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Seasons are ever-changing. Within the space of just over two weeks we experienced temperatures of -9°C and +17°C in my village. With the recent government announcements too, it can seem that just as you begin to navigate a course, things change again. We seem to be constantly presented with unforeseen obstacles and challenges. However, at Culham St Gabriel’s we have tried to see these complexities as opportunities too.

Firstly, our In Conversation events have become very popular. We have been a bit surprised if we are honest!! We seized an opportunity to build on the RExChange 2020 conference, and to nurture the researcher – teacher relationship. We are now planning for these to take place into the summer, and probably autumn terms.

This year we took the opportunity to reimagine our Masters Scholarship programme, and it has gone from strength to strength. We have a vibrant online community of practice and have developed a parallel PhD community. We will be showcasing the research from these two groups on our new research area of RE:ONLINE next month, as well as at an event in July. We will share more details on this soon.

Earlier this term, we saw an opening to promote religion and worldviews, as well as to support teachers with remote learning, through our first ever pupil blog competition. This tiny seed of an idea was planted during our strategic review and we hope it will bear much fruit as entries are submitted in the next few weeks. There is still time! We can’t wait to read blogs from pupils about why studying religion and worldviews matters to them.

Our pilot leadership programme comes to an end next month. The challenges of lockdown have not deterred our dedicated group. We have continually adapted the programme to meet the ever-changing context. Applications are open for our new cohort who will begin a reshaped programme in September, so do consider whether this is something for you.

Finally, we have developed a programme of support and interaction for our current project grantees. We have shared ideas on dissemination, measuring success and will be thinking about media engagement together. We would never have thought about doing this if it hadn’t been for lockdown.

So reflecting on all this, to make the most of the current season and seize the opportunities open to us, it seems to me that flexibility and being willing to adapt, innovate, amend and change are vital.

 

In Conversation Event Booking https://www.cstg.org.uk/activities/events/in-conversation/

In Conversation Recordings https://www.reonline.org.uk/research/in-conversation/

Masters Scholarship Programme https://www.cstg.org.uk/grants/individual/masters-scholarship/

Personal Professional Development Grants (for PhD)

https://www.cstg.org.uk/grants/individual/personal-grant/

Pupil Blog Competition https://www.reonline.org.uk/news/pupil-blog-competition/

Leadership Programme https://www.reonline.org.uk/leading-re/leadership/leadership-programme/

At Culham St Gabriel’s we are really interested in why an education in Religion and Worldviews matters. This is why we have recently launched a new pupil blog competition with this theme.

I’m biased of course! Working for a charity which is all about advocating for a high-quality education in Religion and Worldviews clearly means I think it matters! However, young people can give us unexpected answers to this question and that’s why our competition is so exciting. Here are two examples…

We will begin with Nutan. During the late 1990s I was involved with a research project about the implementation of agreed syllabuses. As part of this project my pupils were interviewed about the difference that RE made to them and why they thought it was important. Nutan announced that it was the skills she had learnt in RE that had enabled her to write better evaluative and analytical essays for English. She also felt the knowledge she gained helped her to understand some of the religious references in GCSE English set texts. She could see the transferable nature of her studies and the benefits of the subject in terms of broadening her understanding and cultural development. As a young teacher I confess I was a bit surprised!

Secondly, here is an example from closer to home:

This blog is from my youngest son Ben. He  wrote it for my personal blog site in 2016. He is now 15 and I have asked his permission to use it here! I was intrigued by Ben’s response at the time because he used the term wise, and also because he connected studying religions with learning about human rights. I asked him today if he wished to update his thinking… he said that the most important reason for studying Religion and Worldviews is to understand others. He stressed the importance of learning about the diversity of different religious and non-religious worldviews. He also felt that it would help him get on well with others and enable him to identify prejudice or bias in society.

So why does an education in Religion and Worldviews matter? Why not ask some children or young people you know and see what they think?!

Details of our blog competition can be found here:

https://www.reonline.org.uk/news/pupil-blog-competition/

In my last blog I wrote about looking back and looking ahead… today I want to talk about the present! During the Christmas holidays we watched as a family the first Kung Fu Panda film, it is one of my boys’ favourite films even though they are now older teenagers. There is a line in the film when Master Oogway says,

‘Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift… that’s why they call it present’.

