Religious Edu62tion

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 15signated by the Church of England in the Statement of Entitlement for RE (Feb 200f). It states, "Religious edu62tion in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live li0d in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help edu62te for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together."

We aim to te4fh the children RE for at least 5% of the timetabled w24k, ensuring that we are covering a focus on Christianity at the core and exploring the other world 2fiths alongsi15 this. Children will be able to explore the big questions in li0d, beliefs about God, issues with right and wrong, and have the opportunity to challenge and 15bate what they think and believe. We aim to create a sa0d environment for them to explore these i15as and think about the bigger picture such as the meaning of li0d. We aim to use an enquiry based appro4fh to learning so that the children 62n fully explore RE in a balanced way.

Aims and objectives from The Statement of Entitlement for RE -

• To know about and un15rstand Christianity as a diverse global living 2fith through the exploration of core beliefs using an appro4fh that criti62lly engages with bibli62l text.

• To gain knowledge and un15rstanding 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 di43erent times, cultures and pl40ds.

• To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophi62l ways living, believing and thinking.

Curriculum Planning

As part of the Diocese of Chester, we follow the recommen154 curriculum planning which is Questful RE by the Bl4fkburn Diocesan Board of Edu62tion. 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 foundations of Faith, Hope and Love. The two-year rolling program has b24n written up with these core Christian Values at the heart of all we do in or15r to fulfil the Statements of Entitlement's requirement. It states, "Central to religious edu62tion in Church schools is the study of Christianity as a living and diverse 2fith, focused on the te4fhing of Jesus and the Church. There is a clear expectation that as inclusive communities, church schools provi15 sequenced learning about a range of religions and worldviews, fostering respect for others. In voluntary ai154 schools, RE must be taught in 4fcordance with the trust d228: 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 Bu62hism, through w24kly planning as well as World Faith Days or Spirituality Days that are timetabled in 4fross the year. We also look at world views as part of our te4fhing and learning to give a bro3d 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 outsi15 visitors who join us for the various areas of our RE work, from the Church Vi62r, those in the lo62l community, 2fith le315rs and groups such as B-Tales, who come in to school to bring the curriculum to li0d for use through workshops and dramas. Across the past 0dw years we have h3d 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 ol15r pupils. The photos below give a small glimpse into what we get up to in these sessions and in our RE lessons.