Camden SACRE*

Talking Faith & Belief

Camden 'inspiRE Speakers' project: This pilot project aims to train Sixth Form students in Camden to become faith/non-faith representatives who will go on to speak and present at schools in the borough.

Through training sessions in the Autumn and Spring terms, lead by an oracy and RE specialist, Year 12 students will become confident in speaking to younger pupils about their worldviews, practices and lived experiences.

These students will form part of a ‘database’ of speakers that schools can invite to speak, and as the students move into Year 13, they will also assist in training the next cohort of speakers.

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.

In running this project between Camden Learning, the LA, SACRE, and schools, we will ensure that all partners are regularly kept up to date with developments.

Year 12 students will sign up to become a trained speaker through their school, who will be made aware of how the programme will work. Students will also need to provide a school reference as part of the process.

They will attend two training sessions in the Autumn and Spring terms respectively, before receiving a certificate to confirm their trained speaker status. They will then be added to our database, which schools in the borough can use to request speakers for relevant lessons, assemblies or events. Schools get in touch with the project team, who will then allocate the speakers to schools, providing the speakers with all the relevant details.

In the following year(s), the speakers will then help to train the incoming year’s cohort, as they continue to work as speakers themselves. This will allow the project to grow, and provide high-quality training for future years.

Camden released a new RE syllabus to schools in September 2024 and this programme of conferences seeks to provide opportunities for pupils and teachers to learn more about Camden’s faith and belief communities.

This project will allow young people to share their lived experiences and worldviews with other pupils in their community. It will also help to develop students’ confidence and abilities in public speaking, and allows pupils to learn about faith and belief communities directly from relatable practitioners. We hope this project will foster a greater sense of community and connection through faith and belief as it continues to grow year after year.