NATRE

Tomorrow our wonderful CEO Fiona Moss starts her job at CSTG! Fiona has been a powerhouse during her time at NATRE and we know she’ll continue to do amazing things within the RE community! We will miss her sense of humour, hardwork, love of our subject, care of people and careful guidance but we are so pleased we’ll all continue to work with her in her new role.

NATRE have plans to say goodbye to Fiona properly during our November exec meeting, we also plan to share this with you, our members so watch this space!

For now, we’d like to wish Fiona well and say thank you for all that she has done for NATRE over so many years.

It’s lovely to see media interest in RS at the moment. NATRE exec members Nikki McGee and Chris Giles spoke on the radio this morning about the value of good RE and the need for more specialist teachers and government funding for RE.

Listen to Nikki on Radio Sheffield from 1:46 (after Daydream Believer) https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0jgkfjl
And to Chris Gile on Radio Gloucestershire from 1:08 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0jh7fq1

How has GCSE results day been for your students so far? Here is our press release. Thanks to our chair Katie Freeman for fielding the early morning interview 😂

Calls for National Plan as a quarter of a million students take GCSE Religious Studies GCSE 2024 RE results

We can finally share some exciting news with you. will be back IN PERSON for 2025. We can’t wait to see you all again for great CPD, along with networking, laughter, food and friendship. See the full details on our website and register your interest as places will be limited https://www.natre.org.uk/courses-events/strictly-re/

If you are new to leading RE this coming academic year please do look at the subject leader’s page on the NATRE website for support. https://www.natre.org.uk/primary/primary-subject-leader/

In recent years, RS teachers have noted a widening gap between the number of A* grades awarded for A level RS and other subjects.
We have raised this concern with Ofqual and the exam boards - so has there been a reduction in the gap this year? Only a marginal one.

The number of students taking Religious Studies at A level has dipped in England and Wales by 1.5% to 15,201.
A Level RS had previously been a success story, reaching a peak of 21,577 entries in 2015, an increase of 10,000 since 2003. However, recent years have seen a steady decline in entries, with a lack of specialist teachers meaning fewer students who take the popular GCSE subject going on to study it at A level.

Read the full news piece here https://www.natre.org.uk/news/latest-news/call-for-a-national-plan-to-help-a-level-rs-thrive-again/

You can now also find us on Blue Sky. Hope to see some of you over there 🦋

A great CPD offer for ECTs and TWOs who are new 2 RE.
If you have new teachers starting in your school or department in September please encourage them to sign up. Suitable for both primary and secondary teachers https://www.natre.org.uk/membership/early-careers-teachers/ect-free-monthly-webinar/

We’ve posted about ‘who’s teaching RE?’ recently. This information adds interesting findings about the ethnicity of people who choose RE teaching as a career.

Read more here https://www.natre.org.uk/news/latest-news/black-and-asian-people-twice-as-likely-to-choose-re-teaching-as-a-career/

If ever there was any doubt that RE is a shortage subject, this infographic presents the evidence. The recruitment target has been missed for 12 of the last 13 years

NATRE members SAVE £40 off this course!

Book before 12 PM today 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

LAST CHANCE to book Introducing a R&W Approach with Stephen Pett (cross-phase course).

Get a practical intro using RE Council Handbook & Frameworks to enhance pupils' understanding of religious/non-religious worldviews.

Course details: 11/07, 1:30-4:30 PM. £160. Book before 12 PM today: https://bit.ly/4blbxSz

Please note that we are still experiencing technical difficulties with our websites.

We are on the case and will let you know once the NATRE website is back up and running.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused many thanks for your patience.

Please note that we will be updating our website servers over the weekend.
This will affect the RE Today & NATRE websites.
We hope to be back up and running from Monday onwards.
Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Good to see a former teacher being appointed as the minister for Higher Education.

NATRE are pleased to see appointed as the Secretary of State for Education.

Please note that we will be updating our website servers over the weekend.
This will affect the RE Today & NATRE websites.
We hope to be back up and running from Monday onwards.
Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Stephen recently gave a presentation on this to the NATRE executive committee and it was so helpful. This really is an opportunity not to be missed for early career teachers of RE and teachers with other specialisms. https://www.natre.org.uk/membership/early-careers-teachers/ect-free-monthly-webinar/

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NATREPrimaryRE24

📚 Check out our resource: 'Religious Education at KS4'. This comprehensive guide provides valuable insights and practical advice for teaching RE at Key Stage 4. Download it now and enhance your curriculum!

https://ow.ly/1aTZ50ShWxi

📢 Exciting news! The NATRE executive team met last weekend to discuss new opportunities in the RE world and plans for future improvements. Stay tuned for updates on how we’re working to enhance religious education! What would you like them to discuss?

We value your dedication to educating children about religion and worldviews. To help us support you better, please take 15 minutes to complete our bi-annual primary survey. Your feedback is crucial!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NATREPrimaryRE24

Engage your 9-11 year olds with 'Good Learning in RE: The Soldier's Dilemma'! This video resource sparks ethical discussions. Watch and get inspired to take RE to the next level in your classroom.

https://ow.ly/ELqP50ShUYA (Teachers note resource included)

Writing a curriculum when you have more than one subject to teach is a hard job to do! What if we provided you with lesson plans, activities for children, sticky knowledge quizzes & more to save you time on planning for RE? The solution... Primary RE Curriculum. 👀 https://ow.ly/CKOM50ShTTB