Template letter

Religion, values & ethics - Curriculum for Wales

Members of the Senedd, receive a lot of communications, including copies of template letters. Please consider taking the time to personalise your communication. Let them know.

Why this matters to you
What you'd like them to do about it.
Any other interesting perspectives you may be able to offer on the issue.

Name*:

Email*:

Postcode*:

Address:

Message*:

Dear {{name}},

I’m writing to raise concerns around proposed changes to legislation to support religion, values and ethics (RVE) as a mandatory part of the Curriculum for Wales.

The aspiration to move towards a more pluralistic and balanced curriculum by replacing Religious Education with the teaching of Religion, Values & Ethics (RVE) is very welcome. However, I am concerned that the proposals fall substantially short of their own ambitions.

The current proposals will create a dual system regarding the teaching of RVE across Wales, exacerbating a divisive approach to how the subject is taught. It’s difficult to see how, in practice, faith schools will run two RVE curricula in parallel and that a biased and confessional approach to RVE will still dominate in many schools – creating unnecessary segregation in the teaching of religion, values and ethics.

This dual approach runs counter to the ambitions the Government has set out to achieve with its reforms. All children across Wales should have the same entitlement to a pluralistic, objective and balanced RVE curriculum; this should not be put at risk simply because of the type of school they attend.

I am also concerned that the retention of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (SACREs) will allow RVE to continue to be heavily influenced by religious interests, undermining its legitimacy as an objective, critical and pluralistic subject in all schools.

I hope we don’t miss this opportunity for genuinely transformative change to the teaching of RVE in Wales – which could act as an exemplar for how the subject should be taught across the UK, more widely.

I therefore urge you to support changes to:

- Implement a duty on all schools to teach an objective, critical, and pluralistic RVE syllabus, without exception.

- Abolish SACREs, so that religious interest groups no longer control the subject.

- Pause on removing the right to withdrawal until the new curriculum has had time to bed in.

I know that the National Secular Society are writing to all Members of the Senedd and hope that you will be interested in their briefing at secularism.org.uk/RVE-Wales

I look forward to your response on this matter.

Kind regards,

* Required Field

Template letter

Religion, values & ethics - Curriculum for Wales

Our Campaigns

Sign up to our Weekly Newsletter