“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
Intent
As a school, we have set our curriculum intent with our children at the centre. At St Nicholas, ‘we create the space for each individual to excel.’ We do this by basing all of our work on John 15:5: Jesus says, I am the vine and you are the branches; if you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. It is in this, that all may have fullness of life – John 10:10.
The Church of England’s vision for education is deeply Christian, with Jesus’s promise of ‘life in all its fullness’ at its heart. We believe in:
- Educating for wisdom, knowledge and skills: enabling discipline, confidence and delight in seeking wisdom and knowledge, and developing talents in all areas of life.
- Educating for hope and aspiration: enabling healing, repair and renewal, coping wisely when things go wrong, opening horizons and guiding people into ways of fulfilling them.
- Educating for community and living well together: a core focus on relationships, participation in communities and the qualities of character that enable all people to flourish together.
- Educating for dignity and respect: the basic principle of respect for the value and preciousness of each person, treating each person as a unique individual of inherent worth.
- Our RE curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of our St. Nicholas pupils and their families, its context within our village setting and our wider community.
- It is rooted in the needs of our community, drawing on local culture and heritage.
- It provides experience of, and connections to, the world beyond the school in both time and place through well planned external visits and visitors and additional opportunities. Links to our village church, St Nicholas, are very strong and ‘alive.’
- It provides a broad range of creative learning experiences to develop children’s moral, spiritual, social, mental, physical and cultural understanding through our 12 values and the development of a contextually relevant curriculum.
- It provides opportunities for pupils to understand and develop our Christian values. These are exemplified through dovetailing our values through our Rights Respecting Articles and Secrets of Success work which underpin our planning.
- It is ambitious for all pupils and provides additional opportunities to inspire ambition within our pupils to allow them to ‘see’, and have thirst for, the wider world and their impact upon it.
- It recognises, celebrates and welcomes each pupil as a unique individual.
- It secures pupils’ core skills, knowledge and understanding to at least an age appropriate level and beyond, and is adapted, designed and developed for pupils with additional learning needs or disabilities.
- It provides both coverage of the National Curriculum and appropriate progression from EYFS to Y6 and beyond; Geographical locations are highlighted within RE lessons.
- It provides enrichment opportunities to broaden and enhance the curriculum experience for pupils through carefully considered learning experiences and contextually specific learning opportunities to develop each St Nicholas pupil, including experiences and visits.
- It is flexible and responds to pupils’ feedback, the evaluations of how well pupils learn and make progress, and in pupils’ performance in external and internal assessments.
Religious Education has never been more relevant, engaging or challenging as religion & religious issues are in the news every day. For pupils to be able to understand our constantly changing world, they need to be able to interpret religious issues and evaluate their significance.
From a pupil’s first day at St Nicholas, RE gives them valuable insights into the diverse beliefs & opinions held by people today. It helps with their own personal development and supports an understanding of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural questions that surface again and again in their lives. In tackling difficult questions, it provides pupils with an insight that can work to challenge stereotypes, promote cohesion, and tackle extremism.
RE at St Nicholas does important work encouraging children and adults to value themselves, their gifts and talents as well as the community within which they live.
Religious Education at St Nicholas:
- Is relevant for all children, whatever their religion or beliefs.
- Teaches understanding of world religions and beliefs.
- Shows how religion influences individuals, families, communities and cultures.
- Explores the political and social impact of religion.
- Encourages reflection on issues of justice and truth.
- Provokes questions about the meaning of life and death.
- Offers opportunities for personal reflection.
- Develops and affirms personal identity and responsible citizenship.
- Prepares children for adult life, allowing them to flourish in peace, wisdom, joy and hope.
RE at St Nicholas can help:
- Promote respect for self and others.
- Contribute to an understanding of history and culture.
- Enhance our understanding of global affairs.
- Develop personal well-being and happiness.
- Safeguard ethical standards in public life.
- Generate social and community cohesion.
- Tackle extremism and religious discrimination.
RE in British Schools is:
- Admired across the world.
- About modern belief.
- A chance to learn about religion without feeling pressurised.
- Intellectually rigorous.
- Up to date, relevant and enjoyable.
Implementation
In RE at St Nicholas, pupils learn about:
- What people believe.
- How people show their beliefs in their daily lives.
- How people explain what they believe & understand using symbols & stories.
This helps children & young people to:
- Make sense of who they are.
- To have opportunity to have their views challenged.
- Make sense of life.
- Make sense of right & wrong.
- Develop tolerance and respect for other people’s beliefs.
- Develop their critical view.
- Be better informed citizens.
It is the law that all schools must teach RE.
How is RE taught?
- Pictures & photographs
- From texts books, religious scriptures
- Artefacts
- Visits to places of worship
- Visitors
- Displays
Children learn through:
- Discussion
- Asking & answering questions
- Sharing their knowledge & experiences
- Written work
- Presentations
- IT (computing)
Visits & visitors
Nearly every year in primary school one of the units of work should include visits (in person or virtually) to a place of worship, for example a church or a mosque.
When pupils go on a visit they are will expected to dress & behave respectfully & to follow the customs such as removing your shoes or covering your head. No young person will ever be asked to join in worship.
Going on a visit to a place of worship brings everything you have learnt at school to life. Pupils will see some very beautiful buildings & meet some very interesting & friendly people.
Sometimes teachers will invite a visitor into school to talk about what they believe or demonstrate what they do. This again helps pupils to learn in an interesting way.
It is important for our children to learn to be respectful of both their own and other people’s beliefs and cultures. This helps make schools and communities a fairer place for everybody, whatever their religion, culture, language or background.
In RE lesson at St Nicholas, teachers will never try to change an individual’s religious beliefs or persuade you to be religious. RE lessons here at school, create the space for each individual to think and be their own person.
Impact
