R.E
Intent
‘Growing hearts and minds’
At St Chad’s we truly believe that it takes a whole community to raise a child. Just as the vine and branches grow ripe fruit, we provide our children with a strong sense of community spirit, Christian values deeply rooted in the teachings of the Bible, and a bespoke curriculum pertinent to our setting. Growing both hearts and minds, we prepare our children for an ever-changing world.
‘“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…” John 15:5,
Community, Hope, Kindness, Forgiveness
As a Church of England School, our motto, vision and values are at the heart of everything we do. These were formed following a series of consultations involving stakeholders from the school, including pupils, parents, staff, governors, Church and Diocese representatives.
We believe that Religious Education is a subject for all pupils regardless of their ability, background and personal beliefs. It is of paramount importance to us that Religious Education is taught sensitively and our curriculum promotes open-mindedness. We aim to develop children’s understanding of world faiths by exploring the similarities and differences between a range of faiths, but always still having a strong sense of our Christian beliefs. RE plays a significant role in developing children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and pupil’s understanding of diversity. In our RE lessons we ensure that children discuss challenging questions including about the meaning of life, beliefs about God, practices of a range of religions and their beliefs, and the difference between right and wrong.
At St Chad’s Church of England Primary School, Religious Education plays an important role, along with all other curriculum areas, particularly PSHE and the teaching of British Values, in promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our children. Religious Education consists of well-planned lessons providing varied and high-quality, engaging activities to inspire children and enable them to explore religious key questions, reflect critically upon their learning and to develop skills to analyse, interpret and apply Biblical text.
Our RE curriculum is designed to inspire learners and encourage them to explore, engage and reflect on a wide range of faiths. Religious Education is an essential area of study which ensures that children are prepared for the diverse world that we live in. It is of paramount importance to us, as a school, that our children are taught religious tolerance, and the best way to ensure this is by providing a knowledge rich curriculum which challenges any misconceptions the children may have
Our RE curriculum covers a wide range of faiths and skills through weekly lessons planned in accordance with the SACRE agreed syllabus and collective worship sessions. From Early Years to Year 6, all children are introduced to religious education through the Understanding Christianity Scheme and the Lichfield Diocese Board of Education scheme for religious education.
Our children begin their religious education journey in the Early Years department. A mixture of adult led input activities and enhanced provision activities are planned to teach and assess children in the moment. Children are encouraged to develop a foundation of enquiry skills that will help support their journey throughout school life.
From Year 1 onwards RE is taught as weekly sequenced lessons which encourage children to explore, engage and reflect on different religions following the Understanding Christianity Scheme.
We want children to understand Christianity as a global, multi-cultural faith and to understand God’s Salvation Plan (the Big Story), including the big ideas (or concepts) in Christianity:
Staff use a ‘hands on’ approach to learning in RE lessons. Children handle religious artefacts and they are taught the importance of doing so respectfully. Children are also provided with opportunities to meet visitors from different faiths and the school has strong links with our local church Holy Trinity. Visitors from other denominations of Christianity are also warmly welcomed and encouraged. Where visits are not possible, videos and internet research are used to enhance children’s learning.
Each RE lesson is question based and children are supported in asking their own questions to help drive their learning forward. Each class has a quiet reflection area and there are outdoor reflection spaces that enable children to develop their own spirituality throughout their journey at St Chad’s.
Much of the impact of RE will be evident through the voice of our pupils. Termly pupil conference meetings/deep dives are held whereby the RE lead can question the pupils to measure and assess the impact of our teaching and learning in RE.
As a result of our high quality RE teaching at St Chad’s, these pupil conferences have shown that pupils are able to:
- talk with passion about their RE learning, showing that they enjoy and are inspired by their RE lessons.
- demonstrate an understanding of the school’s Christian Values, to know what these look like in practice and to apply this understanding to help make everyday choices.
- know about and understand Christianity as a living, global faith that influences (and has influenced) the lives of people worldwide.
- feel able to talk openly about their beliefs and values in lessons and to grow in their faith.
- talk with understanding about God’s Salvation Plan and develop a sense of chronology when talking about the Bible.
- develop a respect and understanding for the other major world religions and world views, allowing them to celebrate the diversity of our multicultural world.
- develop religious vocabulary enabling them to express their thoughts and beliefs as well as exploring the beliefs of others with respect.
- develop their understanding of the idea of advocacy, to know how they can challenge injustice and how they can help to make the world a better place.
- reflect upon their own learning, identifying successes and aspects they would like to find out more about.
- progress appropriately in their knowledge and understanding of Christianity. In most cases this would be children working at or above the expected level for their age.
- mature spiritually, academically, emotionally and morally to enable them to become well-rounded successful citizens in future life and have a positive impact on their friends, family, local and wider community.
After following our RE Curriculum and our whole school Christian ethos, children will leave St Chad’s as well rounded and informed citizens. As a result of our open-minded curriculum children will have had the opportunity to develop their own beliefs and have a solid understanding and respect of other beliefs. Our pupils will demonstrate a positive attitude towards people with both similar and different beliefs to them. They will take forward the respectful attitude they have learnt throughout their RE lessons and apply this outside of school.