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‘To buy or not to not to buy: the tempting dilemma of whether to buy schemes of work for primary RE’.

It seems wonderful to be able to purchase a scheme of work that enables your school to teach excellent RE, equipped with PPTs, lesson plans, assessment tools etc. However, the expense may not just be to your school budget but may also be at the expense of teachers’ understanding and pupils’ learning.

This dilemma is not just found in RE but resounds throughout the curriculum.  In recent research on primary maths, Marks, Barclay and Barnes (2023) noted schools curating of curriculum materials from a range of sources but highlighted concerns about the quality of these curriculum resources and textbooks. They found resources of dubious quality, with a particular concern about the limited cognitive demand of resources. Many resources focus on the pupils’ tasks, rather than the underpinning mathematical concepts. A similar research audit has not been conducted in RE but from enabling trainee teachers to teach RE in any school anywhere in the world with any syllabus I have had to examine many schemes and resources.  I offer up a simple guide or checklist for you to assist with any consideration of purchasing a scheme.

The key areas to consider are conceptual understanding, knowledge and progression. Often schemes focus on subject knowledge but you need to ask questions about conceptual understanding and progression as well.

Conceptual Understanding

Does the scheme have a strong conceptual basis in the subject?

Does it enable teachers and pupils to develop that understanding?

Are you and your teachers confident about what the key concepts are in RE?

Anyone who has been involved in education for more than a few years knows that key terms and ‘buzz words’ change rapidly. Schemes need not just to pay lip service to these but to engage with conceptual understanding.

Progression

Is there clear progression through year groups and key stages?

Are skills repeated over the years or engaged with at greater depth?

Is progression in the scheme just a case of more subject knowledge added each year or is there a clear development of understanding in religions and non-religious worldviews.

Within RE, a further cautionary note is on whether the scheme conflates RE and collective worship.  These are two separate and distinct entities with different purposes and nature so do avoid any attempt to marry the two.

This questioning process will take you a little extra time but will be worth it in the long run as you enable your pupils and teachers to teach excellent RE. There are many examples of excellent and exceptional RE in schools across the UK. Let’s seek out exceptional RE resources but let’s be clear about what that looks like.

(Ruth Flanagan, Subject Lead for Primary Humanities, 28th September, 2023)

Welcome to the new Academic year 2023-24

We are looking forward to working with you as we train the next generation of teachers. This site contains information on our curriculum, our current research and training opportunities.

Summer Term

Our trainees participated in Seminar day 4 on Friday 28th April where the day involved an EPS focus on British Values. Trainees followed up on their SEND task and in partners talked about their task without employing any labels to celebrate the pupil’s strengths rather than be limited by labels. During the afternoon in pathway groups the trainees further developed their training as a pathway lead. For example, Humanities trainees enjoyed listening to a former trainee talk about her role as a subject lead for Geography. Science pathway trainees engaged in a forest schools session and considered opportunities for learning in informal settings.

Happy Easter!

As you may be aware, the trainees have moved to their second placement school. Often the transition from one school to another can be a challenge as they adjust to new classes, staff and school cultures. However, this is usually quickly overcome. If you do have any concerns about your trainee then please do get in touch with their UVT, personal tutor or Exeter partner. If you have any queries about the IDP do please contact Exeter partner. If you have any curriculum queries please do contact the relevant subject lead – see contact details page.

Thank you for partnering with us to train the next generation of teachers.

Training, Development and Consultation Spring term 2023

Spring term

The trainees returned to campus for their second Seminar Day on February 10th for a Cross curricular day. they engaged with workshops on ML, DT and Cross curricular planning. They were inspired by Dinah Warren (lead on ML) and Harriet White (our Science lead) who had them creating catapults amongst other activities. They considered planning sequences of lessons in mid term plans, focusing on pupils’ progression and subject specific knowledge enrichment. Hopefully they will have opportunities in your schools to try out some of their new understanding on ML, DT and planning across the primary curriculum, particularly as they plan more sequences of lessons in the consolidating practice phase.

We look forward to catching up with you all at our next Training, Development and Consultation meeting on March 7th.

Happy New Year!

I hope you have all had a well deserved rest over Christmas. Thank you for partnering with us to train the next generation of teachers. Your teaching experience, wisdom and guidance is so valuable to us and our trainees. Over the next two terms you may have a trainee who needs extra support. To help you know how we prepare our trainees before they arrive on placement and how support is provided during placement please read this document. Thanks for all your hard work!

Training. Development and Consultation November 2022

For the first Training, Development and Consultation meeting of this academic year Anthony Wilson presented his poetry research and explained the way that he and Anita Wood teach English on the Primary PGCE and in SDD seminar days. The poetry research involved mentoring of young talented Poets and in their words, it became clear how significant mentors are. As Lead Mentors and UVTs tasked with assisting PGCE trainees to develop we were inspired by the thought that we can lift trainees up, provide them with a sense of belonging, and motivate them. We can make that ‘one comment’ that inspires them, encourages them and helps them persevere as they train to teach.

The meeting was recorded and, alongside the PPT, is available on the Communities of Practice page.