‘Growing hearts and minds’
At St Chad’s we truly believe that it takes a whole community to raise a child. Just as the vine and branches grow ripe fruit, we provide our children with a strong sense of community spirit, Christian values deeply rooted in the teachings of the Bible, and a bespoke curriculum pertinent to our setting. Growing both hearts and minds, we prepare our children for an ever-changing world.
‘“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…” John 15:5,
Community, Hope, Kindness, Forgiveness
As a Church of England School, our motto, vision and values are at the heart of everything we do. These were formed following a series of consultations involving stakeholders from the school, including pupils, parents, staff, governors, Church and Diocese representatives.
We believe that Religious Education is a subject for all pupils regardless of their ability, background and personal beliefs. It is of paramount importance to us that Religious Education is taught sensitively and our curriculum promotes open-mindedness. We aim to develop children’s understanding of world faiths by exploring the similarities and differences between a range of faiths, but always still having a strong sense of our Christian beliefs. RE plays a significant role in developing children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and pupil’s understanding of diversity. In our RE lessons we ensure that children discuss challenging questions including about the meaning of life, beliefs about God, practices of a range of religions and their beliefs, and the difference between right and wrong.
At St Chad’s Church of England Primary School, Religious Education plays an important role, along with all other curriculum areas, particularly PSHE and the teaching of British Values, in promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our children. Religious Education is an essential area of study which ensures that children are prepared for the diverse world that we live in. It is of paramount importance to us, as a school, that our children are taught religious tolerance, and we firmly believe the best way to ensure this is by providing a knowledge rich curriculum which challenges any misconceptions the children may have.
We follow the RE Today Primary Religious Education Curriculum which was developed by the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE). The scheme covers a broad range of religious and non-religious worldviews, encouraging a pluralistic and inclusive approach to RE. Key themes include beliefs and practices, sources of wisdom, and ways of living, which are explored through different religions and worldviews. The scheme aligns with the Staffordshire SACRE and consists of well-planned lessons providing varied and high-quality, engaging activities to inspire children and enable them to explore religious key questions, reflect critically upon their learning and to develop skills to analyse, interpret and apply Biblical text.
Our children begin their religious education journey in the Early Years department. A mixture of adult led input activities and enhanced provision activities are planned to teach and assess children in the moment. Children are encouraged to develop a foundation of enquiry skills that will help support their journey throughout school life. From Year 1 onwards RE is taught as weekly sequenced lessons. Children are provided with opportunities to handle religious artefacts and they are taught the importance of doing so respectfully. Children are also provided with opportunities to meet visitors from different faiths and the school has strong links with our local church Holy Trinity. Visitors from other denominations of Christianity are also warmly welcomed and encouraged. Where visits are not possible, videos and internet research are used to enhance children’s learning.
Much of the impact of RE will be evident through the voice of our pupils. Termly pupil conference meetings/deep dives are held whereby the RE lead can question the pupils to measure and assess the impact of our teaching and learning in RE.
As a result of our high quality RE teaching at St Chad’s, these pupil conferences have shown that pupils are able to:
After following our RE Curriculum and our whole school Christian ethos, children will leave St Chad’s as well rounded and informed citizens. As a result of our open-minded curriculum children will have had the opportunity to develop their own beliefs and have a solid understanding and respect of other beliefs. Our pupils will demonstrate a positive attitude towards people with both similar and different beliefs to them. They will take forward the respectful attitude they have learnt throughout their RE lessons and apply this outside of school.
