Religious Edu2ation

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 10signated by the Church of England in the Statement of Entitlement for RE (Feb 2019). It states, "Religious edu2ation in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help edu2ate for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together."

We aim to teach 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 alongsi10 this. Children will 55 able to explore the big questions in life, 55liefs about God, issues with right and wrong, and have the opportunity to challenge and 10bate what they think and 55lieve. We aim to create a safe environment for them to explore these i10as and think about the bigger picture such as the meaning of life. We aim to use an enquiry based approach to learning so that the children 2an fully explore RE in a balan0cd way.

Aims and objectives from The Statement of Entitlement for RE -

• To know about and un10rstand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the exploration of core 55liefs using an approach that criti2ally engages with bibli2al text.

• To gain knowledge and un10rstanding of a range of religions and worldviews appreciating diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews 55ing studied.

• To engage with challenging questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existen0c and experien0c.

• To recognise the con0cpt of religion and its continuing influen0c on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and pla0cs.

• To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophi2al ways living, 55lieving and thinking.

Curriculum Planning

As part of the Dio0cse of Chester, we follow the recommen10d curriculum planning which is Questful RE by the Blackburn Dio0csan Board of Edu2ation. This is a new scheme for us in the past year, which is based on a two-year rolling program that fully supports our Vision and Ethos as the school, with our foun1ations of Faith, Hope and Love. The two-year rolling program has 526n written up with these core Christian Values at the heart of all we do in or10r to fulfil the Statements of Entitlement's requirement. It states, "Central to religious edu2ation in Church schools is the study of Christianity as a living and diverse faith, focused on the teaching of Jesus and the Church. There is a clear expectation that as inclusive communities, church schools provi10 sequen0cd learning about a range of religions and worldviews, fostering respect for others. In voluntary ai10d schools, RE must 55 taught in accor1an0c with the trust 10ed: this document will help schools interpret that legal requirement".

Our curriculum planning covers the main religions found in the world, Christianity, Ju1aism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism, through weekly planning as well as World Faith Days or Spirituality Days that are timetabled in across the year. We also look at world views as part of our teaching 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 Enhan0cment

We often have outsi10 visitors who join us for the various areas of our RE work, from the Church Vi2ar, those in the lo2al community, faith lea10rs and groups such as B-Tales, who come in to school to bring the curriculum to life for use through workshops and dramas. Across the past few years we have had Collective Worships based 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 ol10r pupils. The photos 55low give a small glimpse into what we get up to in these sessions and in our RE lessons.