Surrey SACRE | Open House: welcome to 'my place'! - Judaism as a worldview.
Members of Surrey faith and belief communities warmly invite you to come and experience their places of worship and gain valuable curriculum insight for Primary and Secondary RE leaders and class teachers.
Each experience will include a meet and greet by the community, a tour, a short presentation and plenty of time for questions and answers, as well as the opportunity to take photographs for use in school.
Booking your place - each person must make an individual online booking so that we can advise the venues of numbers, carefully noting the times and venues of sessions on offer, as they are not all the same.
For this session, We will be welcomed by Sarah Harris, Chair of and Jewish representative on Surrey SACRE (and a former Surrey headteacher) and members of the synagogue community: the synagogue will be open from 3.45pm, so please do go straight in as soon as you arrive. This session will include a tour, with a reading from the Torah (which is one of the most magical experiences ever!) and a chance to meet several members of the schools’ team who regularly are involved in leading visits for Surrey schools.
The North West Surrey Synagogue, a synagogue linked to the Reform tradition in Judaism, has a very well-established programme for school visits. In the U.K. Jews will talk about going to shule (Yiddish) or synagogue. The synagogue fulfils 3 distinct purposes: Beit T’filah (House of Prayer), Beit Midrash (House of study) or Beit Ha –Knesset, (House of Meeting) and is very much an extension of life in a Jewish home. Essentially, Jews can pray in any place and as a community, anywhere there is a minyan and a torah scroll. Scrolls at the NWSS are about 200 years old!
Ofsted say in their recent report: ‘Although a few teachers had received subject-based professional development in RE, the overwhelming majority had not. Given the complexity of the subject and the kind of misconceptions that pupils were left with, this is a significant concern.’
It's an ideal way to boost subject knowledge in RE and invest in teachers' CPD and it's all for free.
Visiting North West Surrey Synagogue
The synagogue in the middle of a residential estate, so don’t think you’ve made a mistake!
Parking can sometimes be tricky: there is a small car park on site, but plenty of on-street parking in the roads surrounding the synagogue. Further information can be found on the synagogue website.
Dress code for Jewish places of worship
- Head covering is required for men, but caps are provided.
- Modest dress is appreciated.
- Please don’t bring any food, especially meat products, into the synagogue.
Primary and Secondary RE leaders and class teachers.
Autumn Term 2024 - Date to be announced.
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Without SLA Price
Universal
Free
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GDBE elevate CORE
Free
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Venue
Tutors
BC (before children!) Rachel taught in the primary phase, as RE subject leader in community school settings for much of that time, with additional responsibilities for Collective Worship and SMSC. She has been involved as a writer in the past 4 reviews of the Surrey RE Agreed Syllabus, leading the Primary teams for the revisions in 2007 and 2012; and most recently, co-ordinating the complete review of the new Surrey Agreed Syllabus 2023-2028. She has also reviewed the Diocesan Guidelines for VA Schools and the Diocesan Collective Worship Guidelines (both twice!). In addition to her Diocesan role alongside Jane Whittington, Rachel is currently the RE adviser to Surrey SACRE, and leads RE subject leader training sessions for both the Diocese and Surrey RE networks.
When not reviewing syllabi, Rachel also writes assembly materials and is a regular contributor to the BBC Schools’ Radio Collective Worship programme ‘Something to Think About’.
Areas of specialism:
Statutory RE provision; RE in primary classrooms; supporting RE subject leaders; practical ideas for collective worship
Role within the Diocese:
Associate Consultant for RE (Primary)
Adviser to Surrey SACRE