‘Beyond the Ordinary’ campaign aimed at graduates and career changers

A new campaign to encourage graduates and career changers to train as RE teachers is launched today by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC).

The Beyond the Ordinary campaign will highlight the benefits of a career in RE teaching and raise awareness of the reintroduction of bursaries available to cover training costs. The campaign is the first to specifically target trainee RE teachers and is being funded by donations from charitable trusts*.

817 Initial Teacher Training places are available for RE from September 2015. Successful candidates will be eligible to receive training bursaries of £9,000 per year (for a 1^st class degree or PhD) or £4,000 per year (for a 2:1) after the funding was introduced by the Department for Education for trainee RE teachers last year.

The centrepiece of the campaign is a three minute video which looks at the experiences of RE teacher Lynsey Wilkinson and her students from Redhill Academy near Nottingham. It presents RE teaching as a career that is far from ordinary, and communicates the breadth and diversity of RE in schools today.

Social media, direct marketing via UCAS, and links with universities and training providers will be used to reach potential candidates.

Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, Chief Executive Officer of the REC, said:

“There is a growing need for qualified specialist RE teachers in our schools so now is great time to enter the profession. Increasing religious literacy is extremely important in today’s society. Issues of religion and belief frequently top the news agenda and helping students make sense of them is immensely rewarding and intellectually stimulating.

“No other career gives people the opportunity to tackle the big questions in life and to explore the impact of faith and belief on people’s lives like RE teaching.”

Campaign lead Kathryn Wright, director of the Teach RE course at Culham St Gabriel’s Trust, added:

“RE teachers come from all walks of life, from postgraduates with relevant degrees to career changers looking for a new challenge. A teacher trainee coming to RE as a second or third job tends to be looking for a subject that will offer a challenge, draw on their life skills and is different and more stimulating than what they are used to.

“This campaign is intended to capture the interest and imagination of those who may have considered teaching, but may not have necessarily thought about a career as a RE teacher.”

RE remains an extremely popular subject among students. Entries to the full course GSCE have risen 19 per cent since 2012 and the subject has the largest number of entries after English, Maths and Sciences. A level entries have also increased more than any arts, humanity or social science subject over the past 10 years and RE is recognised by leading universities as a useful entry point for arts and science degrees.

Anyone looking for more information about training to be a RE teacher should visit www.teachre.co.uk/beyondtheordinary.

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Notes to editors:

*Beyond the Ordinary is being led by the Religious Education Council and is funded by the Culham St Gabriel’s Trust, the Jerusalem Trust and the St Christopher’s Trust, with support from the National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) and the Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education (AULRE).

Campaign assets for media use include photography and a short film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzvZTFmp6qc.

Media enquiries:

Colin Hallmark / Harriet Johnson, 3:nine Communications

Tel: 0207 736 1888

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Press Release - March 2015

Pupils from Saint Paul's High School in Wythenshawe took part in Safer Internet Day which was celebrated globallywith the slogan ‘Let’s create a better internet together’.

The pupils made pledges focused on promoting the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology which they committed to paper and were given silicone wristbands to celebrate their involvement with the event.

Mrs Claire Hunt, Assistant Head Teacher at Saint Paul’s, said: “The day offered us the opportunity to highlight positive uses of technology and to explore the role we all play in helping to create a better and safer online community. We called upon staff, parents and pupils, to join together to help create a better internet. The wristbands and the pledges helped mark the day and our commitment.”

It was wonderful to see our pupils joining in so enthusiastically with this national initiative to promote the safe and responsible use of technology. It is vital that we teach young people about the importance of personal safety and acting responsibly online,” explained Mrs Fiona Minshall, Head Teacher at Saint Paul’s.

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Notes for Editors

1. Saint Paul’s received congratulations from the Rt Hon David Laws MP Minister of State for Schools when they were recognised as one of the 100 most improved schools in the country.

1. On 1st April, 2013 Saint Paul’s Catholic High School joined with St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School and St John Fisher and Thomas More Catholic Primary School to form the Wythenshawe Catholic Academy Trust (MAT – Multi Trust Academy). St Elizabeth's Catholic Primary School later joined the Trust.

3. Saint Paul’s was the first school in Manchester to be awarded Engineering College status.

4. The work of Saint Paul’s drama teacher, Ms Ellie Brookes, was recognised with her winning the much coveted North West Teacher of the Year Award. Also Head of Humanities at Saint Paul’s, Ms Ursula Gallagher, gained third place in the Outstanding New Teacher of the Year category of the Northern Area Teacher of the Year.

5. Lively approaches to teaching maintain vigour and ensure that firm foundations are established for higher level work. The school has a modern approach to learning supported by a programme of constant refurbishment and development of its facilities and resources.

6. The aims of the school are to:
   • Teach and foster a Christian perspective in all that it does
   • Provide teaching of the highest calibre
   • Promote excellence in all areas
   • Develop the ability, talents and character of each pupil, enabling them to make their own unique contribution to school life
   • Encourage boys to play their part in helping the community run smoothly and effectively, by taking on responsibility and leadership

More informaiton about Saint Paul's Catholic High School can be found at www.st-paulshigh.net or conteact Jane McAuliffe-Hall (Marketing and Publicity Manager) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on 0161 499 0000. 

