Joanne Harris

Secondary Vice Chair and Social Media Officer

Broughton High School

Joanne is Head of RE and an assistant headteacher at a secondary school in Lancashire with whole school responsibilities for curriculum and assessment and Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion. Joanne is the Secondary Vice Chair of the NATRE Executive and delivered seminars on various aspects of teaching and leading RE at previous Strictly RE conferences.

You can follow her on Twitter: @JoanneH_RE

What do you love about RE?

'RE is a wonderful subject to teach because it delves into the richness of human beliefs, values, and ways of living. It's not just about doctrines and rituals; it's about human beings – and I find human beings fascinating. Grappling with life’s big questions, understanding our differences and similarities, thinking about how we make ethical decisions with young people every day is still a joy, even after many years of teaching.'

What do you love about NATRE?

'Teaching RE is great, but not always easy. What I love about NATRE is all the many ways it supports teachers of RE so that they can enjoy their teaching and pass on this love of the subject to their pupils. This support comes in a multitude of ways: the termly resource books are a great way to update the curriculum and have fresh insight into a topic; the conferences, CPD, and networking opportunities are a brilliant way that NATRE supports teachers in feeling like they belong to a community, and the advocacy work that NATRE does to make sure that our voices are heard is so important. These are just some of the reasons that I love being part of NATRE.'