At the moment with shifting sands beneath us, changing rules and criteria, living in the present is all we can do. Tomorrow is very much a mystery I think at the moment. It can be hard though to see today as a gift. For many Christians around the world gifts are at the forefront front of their minds this week too as they celebrate Epiphany. Whilst the festival has a complex history[1], the root of the word epiphany is in the Greek ‘to reveal’ or ‘manifest’. So perhaps a way to think about each day at the moment is to consider what it might reveal or show us? What does each day give or offer to us?

For example, what can a new piece of reading reveal to us about a shifting paradigm from RE to Religion and Worldviews?

What can a new blog or article reveal about a new classroom or home learning strategy to use?

What can we learn from someone else through online learning, CPD or conversation?

And on the flip side, what can we gift to others? Can we share our experiences to encourage others at the moment? Can we offer support through social media networks? Can we share a helpful resource?

At Culham St Gabriel’s we are trying to see each day as a gift at the moment. We are thinking about what we can learn from our ever-changing context as well as continuing to give our time and resources to support all those working in education and beyond. Do get in touch to chat through how we can support you at this really challenging time.

www.cstg.org.uk

www.reonline.org.uk

www.teachre.co.uk

[1] https://www.reonline.org.uk/festival_event/epiphany/ Read more about the history of Epiphany here.

 

As a charity which works in the education world, we feel the rhythm of the terms. This term has been unusual in many ways.  I have travelled a lot less. I have only been to our Oxford office a handful of times, and at the end of term we moved to new premises. Travelling less has allowed more flexibility in what we can offer our beneficiaries. We have run more online support events for potential and current grantees, we have hosted more sessions for teachers and researchers. I have had more meetings this term than I think I have ever had in my career! This means I have been able to connect more easily with key partners and organisations, individual influencers and policy makers. In terms of our strategy, it is enabling us to prepare the groundwork more effectively.

The challenging times have also provided new opportunities for our programmes. Viewing all we do through a virtual or digital lens first has changed the way we do things, and also presented creative possibilities. The new Masters Scholarship Programme Community of Practice and the In Conversation series have been two particular highlights for me this term. The free Teach:RE courses continue to grow and since September each has seen around 200 sign up. Initially, a direct respond to a specific need in the first lockdown, both courses are now well established and being utilised particularly in Initial Teacher Training.

What does the new year bring for Culham St Gabriel’s?

Firstly, we will be utilising our new website. We will also be supporting new grant awards as they begin in the new year. A new grant round is also now open if you are interested in applying. You can find out about all our new awards here: https://www.cstg.org.uk/grants/projects/grants-awarded/

Secondly, we have a new series of In Conversation events planned on the theme of Religion and Worldviews. I’m thrilled that we have such a range of researchers sharing their expertise including Trevor Cooling, Celine Benoit, Lois Lee and Lynn Revell. You can sign up to these free events here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/culham-st-gabriels-trust-29215580451

Thirdly, we will be inviting applications for our Leadership Programme 2021-22. Applications will open in January with a new area on RE:ONLINE dedicated to the programme.

Lastly, next term we will be bringing the ‘ResearchforRE’ website into RE:ONLINE, but completely reimagined and with great new opportunities to engage with and in research.

In the meantime, I hope you have a restful and peaceful Christmas- whatever that looks like for you this year.

I’m delighted to launch our new Culham St Gabriel’s website. www.cstg.org.uk In this blog I will highlight some of its new features which particularly reflect our values as a Trust.

Increased openness and transparency

It is really important to us that everyone understands who we are as a charity. What our vision is; what our strategy looks like; who our trustees are, where our income comes from and so on. This is why we have some new areas on our website which explain more about our governance as well as direct links to our annual reports. We also explain how our funds are invested and how we aim to be responsible in our stewardship. You can see some lovely new biographies of our trustees too!

Improved service and empowerment

Our two main strands of work are grant giving and our own activities and programmes. We have reshaped the website to make it easier to find out about these. We hope this will serve you better whether you are a teacher, school leader, adviser, fund raiser or an interested partner. You can now quickly find out about what we fund and our criteria as well as explore case studies about previous projects. We have created a section for events so there is one place to go if you want to find out what we are offering. We hope our new focus on events will help to build confidence, disseminate research and support those who want to apply for grants. We are also supporting our current grantees through a new section on our website specifically for them.

