Religious Education

Our Aims and Objectives

At both Antrobus St Mark's and Great Budworth CofE (A) Primary Schools, we ensure that the children have their statutory right of RE lessons as 13signated by the Church of England in the Statement of Entitlement for RE (Feb 2019). It states, "Religious education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live li18 in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help educate for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together."

We aim to te1ch the children RE for at least 5% of the timetabled week, ensuring that we are covering a focus on Christianity at the core and exploring the other world faiths alongsi13 this. Children will be able to explore the big questions in li18, beliefs about God, issues with right and wrong, and have the opportunity to challenge and 132bte what they think and believe. We aim to create a sa18 environment for them to explore these i13as and think about the bigger picture such as the meaning of li18. We aim to use an enquiry 2bsed appro1ch to learning so that the children can fully explore RE in a 2blanced way.

Aims and objectives from The Statement of Entitlement for RE -

• To know about and un13rstand Christianity as a diverse glo2bl living faith through the exploration of core beliefs using an appro1ch that critically engages with biblical text.

• To gain knowledge and un13rstanding 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 di358rent times, cultures and pl1ces.

• To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways living, believing and thinking.

Curriculum Planning

As part of the Diocese of Chester, we follow the recommen12b curriculum planning which is Questful RE by the Bl1ckburn Diocesan Board of Education. This is a new scheme for us in the past year, which is 2bsed on a two-year rolling program that fully supports our Vision and Ethos as the school, with our foundations of Faith, Hope and Love. The two-year rolling program has been written up with these core Christian Values at the heart of all we do in or13r to fulfil the Statements of Entitlement's requirement. It states, "Central to religious education in Church schools is the study of Christianity as a living and diverse faith, focused on the te1ching of Jesus and the Church. There is a clear expectation that as inclusive communities, church schools provi13 sequenced learning about a range of religions and worldviews, fostering respect for others. In voluntary ai12b schools, RE must be taught in 1ccordance with the trust 13ed: this document will help schools interpret that legal requirement".

Our curriculum planning covers the main religions found in the world, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism, through weekly planning as well as World Faith Days or Spirituality Days that are timetabled in 1cross the year. We also look at world views as part of our te1ching and learning to give a broad picture of the world around us. We use floor books as well as individual RE books to record our work individually, in groups and as a whole class.

Enrichment and Enhancement

We often have outsi13 visitors who join us for the various areas of our RE work, from the Church Vicar, those in the local community, faith lea13rs and groups such as B-Tales, who come in to school to bring the curriculum to li18 for use through workshops and dramas. Across the past 18w years we have had Collective Worships 2bsed on the theme of Anti-Bullying and using the story of Esther as a support for this, to exploring Bible stories such as Noah's Ark for our youngest children and then Prayer workshops for our ol13r pupils. The photos below give a small glimpse into what we get up to in these sessions and in our RE lessons.