What People Say About the TREC

We’ve had a lot of people take the TREC Course over the last few years.  Here’s what some of them have to say about it.

Sharon Bartlett –HLTA at Scargill C of E School, Derbyshire.

From about fourteen I have always wanted to be involved in children’s education but didn’t follow my dreams until I was into my thirties and my daughter started pre-school.  Prior to my current position I worked in a pre school, I but after 5 years I wanted a new challenge! I am now an HLTA and take whole classes to cover for teachers’ PPA.

Then a year ago I was approached by the Head and asked if I would take part in a pilot scheme run by Culham St Gabriel’s to follow a subject knowledge booster course ( now called the Teach RE Course).  I jumped at the chance as 90% of the lessons I was asked to teach were RE. The  course was brilliant.  The tutors could not have been more supportive. Through the course I was able to access a vast range of resources and these have been invaluable when I deliver my lessons.  Since completing the course I feel much more confident in the classroom, even when asked difficult questions, especially from Year 6!  One afternoon I posed the question to the Year 5/6’s: What would you ask God if you could sit down and interview him? The questions they came up with were thoughtfully and unbelievably thought provoking for 10 and 11 year olds, these led to a fascinating discussion on what God might reply.

I continue to enjoy my role in school and feel very lucky and privileged to be teaching RE. Through giving children the opportunity to learn about many different beliefs and cultures  and the diversities of where we live that they will, hopefully,  be able to see what a wonderful, world we live in and accept everyone within it with open arms, hearts and minds.

Catherine Davies – Trainee

The most interesting part was the research element for the chosen religions for both Beliefs, Teachings & Sources & Practices & Ways of Life.  This was a steep learning curve for me, it highlighted my  huge gap of knowledge that I had  for Islam & Buddhism. I thoroughly enjoyed this research, as ‘becoming the student’ myself enabled me to explore these faiths in a detail I have never done before. The majority of my time throughout this course has been devoted to the research aspect; this was a necessity for me to gain the subject knowledge required for the tasks.

I have a greater understanding and appreciation of the aforementioned beliefs. Prior to this course, I had a very broad, basic overview of these faiths with little in-depth knowledge.  When it comes to teaching practice, this course has helped my confidence tremendously in delivering lessons at the 11-16 age group.

This course has broadened my knowledge of other faiths.  As I have been brought up as a Catholic within Catholic education, my Religious Education has been through faith nurture.  My degree in Philosophy did cover Philosophy of Religion but this was not enough to cover the knowledge required to deliver a broad curriculum of RE.  The course has especially enhanced my ability to deliver many ‘compare and contrast’ lessons around different beliefs on different topics.

Henry Hartley – Trainee

I heard last night that I have been have been offered place on the PGCE course, which I am very happy about. I felt confident when going to my interview and I know this course played a large part in that. I’d wholeheartedly recommend this course alongside an extended period of classroom experience as ideal preparation for PGCE.

Rhiannon Love – Senior Lecturer in Teacher Development, responsible for Primary RE and Philosophy for Children (P4C) on the BEd/MEd and PG programmes at Winchester University

I would thoroughly recommend the course to anyone wanting to increase their subject knowledge or confidence in RE.  The support you get from Culhan St Gabriel’s and from the tutor you are linked to is excellent and I can assure you that the benefits will be immeasurable!