Culham St Gabriel’s provides individual and corporate grants to support research, development and innovation in RE in the UK.

Case Study 1: Commission on RE

Culham St Gabriel’s is delighted to be a key supporter of the Commission on RE https://www.commissiononre.org.uk/final-report-religion-and-worldviews-the-way-forward-a-national-plan-for-re/ whose work we helped to fund in 2016-18. The Commission on RE was created in 2016 by the RE Council with a remit to review the legal, educational and policy frameworks for RE. Chaired by the Very Revd Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster and a former Chief Education Officer of the Church of England, the fourteen commissioners have worked for two years to generate proposals based on research and reflection.

Titled ‘Religion and Worldviews: the way forward, a national plan for RE’, the report addresses RE in England with evidence, reasoned interpretation and proposals of historic significance. Its three defining principles are particularly welcomed:

• A new vision for the subject, reflecting changes in patterns of belief in England since 1944, and made concrete in the new name – Religion & Worldviews.
• An entitlement to high quality teaching and learning in all schools, underpinned by a statutory national entitlement statement. Within that, schools would have flexibility to meet the entitlement in their own ways, guided by their ethos and trust deed.
• A significant investment in two supports: training for teachers to implement the new vision, and a reformed structure at local authority level.

Trustees see the report as a vitally important and urgent call to change, and we wish to work with partners to make the change happen.

Case Study 2: National and regional infrastructure

CSTG is also very pleased to be a supporter of the national and regional structure of ambassadors for RE, coordinated by the National Association of Teachers of RE (www.natre.org.uk). Like many, we have been concerned that the increasing weakness of local authority structures has created a vacuum of support for too many teachers of RE. By supporting this dynamic intervention we intend to ensure that high-quality continuing professional development reaches every primary and secondary RE person in England. The measures include:

• The appointment of one national RE networks ambassador and ten regional RE network ambassadors, working closely with existing NATRE, LTLRE and other networks, and creating new ones
• Financial support for one regional day conference per region per year
• Training opportunities for leaders of groups and networks
• ‘Primary 1000’, a new initiative to reach primary schools that have not yet benefitted from national RE opportunities
• Specialist communications and data expertise

We are also very pleased that the project will include a conference and support for primary RE initial teacher education, reflecting the Commission on RE recommendation on a minimum of 12 hours’ RE training for primary trainees.

The success of both these projects depends on a large and generous vision of change in RE, as well as close collaboration between RE organisations. We see ourselves as change agents working for and with the RE community towards a better future for the subject.

Please see our grants section for more information.

Culham St Gabriel’s has a proven track record of providing key resources for all those involved in religious education, school worship, and school ethos.

With over 1.5 million site visits per year, REonline is teachers’ first stop for refreshing, revitalising support for religious education. It provides information on core subject knowledge, being a subject leader and professional development as well as offering teaching resources and lesson inspiration. Visit RE Online

Our TEACH:RE site provides information, resources and professional development advice for anyone interested in becoming an RE teacher, teachers of RE, teachers with other specialisms involved in RE, HLTAs and TAs.  The site is also the home of our Teach RE Course. Visit TEACH:RE

TEACH:RE Course Since 2008, we have been providing a subject knowledge booster course for people embarking on teacher training. We have now increased provision to cater for CPD for Teaching Assistants and offer a bursary scheme for existing teachers to take Masters level professional development. Visit TEACH:RE

3forRE
The 3forRE Masters funding is a unique offer of support for professional development and improvement in school-based Religious Education. Find out more

We are committed to supporting spiritual and moral development through our work supporting the Assemblies website (http://www.assemblies.org.uk) and our work with the RSA’s enquiry into SMSC and our support for the Schools Linking Network’s professional development on whole-school approaches to SMSC. See the RSA’s report on SMSC, School’s with Soul: http://www.thersa.org/action-research-centre/learning,-cognition-and-creativity/education/reports-and-events/reports/schools-with-soul We also support the Schools Linking Network’s SMSC provision for school leaders and teachers here http://www.schoolslinkingnetwork.org.uk/courses/smsc-development/#sthash.F1AIFqvj.dpbs