Schools must collaborate to improve ‘inadequate’ religious education

COLLABORATION and awareness of what modern Religious Education consists of are the keys to transforming its success, according to Lincolnshire teachers.Their comments come on the back of an Ofsted report describing how RE in both secondary and primary schools is lacking.Its survey across England found many schools were no better than "satisfactory" and in some cases "inadequate".The report does not state which schools were observed, but the feeling in Lincolnshire is thanks to an emerging multicultural society and the physical presence of Lincoln Cathedral – among other things – RE makes a good subject.Bishop of Grimsby David Rossdale is the chairman of the board of education for Lincoln Diocese."In my experience of going into schools in Lincolnshire, both faith and community schools, I have observed many things to celebrate about RE," he said."RE is difficult to teach, especially when there is a lack of specialist RE teachers and it is often a secondary subject and it's a very complex part of the curriculum which does need to be supported."It is a subject that does equip people with an understanding of something that is an essential part of the human experience."There are two things really – schools working together and sharing good practice and practitioners and trying to see how RE can work across the curriculum because it's an area that reaches into other areas such as philosophy, psychology and sociology."Faith schools were not included in Ofsted's report as RE in those schools have an individual inspection.Mark Kerridge, head teacher at St Peter and St Paul Catholic High School said: "Sometimes when things like this are brought to bear, solutions present themselves and we have always been open to the possibility of working with other schools."The school is part of the Lincoln Specialist Schools Group which uses video-link to teach subjects which do not attract big numbers in individual schools.RE is one of the subjects the group hopes to focus on in the future.Associate head teacher to the group Keith Elms said: "Many students at A-level think about what they want to do as a job and wonder if they really require RE and that's a good question."I think the key to its survival is collaboration, but RE is not alone in that."In my education in the Sixties you basically just did about Christianity, but it has opened up a lot more now."Lincoln Christ's Hospital School has students covering 100 faiths.Joan Bradley, head of RE at Lincoln Christ's Hospital School said: "RE here is multi-faith, but it also includes elements of philosophy and we look at things such as humanism as well as religion and things like myth."It's all very important in our culture because it focuses on tolerance and community cohesion."