There has been one important report and one new recommendation for improving Religious Education out during Autumn 2023.
The report is from HM Chief Inspector of Education. Many of you will be aware of it as an Ofsted report in broader primary school terms. It is a very challenging report for Primary Religious Education or Religion and Worldviews, to use the new name many schools are using. As well as the report being available on the Ofsted website, the Religious Education Council have published a summary of the RE concerns raised by the report which can be found on their website. I urge you to discuss this with your RE lead and SLT in school so that you can ensure your provision is appropriate and adequate.
The recommendation is about a new project called the National Content Standard. This is a new project to create a national standard to encourage schools to improve their RE provision so that pupils receive high-quality teaching and there is progression within a school’s syllabus. Because RE is not in the National Curriculum there is slippage in a considerable number of schools concerning the time allocation and quality of their RE. (See the Ofsted report.) An over-arching National Content Standard which calls for high quality RE whatever syllabus the school is following could provide a much needed guide and prompt to improve provision. More about the new National Content standard, including its first iteration which is out for discussion, can be found at the REC website and a comment on the publication can be found on REOnline
- Religious Education Council of England and Wales: Ofsted Annual Report Says Schools Have Poor Quality RE
- Religious Education Council of England and Wales: National Content Standard – 1st Edition – 2023
- Religious Education Council of England and Wales: “It’s about the standard, not the stuff” – National Content Standard
- Culham St Gabriel’s Trust welcomes the publishing of a National Content Standard for RE