A team of advisors and early years practitioners

Grant Awarded 2020-21 £11,750

The VAT of Belonging and Believing project involved a team of advisors and early years practitioners working collaboratively to influence the quality of religion and worldviews education for Early Years pupils and educationalists nationally.

The project focus was to facilitate greater understanding of the diverse and plural lived experience of individuals and communities within society. Its aim was to empower educationalists and Early Years pupils, by providing a high-quality religion and worldviews digital tool to support their knowledge, understanding and engagement with humanism at an appropriate level.

The tool draws on content from Gill Vaisey’s Belonging and Believing project and books series, and features five-year old Wilf and his family’s lived experience of humanist beliefs and lifestyle.
It also draws on Jan McGuire’s pedagogical approach, VAT in RE (using vocabulary, artefacts and texts), designed to upskill teachers and create a deeper, richer experience of religion and worldviews education for pupils.

The team: Gill Vaisey, Catriona Card, Naomi Emison, Sally Giovanelli, Jan McGuire and Trudy Sore, were supported by a group of additional practitioners who kindly trialled the tool and provided valuable feedback.

Further details about the project and the outcome can be seen here, and where the tool itself can also be freely accessed for use in the classroom.