Welcome to RE @ KS2 & KS3

Welcome toRE @ KS2 & KS3 Celebrating Ethnicity and Faith Diversity

Setting the Scene By the end of this training you should be able to: • Understand the context of religious belief in Stoke-on-Trent & North Staffordshire • Identify current issues in RE through an exploration of the latest Ofsted Report • Apply learning to the design and facilitation of RE lessons

Overview • What is the context in which we work? • What does our syllabus require? • Diversity in Stoke-on-Trent • A recent challenge from Ofsted • Teaching about challenging issues in Stoke-on-Trent • The future

1.Our Context In pairs discuss the following: • Which faiths are represented amongst our pupils and their parents? • What do we know about these religious communities? • Name two issues which are important to these religious communities. 5 minutes

Feedback Religions in Stoke Issues they face

2. Stoke-on-Trent Programme of Study for Key Stage 2 Element 1: Community Life & Special Occasions Pupils are to be taught: 2.1 What religions are represented in our neighbourhood? Pupils learn about the variety of religious communities found in Stoke-on-Trent, their places of worship and symbols so they can describe some of the beliefs and practices involved with local places of worship and suggest meanings in religious symbols, language and stories. 2.3 What does it mean to belong to a faith community?

3. Celebrating Ethnicity & Faith Diversity in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire

“Strength in Unity” Stoke-on-Trent motto

Today sixteen distinct ethnic categories of people from all over the world live and work in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire

A Sense of BelongingThe 45 home languages of Stoke-on-Trent Albanian Amharic Arabic Bengali Mandrike Mongolian Russian Panjabi Shona Georgian Greek Kurdish Sorani Farsi Fijian French Tagalog Turkish Bahdeeni Bemba Cantonese Chesky Azerbijan Malay Kirundi Hungarian Portuguese

Racial Ignorance I arrived in Stoke-on-Trent, from Tanzania, in 1976. At first I experienced racial ignorance…. Contrary to popular belief the needs of black people are not all the same. One of the main issues we are facing in our community is unemployment. Another concern is to provide basic English literacy classes, since our communities speak many different languages. - Thurayya Cahill

Having a Voice I came to England in 1961 with my parents from Ghana, Africa. I find Stoke-on-Trent a very friendly place, however, I also feel invisible. For example, when you open the local paper black issues are rarely mentioned. - Mina Blankson

Questions about Identity Before the mosque had control over the youngsters, but not so much now. Society has changed. In the past there used to be a fear of parents which made young people behave. However, the more young Pakistanis mix with other youngsters the more they are influenced. There is a tension between trying to be faithful to Islam and our everyday life when we meet with other influences. - Kasam, 16

Employment In 1999 I fled the war in Kosovo, and the UK government sent me here to Stoke-on-Trent. There are many good things about living here: the people are friendly, it is a quiet City and has many beautiful places like Hanley Park. The main difficulty is in gaining jobs. Back in Kosovo I had a degree and was an electrician.- Refugee from Kosovo

Awareness The Bangladeshi Community has only recently been recognised as an important minority group which is contributing to society. For example, when you go to schools and hospitals you still find Urdu and Panjabi is recognised but Bengali is rarely taught. Mr. Iqbal Choudhary

4. Making sense of Religion A report on religious education in schools and the impact of locally agreed syllabuses June 2007

School report on RE “The past few years have seen an overall improvement in RE. Much greater consensus exists about the nature and purpose of the subject. Fewer schools fail to meet the statutory requirement to teach RE and in many schools the profile of RE is positive. Although there is some very good practice, including high quality teaching, standards overall are not high enough and there are wide variations in the quality of provision. Achievement by pupils in RE has improved over the past five years but remains very inconsistent.”

Key findings • Pupils’ achievement in RE in primary schools improved over the period between 2001/02 and 2005/06. Inadequate achievement in RE in primary schools is rare. • Pupils’ achievement at Key Stage 3 is very inconsistent. • Too much teaching at Key Stage 3 is unchallenging. • The impact of the National Strategies on RE in primary schools has been largely positive. However, whole-school development rarely focuses on RE. • The curriculum and teaching in RE do not place sufficient emphasis on exploring the changing political and social significance of religion in the modern world. As a result, the subject’s potential to contribute to community cohesion, education for diversity and citizenship is not being fully realised.

