Bickershaw Church of England Primary School

Religious Education

Intent

At Bickershaw Church of England Primary School, Religious Education lies at the very heart of the curriculum. It is driven by our deeply Christian vision and is intrinsic to the Christian ethos and the Christian values of our school, based upon the teaching, love, and example of Jesus Christ.

Our pupils, and their families can expect a RE curriculum that is rich and varied and both engaging and challenging, enabling learners to acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith. The RE curriculum at Bickershaw Church of England Primary School gives the children an opportunity to explore Christianity in depth and to learn about Christianity as a diverse and living faith around the world starting locally, thinking nationally and globally. While the majority of the curriculum is centred on Christianity, our syllabus also incorporates the teaching of other main world faiths.  

At Bickershaw Church of England Primary School, the RE curriculum develops religious knowledge, vocabulary, and skills. We use an enquiry approach that engages with biblical text and aims to develop religious and theological literacy. The school provides a wide range of opportunities for learners to understand and make links between the beliefs, practices, and value systems of the range of faiths and world views studied. 

Pupils are encouraged to ask important questions and consequently become confident in expressing their views and discussing challenging issues in RE within the context of our Christian values of thankfulness, peace, agape, service, hope, friendship and koinonia.

Our strong RE curriculum is highly influential in pupils' spiritual, moral, cultural, and emotional development, making a significant contribution in preparing pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of later life. It strengthens our understanding of Christian values, empowering pupils to make positive choices and encouraging them to become courageous advocates.

Our RE curriculum contributes to promoting British values by providing opportunities to study and learn about different faiths and beliefs. As part of our aim to help pupils fully embrace society and the wider world community, other faiths are valued and treated with respect.  RE is central to preparing our pupils to become resilient, respectful, compassionate, and responsible citizens who are encouraged to make valuable and sustained contributions to local, national, and international communities.

Implementation

The implementation of our intent is carefully planned by staff, using the Questful RE syllabus, provided by the Blackburn Diocese of Education which is the approved and adopted syllabus by the Liverpool Diocesan Board of Education. The school curriculum is further enhanced and strengthened by the ‘Understanding Christianity’ resource. Units of the ‘Questful RE’ are supplemented and paired with units from ‘Understanding Christianity’ to provide a deep, rich RE education for pupils and to strengthen their theological understanding.

In accordance with The Church of England’s RE Statement of Entitlement (2019), a minimum of 5% of class teaching time over the course of a year will be dedicated to the teaching of RE). At least two-thirds of this time will focus on Christianity, with the remaining time focussing on the teaching of non-Christian faiths and world views, predominantly Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

We recognise children need to hear first-hand experiences from a wide range of people talking about their faith, so as well as working closely with St James & St Elizabeth Parish Church and ensuring children are given the opportunity to visit the church regularly, both for services and as part of their RE lessons, we also welcome visitors from all faiths and aim for pupils to visit non-Christian places of worship during their time at Bickershaw Church of England Primary School. We strive to create an atmosphere of respect and understanding so that all individuals are able to share their own beliefs, values and experiences freely.

During RE lessons, pupils may record work in individual RE books and/or whole class ‘scrapbooks’ to facilitate the intent that children will learn through a variety of activities and teaching methods.

Each class has its own reflection/RE area which provides children with an age-appropriate area in which to further respond to the current unit of work as well as a space to engage in prayer or reflection.

Impact

The implementation and impact of RE intent is monitored and evaluated by the school’s subject lead for RE using a range of monitoring strategies: R.E book and scrapbook scrutiny, learning walks, lesson observations, assessment scrutiny and pupil voice.

Assessment is in accordance with guidance given in the Blackburn syllabus. Teachers assess and confirm professional judgements based on the ‘Ladder of Expectation and Achievement’. The ladder is intended primarily to contribute to planning excellent tasks at the right level appropriate for the pupils’ experience, knowledge and ability. However, the ladder is also used to make judgements about the level of individual pupils’ achievement.  Assessments should be based on overall understanding of each unit of work.

As a result of RE teaching at Bickershaw Church of England Primary School, we aim to enable pupils to:

• develop an awareness of spiritual and moral issues in life experiences;
• develop a sound knowledge and understanding of Christianity, as a living faith;
• develop an understanding of what it means to be committed to a religious tradition;
• be able to reflect on their own experiences and to develop a personal response to the fundamental questions of life;
• develop an understanding of religious traditions and to appreciate the cultural differences in Britain today;
• develop investigative and research skills which enable them to make reasoned judgements about religious issues;
• have respect for other peoples` views and to celebrate the diversity in society;
• explore religious language and symbolism

Long Term Plan 

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Useful Links 

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R.E Policy