Religious Education

RE Leader: Pippa Osborne

At CCJ, RE supports and strengthens the vision, ethos and values which are at the heart of what we aim to do in every aspect of school life. The importance placed on the development of the whole child spiritually, morally, socially, culturally and intellectually is reflected in the RE curriculum.

Using the Understanding Christianity resources, our curriculum supports children to develop knowledge and understanding of Christian beliefs and practices so that they understand the importance of the bible, the role of the church and recognise that for Christians their faith provides a way of interpreting life and its meaning. Children will also develop knowledge and understanding of the beliefs and practices of some of the other principal religions in Britain using the locally agreed SACRE syllabus.

Through RE, children will be introduced to an extended range of sources and subject specific vocabulary. They will be encouraged to be curious and to ask increasingly challenging questions about religion, belief, values and human life. Pupils will learn to express their own ideas in response to the material they engage with, identifying relevant information, selecting examples and giving reasons to support their ideas and views. In RE, children will be guided to reflect on and understand how belief may impact on culture, relationships, values and lifestyle and how belief can be expressed in a variety of ways including art, dance, music, ritual celebration and in different cultural settings. Our curriculum supports children to develop spiritually, morally, culturally and socially by helping them to reflect upon personal feelings, responses and relationships and to be supported in their own search for meaning and purpose in life. Central to our curriculum are opportunities for children to develop a sense of awe, wonder and mystery.

How is RE taught?

RE is taught on a two-year rolling cycle. The knowledge and skills that are taught are carefully sequenced and we use a wide range of resources to support the teaching of RE skills and knowledge, including images, artefacts, trips, music, art, immersive days and visitors.

As a Church of England school, the majority of our RE curriculum is based on Christianity with the remaining based on key questions or themes which focus on the study of Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Humanism throughout KS2.

To support our pupils in understanding and applying the RE curriculum, the same six core areas of skills are taught in each year group throughout the school:

• Investigating and interpreting
• Making sense of biblical texts
• Understanding the impact of biblical texts
• Making connections
• Reflecting and empathising
• Expressing and communicating