RE @ KS2 “Where provision for RE is effective throughout the whole school, pupils’ standards in Years 5 and 6 are often higher than those in Years 7 or 8 in many secondary schools.” “In an outstanding Year 6 lesson, pupils prepared questions to ask the local vicar about the impact of her faith on her life. They classified the questions according to whether they were about her beliefs or their impact on her way of life. In ability groups, they selected questions and answers to prepare for a final discussion. Lower attaining pupils worked with a teaching assistant and made very good progress in consolidating their understanding. Higher attainers had extension questions asking them to consider whether there were any surprises in the vicar’s answers. A large proportion of the pupils reached level 5, demonstrating understanding at least as good as that seen in many Year 8 classes.”

RE @ KS3 “Frequently, work that is related to ‘learning about’ religion is not challenging enough. There is a tendency to limit extended writing to open-ended personal responses rather than high quality argument or analysis. A recent inspection illustrates this: Achievement at Key Stage 3 is very uneven. In Year 8 work is rarely above level 3 to 4 because written tasks lack challenge. Some pupils make better progress orally but, because their responses are not translated effectively into more structured written work, their progress is not consolidated sufficiently. Progress is uneven because of problems with continuity and progression in the curriculum and weak assessment. Pupils do not synthesise the various strands of their work so that they make even progress across the key stage. Their grasp of the meaning and significance of religion and their ability to explain and interpret religion improves very slowly.”

5. Teaching about challenging issues in Stoke-on-Trent A particular issue emerges about schools’ contribution to promoting community cohesion. ‘… create more resources, including web based resources, for teaching and learning about issues related to inter faith relations and also resources about different faiths’ understandings of citizenship. There are many existing resources dealing with individual religious traditions but few examples of good resources which help in teaching about the faith and inter faith dimensions of citizenship or about issues ofbelonging, coping with difference and respecting other people’s beliefs and values.’ This is a key area for further development. Active consideration should be given to providing further opportunities, with citizenship, for pupils to explore issues of identity, diversity and community cohesion in RE.

“Recent world events have raised the profile of religious education significantly and schools have new responsibilities to promote community cohesion. Those with responsibility for RE therefore have the task of ensuring that children and young people are able to make sense of religion in the modern world and issues of identity and diversity.”

‘RE teachers face this challenge constantly. It is often simpler for them to fall back on the mechanics of religion instead of tackling the reality of being religious. Textbooks tend to concentrate on ceremonies rather than what it is like to live as a Catholic, a Muslim or a Hindu in the community; and to discuss where values and codes for living come from for pupils who do not have religious belief. It is an area which needs considerable work if we are to meet our objectives of developing active, articulate, critical learners who understand the value of difference and unity and have the ability to participate and engage in current debates.’

Task Paired Activity: Using pages 29, 30-31, 42-46 in the workbook consider how you would design an activity which promotes community cohesion 10 minutes

6. The Future As Sikhs we are very hopeful about the way Stoke-on-Trent can become a city of excellence in which people of all religions and people who do not celebrate a religion can live together in harmony and peace with each other. This goes to the heart of what we stand for – a respect for the equality of each person. - Gurmeet Singh Kallar

I am hopeful about the future. The Jewish community is never going to be a big community but I hope that we can continue as a community in Stoke-on-Trent. I have great hope in the Forum of Faiths which was launched in 2005, bringing together representatives of each faith present in the area. If we can build on that we can live in harmony and respect with each other. - Sydney Morris MBE

To be true to your faith while being a blessing to others, regardless of their faith, is the best formula I know for a multifaith environment. - Dr. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi

Society is not a hotel. It is the home we build together. It is the place to which we bring our distinctive contributions to the common good. The Jewish plea to Britain is, don’t forget who you are, for that is who we aspire to be. - Dr. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi

In 2014 Stoke-on-Trent will be a thriving diverse city. This means a City that positively values the diversity of people’s backgrounds and circumstances, ensuring everyone has similar life opportunities and where strong relationships are developed between people of different backgrounds. - Dr. Ita O’Donovan & Mr. Mark Meredith

Reflection Take 5 minutes for personal reflection. Record briefly your key learning points and action points as a result of this training. Now share what you intend to do with one other colleague.

Welcome to RE @ KS2 & KS3