Wales: Catholic school pupils much more diverse than national average – new data published

The Catholic Education Service (CES) has reported that their 2022 annual census of Catholic schools has shown that learners in Catholic schools in Wales are ‘much more diverse than the national average.’ Catholic schools comprise 6% of the national total of maintained schools in Wales.

The main headlines derived from these data have been published on the CES website (23 January 2023), and include:

  • More than 30% of pupils in Wales’s 82 Catholic state-funded primaries and secondaries are from an ethnic minority background, compared to 12.5% in all other schools.
  • Catholic schools in Wales also have more than four times as many black pupils, with 4.5% of the 28,176 pupils being Black or Black British, compared to 1.1% in all Welsh schools.
  • There is also more than twice the proportion of pupils from an Asian or Asian British background (6%), compared to 2.6% in other schools.
  • Just over half (50.3%) of pupils in the sector are Catholic, as are 43.6% of the 1,644 teachers employed.
  • A total of 73.4% of pupils in Welsh Catholic schools are Christians, and 80% are from a faith background. Of the 13,992 non-Catholic pupils, 46% of these are from other Christian denominations, 36.8% have no religion, and 5.7% are Muslims.

Source:
http://catholiceducation.org.uk/about-us/news-items/item/1003731-welsh-catholic-school-pupils-much-more-diverse-than-national-average-new-data

To help contextualise these figures, read the full census 2022 report for Wales:
http://catholiceducation.org.uk/images/CensusDigestWales2022EnglishText.pdf

What can the 2021 Census Really Tell us about the Religious Composition of England and Wales?

Many of us are currently trying to make sense of the recently published 2021 census data concerning the religion question. An article in the latest edition of Challenging Religious Issues (19) has been written to help teachers and learners think through some key questions.

‘What can the 2021 Census Really Tell us about the Religious Composition of England and Wales?’ draws on the headline statistics from the religion question in the 2021 census for England and Wales in order to examine what can and what cannot be deduced from these statistics, and to explore why the religion question remains an important part of mapping the ‘social and civil condition’ of the population in the 21st century. The inclusion of this question in the census is evidence of the continuing public significance of religion.

You can read the article here:

What can the 2021 Census Really Tell us?Download

You can read all seven articles in the latest edition of the journal here:

Challenging Religious Issues 19Download

Free RVE training event for Primary practitioners in Wrexham

In collaboration with Wrexham local authority, the St Giles’ RE Centre is hosting a Primary RVE planning day on Wednesday, 29 March 2023. The event will take place at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, Wrexham and will be fully funded by the Centre, so it is completely free for Wrexham schools. Refreshments will be available through the day, including a hot & cold buffet.

There are 28 places available, on a first come first served basis. Schools may request up to two places each. More details about the day, including relevant resources and agenda, will follow in due course.

To book a place contact the RE Advisor, Libby Jones at libby.jones@wrexham.gov.uk or through the contact page of this website.

Complete a short survey to say what you want to see in our A-level journal

Challenging Religious Issues is a free online journal for AS and A-level teachers and students in Wales and England. (https://stgilescentre.org/16-2/)

We need your help to decide which topics would be most useful to you in the journal. Please would you take a few minutes to complete a very brief survey, which will help inform future journal content.

Complete the survey now

English language survey link:
https://bishopg.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/challenging-religious-issues-survey

Welsh language survey link:
https://bishopg.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/arolwg-herio-materion-crefyddol

About the journal

The journal started in 2013 as a Welsh Government initiative offering a new kind of support for schools and colleges, which goes ‘beyond the textbook’ and connects with expertise in the university sector. Today, Challenging Religious Issues is published within a partnership that includes:

  • the St Mary’s Centre, Wales;
  • the St Giles Centre, Wrexham;
  • the St Peter’s Saltley Trust;
  • Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln.

Example Medium Term Planning Template for Religion, Values and Ethics (RVE)

Careful medium term planning for RVE is vital to ensure that the approach of the Curriculum for Wales is embedded appropriately across the curriculum.

For this reason, the St Giles’ Centre has developed an example medium term planning tool. It has been designed to highlight significant planning considerations for RVE which are intended to support schools in having regard to the Curriculum for Wales RVE guidance and locally agreed syllabi.

This example can be edited so that users can adapt it to meet the individual needs of their school or setting. The St Giles’ Centre welcomes feedback on the usefulness of this example and would also welcome receiving other examples that schools are using as they prepare for Curriculum for Wales roll out.

If you have any questions about how this example could be used in practice, please contact us.

Welsh and English versions of the template can be downloaded below. They are also available on our Support Material page.

Updated documents are available to download (11 July 2024).

Pri-RVE-planning-mat-2_cyDownload
Pri-RVE-planning-mat_engDownload

Science meets RVE in a new curriculum project for Wrexham primary schools

North Wales Science is a charity with a vision to be ‘A home for Inspiring Science in the Heart of the Community’. The charity operates the science discovery centre, Xplore! Wrexham, and delivers interactive activities as outreach across North Wales and North West England.

The team at Xplore! are co-creating four workshops in close collaboration with the St Giles’ Centre Wrexham, especially for primary schools. Each workshop will bring together teaching and learning in religion, values and ethics (RVE) and science in creative and interactive ways.

On Thursday 1 December, St Mary’s Primary School Overton, piloted one of the workshops In Search of Light with yr 3 and 4 learners. The children really enjoyed the experience and found lots of useful connections between the two subject areas. The school has created a series of collages to show how these connections linked to their new curriculum.

