News
All Party Parliamentary Group for RE announced
Posted by: Rosemary, 17 February 2012
NATRE and RE Today welcome the launch today of the All Party Parliamentary Group established to support Religious Education and to encourage the subject being regarded as a priority. Stephen Lloyd, MP, the Chair of the group, has a long history of support for RE and we look forward to his leadership of the group as its Chair.
NATRE’s campaign in 2011 to have RE included in the English Baccalaureate raised the awareness of many people to the value and ongoing relevance of the subject as it is taught today. NATRE was humbled by the significant number of individuals, including teachers and politicians, who came alongside and supported the campaign. NATRE calls on all those who are concerned that RE survives as a significant subject in the curriculum of all our schools to do what they can to encourage their own MPs and members of the House of Lords to support the APPG.
For further information:
Ed Pawson, Chair, NATRE
Tel: 0121 430 2959; Email: chair@natre.org.uk
Rosemary Rivett, Executive Officer NATRE,
Tel: 0121 430 2959; Email: exec@natre.org.uk
Notes to Editors
1. Early Day Motion (EDM 1375) was initiated by Stephen Lloyd MP for Eastbourne and Willingdon. EDMs gauge opinion on an issue as part of the parliamentary process.
2. NATRE is the subject teacher association for RE professionals in primary and secondary schools and higher education, providing a focal point for their concerns, a representative voice at national level and publications and courses to promote professional development. NATRE is a member of the Council for Subject Associations and a member of the RE Council. See: www.natre.org.uk.
3. NATRE conducted an online survey of 1918 schools in May 2011. Excluding the independent school respondents, this represents over half (53%) of all maintained secondary
schools in England. The analysis focused on the 1,157 sub-set of academies, community schools and grammar schools. The survey results demonstrate that in all three of
these school types:
- Statutory provision for RE was not being met at Key Stage 4 (KS4) in 24% of academies, 24% of community schools and 31% of grammar schools [Table 1].
- Non-compliance is predicted to increase in 2011-12. This is especially true in academies where the number of such schools not complying with funding agreement contractual requirements at KS4 is expected to rise by 10% from the current 24% to 34% in 2011-12. [Tables 1 and 2].
- Many schools also reported a drop in entries between 2010-11 and 2011-12 for both Religious Studies Short and Full Course GCSEs. Particularly concerning is that 38% of academies, 40% of community schools and 34% of grammar schools reported a drop in Full Course entries. [Table 3].
- In those schools where entry levels had fallen, 57% of academies, 57% of community schools and 64% of grammar schools gave as the reason the impact of the introduction of the EBacc [Table 3].
- 26% of academies, 30% of community schools and 25% of grammar schools also reported reductions for the coming year in specialist RE staff [Table 4].
- 14.1% of academies, 13.6% of community schools and 10.4% of grammar schools reported that the statutory requirements for Key Stage 3 (KS3) will not be met in 2011-12. This is an increase from 2010-11[Tables 5 and 6].
For full details email exec@natre.org.uk.
