Contents

John Keast’s address to ISRSA on Assessment in RE 
 

Eamon Duffy on the future of Theology and Religious Studies 
  

Common mistakes in the teaching of Hinduism 
 

Advice to new RE teachers 
 

Thoughts on RE by a Headmaster 
 

Philosophy of Religion and Christian ethics 
 

Letters  
 

Articles from earlier issues  

Science, Religion and Human Nature 

Guide to Websites 

Narrative Criticism in the Classroom

Membership  
 

How ISRSA began  
 

ISRE Syllabus 
 

The aims of ISRSA 
 
 

Start page  
 
  

How ISRSA began

The day concluded with a discussion which I summarised to my Head Master, Eric Anderson: 'The clear message which came across to me was that there has been an almost complete lack of communication between schools about Religious Studies. All of those present seemed dissatisfied with the Ellis Meetings in RS. Nobody seemed to know what anybody else was doing, or what courses had been successful here, or reckoned as failures there. Everybody seemed disgruntled about the Common Entrance in Scripture...'  

In fact, the Common Entrance (C.E.) syllabus in Scripture (as it was then called) was already being revised. Peter Jackson, realising how important the C.E. syllabus is for laying the foundations of RS in the independent sector, asked Martin Francis if a small group of RS teachers from secondary schools could be involved in the process of revision. As the process of revision was already well advanced, our contribution was modest. However, we had some impact on practice through a teacher's book which Peter Jackson edited, The Ways of God, and through pupils' books which he and Paul Hunt wrote, The People of God and The Church of God.  

Work on the CEE syllabus suggested that a complete syllabus for independent schools, developed in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the National Curriculum, could be devised. Peter Jackson, as the new Chairman of the Central Subject Panel for Religious Studies, assembled a committee, chaired by Martin Rogers, to produce a preliminary edition, which was enthusiastically received in the national and religious press.  

This was circulated to schools and other interested parties during the summer of 1993. After some months of consultation, the revised syllabus was published with the full support of the Independent Schools Curriculum Committee and a warm endorsement from Arthur Hearnden. General Secretary of the Independent Schools Joint Council. It was launched at a reception at the House of Commons on 24 May 1994 in the presence of the Secretary of State for Education.  

The production of the syllabus raised the profile of RS in the independent sector. But the problem of how to represent RS teachers in independent schools remained. The question, as always, was how to get something started.  

We arranged a meeting at Eton in February 1996 and invited about thirty people, hoping that those present would represent most of the parties who might be interested in an association. Those who came were invited to a further meeting at Harrow in June 1996 to take our plans forward.  

Since then, the Association has been inaugurated with a national conference in 1997 and its membership has grown to over 300.  Its success has exceeded our most optimistic expectations. The initiative which began as the project of a small group of friends has become a professional body comparable to other professional teaching bodies on a national basis with an elected council and an annual conference.  

Mark Jones,  
Eton College  

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