Foreword

It is with great pleasure that we recommend this agreed syllabus to all maintained schools in the County, and we heartily encourage Voluntary Aided Schools, Foundation Schools, Academies and Free Schools to take this syllabus on board as the basis for planning an RE Curriculum across Buckinghamshire.

Never has it been more important for our children and young people to be able to understand the role of religion and belief in local, national, and global contexts. We live in challenging times, and it is appropriate that we continue this title for our newly revised Buckinghamshire Agreed Syllabus. The Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC) had to consider national changes and developments, both in RE and in education in general. As a consequence, the ASC agreed on minimal changes so that schools may, if they wish, continue as before with no need to change. There is less prescription of content, allowing schools the freedom to plan a curriculum which is appropriate for their pupils yet still maintaining the integrity of RE as a discrete subject.

It provides an excellent basis from which to plan an ambitious and sequential RE curriculum and makes explicit the ‘Worldviews Approach’ that had been underpinning Challenging RE in its previous formats.

We are most grateful to the writing panel of teachers who worked with our adviser Bill Moore under very difficult circumstances because of Covid. This was all done remotely, via Zoom, and so collaboration was far more challenging than in previous years. In addition to this, the teachers themselves were working under the most difficult conditions as they strove to teach children through lockdowns, rapidly changing circumstances and external demands, not to mention their own health and wellbeing. It is a real credit to their tenacity, commitment and creativity that this syllabus has been produced. We hope that this, along with the support materials, will help to provide pupils in Buckinghamshire with the high-quality religious education that they need and deserve.

Margaret Dean                   Cllr Anita Cranmer
Chair of SACRE                    Cabinet Member,

                                             Education and Children’s Services