RE organisations welcome new Ofsted report

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A new report on Religious Education from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted): 'Deep and meaningful? The religious education subject report' suggests that the subject is not taught in enough depth in most schools. and pupils remember "little" when many religions are covered in the curriculum.

The watchdog's report says a "superficially broad curriculum" does not always provide pupils with the knowledge they need.

Deborah Weston OBE, Chair of the Religious Education Policy Unit: "We are pleased to see the Ofsted subject report, which recognises the need for high-quality RE for every young person in every school. It asserts the potential that religious education has in helping young people make sense of the complex, multifaceted nature of belief in modern Britain, while providing them with personal and intellectual development.

"However, it rightly highlights that in far too many schools across the country RE does not fulfil the subject's potential. Fortunately, many of the factors it identified as enabling high-quality RE can be easily addressed. These include strong teacher subject knowledge, access to professional development, regular time for RE lessons, and a well-organised curriculum.

"The REPU is working with schools, teachers and the government to support these needs. Last year, the Religious Education Council (REC) launched a National Content Standard to provide schools with a benchmark for high-quality RE; this was supported by REPU including NATRE and other professional RE organisations. This May the REC will launch a curriculum toolkit, which will help schools develop their RE curriculum based on research and good practice."

Katie Freeman, Chair of National Association of Teachers of RE: "As the subject teacher association for Religious Education, NATRE wants every teacher to be well trained and teaching from high quality carefully designed curriculums. The recently published National Content Standard for Religious Education offers schools clear guidance on what should be found within RE curriculums, and I would urge the Government to endorse this to further support teachers in their curriculum design and teaching of Religious Education. NATRE will continue to provide schools with high quality professional development such as 'Strictly RE' and other curriculum resources to support an education in religion and worldviews."

Sarah Lane Cawte, Chair of the Religious Education Council of England & Wales: "In recent years RE has suffered from a gulf in government funding and the axing of the teacher training bursary. Whilst the bursaries have been reinstated there is still much to be done. We are pleased that this Ofsted report calls for more government action to support RE across the sector."

Read the full report here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/subject-report-series-religious-education/deep-and-meaningful-the-religious-education-subject-report