OFSTED: ‘Deep and meaningful? The religious education subject report’ April 2024

NATRE is pleased to see that the long-awaited Religious Education report from OFSTED, Deep and meaningful? The religious education subject report has been published. The report, once again clearly demonstrates the importance of Religious Education as an academically rigorous and personally inspiring subject helping young people make sense of the complex, multifaceted nature of belief in modern Britain.

As part of the RE Policy unit, NATRE and other interested groups such as the Religious Education Council have long lobbied for the government to support RE. For example, by giving clear national expectations for RE, supporting the recruitment of teachers and giving support for hubs and professional development. NATRE has worked with and supported the coordinated approach led by the RE Council of England and Wales suggesting that a focus on a religion and worldviews approach would be an improved way of framing curriculum content and pedagogy in RE. As the subject association for religious education, we have been clear in our support for a national content standard and have been lobbying for it alongside many other members of the religious education community.

We are pleased to see that OFSTED notes the importance of government action in the body of this report and in its recommendations.

‘As the subject teacher association for Religious Education, NATRE want every teacher to be well trained and teaching from high quality carefully designed curriculums. The recently published national content standard for religious education offers schools clear guidance on what should be found within RE curriculums, and I would urge the government to endorse this to further support teachers in their curriculum design and teaching of religious education. NATRE will continue to provide schools with high-quality professional development such as ‘Strictly RE’ and other curriculum resources to support an education in religion and worldviews.’

Katie Freeman, Chair of NATRE

The report is clear about the things that contribute to better quality of RE

  • strong teacher subject knowledge
  • access to professional development
  • regular time for RE lessons
  • a well-organised curriculum containing knowledge chosen by leaders to enable pupils to deepen their understanding term by term

These are all things that NATRE continually campaigns for and supports schools to deliver as we agree with OFSTED that these elements are essential to ensure high-quality outcomes for pupils in RE.

This report clearly shows school leaders and other RE professionals that RE needs sufficient time in all key stages. If it is not taught as a standalone subject, pupil outcomes suffer. It is pleasing to see the statutory requirements of the subject re-iterated in the report, and that this includes pupils in Key Stage 4 and 5 who are not taking exams in the subject.

NATRE is very pleased to see the emphasis given in this report to subject-specific professional development for all those teaching RE in primary and secondary schools. As has been noted in the report, many teachers, in primary schools and ‘non-specialist’ teachers in secondary schools, have not had access to the training that they need to develop content or pedagogical content knowledge. Subject-specific training, including that offered by subject associations like NATRE, plays a vital role in teachers helping pupils to make greater progress in RE. The training and professional support offered by NATRE membership is an excellent way for schools to access high-quality, subject-specific CPD. We would encourage more schools, subject departments, and teachers to become NATRE members so that they can access this high-quality support. NATRE notes that the report also states the need for teachers to engage with subject-specific research. Our termly magazine, RE Today, features 'Professional reflection' which is one way that teachers can access research whilst other RE organisations such as Culham St Gabriel’s Trust also provide many excellent resources in this area.

‘I hope that this report does not dishearten the many teachers all over the country who are striving to provide high-quality RE for their pupils and communities. Whilst the report has identified areas in which schools need to improve or develop their practice, NATRE knows you are doing this in a difficult context. The former HMCI, Amanda Spielman, in her annual report, concluded that, ‘the lack of clarity and support from the government makes schools jobs harder.’

Katie Freeman, Chair of NATRE

Whilst NATRE supports what the report has to say on ‘ways of knowing’, and indeed has worked hard to improve understanding in this area through our curriculum books and training such as the Strictly RE conference, we note that for many primary schools, the OFSTED research review in 2021 may have been the first time they knew of this form of knowledge relating to RE so it is not surprising that this is still a work in progress. We encourage schools to plan carefully how to develop the subject to ensure that as pupils encounter substantive knowledge, they are supported to see how they can look at knowledge in different ways and using different scholarly tools.

NATRE also hopes that as a result of this report, OFSTED will take responsibility for its role and there will be considerably more deep dives into RE during the ordinary inspection process. We believe that the low number of RE deep dives has suggested to school leaders that RE is not considered to be important by key stakeholders. OFSTED needs to remedy this. NATRE has spoken to OFSTED repeatedly about the low number of RE deep dives and hopes that this report will signal a change in their practice.

NATRE notes that there is much for school leaders to consider in this report and would encourage leaders of RE to share key aspects of this report with the school senior leadership team and governors.

NATRE is very aware of the pressures teachers are currently under and therefore encourages our members to take time to consider the information in this report.

Read the joint media release from RE Council and NATRE

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