Intent

 Religion Education is underpinned at Castor Church of England Primary School by our Christian vision:  “We have faith in God, ourselves and everyone around us”.   Jesus said, “If you believe, you will see the glory of God” (John 11 v40). He also gave his disciples a new commandment – to “love one another” (John 13 v 34). Yet still, “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘increase our faith’” (Luke 17 v 5).

This is underpinned by the Christian values, one of which is chosen per term and provides a focus within collective worship.

Religious education plays a fundamental and unique role within all areas of the curriculum and also the daily life at Castor Church of England Primary School. Religious Education is a highly valued subject that enables understanding of how religion and beliefs affect our lives and society. At the heart of RE is the teaching of Christianity, though pupils also learn about other faiths, those of no faith as well as world views.

 Through our Religious Education curriculum we aim to:

• To encourage all children to form good relationships and respect people of other faiths, or no faith.
• To enable pupils to hold balanced and informed conversations about religion and belief.
• To know about and understand Christianity as a diverse, global, living faith through the exploration of core beliefs, using an approach that critically engages with biblical text;
• To gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews, appreciating diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews studied;
• To engage with challenging questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existence and experience;
• To recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and on the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and places;
• To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways of living, believing and thinking.

This is mirrored within daily acts of collective worship during which the children are invited to praise and reflect on a daily basis whilst developing a good understanding of the liturgical calendar and major festivals within the Church of England.

Implementation

“Religious education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (Church of England Statement of Entitlement 2019). It will help educate for dignity and respect, encouraging all to live well together.

Class teachers are responsible for the delivery of RE lessons. Under the guidance of the subject leader, units of work will be chosen and adapted based around enquiry based questions. Pupils will be encouraged to engage and participate during RE lessons.

RE may be linked to topic work and other subject areas. It should be encountered through people, stories, art, drama, music, architecture and more. In addition to RE lessons, cross curricular links can be made in during whole school Big Question Days, where a theme is chosen and suitable activities are planned, embedding the school beliefs and values.

Children will be given first-hand experience to explore places of worship and talk to people of various faith communities.

RE is taught in line with Diocese of Peterborough Syllabus for Religious Education 2019-2024. This syllabus supports schools in developing and delivering excellence in RE. It is underpinned by three core elements, which are woven together to provide breadth and balance within teaching and learning about religions and beliefs, thus supporting the school’s aims for RE. These elements are:

• Making sense of beliefs (or text)
• Understanding the impact;
• Making connections.

Alongside the Peterborough Syllabus for RE (which provides the support for planning on other religions and world views), Christianity must be the majority religion studied in RE in each year group for at least 50% of RE curriculum time. In order to achieve a rich, deep knowledge and understanding of Christianity, the resource “Understanding Christianity” is used.

Impact

As a result of their ongoing religious education at Castor Church of England Primary School, the expectation is that all pupils, from Reception onwards, become religiously literate and are able to:

• Give a theologically informed and thoughtful account of Christianity as a living and diverse faith;
• Show an informed and respectful attitude to all religions and non-religious world views in their search for God and meaning;
• Engage in meaningful and informed dialogue with those of other faiths or none, understanding that the views of others may be different to their own;
• Reflect critically and responsibly on their own spiritual, philosophical and ethical thoughts.

This is achieved through lessons that are tailored to both the age and also the spiritual maturity of the individual.