ABSTRACT
Even before a child with special educational needs enters into a classroom where RE is being taught, there may be structures or traditional ways of doing things which may set them at a disadvantage. One of the biggest challenges to the teacher of RE in establishing an inclusive classroom, particularly in a secondary school, is learning to know the children you teach as individuals. Specialist teachers in Foundation subjects like history and geography may well be teaching similarly large numbers. Some teachers of RE seem to be able to effortlessly learn the names of the children they teach. However, many more have come to realise that to do the job properly they must consciously make an effort to learn names. In the inclusive classroom the confidence and self-esteem of these children have to be raised if they are to achieve anything like their potential. Flexibility is also needed in the RE classroom so that group work can regularly take place.