Enhanced focus on collaboration

We aim to foster positive relationships and partnership working. In light of this we have areas dedicated to partnerships and to campaigns which we are currently working on with others. We have included more detailed information on teacher recruitment and our promotion of the Commission on RE (2018) recommendations. We hope these areas will expand as we develop new partnerships and campaigns.

Why not take a quick look over a cup of coffee today?

The last few years have been an interesting journey for me, not only in terms of my career, but also in terms of my thinking. When the Commission on RE’s Interim Report came out in 2017, I admit to being rather sceptical about a change of name for RE. However, I reflected, read and reflected more. I used to find the train or car journey’s useful for thinking about these matters!! Now I have to carve out time in the week to do this. It is important, because I believe what is being suggested in the Final Commission on RE Report (2018) regarding Religion and Worldviews is a vital paradigm shift, and not just a name change, and a potential game-changer for our subject.

On a personal level this has been a challenging and enthralling journey so far, and it is not at an end. My thinking is fluid, I am trying to see possibilities, to continue to read more and to learn from others across the diversity of our Religion and Worldviews community.  At the launch of a recent Theos report Dr Lois Lee talked about being part of a meaningful process. For me, this described not only my personal journey, but also what I think is happening in our subject community at the moment.

This is why I welcome two recent reports. The first is a literature review entitled ‘Worldview: A Multidisciplinary Report’.  This review was commissioned by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales working in partnership with TRS-UK. It aims to provide clarity as to the historical and contemporary use of the term ‘worldview’ in a number of disciplines. This report raises questions and at the end there is an invitation to engage; to be part of the conversation.

The second report, alluded to above is an independent academic report authored by Cooling with Bowie and Panjwani, entitled ‘Worldviews in Religious Education’ and published by Theos. One of the most powerful chapters in this report comprises three autobiographical reflections that illustrate the impact of worldview on academic development. The interaction between personal worldviews and what we might call worldview traditions in this section illustrates to me the educational potential of the worldview concept.

For me both these reports emphasise the fact that as a subject community we are in a meaningful process. These reports are not in themselves destinations; they are to be engaged with, discussed and reflected upon. They provide vital tools to help us work through what the new language means. Alongside these reports I have noticed  conversations opening up; I have observed and read about teachers sharing what a paradigm shift might mean for the curriculum; I have taken part in a media discussion where journalists asked questions about what Religion and Worldviews means; I have listened to Ofsted’s Dr Richard Kueh, talking about new ways of understanding knowledge within this paradigm shift…. All these moves are part of a meaningful process of engagement. The question is, will you be part of this process?

 

https://www.religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20-19438-REC-Worldview-Report-A4-v2.pdf Literature Review

https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/research/2020/10/21/worldviews-in-religious-education Theos Report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAK1lCS2_y0 You Tube Recording of Theos Report Launch Event

https://www.reonline.org.uk/news/opening-up-conversations-about-religion-and-worldviews/ Includes teachers and other professionals discussing Religion and Worldviews in a series of blogs

 

It is now two weeks since our RExChange conference day. It has been great to watch the buzz around the event and see the increasing number of people engaging with the Vimeo films.  I don’t think my twitter account (@kathrynfenlodge) has been quite so busy for a long time!

For some time I have sensed an increasing desire within the RE professional community to root classroom practice in research. At Culham St Gabriel’s we have seen an increase in the number of teachers engaging in our Masters Scholarship Programme, as well as teachers on our leadership programme seeking to undertake their own action research. Vivienne Baumfield’s distinction between enquiry and inquiry in her keynote was very helpful and timely. For me, it brought clarity to some of my own ponderings over the last few months.

Firstly, as the RE community engages more with the disciplinarity of the subject of ‘Religion and Worldviews’ there is, I feel, an implied necessity to engage with research. i.e. to enquire into Religion and Worldviews and its different disciplinary dimensions. In addition, as more teachers are engaging with research, we can see how they are being drawn to the disciplinarity of the subject – whichever disciplinary field(s) they may have a leaning towards! This connection between research and disciplinarity strikes me as being very important for the subject going forward. For me, it gives our subject parity with other humanities within wider educational discourse and strengthens the claim that an education in Religion and Worldviews is academically rigorous.

