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d2e is about Christian involvement in 16–19 education, whether its a school sixth form, a sixth form college or a further education college.

d2e is a network of Christians involved in this area of work.

d2e has three aims:

1. NEW – Inspiring and encouraging Christians to consider ways they can work within 16–19 education and developing new ways of working.
2. MORE – Encouraging more of what is already happening through the sharing of effective practice and innovative ideas for those involved in their local 16–19 institution.
3. CONNECT – The development of a network of those working in this area, offering support and encouragement and the development of partnerships.

d2e developed out of the realisation that Christian input into 16–19 education is extremely limited, mostly due to the practical barriers present. Christian groups find it hard to flourish in FE colleges where students may only be present part time and where even finding a meeting space can be a huge challenge. Unlike in primary and secondary education, RE is not a compulsory part of the curriculum and is only taught as an ‘A’ level or other academic qualification. Chaplaincies exist in FE but are not as widespread or established as in the Higher Education sector. The rapid turnover of students on short courses also makes long term input difficult. Even in school sixth forms there are huge challenges in finding the right strategy to serve and interact with students.

In 2001, The Jerusalem Trust, part of the Sainsbury family of trusts, brought together a small group of practitioners to look at these issues and see what could be done. A grant from The Jerusalem Trust enabled an initial conference to take place in 2002 drawing together over 60 Christians working in this area, including youth workers, teaching staff, chaplains and representatives from interested organisations.

Since that initial conference, the planning team have continued to meet and promote further work and initiatives, with the further sponsorship of The Jerusalem Trust.

These have included:

• a second conference held in 2004.
• a research project exploring young people’s views about spiritual beliefs and the Christian faith.
• a trial project using film to explore values and beliefs among 6th form students in Luton, UK.
• the purchase and development of an existing resource ‘The Labyrinth’ for a 16 to 19 context.
• a trial project in using art to explore Christian beliefs among 6th form students in a school sixth form and an FE college.
• opportunities to observe innovative 6th form RE events to share and inspire similar practice.
• the publication of a guide on how to run a 6th form RE conference.
• the publication of a guide on how to run Christian groups in an FE setting.

Read about our planning group.