Agenda item

To receive a presentation about the work of the Welsh National Centre for Religious Education from Dr Joshua Andrews.

Dr Joshua Andrews from Bangor University guided Members through a presentation on the Welsh National Centre for Religious Education.

The Centre was relaunched in 2022 with the mission to offer free academic expertise and pedagogical support for the teaching of religious education. The centre focused on Philosophy, Religion and Ethics with a target audience of Teachers and students from Primary School and PGCE level courses.

The centre offered key activities including –

·       Workshops

·       Revision sessions

·       CPD (continuing Professional Development) events.

Members were given information on the accomplishments of the centre within the last 12 months which included –

·       Artifact Boxes: 10 religion- specific artifact boxes for teaching major world religions were created and were available for loan to schools.

·       A-Level Revision Sessions: An in-house A-Level revision session for students in Anglesey and Gwynedd was organised including sessions for students in Carmarthenshire at Sir Gar College. 

·       CPD Training: CPD training was provided for teachers on teaching Buddhism and Hinduism.

·       Online Sessions: Online sessions were hosted from October 2023 to January 2024 for GCSE and A-Level students and teachers, exploring the relevance of Philosophy, Ethics, and Religion in contemporary society.

·       Summer School: An online Summer School was conducted in July 2023 with 15 lectures being provided to introduce students to university level topics in Philosophy, Ethics and Religion.

·       Holocaust Pedagogy: A panel was hosted on the Holocaust pedagogy and an online talk from a Holocaust survivor for secondary schools was held.

Members were informed of ongoing projects including revision sessions, the National Launch of revision guides, Peace Lessons and CPD events.

Information was given on the New Projects the centre had begun which included –

·       GCSE Revision Videos: A series of short GCSE revision videos titled ` A Topic in Ten` would cover different aspects of the WJEC GCSE syllabus.

·       Philosophy Podcast: A podcast on A-Level Philosophy of Religious and Ethics was being developed, focusing on the WJEC A-Level syllabus and featured discussions with academics.

·       Subject Knowledge Enhancement Courses: Online Courses aimed at PGCE students were being developed. These were also available to all teachers to enhance subject knowledge.

The Chair thanked Dr Andrews for his presentation and questions were welcomed from members.

Members sought clarity on children from different backgrounds being integrated with different religions when they first started High School. Dr Andrews explained that each school had a syllabus that was devised locally which would incorporate the religious beliefs within the community. Many schools had requested sessions from the Welsh National Centre for Religious Education on specific topics.

Members discussed the Summer School that was held and questioned whether different sessions could be held over numerous weeks in the Summer Holidays. Dr Andrews explained that the Summer School was completely free to attend, sessions were held online to enable a greater attendance. Additional sessions could be a possibility, and this would be taken to the Board for further discussion and consideration.

Members expressed their appreciation to Dr Andrews for the valuable resources the centre offered, particularly the artifact boxes and questioned if there was a website in which schools could request to loan them from. Dr Andrews stated that there was a website and that the artifact boxes were loaned to schools using rota system.

Members questioned if the use of the resources offered from the centre could also be offered to colleagues in Primary Schools. Dr Andrews welcomed the idea and would take the idea to the next Board meeting for consideration.

Dr Andrews thanked members for their comments and feedback.

The Chair thanked Dr Andrews for his presentation and for attending the meeting and welcomed working in partnership in the future.

RESOLVED: that the presentation on the Welsh National Centre For Religious Education be received and noted.