Secondly, by engaging more with research, I hope that teachers will be inspired to engage in research i.e. inquiring. If #REChatUk on 5^th October was anything to go by, then there are already many teachers doing this! Our blog series on Religion and Worldviews over the summer also demonstrated how many teachers are investigating what works in their own context, applying new knowledge to curriculum design and pedagogy for example.

RExChange sought to become a pivotal moment within the Religion and Worldviews Community for researcher – practitioner collaboration. I sense some early indications that we may have been successful… watch this space!

 

https://vimeo.com/channels/rexchange

https://www.reonline.org.uk/research/rexchange-2020-resources/

https://www.reonline.org.uk/news/opening-up-conversations-about-religion-and-worldviews/

During the past six months I’ve been more attentive to the natural world around me… I’ve captured the seasons on my phone as I’ve walked around our village. As we come to the end of summer, we might lament the long days and warm sun, but then as poet and philosopher Emerson says,

“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn”.

As Autumn begins, the leaves drop and so do the acorns and conkers.  I’m reminded that this is a time to release the old and make way for the new.  In the education community it is a time for new beginnings, it is time to prepare the foundations for new growth and flourishing. It is about nurturing the acorns to grow the forests of the future. There is much that is new in schools and colleges at the moment, and in Culham St Gabriel’s too we are doing new things. We have a new Masters Scholarship programme which launched this week and we have a vibrant pilot leadership programme taking participants in challenging and innovative directions. We have reimagined Teach:RE modules to suit all teachers in all phases supporting their knowledge, understanding and expertise. We have two new focus groups to support the development of both REONLINE and our Teach:RE programme. Research is increasingly threaded through all our work and a vital element of our grant making programme. Of course, we also have RExChange to look forward to in just one week’s time.

So rather than a time of lamenting the end of summer, Autumn is a time of hope… a time to look forward. As Delia Owens says in ‘Where the Crawdads sing’:

“Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.”

So whether you are a teacher, adviser, lecturer, consultant or funder…It is time to fly!!  Seize the opportunities in these challenging times. Use your wisdom to seek out new places, new ideas, new possibilities… and soar!

 

More information about our programmes and activities can be found here:

www.cstg.org.uk

www.teachre.co.uk

www.reonline.org.uk

Today I’m going to share something about our final two strategic objectives. These are:

• Developing excellent leadership and teaching of religion and worldviews; and
• Facilitating the religion and worldviews community to work more cohesively

Our new pilot leadership programme which began earlier this year in many ways lies at the heart of developing excellent leadership, and yet at the same time draws together the religion and worldviews community through a highly effective steering group. It exemplifies these two strategic objectives. This programme will continue into 2020-21 and will be evaluated and no doubt revised and improved for a new cohort later next year.

The Teach:RE courses we offer are being refined and reshaped to reflect our new objectives focusing on every stage of the career of a teacher of RE. RE:ONLINE continues to provide high quality resources for teaching religion and worldviews, as well as connecting leaders through blogs and newsletters. The Research for RE website will be moving inside REONLINE later this year too to show the importance of being research aware, research informed and research active.

One of the most important and enjoyable roles as I have as CEO is to help connect people. During our strategic review the word ‘connectivity’ came up numerous times. Helping the religion and worldviews community to work more cohesively may mean many things over the next few years. The context in which we are working is changing daily at the moment and this will no doubt have an impact too. It might mean more joint projects or events, it might mean having some shared strategic goals, it might mean commissioned research, it might mean developing a resource together, it might mean joint lobbying…. These things are to be worked out… but at Culham St Gabriel’s we have a desire to bring about positive change in partnership with others, with you.

So…talk to us! Share your thoughts and ideas! Connect with us! I look forward to working with you.

 

https://www.cstg.org.uk/programmes/pilot-leadership-programme/

https://www.teachre.co.uk/teach-re-course/

www.reonline.org.uk

 

Or

‘How to build team virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic’

I’m passionate about team!! Team is one of the essential ways in which we live out the values of our Trust. So, I wanted to explore how we could build team virtually? As an office team we have had virtual ‘non-work’ coffee mornings as well as business catch ups, we are also using Whats App and Team chat a bit more, but I wanted something a bit different. This was when the Virtual Bake-Off idea was born…. How would our office team and consultants represent the Trust through baking? The results blew me away!!!

