Religious Education

Religious Education

At St. Oswald’s we believe that we 'Teach children how they should live and they will remember it all their life'; Proverbs 22:6. We teach Religious Education using the RE syllabus ‘Questful RE’ by Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education.

Building on the foundation of both the 2007 and 2013 syllabuses the syllabus has been updated and redesigned to bring it in line with current best practice and pedagogical strategies. By embracing the explicit teaching of Christian concepts and God’s big salvation story, it is hoped that the content of this syllabus will give pupils a deeper understanding of Christianity.

To ensure delivery of a high quality Religious Education (RE) curriculum that is essential to meet the statutory requirement for all maintained schools to teach a broad and balanced curriculum the school regularly refers to ‘The Statement of Entitlement for RE’.

Intent

Religious Educations supports our children and young people in developing their own beliefs, values and attitudes of various religious traditions. This is done through an exploration of shared human experience and the place and significance of Christianity and other religions in the contemporary world with such emphasis on Anglican beliefs and practices as appropriate to the school community.

(Diocese of Liverpool RE Syllabus)

St Oswald’s CE Primary has undertaken to teach Christian Values explicitly. RE will support the teaching of all 8 values especially the whole school value of ‘Community’ as RE will enable pupils to know about and empathise with members of our Multi-Cultural, Multi-Faith society.

In order to achieve our aims we will follow Questful Re Online, as recommended by Liverpool Diocese.

Through the RE curriculum we will help our pupils develop knowledge and understanding of different religions, their historical contexts, sacred texts, rituals and symbols. Thus enabling them to engage thoughtfully with diverse religious perspectives.

Alongside our school vision of valuing all individuals as children of God and promoting an inclusive school community, the RE curriculum will enable the pupils to foster respect for religious beliefs and will promote tolerance and understanding among individuals from different cultures and religious backgrounds.

Pupils critical thinking skills will be embraced so they can explore moral and spiritual issues, and they will be encouraged to ask those bigger questions that challenge their way of seeing the world. By engaging in spiritual inquiry and reflection, pupils will have a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the world.

This short animated clip unpacks the idea of world views and invites the pupils to consider what is their own unique view of the world and what makes them who they are.

We believe RE plays a vital role in promoting social cohesion. Pupil's will explore themes of justice, equality and human rights and will be encouraged to engage in constructive dialogue. Through this, they will be able to show empathy by listening to others points of view.

Implementation

The Liverpool Diocese recommends approximately 5% of the total curriculum should be allocated to RE. The majority of the time should be RE with a Christian emphasis (66-80%) the balance being allocated to other world faiths. The teaching of other faiths is essential to support diversity in the local community and create acceptance of all.

The school has allocated one session per week (5% of the total teaching time) for the teaching of RE. Lessons are planned and delivered in a variety of ways so that all children can participate fully. There is a wide range of interactive and practical activities linked to the units of work.

RE topics and themes may be explored in other areas of the curriculum, such as Harvest, Inter Faith Week, Christian Aid Week, visits to Liverpool Cathedral and also visits to our local Church for Experience Christmas and Easter Events. Where this is the case weekly planning will refer to the RE objectives and outline where work is recorded.

Impact

Questful RE promotes the explicit teaching of Christian concepts and God's big salvation story.

Through delivering this curriculum at St. Oswald's CE Primary it develops our pupils:

spiritual growth and well being
resilience and sense of purpose
cultural understanding
academic excellence
critical thinking, curiosity and open mind-fullness
respect, acceptance and empathy
ability to become agents of change within their local and global community

Teacher assessment takes place 3 times a year. All staff assess at the end of first unit of work, Christmas unit and Easter unit based on the ‘Ladder of expectation of achievement in RE’. Data is then shared with Governing Board termly during the Vision and Value Sub Committee meetings.