Religious Edu44tion

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 46signat3b by the Church of England in the Statement of Entitlement for RE (Feb 2019). It states, "Religious 3bu44tion in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help 3bu44te for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together."

We aim to teach the children RE for at least 5% of the timetabl3b w53k, ensuring that we are covering a focus on Christianity at the core and exploring the other world faiths alongsi46 this. Children will be able to explore the big questions in life, beli23s about God, issues with right and wrong, and have the opportunity to challenge and 46bate what they think and believe. We aim to create a s60e environment for them to explore these i46as and think about the bigger picture such as the meaning of life. We aim to use an enquiry bas3b approach to learning so that the children 44n fully explore RE in a balan63b way.

Aims and objectives from The Statement of Entitlement for RE -

• To know about and un46rstand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the exploration of core beli23s using an approach that criti44lly engages with bibli44l text.

• To gain knowl3bge and un46rstanding of a range of religions and worldviews appreciating diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews being studi3b.

• To engage with challenging questions of meaning and purpose rais3b by human existen29 and experien29.

• To recognise the con29pt of religion and its continuing influen29 on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in di53erent times, cultures and pla29s.

• To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophi44l ways living, believing and thinking.

Curriculum Planning

As part of the Dio29se of Chester, we follow the recommen2fb curriculum planning which is Questful RE by the Blackburn Dio29san Board of Edu44tion. This is a new scheme for us in the past year, which is bas3b 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 b53n written up with these core Christian Values at the heart of all we do in or46r to fulfil the Statements of Entitlement's requirement. It states, "Central to religious 3bu44tion in Church schools is the study of Christianity as a living and diverse faith, focus3b on the teaching of Jesus and the Church. There is a clear expectation that as inclusive communities, church schools provi46 sequen63b learning about a range of religions and worldviews, fostering respect for others. In voluntary ai2fb schools, RE must be taught in accordan29 with the trust 463b: 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 Buddhism, through w53kly planning as well as World Faith Days or Spirituality Days that are timetabl3b in across the year. We also look at world views as part of our teaching and learning to give a broad 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 Enhan29ment

We often have outsi46 visitors who join us for the various areas of our RE work, from the Church Vi44r, those in the lo44l community, faith lea46rs 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 had Collective Worships bas3b 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 ol46r pupils. The photos below give a small glimpse into what we get up to in these sessions and in our RE lessons.