Our RE Vision Statement
Intent
As a church school we offer a distinctly Christian cross curricula education in an inclusive environment, where we encourage all children and staff to care, share, love and learn. Children and staff, of all faiths and none, are welcome at our school and our aim is to promote understanding and tolerance between those of different faith traditions. The distinctive nature of our approach to education can be found in our explicit Christian values which are woven into the fabric of the school. As a church school, Christianity has at least 50% of the curriculum time. The teaching of RE is between 5 and 10% of the teaching week.
Here, at Christ Church Junior School, the aim of Religious Education (RE) is to help children acquire and develop, knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other world faiths represented in modern Britain today. RE explores big questions about life, to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live their lives. This in turn enables pupils to make sense of religion and reflect on their own ideas and ways of living. Children will gain an understanding about the way religious beliefs shape life and behaviour and therefore develop their religious literacy in order to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues.
Religious Education is taught throughout the school in such a way as to reflect the overall ethos and values of the school. Religious Education plays an important role in our school, along with all other curriculum areas, particularly PSHCE, in promoting and enhancing the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of our children.
Our Curriculum
Implementation
Religious Education is a core subject at Christ Church Junior School and our curriculum enables children to acquire a rich, deep knowledge and understanding of Christian belief and practice. We follow the Kent Agreed Syllabus (see appendix 1) for Religious Education using Canterbury Dioceses recommended resource ‘Understanding Christianity’ to teach the Christian element of R.E. As we are a Church school the majority of our R.E studies are focussed on the Christian religion, however we do explore other world faiths in line with our scheme of work, using resources recommended by the Canterbury Diocese. All material used is designed to promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils. Likewise it aims to prepare children for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
The RE curriculum engages and challenges children through the exploration of core concepts and key questions. Children are also provided with the opportunities to engage in meaningful and informed dialogue on a range of religions and worldviews.
We draw upon an extensive range of stimulus for RE including role play, hot seating, film clips, art, visitors, computing, music, poetry, the school environment, talk partners, group work, artefacts and our local church and other places of worship.
Children will be encouraged to develop their religious literacy by;
Making sense of Biblical textsthrough posing and discussing ‘big’ questions, reading and critically analysing texts and interpreting information from different sources.
Understanding the impact by examining ways in which Christians respond to biblical texts and teachings, and how they put their beliefs into action in diverse ways within the Christian community and in the world.
Making connections by evaluating, reflecting on and connecting the texts and concepts studied, and perceiving possible connections between these and their own lives and ways of understanding the world.
Progress of skills
Impact
The children at Christ Church Junior School enjoy learning about the Christian religion and other world faiths and why people choose, or choose not to follow a religion. Through their R.E. learning, they are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world.
- Children will have a stronger awareness of the world around them and will be mindful of the beliefs of others.
- Children will feel they are valued as individuals and that their beliefs are valued and celebrated.
- Enjoyment of the R.E. curriculum will promote creativity, achievement, confidence and inquisitive minds.
- Children feel safe to learn new things and share their beliefs with others in an accepting environment.
- Children leave the school with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.
By selecting a Church School, parents and carers understand and accept the vision and aims of the school and the context in which their children will learn, grow and be nurtured. It is therefore expected that all children will participate fully in R.E. and Collective Worship. However, parents do have a legal right to withdraw their child from these activities and should request a meeting with the Headteacher if they wish to exercise this right.