The pilot will continue in 2023, involving up to 20 primary schools in Wrexham. For further details on how your school can get involved, please contact us.

Collages created by St Mary’s Primary School, Overton

(with thanks to Nia Williams)

Limited edition Randalph the Wise resources for RVE given to Wrexham primary schools

Randalph the Wise poster English

On 22 November, the RVE Advisor for Wrexham Local Authority, Libby Jones, gave a presentation at the Headteachers’ Briefing meeting for Wrexham local authority’s primary and secondary schools.

During the presentation, Libby provided headteachers with key messages about:
• RVE in the Curriculum for Wales;
• the Wrexham Agreed Syllabus for RVE;
• professional learning at national and local level;
• the new Agored Cymru Exploring Worldviews qualification for 14-16 year olds;
• and supporting curriculum resources.

As part of these supporting curriculum resources, special ‘limited edition’ hard copies of the storybook series, Randalph’s Spiritual Quest and Search for Meaning were distributed to the primary headteachers to take back to their schools with a poster for their staff rooms. Later in the year, a new Wrexham storybook in the series will be published.

Both the limited edition and the forthcoming Wrexham storybook edition have been developed and sponsored by the St Giles’ Centre.

This free bilingual online series was originally sponsored by the Welsh Government to support RVE in the Curriculum for Wales. Drawing on an integrated approach to RVE within the Humanities Area, the series includes:
• 6 storybooks;
• films;
• music;
• a guide for teachers (revised in November 2022).

Although written for primary learners, the series would also work well as a transition resource.

The series can be accessed through the Welsh Government Hwb, the St Giles’ Centre website or directly from the Randalph the Wise website. You can download the posters here:

Welsh poster A4 Randalph the WiseDownload
English poster A4 Randalph the WiseDownload

Supporting non-statutory guidance published for Catholic schools in Wales

The St Giles’ Centre welcomes the publication of the document Curriculum for Wales: supporting non-statutory guidance for Catholic schools, which relates to statutory Religion, Values and Ethics (RVE). Also included in the document is guidance on ‘Relationships and Sexuality Education’ (RSE).

The aim of the document is to provide headteachers, governors, staff, parents and clergy ‘additional non-statutory guidance to Catholic schools on using Curriculum for Wales to design a curriculum which reflects their Catholic faith and values. It builds on the Curriculum for Wales guidance, providing contextual support for Catholic schools. It is not intended to duplicate or differ in principle from that guidance.’ (Page 3)

In addition to this development, a new version of the Religious Education Curriculum Directory is currently being written, which will ‘take into account all the statutory requirements for Welsh schools.’ (Page 6)

Within the context of Religion, Values and Ethics (RVE), it is recognised that:
‘We live in a society containing a range of religious and non-religious worldviews and these need to be studied to prepare our young people for life in Wales, the United Kingdom, and the wider world. This learning needs to be underpinned by mutual respect of everyone and tolerance of alternate views. Learning about religions and worldviews other than Catholicism is thus the result of deep respect for the human dignity of the persons that hold these views.’ (Page 6)

You can read the new guidance document in Welsh and English here (scroll down to the bottom of the web page).

Qatar, Football and Human Rights: ‘All Things Considered’ comes to Wrexham

On Thursday 10th November BBC Radio Wales’s award-winning ‘All Things Considered’ faith and ethics series will be recorded in front of a live audience at Wrexham Glyndŵr University. It is to mark the Wal Goch Festival of Football, being celebrated in Wrexham from 11-13 November.

Programme guests include:
Graham Daniels, General Director of Christians in Sport and a Director of Cambridge United Football Club. Jahangir Mohammad, Founder and Director of the Ayaan Institute Ewa Turczanska, Member of the Colwyn Bay Amnesty International group and contributor to the World Cup values statement made earlier this year with the Welsh Centre for International Affairs. Faisal Bode from the Islamic Human Rights Commission.

Many are looking forward to the Football World Cup. It’s the first time that Wales has qualified since 1958, and it’s also the first time the World Cup has been hosted by a Muslim nation, Qatar. However, the games have been shadowed by controversy, with a spotlight shone on the rights and working conditions of the migrant workers involved in building the infrastructure. Paris and other French cities are boycotting the games by not screening them in public spaces. Amnesty International has questioned their record on human rights and LGBT rights. In response, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has said that Qatar has faced unprecedented criticism since winning the bid. Roy Jenkins and guests discuss the issues.

You can listen to this important discussion 13th November on BBC Radio Wales at 9am, or you can find it on BBC Radio Sounds. Students from Coleg Cambria, Wrexham Glyndŵr University, and Bangor University will be in the audience.

Link:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001f3cy

Sign up for webinar on the new Religious Studies GCSE proposals

As part of the consultation process, Qualifications Wales are holding an online webinar providing an overview of the new Religious Studies GCSE proposals on 19 October 2022, 16.00 – 17.00.

The event describes the new Religious Studies qualification as encouraging “learners to make sense of – and interpret – the human experience, the natural world, and their own place within it, awakening a sense of awe and wonder and firing the imagination. This qualification will inspire learners to face the future with curiosity and compassion, growing in knowledge, understanding and wisdom, by engaging with different religions, non-religious beliefs, contemporary ethical issues, and philosophical convictions locally, nationally and globally.”

There is still time to join the webinar by registering here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gcse-religious-studies-webinar-qualified-for-the-future-consultation-tickets-429346676467

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English (UK) Cymraeg