John Semmens

 

 

I work in a Junior School in Norwich, Norfolk, in the East of England. It’s part of a federation of seven schools including both community and Church of England schools.

I applied to the Leadership Scholarship Programme for two reasons: 1) I know a couple of people who’ve been through it and benefitted hugely; it helped clarify and focus their RE leadership ambitions. 2) I’ve been an RE leader for a while now and I love the subject so much I chair the local SACRE, I would like to explore the next steps I might take and bring back some innovative practice to my school and SACRE.

I am most passionate about exploring the common ground humans share and the differences between cultures, religions, believers and non-believers. I love the stories, the history and philosophy of the multi-disciplinary approach and I am a research obsessive, finding the truth beyond the stereotypes and the monolithic characterisations of religious and non-religious communities. I also enjoy exploring the controversies found in faith and the tensions between ideas.