To receive a presentation by Miss Bethan James SL GwE.
Minutes:
• The Systems Leader gave a presentation on the requirements of the NLNF by reference to the National Support Programme which provides support to schools in implementing the Framework. She explained how the requirements translate into expectations on teachers of Religious Education as follows –
• The Framework to be integrated within lesson plans.
• Teachers to utilise a range of teaching strategies to teach and adapt numeracy, reading, writing and oracy to the full range of skills and ability levels.
• Teachers to have the expertise to teach and set appropriate tasks so as to enable literacy and numeracy skills to be assessed side by side with the contents of each subject area.
• Teachers to be able to interpret the findings of assessments and use them to formulate individual learning plans.
• Teachers to understand that literacy and numeracy tests are based on the Framework and they should be able to prepare learners accordingly.
The Systems Leader proceeded to show how Religious Education as a subject area can be used to develop numeracy skills for example by utilising experience of a visit to a chapel to calculate capacity, and how the subject may be used to develop literacy skills for example by drawing a poster to explain the meaning of the Hindu festival of Diwali which task evidences skills in the form of sentence construction, grammar, spelling, punctuation and handwriting. The Officer said that the challenge in terms of numeracy particularly lies in trying to identify a numeracy context within RE that is pitched at an appropriate level of the Numeracy Framework i.e. that is not too simplistic.
• With reference to the review of the National Curriculum, the Systems Leader confirmed that she and other former humanities advisors had met as a group in early January to form a response on behalf of NAPfRE and also the SACRE to the first phase of the review to the effect that Religious Education should be included in any developments and/or examples shared with teachers. The second phase of the review involves curricular content and reflects the Welsh Government’s aim that the curriculum should have variety and should teach pupils the skills and knowledge required to enable them to progress in the world beyond school. The Systems Leader proceeded to explain how the expectations might relate to RE which has a statutory basis and is governed by an agreed syllabus determined locally, in terms of ensuring that RE reflects the developments occurring in other parts of the Curriculum. She said that she would respond to the second phase of the consultation which is expected to have very tight time limitations by emphasising the need to include Religious Education in any developments, guidance and exemplar materials.
In the following discussion, Members considered the matter of engaging outside organisations to increase interest within the classroom to which the Systems Leader had made reference in her presentation and specific mention was made of the Open the Book charity which involves groups of volunteers who visit primary schools to provide a dramatisation of Bible stories. The SACRE considered whether schools locally make use of this service and whether more schools might wish to tap into this resource if they were aware of its availability.