Religious Education
Vision
“Preparing for a positive future, achieved through faith”
‘Let your light shine’
Matthew 5:16
As a church school we take the teachings of the Bible and the life of Jesus as our foundation and the inspiration for our school vision and chosen values.
“During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made it clear that we are the light of the world. We are called to shine. But the light we share is not our own.”
Our school vision and values act as a guide to enable all pupils to become effective learners and good citizens, they act a moral compass to influence them now and in the future.
The Religious Education curriculum at St.Barnabas School enables and encourages all children to develop a self-awareness of their own ideas and to recognise their own uniqueness and self-worth. The curriculum allows all children to personally reflect and develop their own spirituality, while also developing a respect and understanding for the different religious faiths and beliefs of others.
Provision
Our Religious Education curriculum follows the Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education Syllabus for RE as recommended by Liverpool Diocese, which fulfils legal requirements and the RE statement of Entitlement from the Church of England Education Office. The syllabus provides coverage of both the Christian faith and other main religions and provides opportunities for the children to make links between beliefs, practices and values.
The curriculum is delivered with an enquiry approach, engaging with biblical text, developing religious literacy and linking with Christian values. Throughout the syllabus, children are taught to use general skills of gathering information, asking questions, expressing ideas and evaluating.
Early Years
In Early Years the children explore RE Chatterbox Units. Each unit provides a range of activities which encourage and allow the children and adults to explore together a collection of objects and stories linked to a Religious theme. The children are encouraged to ask questions and develop ideas and experience activities which support their early learning of RE
Key Stage 1 / 2
In Key stage 1 and 2 the children are taught in units which provide the children with a deeper understanding of Christianity and other world faiths. The enquiry based approach of the syllabus enables the children to develop key skills alongside the content they are learning. Key questions are asked which encourage the children to discuss and investigate their ideas and to reflect, evaluate and make decisions. The units enable the children to study Bible stories and to engage in activities which look at the impact of beliefs on people’s lives. Connections to their own lives and experiences can also be made.
Impact
The impact of the RE curriculum is to enable the children to have a deeper understanding of the Christian faith, while also developing a knowledge of other main religions, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
The curriculum gives the children the opportunity to ask ‘Big questions’, this enables them to gain a understanding of the world they live in and recognise areas of common belief and practice between different faiths.
The curriculum allows all children to replicate the school vision and values upon their daily choices and decisions ,this acts as a foundation to encourage our pupils both now and in the future.
If you would like any further information about our curriculum, please contact the school office.