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk, or phone the REC office on 020 7250 8166.

Apply

To apply to become a Young Ambassadors’ school, please download the application pack and the application form below. Once you have completed your application assignment, please send this and the application form back to the email address above.

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