RELIGIOUS EDUCATION LATEST NEWS

For further information on the items below, please contact Mary Parry, the Religious Education Associate Adviser at the Griffith Jones Centre, on:mparry@carmarthenshire.gov.uk or telephone 01994 231866

Religious Education Conference - Sharing Good Practice in RE in the Foundation Phase

“It has been an invaluable day – I can't wait to use the ideas and resources in the classroom.”

“An excellent conference, which was so comprehensive.  It was wonderful to see so much good practice in one day.”

These are two of the comments made by teachers who attended the above conference held at the end of last term and funded by GTCW.  The aim of the conference was to celebrate and share current good practice in RE in reception, year 1 and year 2 classes and to inspire teachers to provide good quality RE for their children.  The conference also disseminated information and guidance on RE in the Foundation Phase curriculum to be introduced in September 2008. 

Following an introductory session by Mary Parry, the county’s RE associate adviser, on the place and nature of RE in the Foundation Phase, conference delegates spent the rest of the day attending four workshop sessions of their choice.  Nine teachers in Carmarthenshire schools provided these workshops, sharing their good practice and experiences.  They described or modelled a series of activities which they had provided in the classroom and showed examples of children’s work, photographs, artefacts and resources.  They talked about the pupils’ responses and how the activities helped to increase pupils’ interest, enthusiasm and understanding, and enhance their skills and attitudes.  Pupils contributed to two workshops.  Conference delegates also had the opportunity to share their own ideas and experiences.

For a conference report, together with practical classroom ideas and resources, click here.

Religious Education Study Visit to Cardiff

Due to popular demand, I am planning to provide a 2 day (one night residential) In-service Training course to various places of worship and religious communities in Cardiff, to be funded by GTCW.  This course is primarily for primary school teachers.

The itinerary will include an orthodox synagogue, a reform synagogue, a mosque, a gurdwara (Sikhism), a mandir (Hinduism) and a Roman Catholic cathedral.  The intended date of the course will co-incide with the Jewish festival of Sukkot (Harvest Festival) and the Muslim fast of Ramadan.  Therefore, during the visit,  it will also be possible to see and discuss how Jews and Muslims keep these aspects of their religions.  

The visit will be preceded by a half day session a week before the course. Here information about the places of worship and the festivals will be disseminated. Also, ideas for teaching and learning activities suitable for different ages in the primary school, which fulfil the requirements of the county’s Agreed Syllabus for RE, will be discussed.  This will maximise the benefits of the visit itself. 

Funding – The course can be funded by the GTCW.  This will mean that for eligible teachers, the course costs (£250 to include accommodation, coach etc) together with supply cover will be met by a GTCW bursary and therefore will not incur any cost to the school. 

For further details, please contact Mary Parry, the RE Associate Adviser - address above.

Religious Education Schemes of Work

Recently updated (October 2006) Religious Education schemes of work for KS1 and KS2 have now been published on this site. You can find them in the 'Schemes of Work' sub folder in the main RE folder.

Carmarthenshire Religious Education website

Have you visited the Carmarthenshire Religious Education website? It contains three sections at present:

i. virtual tours of places of worship in Wales with background information

• the Swansea Synagogue,
• the Cardiff mosque and Yemini Centre
• the Cardiff Bhata Gurdwara
• an Independent Welsh chapel in Synod Inn, Ceredigion (this will appear in December 2006)

ii. Religious artefacts Coloured photographs and background information. Note: it is possible for Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion schools to borrow these artefacts - from the Griffith Jones Centre and the Felinfach Educational Centre.

iii. Christian Aid - what Christian Aid is, how it works and examples of its projects to help the poorest people in the world, including an environmental project.

The website address is: http://credo.ysgolccc.org.uk This can be accessed via the 'Resources' sub folder in the Religious Education folder.

Religious Education Heads of Department Networking meeting

The next meeting will be held on 29 June 2007 in the Griffith Jones Centre in St Clears. There will be an update on the latest developments in RE. The main agenda item will be to consider the first part of the skills section which appears in the draft National Exemplar Framework for RE, namely 'Engaging with Fundamental Questions'. We will look at effectives ways of promoting this aspect in the classroom.

Social Evening for Religious Education Teachers in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion

Friday Evening, 6th July 2007 in the Tanerdy in Carmarthen. All welcome.