Read the ‘Deep and meaningful? The
religious education subject report'.
The report draws on evidence from visits to a sample of primary
and secondary schools last year.
Inspectors found that leaders have been keen to improve the
quality of education in RE. However, evidence
shows that there has been little progress since Ofsted's
last subject report in 2013. Today's report finds there is still
a lack of clarity on the curriculum and recommends that
government should provide better guidance about what should be
taught and when.
While the report notes some examples of stronger practice, it
concludes that the RE
curriculum in most schools is superficially broad but lacks
depth. Where the curriculum tries to cover many religions, pupils
generally remember very little. Where the curriculum prioritises
depth of study, pupils learn much more.
The report also shows that the content of some secondary
curriculums is restricted by what teachers decide pupils need to
know for their Key Stage 4 exams. Sometimes pupils practice GCSE
style assessments before they have mastered enough substantive
knowledge.
Ofsted also found that a significant proportion of schools do not
meet the statutory requirement to teach religious education at
all stages of a pupils' journey through school.
Ofsted's Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said:
A strong RE curriculum
is not only important for pupils' cultural development, it is a
requirement of law and too many schools are not meeting that
obligation.
I hope that the examples of good RE curriculum in our report help
schools develop their own practice and support the development of
a strong REcurriculum
for all.
The report contains a number of recommendations for schools,
including that they should:
-
Make sure there is a distinct curriculum in place for
teaching RE at all
key stages. This should be rigorous and challenging and it
demonstrably build on what pupils already know.
-
Leaders in secondary schools should design the curriculum to
meet or exceed exam board specifications, rather than be
driven by them.
-
Make sure that all teachers have the subject and pedagogical
knowledge that they need to teach RE well.
-
Organise the timetable for RE so that gaps between teaching
are minimised.
-
Provide opportunities for pupils to review and build on
important knowledge over time. Pupils should be able to use
the knowledge that they gained in previous years as the
curriculum becomes increasingly more complex and demanding.
