Evidence presented to the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC) demonstrates that there is an urgent need for published materials that support a national entitlement for all pupils to develop their thinking in this vital area of the curriculum. Such materials need to relate learning about worldviews to the needs, interests and experiences of all young people, including the majority who come from non-religious families, taking account of research findings related to the ‘nones’, i.e. those that identify with no particular religious tradition.

Through the existing ‘Solarity’ materials, we will have a head start on providing engaging activities and learning experiences for children and young people. We know that the Solarity sessions work well. One teacher who used them, Kate Penfold, said, “The Solarity sessions are inclusive and a wide range of pupils are actively involved because questions are so easy to understand. They promote resilience and support the ethos of our school. The children definitely saw that the material was useful and meaningful. One said, ‘It was useful information to use in life. It gave us other people’s perspectives and we need those.’ From this ‘we learnt that anyone can do the right thing and make a difference’.”

We now want to take this forward in terms of a coherent programme for education in Religion and Worldviews as experienced in the 21st Century.
Our priorities are therefore for a high-quality, broad-based education, where children and young people explore religions and beliefs openly, rigorously, critically and reflectively, in the context of a changing and globalised world.

But we cannot do this without your help.

In order to create an online resource for curriculum developers, teachers and home educators, we need funding for teachers to write and trial new materials and for the development of a user-friendly website to contain them.

The core team (see below) are providing their services for FREE but we will have to pay our writers for their services.

We estimate that this will cost £40,000, and while we are trying to raise funds from a range of charitable trusts, I am really calling on our own SOF members and Sofia subscribers to find a substantial proportion of this.

A donation of £130 from each of our members and Sofia subscribers would cover the cost of the project and therefore have ownership of the website and material.

A donation of £50 from each would ensure that we would be a major donor and therefore have regular involvement in its production.

But these are averages. Any amount that you can give will help us set the project in motion and would be the basis for an approach to other funders if needed. It will ensure that the SOF Network is acknowledged on all the resources produced.

This is a major educational initiative for SOF, in keeping with our charitable objects, and an important opportunity for us to promote our aim of ‘exploring religion as a human creation’ as well as offering an invitation for new members. It will be the first time for many years that we have asked members for money but this is a project that I, along with all the trustees, judge to be well worth our investment – an opportunity to be at the heart of a potentially transformative moment for education – not just in this country but in the wider world too.

Please show us that you support the Understanding Humanity (Solarity) project by pledging £200, £130, £50, £10, or another amount. Don’t send any money at this point, but please make your pledge by using the form below or by email, with ‘Solarity project’ in the subject line, to Stephen Williams at treasurer@sofn.org.uk or in writing to 157 Russell Road, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 8RR.

Thank you!