'Whoever we are, wherever we live, whether we are a person of faith or not, we all have a view on the world.
Nobody stands nowhere.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFRxKF-Jdos
Religious Education at St Thomas'
Our RE curriculum and teaching provides children with rich and meaningful RE experience which reflects the Christian foundation of St Thomas’ CE School and fosters understanding, respect, and appreciation for other faith traditions and beliefs. Following the statement of entitlement and grounded in the principles and teachings of the Church of England, we promote a learning environment which promotes respect, tolerance, and understanding of different faiths and views, preparing our pupils to be tolerant, understanding respectful of others’ views and ready for life in modern Britain.
https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2019-02/re-statement-of-entitlement-for-church-schools.pdf
Rather than simply acquiring factual information, quality RE learning leads to wisdom, knowledge and understanding. By embracing the explicit teaching of Christian concepts and God’s big salvation story, the Blackburn Diocesan Syllabus, Questful RE, which we follow, aims to give pupils a deeper understanding of Christianity. In addition, through the exploration of all major World Faiths and discussion of non-religious worldviews pupil’s will gain knowledge and understanding that will equip them to encounter life’s experiences in our world today and in the future.
Quality RE has the potential, more than any other subject, to have the most powerful and lasting effect on the child’s heart and mind. It is a subject that combines academic rigour with the development of the character and spirit of the child. RE provides opportunities for spiritual development and personal reflection. Through our curriculum and on a quest to discover more about religion and world views pupils will discover more about themselves. Through our RE teaching and experiences our children are offered, children’s knowledge and understanding of the nature of religion and beliefs will be developed and it will provoke challenging questions about meaning and purpose, truth and values, identity and belonging – The Big Questions.
Pupils will experience, explore and encounter a wide range of creative and challenging multi-sensory activities that will help them to discover the answers to fundamental questions such as these:
- Who am I and what does it mean to be me?
- In what ways do/can I relate to others?
- How/where can I encounter God?
- How can I make a positive contribution to the world in which I live?
- What values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviour are important to me?
- What does it mean to have faith?
- Who/what influences and inspires me?
The purpose of these questions is to give pupils opportunity to investigate, reflect, evaluate and make meaning. In doing so they will discover more about themselves, their relationships with others, their relationship with the world around them and their relationship with God. The questions set the route through the curriculum content.
The curriculum content is a balance of the three essential disciplines of quality RE, Theology, Philosophy and Human Social Science. This means pupils will look at concepts through a theological lens, exploring what people of faith believe. Alongside this, pupils will explore questions and answers raised in relation to the lived reality and impact of religion and world views on people’s lives. They will also think like philosophers, and be equipped with the skills that will enable them to make sense of life’s experiences.
RE prepares children for citizenship in today’s diverse society. It enables them to develop sensitivity to, and respect for others. Through authentic encounters with living faith communities, pupils will develop diversity dexterity and be equipped with the ability to hold an informed conversation about religious beliefs and practices.
We are very aware that the teaching of RE is both a huge responsibility and a privilege that must be recognised by those who teach it.
As a Church of England School, we value the teaching and leanring in RE, as an integral part of our school life. However, inline with the Government requirements, parents and carers are entiteled to ask that their child may be withdrawn from all or part of RE lessons. In our school, this request must be made in writing to the Headteacher.
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| RE overview.pdf | Download |
Take a look at our learning in R.E.
Year 2 learn about The Bible its importance for Christians. They look at different versios of the Bible. Joy from our church shared her BIble with the class and talked about her favourite parts. They make links with other World Faiths by comparing similarities and differences between the Bible and other religious books. They also discuss the significance the church has for Christians as a place of worship.
Reception children discuss why each one of them is special to God within the Christian faith. The children learn all about Hinduism and the Diwali Festival of Light and the Holi festival of Colour.
Year 4 learn about why the Church is a special place for Christians and why holy buildings are important to people of faith. They take part in the 'Experience Church' workshop in St Thomas' Church. Members of our local church congregation guide the children in learning about the features of the church, the meaning of the Lord's Prayer and how Jesus is the Light of the World.