In my first blog post, I highlighted the cumulative effect of the government’s changes to education on RE as ‘distinctly challenging for the whole RE community’. This remains the case. As yet there has been no government response to the report of the RE All Party Parliamentary Group RE: the truth unmasked. I have a meeting scheduled with David Laws in a few days time, and hope that something good may come of that.
Last week the REC had its AGM in London. There was a very good attendance and a report of the meeting will appear on this website in due course. There was a clear determination that the RE must fill the void left by the government’s dismantling of national support and the collapse of local support for RE, but doing so is not easy. The REC is trying to boost its resources and encourage the RE community to work together in this 40th anniversary year by holding sponsored walks. If you get a chance to go on one, please do. It should be fun as well as help a good cause. Details on this website.
To mark the 40th anniversary, Prof Brian Gates MBE produced a booklet sketching the history of aspects of the REC, including the minutes of its first meeting, at which Brian was present! The AGM congratulated Brian on his honour and thanked him for all his service to RE over those years.
The afternoon of the AGM was spent looking at part of the first draft of the aims and purposes of RE, produced by Task Group 1 of the RE Subject Review process. These will be redrafted in the light of that discussion and a fuller version, with draft key stage programmes of study, will be presented to the Steering Group of the Review next month. They will be made available for wider public consultation after that, so watch this space!
Ofsted’s three year ‘long’ report on RE is due soon but the date is not yet clear. The REC continues to press for a meeting with ministers to get an action plan in the light of what is expected to be a series of critical recommendations.
We are nearly half way through what I have described as a critical year for RE. The most critical elements are still to come, so do keep your eye on this site and follow my blog.