‘This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
Proverbs 3:8
Religious Education
Mr Purdey is our subject leader for Religious Education.
This is what he says about his subject.
It is critical to St Paul's, as a church school, that RE lies at the very heart of the curriculum.
“In Church of England schools the students and their families can expect a religious education curriculum that is rich and varied, enabling learners to acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith. Church schools should provide a wide range of opportunities for learners to understand and to make links between the beliefs, practices and value systems of the range of faiths and world views studied. Church schools should use some form of enquiry approach that engages with, for example biblical text, and helps develop religious and theological literacy. Links with the Christian values of the school and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are intrinsic to the RE curriculum and should have a significant impact on learners.”
RE Statement of Entitlement: The Church of England Education Office 2016
Our Religious Education Curriculum - Questful REOur Questful RE curriculum is based on the Blackburn with Darwen Diocese curriculum and, as a Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School, we follow and uphold the aims of their curriculum. Our curriculum is best explored when our learners display the following attributes.
It is vital that religious education encourages pupils to develop positive attitudes to their learning and to the beliefs and values of others. The following four attitudes are essential for good learning in religious education and are developed at each stage or phase of religious education:
- Self-awareness.
- Respect for all.
- Open-mindedness.
- Appreciation and wonder.
Self-awareness in religious education includes pupils:
- Feeling confident about their own beliefs and identity and sharing them without fear of embarrassment or ridicule;
- Developing a realistic and positive sense of their own religious, moral and spiritual ideas;
- Recognising their own uniqueness as human beings and affirming their self-worth;
- Becoming increasingly sensitive to the impact of their ideas and behaviour on other people.
Respect for all in religious education includes pupils:
- Developing skills of listening and a willingness to learn from others, even when others’ views are different from their own;
- Being ready to value difference and diversity for the common good;
- Appreciating that some beliefs are not inclusive and considering the issues that this raises for individuals and society;
- Being prepared to recognise and acknowledge their own bias;
- Being sensitive to the feelings and ideas of others.
Open-mindedness in religious education includes pupils:
- being willing to learn and gain new understanding;
- engaging in argument or disagreeing reasonably and respectfully (without belittling or abusing others) about religious, moral and spiritual questions;
- being willing to go beyond surface impressions;
- distinguishing between opinions, viewpoints and beliefs in connection with issues of conviction and faith.
Appreciation and wonder in religious education includes pupils:
- Developing their imagination and curiosity;
- Recognising that knowledge is bounded by mystery;
- Appreciating the sense of wonder at the world in which they live;
- Developing their capacity to respond to questions of meaning and purpose.
Early Years Foundation Stage
Our Early Years RE Units are designed to encourage an atmosphere of community where everyone, child and adult are learning together. Right from the start planning involves consultation with the child so that a blend of child and adult initiated activities will take place. This child centred approach inspires and motivates both children and adults. The needs of all learners are met, thoughts and ideas are shared and the depth of learning can be great. Our children feel confident to ask questions and make choices. The results are always enthusiastic, interested and creative children.
Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
Pupils’ learning about the content of RE takes place alongside the development of their skills. In RE pupils need general skills such as gathering information, expressing ideas or evaluation sources. There are some skills that RE particularly needs to develop and use. Our curriculum units stimulate our teachers’ thinking, but there is no requirement for the skills to be developed in a linear fashion. As our pupils progress in developing their skills, they are increasingly able to understand the characteristics of each religion, and the similarities and differences between religions.
Curriculum Coverage across Key Stages
Early Years Foundation Stage
Pupils in EYFS are taught RE over 14 units and equates to roughly 5% of the allocated curriculum time.
80% of this time focusses on Christianity and 20% on the exploration and teaching of other faiths. The teaching of RE is discreet and our pupils experience enough teaching and learning time on Christianity and non-Christian faiths, getting them ready for Key Stage 1.
Key Stage 1
Pupils in Key stage 1 are taught RE for at least 36 hours per year which is 5% of allocated curriculum time.
80% of this time will focus on Christianity and 20% on the teaching about other faiths. This roughly equates to 29 hours Christianity and 7 hours non-Christian faiths.
Therefore, our pupils experience at least 14 hours of teaching and learning time focussed on faiths other than Christianity by the time they leave Key Stage 1.
Lower Key Stage 2
Pupils in Lower Key Stage 2 are taught RE for at least 45 hours per year which is 5% of allocated curriculum time.
80% of this time will focus on Christianity and 20% on the teaching about other faiths. This roughly equates to 36 hours Christianity and 9 hours non-Christian faiths.
Therefore, our pupils experience at least 18 hours of teaching and learning time focussed on faiths other than Christianity by the time they move on to Upper Key Stage 2.
Upper Key Stage 2
Pupils in Upper Key Stage 2 are taught RE for at least 45 hours per year which is 5% of allocated curriculum time.
80% of this time focusses on Christianity and 20% on the teaching about other faiths. This roughly equates to 36 hours Christianity and 9 hours non-Christian faiths.
Our pupils therefore, experience at least 18 hours of teaching and learning time focussed on faiths other than Christianity by the time they move on to Key Stage 3.
How we Teach Religious Education