Religious Eduaction at Simonstone st.peters
Mrs J Cockings - Subject Leader
Reverend Sue Ball - Link Governor
intent
Religious education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help educate for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together.
At Simonstone St Peter's religious education is considered an academic subject - a core subject. All pupils are entitled to religious education that is delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner. Pupils at Simonstone are entitled to a balanced RE curriculum which enquires into religions and worldviews through theology, philosophy and the human and the social sciences. It is a coherent curriculum that enables progress through ordered and sequential learning developing both knowledge and skills. There is a clear curriculum vision and intent, a structure for implementation and provision and a process for evaluating impact.
Aims and objectives of RE
• To know about and understand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the
exploration of core beliefs using an approach that critically engages with biblical text.
• To gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews appreciating
diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews being studied.
• To engage with challenging questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existence
and experience.
• To recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural
heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and places.
• To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways living, believing and
thinking.
implementation
Pupils at Simonetone St peter's expect that a Church school RE curriculum will engage and challenge them through an exploration of core concepts and questions. RE provides meaningful and informed dialogue with a range of religions and worldviews. There are opportunities for children to understand the role of foundational texts, beliefs, rituals, and practices and how they help form identity in a range of religions and worldviews. Pupils explore how these may change in different times, places and cultures. RE at Simonstone goes beyond a sociological study of religious phenomena and introduces pupils to a range of relevant disciplines including theology, philosophy and the human and social sciences. Progress in RE should is significant and attainment high, enabling pupils to develop confident religious literacy.
Our Curriculum follows the Blackburn Diocese QUESTFUL RE and is supplemented through BIG QUESTIONS and FIRST NEWS resources.
“No other aspect of school life can ensure better than RE that school is experienced by staff and students alike not as a fact factory but as a laboratory for learning the values and virtues, attitudes and aptitudes which make for the wholeness of body, mind and spirit,” (Saxbee 2013)
Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education believes that high quality Religious Education (RE) is the key to enabling every child to flourish. They have provided resources that support teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to ensure that the children experience the best RE curriculum.
By embracing the explicit teaching of Christian concepts and God’s big salvation story, this syllabus gives pupils a deeper understanding of Christianity. In addition, pupils explore all major world faiths and discuss world views where appropriate.
Knowledge Maps
impact
RE at Simonstone allows for spiritual development and personal reflection. Children understand themselves within the world, their relationships with others, and their relationship with God. Through RE our children; Question, enquire, investigate, discover, reflect and evaluate. RE prepares our children for citizenship in today’s diverse society. It enables them to develop sensitivity to, and respect for others. Through authentic encounters with living faith communities, pupils develop diversity dexterity and are equipped with the ability to hold an informed conversation about religious beliefs and practices.
Our RE curriculum empowers our children to ask:
- Who am I and what does it mean to be me?
- In what ways do/can I relate to others?
- How/where can I encounter God?
- How can I make a positive contribution to the world in which I live?
- What values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviour are important to me?
- What does it mean to have faith?
- Who/what influences and inspires me?
RE impact is montiored through:
Pupil voice, book looks, parental questionnaire, leadership evaluation and shared assessment with cluster schools.
RE in Action
