New subject knowledge enhancement for RE teachers

Warwickshire Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) were pleased to be awarded some money from the Westhill Foundation to plan and implement a programme of RE subject knowledge enhancement for teachers in Warwickshire and Coventry.

Live RE subject knowledge CPD sessions

The programme includes a 'live event' for each of the main religious traditions in the Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus. Teachers are invited to attend a CPD session at the place of worship, which involves a tour and talk from a representative of that faith, all designed to boost their knowledge about each religion.

This project is ongoing, with the Sikhism and Islam sessions having already been completed and the Judaism session planned next, though delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic. Coventry has been fortunate to be successful with ongoing funding so that the other principle traditions of Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism, can also be covered. There is also planning in place for sharing Humanism with teachers in a similar way. SACRE will be in contact with RE Leaders with booking details once the project resumes.

RE Subject Knowledge Films

This project is also supported by a series of RE subject knowledge films based on each religion which are created in conjunction with each live session and made available afterwards. These are designed for CPD purposes, with a view to them being used at staff meetings to enhance the RE subject knowledge of all teachers in a school, or for individual study.

Accompanying each film is a ‘Road Map’ with suggestions for resources and approaches to use in the classroom to ensure effective teaching of each tradition. These materials are designed for use by teachers to enhance subject knowledge and not as teaching tools.

You will also find a useful document explaining how the films and road maps might be used for CPD in schools, and some additional guidance on how this might be done during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sikhism and Islam films are available now, along with the resources listed below, on the Warwickshire SACRE website.

The resources you will find are*:

• Sikhism subject knowledge video
• Islam subject knowledge video
• Using the SACRE RE subject knowledge enhancement films for CPD
• Using the SACRE RE subject knowledge enhancement films for CPD during the coronavirus pandemic
• RE Islam road map
• RE Sikhism road map
• Islam session image bank
• Sikhism session image bank

Additional films and resources will be produced and shared with teachers as more live sessions are held in 2020-21.

*All of the above resources can only be accessed with a password which can be requested by completing this form. Only Warwickshire and Coventry schools will be supplied with the password.