Religious Education

Religious Education

RE Subject Leader: Mrs H Bull

Our RE Curriculum Intent

At St. Aidan’s CE Primary School, our vision and values are at the heart of everything we do. Our vision, ‘In the light of Jesus, we live, laugh, love, learn,’ encompasses what we want our children to experience through their time at St. Aidan’s and then carry with them on their life journey. In our daily actions we encourage our children to ‘Treat others as you want to be treated.’ (Matthew 7:12) Through their life at St. Aidan’s each individual learns and is guided by our schools’ Christian values which are developed in each year group. In reception/one children learn the value of ‘Truthfulness;’ being truthful and honest towards others and to themselves. In Y1/2 children learn the value of ‘Thankfulness,’ being grateful for all that we have. In Y3 children learn the value of ‘Courage,’ being brave especially when something is difficult. In Y4 children learn the value of ‘Forgiveness,’ following in Jesus’ footsteps. In Y5 children learn the value of ‘Hope,’ having hope and being hopeful. In Y6 children learn the value of ‘Compassion,’ having and showing compassion to ones-self and to others.

St. Aidan’s CE Primary School, Religious Education plays an important role, along with all other curriculum areas including PRSHE and the teaching of British Values, in promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our children. Our Religious Education is planned for the uniqueness of all our children as we believe that not only do all our children matter, but they know they matter. Our lessons are well-planned providing varied, high quality engaging activities that inspire and challenge our children, enabling them to explore religious key questions, reflect critically upon their learning, considering what it means to them in their lives, families and communities.

As a result of our RE curriculum, we aim for our children to leave school as well rounded individuals with knowledge, understanding, respect and appreciation for religion, beliefs and morals both in their own and that of others, creating a deeper understanding of the world we live in and our place within in it.

We aim to develop our children’s understanding of our human responsibility to help others and make positive choices in the world.

Our RE Curriculum Implementation

We deliver an RE curriculum that is accessible to all, regardless of needs and is highly engaging. From EYFS, children are encouraged to work both independently and collaboratively sharing knowledge and skills in a supportive environment. Children are taught to evaluate their learning through reflection and questioning.

The implementation of our intent is carefully planned by staff using the EYFS statutory Framework (2021) and Questful RE curriculum (2022) provided by the Blackburn Diocese of Education. Children are taught RE as a discrete weekly lesson, but our Christian values are developed and encouraged through everything we do. Within RE units of work children are taught non-Christian faiths and world views, predominately Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism and are encouraged to make links and comparisons between faiths.

Within each unit in Questful RE, children investigate a series of key questions in response to different religious ideas. Through our teaching and learning activities, children reflect upon and evaluate how these ideas affect them in their lives so that they are able to reach their own decisions in response to these key questions and ideas.

During RE lessons, pupils may record their work and responses in individual RE books and/or whole class ‘reflection books’ or in a creative way to facilitate their learning.

Children are encouraged to participate in daily worship and prayer and each class has its own reflection area which can be accessed throughout the day. Each classroom displays key religious vocabulary relevant to their learning.

Children have the opportunity to visit St. Aidan’s Church for services and as part of RE lessons. Clergy regularly visit school and have strong links and connections to school.

Teachers encourage children to reflect and evaluate their own learning but also carry out regular assessments of achievement in relation to each unit so as to further challenge and support children’s learning.

As not all our school family are Christians, school accepts there may be times parents may wish to exercise their right to withdraw their children from all or part of RE lessons or collective worship.

RE Curriculum Impact

At St. Aidan’s CE Primary School, we constantly monitor the progress each child makes so that we can provide a curriculum that moves their learning forward.

We ensure that each child is seen as an individual and can:

• Talk about their RE lessons and what it means to them
• Demonstrate an understanding of the school’s Christian Values, to know what these look like in practice and use them to inform their everyday choices
• To know about Christianity as a global faith that influences the lives of people around the world
• Develop a respect and understanding for other major world religions, allowing them to make links and comparisons to their own faith and celebrate the diversity of our multi-cultural world
• Develop religious vocabulary enabling them to express their thoughts and beliefs and the beliefs of others
• Reflect upon their own learning
• Progress in their knowledge and understanding of Christianity
• Develop spiritually, academically, emotionally and morally to enable them to become well rounded successful, responsible, caring individuals in future life and have a positive impact on friends, family and the community

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