Agenda item

For information and discussion

Submitted – for discussion the RE Council of England and Wales Draft Handbook entitled ‘Religion and Worldviews in the Classroom: developing a Worldviews Approach’ and is primarily written to assist those developing syllabuses and curriculum for religious education with a religion and worldviews approach.

Members discussed the draft handbook which is the outcome of first phase of a three-year project on behalf of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales and its aim to take the idea of a Religion and Worldviews approach, as advocated by the Commission on Religious Education’s final report and to see what it looks like when applied to a syllabus or curriculum.

The Chair advised SACRE that other documents were expected to come from the handbook and that this will be an ongoing focus for SACRE.

Discussion ensued in particular on demographical data and the rise of non-religiousness and the definition of having no religion and the study of ‘non religion’ as an increasing scholarly field of part of the school study of religion.

IT WAS AGREED – That the draft Handbook be submitted to the next meeting of SACRE for further discussion.