Agenda item

Humanism in Religious Education - Jo Fageant

Minutes:

Jo Fageant, Professional Advisor, introduced a report on the teaching of Humanism within schools, following the High Court ruling made in November 2015.

 

It was confirmed that in November 2015, the High Court had ruled against the Department for Education, stating that statutory RE in schools without a religious character must teach about non-religious worldviews, and that this could include the teaching of Humanism.

 

Since the ruling, Slough had been contacted by the British Humanist Association (BHA), who had forwarded a breakdown of the ruling and offered advice for schools on how best to incorporate humanism into their syllabus. However, it was confirmed that the guidance offered by the BHA was not wholly correct. Currently, the teaching of non religious viewpoints was optional within the current GCSE curriculum, and members were therefore directed to review the DfE guidance on the ruling.

Supporting documents: