SACRE education resources

Support for RE teachers
General resources for RE teachers
Primary RE support materials
Secondary RE support materials
Assessment guidance
Warwickshire RE Syllabus
AS Level Conference Materials

Visit the SACRE page for annual reports, meeting minutes and more information.

Support for RE teachers

RE courses are run by Karen Steele, Religious Education Adviser for Warwickshire SACRE. Karen is an experienced RE teacher and has worked as an adviser to SACRE and schools for three years. Karen regularly runs RE courses and network meetings for teachers in Warwickshire. Karen is also available for commissions and these can be tailored to meet the needs of individual schools or clusters of schools.

If you would like to book onto a course or if you would like any further information about the courses or commissions listed below please contact Karen at readviser@hotmail.co.uk or on 07582 110839.

Primary RE Network Meetings

These sessions are completely free and provide excellent opportunities to get advice and support from the RE Adviser; get updates on local and national developments in RE; network with other RE coordinators; and develop subject knowledge.

Central and South Warwickshire - Wed 21 March 2012, Aylesford School
North/Nuneaton and Bedworth - Wed 28 March 2012, Queens C of E Junior School
East Warwickshire - Wed 18 April 2012, Lawrence Sheriff School

All sessions run from 4.30pm to 6.30pm and refreshments are provided. If you would like to attend one of these sessions please ensure you book a place by emailing sacre@warwickshire.gov.uk or telephone 01926 742075.

Secondary RE Network Meetings

The Warwickshire NATRE (National Association of Teachers of RE) group meets each term at North Leamington School. This group provides an opportunity for secondary RE teachers to meet, provide support for each other and to share resources and ideas. Dates for 2012 are:

Tuesday 28th February 2012
Friday 15th June 2012

Please contact Karen Steele for further information at readviser@hotmail.co.uk

Courses

Teaching Primary RE - CANCELLED

Monday 5th December 2011, 9.30am - 2.30pm

Brunswick Healthy Living Centre, Leamington Spa, CV31 3BD

Cost: £95 (includes a light lunch)

This course is designed for teachers new to teaching religious education, new to teaching, or teachers just wanting a refresher course. Through careful exploration of the nature and purpose of religious education in the curriculum, delegates will be encouraged to develop their understanding of what constitutes quality religious education. They will be introduced to the key processes involved in planning and the requirements of an Agreed Syllabus*. Throughout there will be a focus on developing confidence as teachers of religious education and creative approaches to the subject.

* Although we will be using the revised Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus for RE, the content of the course will be applicable to the QCA non-statutory framework for RE

Leading Primary RE

Monday 16th January 2012, 9.30am - 2.30pm

Brunswick Healthy Living Centre, Leamington Spa, CV31 3BD

Cost: £95 (includes a light lunch)

This course develops the knowledge, skills and confidence required to face the challenge of leading religious education in a primary school. It will include a detailed exploration of the place of RE in the curriculum and the role and responsibilities of a subject leader, as well as identifying key areas for development in the subject. It will cover aspects of assessment, promoting quality teaching and learning across the school, policy review and the development of planning, monitoring and evaluation.

Please note courses will run subject to numbers.

Commissions

Frequently requested support include:

RE Health Check: Leading RE

An in-depth look at RE provision in the school(s). The RE Adviser will work alongside the RE leader(s) to monitor and evaluate the provision of RE in the school(s). After this, the RE Adviser will work with the RE leader(s) to produce an action plan to enhance the provision of RE.

Help I'm teaching RE! Staff development

The RE Adviser will work alongside the subject leader to identify the needs of the teaching staff and tailor a programme to support and enhance the teaching of RE. Commonly this will involve an opportunity for teachers to explore the aims of RE and identify the principles that underpin quality Religious Education, as well as the sharing of a range of practical activities and resources.

Contact Karen Steele to discuss costs

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General resources for RE teachers

Ofsted Criteria and Grade Descriptors for RE

Ofsted guidance on inspection criteria and grade descriptors for Religious Education:

Ofsted RE subject guidance (pdf, 126Kb)

General resources

Resources loan service (pdf, 11Kb)

Subject audit (msword, 24Kb)

Sensitive issues guide (pdf, 105Kb)

School visits guidance (pdf, 85Kb)

Contacts in Warwickshire (pdf, 187Kb)

Useful websites (pdf, 19Kb)

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Primary RE support materials

Guidance for using the primary units of work (pdf, 79Kb) - Teachers and co-ordinators should refer to this document and take this into consideration when planning the delivery of the syllabus.

