‘Belief in Action’ is an Interfaith Project with students from across Newham to explore what different religions and worldviews say about hope during difficult times.

Students will meet representatives from various religious and non-religious worldviews and visit places of worship that actively engage with their local communities providing practical support.

Our aims:

●To explore how religious and non-religious worldviews translate their beliefs into actions within local communities.

●To provide Newham’s young people with tools and resources to improve their mental health and well-being.

●To increase awareness among young people and families in Newham about available local support services.

●To contribute to the teaching of RE at KS3 and KS4 by developing high-quality resources for use in schools.
 
 
Who we are

RE Matters has been providing support to SACREs in London for over 15 years. Made up of councillors, teachers, and religion & worldview representatives, this group works together to support a LA’s responsibility around Religious Education and collective worship. RE Matters exists to support, inspire and transform learning in schools. We offer a wide range of continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities in Religious Education, SMSC and Collective Worship, as well as offering bespoke support. 
 
What we will do

We are going to run half termly meetings with students from different secondary schools across Newham to look at ‘Belief in Action’. We are going to consider what religious and non-religious worldviews are doing in the community. We will do this by visiting places of worship and having speakers join us. We will then produce films that can be used in Newham schools and further afield as an RE resource.
 
Why this is needed

Mental health and well-being issues among students are a growing concern, particularly in the wake of the pandemic.

We know too that for many families the transition from Primary to Secondary School means that they are no longer aware of support that is available from local charities and organisations (often religious and non-religious worldview organisations).

A Leader in a local Secondary School says “working with Year 6 transition pupils we realised that Secondary Schools do not always provide the access to support services that are highlighted in Primary Schools. We want to be able to make students and their families aware of local support that is available.”