It was raining books at St. Antony's Catholic College as a who's who of the nation's favourite literary characters celebrated the written word.

“Improving literacy has been at the heart of a dramatic rise in academic standards at St. Antony's over the last 12 months and World Book Day provides a wonderful opportunity to maintain and drive on that surge in interest,” said Associate Headteacher Fiona Wright.

The Literacy Coordinator at the Urmston faith school Michaela Smith explained: “World Book is just one initiative in our goal to improve every single child's reading age. Each book in our library is assigned its own colour according to its reading age level with children striving to move onto the next level. We have book clubs for different age levels and also for those children who have English as a second language so we can get them up to speed as quickly as possible. We set holiday reading challenges with children having to write reports and answer questions on their holiday reading lists. We go into our feeder primary schools so children coming into Year 7 are given books to read and understand the challenges ahead of them and we have also introduced literacy mats with key principles of punctuation and spelling so children can check their own work as they are actually writing.”

Josh Donald Brown, 12, who came as the Gangster Granny said: “We all love reading books and want to read what our friends are reading next.” 

Press Release - February 2015

Staff and pupils from Saint Paul's High School in Wythenshawe joined together to mark Safer Internet Day, a national initiative to promote the safe and responsible use of technology.

Digital literacy skills are key life skills for all children and young people these days: for example, knowing how to effectively search for and evaluate online content, knowing how to protect personal information and reputation, respecting copyright and intellectual property, and knowing where to get help if problems are encountered. Saint Paul’s wants its pupils to develop these skills, and continually looks for opportunities across the curriculum to reinforce online safety messages.

The pupils were given some valuable advice for keeping safe on the internet by boy band ‘In Hindsight’. As well as performing some of their recently released tracks, the band members were in school to warn learners about the risks of cyber-bullying and its effects. They gave out lots of tips about things to do and not to do when online and also held a question and answer session on the subject.

The band said: “Just a few years ago we were at school, so we have been in your position before. We know exactly what pressures you are under and what you go through at school; what we’re here to do today is to help you guys make the right decisions in life, and to stay safe online.”

Mrs Claire Hunt, Assistant Head Teacher at Saint Paul’s, said: “Today the online world is very much part of children’s lives; technology is embedded in every aspect of their lives whether it is work or play. They are growing up in a digital world and we want to promote the safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones. It is important to teach the pupils about best practice, safety and personal responsibility.”

“New digital technologies offer a wealth of opportunities for children and young people – they can learn, create and communicate in a myriad of ways,” explained Mrs Fiona Minshall, Head Teacher at Saint Paul’s. “As a school, we work hard to promote good behaviour online. We have a responsibility to keep or pupils safe and this includes helping them to use new digital technologies safely and responsibly, wherever and whenever they go online.”

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Notes for Editors

1. Saint Paul’s received congratulations from the Rt Hon David Laws MP Minister of State for Schools when they were recognised as one of the 100 most improved schools in the country.

2. At the last Ofsted inspection of the school, the following comments were made by the inspectors: “Good teaching enables students to make good progress and achieve well. Relationships between teachers and students are strong. They result in good behaviour.”

The report stated that the school is “enabling students to learn effectively and make good progress. Attainment is rising rapidly as a result. Achievement for all students, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with English as an additional language, is good.”

3. The Ofsted report is reinforced by the preceding inspection of the school  by the Diocese of Shrewsbury under the guidance of the Bishop of Shrewsbury. The Diocese report stated “Saint Paul’s is a good Catholic school. The Head and Senior Leadership Team have a clear vision ….. an outstanding feature of the school is the pastoral care of students and the support of staff.”

1. On 1st April, 2013 Saint Paul’s Catholic High School joined with St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School and St John Fisher and Thomas More Catholic Primary School to form the Wythenshawe Catholic Academy Trust (MAT – Multi Trust Academy). St Elizabeth's Catholic Primary School later joined the Trust.

5. Saint Paul’s was the first school in Manchester to be awarded Engineering College status.

6. The work of Saint Paul’s drama teacher, Ms Ellie Brookes, was recognised with her winning the much coveted North West Teacher of the Year Award. Also Head of Humanities at Saint Paul’s, Ms Ursula Gallagher, gained third place in the Outstanding New Teacher of the Year category of the Northern Area Teacher of the Year.

7. Lively approaches to teaching maintain vigour and ensure that firm foundations are established for higher level work. The school has a modern approach to learning supported by a programme of constant refurbishment and development of its facilities and resources.

8. The aims of the school are to:
   • Teach and foster a Christian perspective in all that it does
   • Provide teaching of the highest calibre
   • Promote excellence in all areas
   • Develop the ability, talents and character of each pupil, enabling them to make their own unique contribution to school life
   • Encourage boys to play their part in helping the community run smoothly and effectively, by taking on responsibility and leadership

More information about Saint Paul’s Catholic High School can be found at www.st-paulshigh.net or contact Jane McAuliffe-Hall (Marketing and Publicity Manager) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or on 0161 499 0000.