Recognising outstanding learning in religious education

RE has been the forerunner of whole school initiatives… RE innovates… and we follow!

Learning about other religions is important because you find out how they are different and how they are the same.

If we didn’t do RE we would be stuck in our own little bubble.

I loved the way that the RE coordinator involved the pupils and staff in the planning of the RE days.

The REQM made us realise the importance of the role we can play in the local community, both in terms of developing dialogue and promoting the value of RE. These are all things we have done in the past, but the REQM served as a timely reminder that these aspects of an excellent RE department also ultimately result in an improved experience for our pupils.

We used the RE mark as a tool for our department development plan. In a time where departments are largely judged by outcomes our ‘department development meetings’ have now been re-named ‘department attainment meetings.’ While we recognise the importance of attainment – indeed the RE department at the Ifracombe Academy boasted the best GCSE results in the school and significantly above the national average – we recognise that there are limitations to examination and results cannot tell the whole story. There are always areas for development. The structure of the RE quality mark proved to be a useful tool for development. We worked through it together as a team. For the most part it was an encouragement. Lots of ‘oh yes…we do that…’ as well as suggested areas for development. This document continues to be a point of reference and is useful for setting targets for staff appraisals.