{"id":10180,"date":"2022-07-06T17:01:40","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T16:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/?p=10180"},"modified":"2022-07-06T17:01:40","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T16:01:40","slug":"reforschoolsandcommunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/reforschoolsandcommunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious Education \u2013 for Schools and Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Phil Champain, Director of the Faith & Belief Forum<\/em><\/p>\n July marks the month when, three years ago, \u2018No Outsiders\u2019, the equality programme of lessons at the centre of heated debate over LGBT rights, was relaunched at Parkfield School in Alum Rock after four months of consultation with parents. As a result of the consultation, the programme was renamed ‘No Outsiders for a Faith Community’<\/a> and was especially designed for Parkfield Community School acknowledging and respecting the concerns and sensitivity expressed by some parents in the school community.<\/p>\n This episode raises an important question about how the faiths and beliefs of parents and communities connect with school life. For us at F&BF this relates most directly to the teaching of religious education (RE). But, as the No Outsiders episode shows, it also relates to how schools handle Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) \u2013 something which intersects closely with many people\u2019s faith and belief identity.<\/p>\n Following the report of the Commission on Religious Education<\/a> (CoRE) in September 2018 the teaching of RE has been under the spotlight. Practical and real change in response to the Commission\u2019s recommendations is a slow burn for sure. But the work of the Commission has stimulated some significant discussion and a variety of initiatives.<\/p>\n One such initiative has brought F&BF together with Inform and the Open University<\/a> to deliver a project funded by Culham St Gabriel\u2019s. Our group is exploring attitudes to the teaching of RE and education in religion and worldviews in schools (a recommendation put forward by CoRE and explained very engagingly in a video by Theos<\/a>), held by those outside the classroom, notably parents. Schools are a core part of the community. The intersection between the school and the community is of central importance. How does this then shape teaching about faith and belief in schools?<\/p>\n