The Annual RE conference in January 2024 was titled ‘Let’s talk about race – the power of RE to make a change’.
Keynote presentations were shared by Lara-Alysia Ayonrinde and Ashish Kundi, presenting a Christian and a Sanatan Dharma position on the subject. They spoke to the title of ‘Investing in roots to grow trees’ and ‘Flourishing RE – breaking barriers and creating inclusive spaces’.
In the afternoon, workshops appropriate for all age groups were shared on the following topics:
- Decolonising Sanatan Dharma at Primary level
- Countering antisemitism and teaching about Jews as active agents
- Building awareness of equality, diversity and racial injustice in school
- All God’s Children: exploring the impact of the slave economy on Bristol Cathedral life, past and present
- Anti–racist film club
- Moving beyond tokenism: A Christian vision for embracing racial diversity.
Contributors to these sessions included; SARI (stand against racism and inequality), Anjali Kanagaratnam, Bristol Cathedral, University of Bristol, Alex Brown and NATRE.
Teachers were able to leave the day with a wide range of resources and materials to support the effective delivery of a diverse and challenging curriculum in their schools. They were inspired to tackle this issue head-on and ensure their curriculums are sufficiently diverse and accurate in their representations.
In the year ahead, the adviser team hope to unpick further some of the specific resources shared through their RE hubs/networks, newsletters and school training. Finally, we hope to survey teachers to identify the ways in which this event has impacted the inclusive elements of their RE provision and impact.