Religious Education
In RE, we follow the Gloucestershire Syllabus for Religious Education, and use the Understanding Christianity resource as part of our learning.
What the National Curriculum/DfE says:
All state schools are also required to make provision for a daily collective worship and must teach religious education to pupils at every key stage. Religion and beliefs inform our values and are reflected in what we say and how we behave. RE is an important subject in itself, developing an individual’s knowledge and understanding of religions and beliefs which form part of contemporary society. RE provides challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. It can develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, of other principal religions, other religious traditions and worldviews that offer answers to questions such as these.
The Church of England’s statement of entitlement states:
Religious Education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and live life in all its fullness (John 10.10). It will help educate for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together. Such an approach is offered through a commitment to generous hospitality, being true to our underpinning faith, but with a deep respect for the integrity of other religious traditions (and worldviews) and for the religious freedom of each person.
Intent: Why do we teach RE?
Redmarley Primary Academy is committed to delivering the highest standards in teaching and learning, in a distinctly Christian environment. We encourage a rich and deep knowledge and understanding of the meaning and importance of faith and practices by promoting Christian values and living out our school vision, to “Shine as a Light in the World (Matthew 5:14-16). We are dedicated to the fulfilment of each individual’s potential and strive to enable all children to grow intellectually, spiritually and morally, into successful and resourceful human beings, who ‘live life in its fullness’ with the skills and resilience to adapt to an ever-changing world.
RE at Redmarley Primary Academy provides a safe place in which children can ask and explore challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. Through the teaching of RE, we strive to develop our pupils’ understanding of cultural diversity of our wider community, modern Britain and the wider world. Our curriculum is set to engage and challenge our children through core concepts and questions, which engage with biblical texts and theological ideas. Our children will have opportunities to understand the role of foundational texts, beliefs, rituals and practices and how they help to form the identity of religions and worldwide views, Our children learn to value positive dialogue, consider and articulate their own beliefs, ideas and experiences coherently, while respecting the right of others to differ.
Implementation: How do we teach RE?
As a Church of England School within Gloucestershire, we follow the Gloucestershire agreed syllabus for the teaching of Religious Education. This is supplemented with the use of resources from Understanding Christianity. To support the teaching of RE within our mixed aged classes, we have carefully designed a two-year rolling programme for each class to ensure the children make sense of belief, make connections, and understand the impact faith and belief has on how they, and others live. We celebrate links with our local church, St Bartholomew’s, and the wider community, building relationships beyond the doors of the school and supporting the implementation of a curriculum that encourages children to be religiously literate, helping them hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and belief with people they meet.
At Redmarley Primary Academy, we provide:
- A challenging and robust curriculum based on an accurate theological framework;
- A curriculum that draws on the richness and diversity of religious experience worldwide.
- A pedagogy that instils respect for different views and interpretations; and, in which real dialogue and theological enquiry takes place.
- The opportunity for pupils to deepen their understanding of religion and world views as lived by believers.
- An RE curriculum that makes a positive contribution to SMSC development.
- An assessment process which has rigour and demonstrates progression based on knowledge and understanding of core religious concepts.
- A safe place for children to be courageous advocates on matters they feel passionate about.
In line with expectation, our children have RE carefully timetabled in order to deliver the aims and expected standards of the syllabus effectively:
- 4-5s: 36 hours of RE per year (e.g. 50 minutes a week or some short sessions implemented through continuous provision)
- 5-7s : 36 hours of tuition per year (e.g. an hour a week, or less than an hour a week plus a series of RE days, as well as some sessions implemented through continuous provision)
- 7-11s: 45 hours of tuition per year (e.g. an hour a week, or a series of RE days or weeks amounting to 45+ hours of RE).
IMPACT How does RE help our children to Shine as a Light in the World?
There are many ways in which our children demonstrate that our RE curriculum is effective. The quality of responses written in their RE books is one way; children are supported through questions and phrases which help them explain and develop ideas further, as well as being given opportunities for free reflection. Children can also show their thoughts in different non-written ways which can be very personal for each individual. Capturing their ideas can also be done through photos or a brief written observation in feedback, or by shared class-books that record pupils ideas or experiences.
We carefully assess the impact of the curriculum through pupil voice, book looks and monitoring visits to ensure it is robust in providing the children with the religious education they deserve. We also timetable assessment meetings with a clear focus on Religious Education and half termly assessment. We take into consideration the challenge of mixed-age classes, understanding that although the curriculum is covered by the end of each two-year cycle, within each class there are likely to be children with different experiences and levels of understanding.
The depth of response to matters of faith, religion and world views is not something that can easily be measured but it is always valued and may also be more evident in the way children behave, and talk about beliefs. More able children in RE may demonstrate the links between their own actions and the reasons why other people of faith, or no faith, act in response to situations in society and the world. Our children leave us having had the opportunity to develop a strong understanding and appreciation of Faith, based within a strong Christian foundation of inclusiveness and invitation, ready to embark on the next stage of their Religious Education learning. Through our RE curriculum, we believe our children will have a life-long curiosity and respect in regards to faith and belief.
Please follow the link to visit our RE Curriculum
