The Association of RE Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants

The project aims to have far-reaching impact:

• To empower young people to have a voice in advocating for Religious Education​

• To empower young people and teachers to understand the relationship between high quality Religious Education and the promotion and protection of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB).

• To enhance the reach of Pupil Voice, so that policy makers may be directly influenced​

• To embed a network of Young RE Ambassadors across the country, working within the RE Hubs structure

• To facilitate the training and mentoring of YAs and their teachers, as future leaders of pupil voice, through working with AREIAC members and partners​

• To engage, where appropriate, with other programmes like the Rights Respecting Schools agenda.

• Through the Parliamentary Outreach programme, to enable Young Ambassadors to debate matters of religion and belief with policy makers at Westminster

 

Freedom of Religion and Belief is a Human Right. It is part of the United Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18.  It is also protected by other international instruments (e.g. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)).  The heart of FoRB is the freedom to have, choose, change or leave a religion or belief, and the freedom to practice or manifest a religion or belief.

 

The relationship between high quality RE and FoRB principles is clear: high quality RE can only be taught in an environment where FoRB principles flourish; if FoRB is to be promoted and protected, children must have access to high quality RE.

 

“Prioritising inclusive curricula and teaching, matched to all students’ needs, regardless of their background… provides foundational skills for all.  In addition, curricula should provide positive and accurate information about different faith and belief communities and combat negative stereotypes.”

(2022 FoRB Ministerial on FoRB and Education)

UK Parliament Week – November 2024​

All four RE Ambassadors groups came together for an online interfaith discussion panel for UK Parliament Week 2024. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Each school took turns to ask a schedule of questions on themes ranging from growing up in a fair society and enabling students to have voice, to reviewing the curriculum and religious literacy.  Another theme for questions was representation, under the overarching remit Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) to the individual. You can see all the questions asked here.  

The panel included: Daniel Greenberg, who is the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Josh Cass who is the Lead Consultant for Advocacy for Culham St Gabriel’s Trust and Jan McGuire who is the AREIAC EXEC joint chair.  Also in attendance were: Ed Pawson (SW Lead), Jane Yates (NW Lead) and Karen O’Donoghue (Chair of Cumbrian SACRE) and RE teachers from all four schools.  

 

“This was an excellent opportunity for our RE Ambassadors to engage with a high-profile government representative around a wide range of issues relevant to RE. The responses from our panel also provoked much follow-up discussion for the pupils at The Queen Katherine School.”

Katherine France (RS department head, Queen Katherine school)

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“Religion is a spectrum and a constantly changing spectrum so I think you are absolutely right, the curriculum should be changing all the time and we should be asking ourselves ‘what does religion look like today and what will it look like tomorrow?”

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"I think events like this afternoon are terribly important because education can be a bit one way – us telling you.  What is actually much more important is for us to hear, the older you get, how much you feel we need to understand about what concerns you. That is obviously as important in Religious Education as it is in scientific education and  ecological education.  I don’t want you to feel that any kind of education is preparing you in a passive way, I hope it is partnering with you so that we tell you what we do, and you tell us what you do. We tell you what we think, and you tell us what you think, and together we prepare for your being part in society – which you already are.”

 

Daniel Greenberg (Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards)

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Thanks to Sue Holmes (AREIAC) and the UK Parliament Education Team for setting up this event​.

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Young RE Ambassadors from Cumbria and Devon lead a Roundtable Discussion in Westminster

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Wednesday July 2nd, 2025

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Young Ambassadors from schools in the North-West and South-West regions of England recently travelled to London to lead a special parliamentary event.  Students from the Queen Katherine School and Grayrigg C of E Primary in Westmorland & Furness, gathered with students from Okehampton Academy in Devon to lead a roundtable discussion on matters of religion and belief.  The event was held in the House of Lords, attended by parliamentarians, including MPs Tim Farron, Sir Mel Stride and Daniel Greenberg, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.  They were hosted by Lord and Lady Singh and Lord Singh also introduced the Roundtable.

 

The event is the culmination of a national two-year funded project* with the aim of empowering young people to find their voice as Young Ambassadors for Religious Education.  The project has a particular focus on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and students and staff have been exploring how this relates to their local and school communities.  During the roundtable discussion, each school presented their activities as Young Ambassadors for RE, raising relevant issues for discussion.

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Speaking about the project: MP Tim Farron said, “I am really grateful for this opportunity to promote the importance of Religious Education in our schools to MPs and the government.  Young people today are growing up in an increasingly religiously diverse society – they must be equipped with curiosity and respect, and RE is a crucial tool to give them.  I look forward to promoting the need to those in Parliament.”

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The North-West region project was launched at the Quaker Tapestry Museum in Kendal, the history of Quakers in Cumbria providing a powerful example of Freedom of Religion or Belief, as they faced past opposition and persecution for their beliefs.  The students also took part in an online parliamentary event in November 2024, and they presented to the Cumbrian SACRE RE Conference in June 2024, and at a special event for Y10 pupils from ten schools across the North West, in conjunction with Edge Hill University.

 

One of the highlights of the South-West project was the community Iftar (Ramadan fast-breaking meal) which the students hosted for the local Muslim community in March 2025.  Over 80 people from the Okehampton area with at least 10 local Muslim families attended, supported by Neomi Alam from the Exeter Islamic Centre.  The students also made presentations at the Devon RE syllabus launch in June 2024, and spoke at the Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations at Exeter Cathedral in January 2025.

 

During their day at Westminster, the Young Ambassadors toured the Houses of Parliament with their respective MPs.  They also watched Lord Singh speak as a Sikh, believing in the equal treatment of people of all faiths and beliefs, to make an important contribution in a House of Lords discussion, in the context of the treatment of minorities in India.

 

* This project is managed by AREIAC (the Association of RE Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants) and funded by Culham St Gabriel’s Trust.

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Mike Zeller - 01/07/2025 - BBC Sounds - listen to students from Cumbria and headteacher,
Kirsty Cooper talk about the lead up to the event.  Listen from 1.55 (for 5 minutes). 

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Joe Wilson on BBC Radio Cumbria - 06/07/2025 - BBC Sounds - listen to students from Cumbria
and RS teacher Katherine France talk about how the day went from 2.50 (5 minutes)

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