The Soda Bread: Kevin connected his ingredients with each member of the team. Here he explains….

The Organic wholewheat flour, full of goodness, which is the basis of everything – this is Deborah.

The extra-virgin olive oil, reputed in Castillo de Locubin to fix any kind of problem – this is Tracey.

The milled omega seeds giving golden sunshine to the texture – this is Kate.

The walnuts contributing dry, deep integrity – this is Dave.

A shot of espresso for a burst of energy this is our social media consultant

12-year-old malt whisky, seasoned, matured, with strong regional associations – this is John, our Chair of Trustees

Bicarbonate of soda – this is me (Kevin!) – just because I couldn’t face comparing anyone else to bicarbonate of soda!

The skilled presentation of the whole product on beautiful plates – this is Kathryn, orchestrating everything and acting as CSTG’s public face.

The Fruit Cake: Tracey’s fruitcake was based on the Trust values. This is what she said about it.

Collaboration – Fruit, works better together. Whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Openness – No hidden ingredients

Stewardship – Low cost simple ingredients transformed into a beautiful cake

Integrity – Traditional recipe, long slow cooking

Empowerment – cranberries added, which are said to be a super food

Service – What is a cake if not for sharing with others?

The Pavlova: Deborah’s pavlova was full of fresh cream and fruit, as the Trust is currently overflowing with fresh and fruitful ideas. The trust brings organisations together in partnership. We’re greater and can do more together than as individual organisations. Likewise, the individual components forming the pavlova are greater together. Each of the components’ initial letters together can spell CSTG (Cream, Strawberries, Tangerines, Grapes) and Religion and Worldviews Education (Raspberries, Whites of Egg). Deborah didn’t want to waste eggs and wanted to ensure the best outcome, so she outsourced for the best skills and expertise – buying the meringue is from Waitrose and getting her family to help  put it together!

The Florentines: I made some Florentines with Kellogg Crunchy Nut cornflakes as our office in Oxford is in Kellogg College. They contain Chocolate, Sultanas, Toblerone and Glace Cherries spelling out CSTG. I used an unusual, colourful and vibrant mix of ingredients – like our amazing team. They were bound together by condensed milk. This product has longevity and is an important ingredient in many different desserts, just like CSTG. Lastly, and more practically I planned in advance to use no flour and eggs as it was possible these may be unavailable!

The Train: Kate made a train as Culham St Gabriel’s is going places. There is space for all sorts of people. We are on a journey together. The wheels are love hearts to show our positive message!

The Fat-Free Cake: Dave decided to create a Fat-Free cake. He says, ‘At the moment this is a Slimming World house – No cake making due to being supportive… If I buy a cake and present it, how does someone learn or personalise it? At CSTG we like to facilitate ways in which people can take their own cake journey – we signpost recipes, encourage sharing, research flavour combinations, explore cultural cake advice and engage in high level cake research which hopefully benefits our core cake audience. However, I did buy a cake or some rocky road bites – I also found a recipe and would encourage people to push the boundaries and personalise it – at RE:ONLINE we would ask bakers to let us know how they got on – could you blog about it? Rocky road – symbolically, it’s a rocky time and we are with you on your own rocky road– encourage people to take a recipe and make it their own – be inspired by and look to inspire others. Jaffa cakes – to show inclusion and to not shy away from controversy – Is it a cake? Is it a biscuit? Let us look at both sides and make a justified decision’. So instead of eating cake, Dave has produced a fantastic cake knowledge organiser with a religion and worldviews twist which you can download here. Of course, this is a bit of fun for you to enjoy over a coffee break, not to be taught in the classroom!

The bitesize snack: Our social media consultant also teaches full time, so she brought a bitesize snack which provided energy and quick nutrition like our social media and RE:ONLINE!

What a great team! No more words…

With huge thanks to:

Deborah Elwine, our Office and Operations Manager

Tracey Francis, our Data and Online Manager

Kevin O’Grady, our Lead Consultant for Research

Kate Christopher, our Lead Consultant for Teach:RE

Dave Rees, our Lead Consultant for RE:ONLINE

Our social media consultant