How RE is taught at St Mary’s
At St. Mary’s we follow the Understanding Christianity scheme of work along with recommendations from the Rochdale (SACRE) syllabus and the Church of England Manchester Diocese. This includes the Manchester and Blackburn diocesan schemes of work. 50% of our curriculum focuses on the teaching of Christianity and the remaining 50% focuses on World Religions.
At St St Mary’s, we believe Religious Education should enhance children’s spiritual, moral, cultural and social development by
- encouraging pupils to explore their own beliefs
- developing an understanding of the influence of beliefs, values and traditions on individuals, communities, society and culture
- developing the ability to provoke challenging questions and make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues
- developing respect for themselves and others including people with different faiths and beliefs, and helps them to challenge prejudice
- developing a sense of awe and wonder and mystery
Our curriculum ensures that:
- In the foundation stage, children have opportunities to learn about Christianity and at least one other religion.
- In KS1, pupils study Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
- At KS2 pupils study Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Humanism.
- We aim to spend at least 1 hour per week on RE lessons. In KS2 children will also experience focus days learning about important Christian events e.g. Easter Journey, Christmas Journey, Sharing Christian celebrations with the community etc. ( this ensures we cover 36 hours per year for reception and KS1, and 45 hours for KS2).
- Children will be taught by their class teacher and grouped in a variety of ways according to the nature of the activity. We use a variety of teaching methods including art, music, discussion, the development of thinking skills, drama, the use of artefacts, pictures, stories, and the use of periods of stillness and reflection. Activities are differentiated to allow access to the curriculum for all pupils.
Click here for the RE statement of entitlement for church schools
The Right of Withdrawal from RE
Parents have the legal right to withdraw their child from Religious Education. Parents who are considering withdrawing their child from RE should discuss this with the head teacher in advance before putting this in to writing.
Enrichment
- Our Key Stage Worships end with a range of pupils weekly contributing to big questions about our Christian Values and the wider issues affecting the world.
- We offer pupils the opportunity to select hymns for Worship and write prayers.
- We vary our contributions to charity across cultural divides.
- We visit religious institutions different to our own, such as our local Mosque.
- Our Ethos Team lead us in worship and help shape our School Values.