RE Teacher Naomi Anstice on the stand at the Labour Party Conference

For the third year running, the RE Council, NATRE and RE Today will be representing RE on stands at the Labour and Conservative party conferences. Representatives from all three organisations, including teachers of RE, will be lobbying parliamentarians about the importance of good religious education, and why it matters so much today in modern Britain.

The party conferences are a unique opportunity to meet and speak with a large number of parliamentarians over the course of a few days about the key issues currently affecting religious education in schools.

This year, we will be focusing on three key issues:

  • The need for more trained and qualified teachers of religious education.
  • All one-year primary Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students must receive a minimum of 12 hours of subject specific training in religious education, and have access to regular CPD training in the subject thereafter.
  • The Government should hold schools to account for the level of provision and standards of teaching of religious education as it is a statutory subject.

MPs who visit the stand will be encouraged to visit schools in their constituencies to observe good RE in practice. In addition, this year we will be inviting visitors to the stand to test their knowledge of the current situation surrounding RE by completing our interactive quiz – and encouraging a bit of healthy competition with a leader board to see who performs best!

The REC will also be using this important opportunity to talk to parliamentarians and others about the Commission on Religious Education, and how they can support and contribute to it.