NATRE Projects
Website Links
16-19 for all - dare2engage
Community Cohesion - resources for RE
Curriculum Bursaries
Developing Good Assessment Practice
Developing RE Through Music
Listening to Children & Young People Talking
Spirited Arts
Current Activity
Ambassadors of Religion & Belief Conference
On 20 July 2010 at Mulberry School, Tower Hamlets, NATRE is holding a Conference Ambassadors of Religion & Belief. The event is for up to 100 students and 50 teachers and aims to give young people an opportunity to explore religions and belief. The conference was made possible by a generous grant from the St Gabriel's Foundation.
Developing RE through music
Developing RE through music was launched in April 2010 as an online database providing links to songs/lyrics for more than 65 themes typically found in the RE curriculum. Users are invited to submit their own links which can be added to the database. The resource was made possible by a generous grant from the St Peter's Saltley Trust. See: www.natre.org.uk/music.
Westhill Endowment Seminars
During 2009/10 NATRE provided three 24-hour residential seminars, each for 25 participants, linking RE research and practice. The seminars were on Pedagogy (April 2009 in York), Glasgow (November 2009. teachers' lives, pupils' lives) and Oxford (April 2010, Creativity and RE). The seminar programme was made possible through generous funding by the Westhill Endowment.
Project funding to develop RE
During 2008/9 NATRE made available twenty funded opportunities for local groups to develop curriculum materials and resources for RE. Each grant was worth up to £1,500, due to generous funding by the St Gabriels' Programme and the DCSF. The outcomes of these bursaries are available on www.natre.org.uk.
Project funding to develop promotional films
During 2008/9 NATRE developed four promotional films about RE, thanks to generous funding from the DCSF. The films were launched in April 2009 and are available for free download from www.natre.org.uk.
Council for Subject Associations (CfSA)
NATRE is a founder member of the Council for Subject Associations. http://www.subjectassociation.org.uk/.
Secondary Teacher Network Project
NATRE, working alongside AREIAC and ‘Advisers in Education', won a tender from the TDA to pilot the delivery of CPD through secondary teacher network groups. This project involved the 9 North and East London Local authorities, 6 advisers and 18 teachers. The focus aimed to develop teachers' understanding and skills in assessment with a focus on Education Outside the Classroom. The outcomes of this project are available on www.natre.org.uk.
Exemplification of standards at key stage 3
NATRE won the tender to lead the RE element of a QCA exemplification of standards project. The project lasted for 18 months and involved 8 schools and 16 teachers. The project aimed to assist teachers in their planning for the introduction of the changes to the new secondary curriculum, by developing electronic ‘portfolios' of individual pupils' work, with annotations and commentaries, to robustly exemplify standards at levels 4 to 8.
Training for ITE RE PGCE students
NATRE continues to work with the Hockerill Educational Foundation, which supports four RE PGCE conferences each year, bringing together over half of the new entrants to secondary RE teaching, from about 20 of the universities and providers of RE training. The conferences provides dynamic experience of RE to new teachers, and show them what support and professional guidance NATRE can offer.
Conferences for NATRE local group leaders
In the spring and summer terms 2008 and 2009 NATRE provided six one-day conferences for NATRE local group leaders. Each conference provided a range of professional development opportunities for teachers. The conferences were free, due to generous grant funding by the St Gabriels' Programme.
RE and the new secondary curriculum
NATRE and RE Today worked with CfBT during 2007/10 to deliver the roll out of the new secondary curriculum for RE on behalf of the DCSF. The resources from this project are available on www.natre.org.uk.
Newsletters to support NATRE local groups
NATRE provides support for NATRE-affiliated local groups via a termly email newsletter sent to group leaders.
Support for RE and ICT
During 2007/9 NATRE and RE Today worked with Becta on a range of initiatives to support the use of ICT in RE. Work involved provision of ITT opportunities for secondary ITT students and ITT tutors, development of a resource to support the use of ICT in GCSE Religious Studies and entitlement documents for primary and secondary RE.
Local groups
NATRE has 155+ local groups for teachers of RE all over the country, providing links to more than 1500 teachers. During 2009/10 NATRE is providing face-to-face support for local groups through its local groups officer. These opportunities are made possible through generous funding from the DCSF, and the support of RE Today.
REsource
NATRE's 24-page termly journal provides professional reflection on the theory and practice of RE. It is edited by Dr Bill Gent, former School Improvement Adviser, London Borough of Redbridge Advisory Service.
Spirited Arts Competition 2009
2009's Spirited Arts competition had five inspirational themes. For details of the winners see: www.natre.org.uk/spiritedarts. The 2010 competition results wil be availale on the Spirited Arts website in autumn 2010.
‘Listening to children and young people talking'
NATRE's online database of pupils' religious and spiritual thinking continues to provide a significant classroom resource. It is interactive, multi-religious, and fully moderated. See: www.natre.org.uk/db.
Downloads
The members' section of the NATRE website includes access to a wide range of downloadable materials, accessible by a simple search mechanism. Some documents are freely available to all who access the site. See: www.natre.org.uk/db (choose 'NATRE free resources').
National RE news
NATRE supports a national RE news service through the NATRE news pages of 'REtoday' termly subscription magazine, and the news pages on RE Today's website. See: http://www.retoday.org.uk/.
RE Council of England & Wales
NATRE maintains links with the RE Council, and its membership of some 50 bodies concerned with RE nationally, including major faith and belief community groups. See: www.religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk.
Dare to Engage
Our involvement with this collaborative project to assist and work with Christian teachers and church workers in developing the offer of spiritual education to the 16-19 age group continues. Supported by the generosity of the Jerusalem Trust. See: dare2engage.org.
