RE
Intent
Here at St. Andrew’s, we are proud to be a church school, this is at the heart of our identity. We believe that it is vital for all our pupils to learn from and about Christianity and other world faiths, so that they can understand the world around them. Through Religious Education, pupils develop their knowledge of Christianity and other world faiths, and their understanding and awareness of the beliefs, values and traditions of other individuals, societies, communities and cultures. We encourage our pupils to ask questions about the world and to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences. Our Religious Education curriculum is enhanced further with trips to our local churches and other places of worship.
We follow the RE syllabus of Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education. This syllabus is specially designed to give pupils a sense of being on a quest of discovery. A key feature of the syllabus is the range of questions included in each unit. The purpose of these questions is to allow pupils opportunities to investigate, think, reflect, evaluate and make meaning. In doing so they will discover more about themselves, their relationships with others, their relationship with the world and most importantly their relationship with God.
Implementation
Teachers are encouraged to give pupils as many first-hand sensory experiences as possible. Pupils need to see, hear, touch, taste and smell as they study Christianity and other world faiths. Pupils enjoy multi-sensory experiences of Easter and Christmas in our local churches. During Multi-Faith Week, pupils have a week of exploring other world faiths using art, drama, dance, music, food -tasting and special assemblies. Visiting experts, for example, Springs Dance Company, enhance the RE learning experience of the pupils.
Impact
Our Religious Education Curriculum is of a very high quality, well designed and is planned to encourage a journey of discovery. Children are encouraged to ask questions and discover more about themselves.
In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- An assessment at the end of every term against the planned RE outcomes;
- Celebration of learning in RE in class RE Scrapbooks which demonstrate progression across the school;
- Tracking pupils progress on iTrack and comparing to other core subjects;
- Pupil discussions about their learning;
- Ethos Council –fundraising and raising the school’s profile;
- Appropriate behaviour and responses during collective worship.