Agreed syllabus mapping grid (pdf, 62Kb) - The agreed syllabus mapping grid supports schools in the planning of their RE curriculum. The grid clearly sets out the units of work from Year 1 to 6 and the key concepts and traditions covered in each one.

The units of work are not statutory and should be selected and adapted by schools as appropriate, ensuring that the requirements of the Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus are met.

Hold CTRL when clicking the link to open document in a new page

Secondary RE support materials

This section includes an example long-term plan for KS3 RE based on the Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus. It is not prescriptive, but shows how a school might plan RE at KS3. There are also two example units of work, 'Inspirational Islam' and 'Is our World Perfect, the problem of evil and suffering', as well as a blank KS3 unit of work that can be used to write your own unit(s) of work.

Example Units:

Inspirational Islam - Year 7 (msword, 90Kb)

Is Our World Perfect - Year 9 (msword, 105Kb)

General

Example KS3 Long Term Plan (msword, 91Kb)

Blank KS3 Unit of Work (msword, 61Kb)

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Assessment guidance

Warwickshire Assessment Guidance for RE (pdf, 292kb)

The assessment guide for RE coordinators/subject leaders/teachers who wish to develop their use of assessment in RE Introduction. The guide outlines the key principles for assessment on the following areas:

assessment policy
recording assessment
making assessment manageable
feedback to pupils
task setting
planning for progression
issues for assessment in primary and secondary phases
suggestions for RE coordinators and additional support materials

Child Speak Version of 8-level scale of assessment (pdf, 161Kb) - This is an adapted version of the Warwickshire 8-level scale of assessment designed for use with pupils. It should help teachers to involve pupils in their learning and with self and peer assessment. This version includes an example of how the level descriptors might be applied to illustrate progression.

Level 1-3 RE Assessment Exemplification Material (pdf, 795kb) - Warwickshire primary school teacher, Jennifer Jenkins of St. Paul's C of E Primary School, has put together this exemplification material to help teachers with assessment in RE in levels 1-3.

Frequently Asked Questions About RE Assessment (pdf, 157kb) - Some Frequently Asked Questions about RE Assessment in primary and secondary to help teachers.

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Warwickshire RE Syllabus

2009 Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus for RE (pdf, 323Kb)

We are required by law to review the Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education every five years (Education Act 1993), and all Warwickshire schools, other than voluntary-aided schools or schools of a religious character, must follow this syllabus. Those schools which do have a religious character may use the syllabus, but are under no obligation to do so.

The locally Agreed Syllabus for Warwickshire was revised in March 2009

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AS Level Conference Materials

Hugh Campbell, principal examiner for AS and A2 (G571 and G581) Philosophy of Religion, teacher and co-author of two OCR endorsed textbooks (Philosophy of Religion for AS and Philosophy of Religion for A2) recently led a conference for 80 AS students from Warwickshire and Coventry studying Philosophy and Ethics.

The conference included presentations on "Jews, Greeks & Geeks (Ancient Greek, Judeo-Christian and scientific influences on the concept of God), "Darwin's Black Box and Irreducible Complexity" and "Issues Surrounding Medical Ethics". Students were also given an example essay to mark using the AS Levels of Response and received some valuable tips on how to structure essays in their exam.

Following on from the success of this conference, it is hoped that a similar event will be held in 2013.

Below are copies of the presentations and papers from the conference:

Jews, Greeks and Geeks Presentation (msppoint, 448Kb)

Darwin's Black Box and Irreducible Complexity Presentation (msppoint, 306Kb)

Issues Surrounding Medical Ethics Presentation (msppoint, 880Kb)

Sample essay AO1 and AO2 - Paley (pdf, 341Kb)

Assessment of AO1 - Paley (pdf, 279Kb)

Assessment of AO2 - Paley (pdf, 337Kb)

AS Levels of Response AO1/AO2 (pdf, 26Kb)

G572 Essay Question Specimens (pdf, 74Kb)

G572: AS Religious Ethics Mark Scheme (pdf, 24Kb)