Give young people a voice in the UK-wide National Conversation

RE teachers are invited to help children and young people have their say in a major UK-wide listening exercise with free, ready-to-use resources available now.

How can we live well together? What makes people feel that they belong? What can bring communities together, and what can divide them?

These are some of the questions at the heart of The National Conversation: The Next Generation, a UK-wide opportunity for children and young people aged 16 and under to share their views about the country they want to see and the communities they want to help build.

The National Conversation is a major nation-wide  listening exercise. It forms part of the work of the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, which is exploring how connection, belonging and trust can be strengthened across the UK.

A natural fit for RE

RE classrooms are already spaces where young people explore questions about identity, belief, belonging, difference, community and how we live together. The National Conversation offers an opportunity to bring these questions into the classroom through a structured, student-centred conversation, while ensuring that young people’s perspectives contribute to an important national discussion.

Teachers and schools are encouraged to join the conversation this autumn term, building up to National Conversation: Next Generation Week on 5 – 9 October 2026.

You can get involved using a free National Conversation: Next Generation toolkit, designed schools, teachers and youth organisations. It provides flexible, ready-to-use activities that encourage young people to:

• reflect on the communities they are part of;
• explore what helps people feel that they belong;
• consider what can make people feel excluded or divided;
• listen to different perspectives and experiences; and
• develop ideas for making their communities stronger.

The resources can be adapted to suit different ages and contexts and used as a standalone lesson or as part of wider RE teaching. They could also work well in tutor time, an enrichment session, school council, assembly follow-up or youth voice activity.

Crucially, to ensure your students’ ideas are heard, teachers must share their students’ feedback with the National Conversation by 23 October. This can be done via the National Conversation website and is as quick as uploading a photo of your groups’ notes.

Take part and access the free resources at www.thenationalconversation.org.uk/young-people/

Help ensure young people are heard

By taking part, RE teachers can give their pupils a meaningful opportunity to reflect on the kind of community they want to live in, while helping ensure that children and young people’s voices are represented in this important national conversation.

Download the free toolkit and use it with your students; submit your students’ feedback by 23 October at https://www.thenationalconversation.org.uk/young-people/

by Alice Stott, Education team at the National Conversation
 www.together.org.uk