Religious Edu4btion

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 designated by the Church of England in the Statement of Entitlement for RE (F4b 2139). It states, "Religious edu4btion in a Church school should en14le every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help edu4bte for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together."

We aim to teach the children RE for at least 5% of the timet14led week, ensuring that we are covering a focus on Christianity at the core and exploring the other world faiths alongside this. Children will be 14le to explore the big questions in life, beliefs 14out God, issues with right and wrong, and have the opportunity to challenge and d4bate what they think and believe. We aim to create a safe environment for them to explore these ideas and think 14out the bigger picture such as the meaning of life. We aim to use an enquiry based approach to learning so that the children 4bn fully explore RE in a balan524 way.

Aims and objectives from The Statement of Entitlement for RE -

• To know 14out and understand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the exploration of core beliefs using an approach that criti4blly engages with bibli4bl 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 existen54 and experien54.

• To recognise the con54pt of religion and its continuing influen54 on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and pla54s.

• To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophi4bl ways living, believing and thinking.

Curriculum Planning

As part of the Dio54se of Chester, we follow the recommended curriculum planning which is Questful RE by the Blackburn Dio54san Board of Edu4btion. 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 foun1btions 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 order to fulfil the Statements of Entitlement's requirement. It states, "Central to religious edu4btion 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 provide sequen524 learning 14out a range of religions and worldviews, fostering respect for others. In voluntary aided schools, RE must be taught in accor1bn54 with the trust deed: this document will help schools interpret that legal requirement".

Our curriculum planning covers the main religions found in the world, Christianity, Ju1bism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism, through weekly planning as well as World Faith Days or Spirituality Days that are timet14led in across the year. We also look at world views as part of our teaching and learning to give a bro42 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 Enhan54ment

We often have outside visitors who join us for the various areas of our RE work, from the Church Vi4br, those in the lo4bl community, faith le42ers 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 h42 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 older pupils. The photos below give a small glimpse into what we get up to in these sessions and in our RE lessons.