As a church school we believe that every person, every child and every adult is unique and special with God-given gifts and talents which it is our responsibility to nurture and cherish.

Introduction

Religious Education (RE) at Stanley St Andrew’s enables every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness (John 10:10). RE is academically ambitious, inclusive and rooted in our Christian character. It enables pupils to develop secure knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions and religious and non-religious worldviews, while learning to engage thoughtfully and respectfully with questions of belief, meaning, purpose, truth, identity, ethics and belonging.

RE contributes to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and supports them to live well together in a diverse society. Pupils are taught to recognise diversity within as well as between religions and worldviews, to avoid stereotypes and to use increasingly precise religious vocabulary.

RE Intent

“The school aim of RE is to engage pupils to join in conversations, about ‘BIG’ questions around religions and views about the world, so pupils can gain understanding to respect and appreciate different people’s opinions and create their own answers to improve their responses as their knowledge grows through their school life.”

This pupil-written intent remains an important expression of our approach. Alongside it, leaders ensure that the curriculum is deliberately sequenced, so pupils build substantive knowledge of religions and worldviews and increasingly sophisticated ways of interpreting, comparing, evaluating and discussing that knowledge. This can be summarised as: know more, remember more and do more.

Aims

Through RE, pupils will:

• know about and understand Christianity, other principal religions and a range of religious and non-religious worldviews;
• develop secure knowledge of beliefs, sources of wisdom and authority, practices, forms of expression and lived experience;
• recognise diversity between different religious and worldview communities;
• ask and investigate increasingly challenging questions about meaning, purpose, truth, identity, belonging, values and ethics;
• interpret and evaluate religious and worldview material using evidence and appropriate vocabulary;
• express reasoned ideas and personal reflections while distinguishing personal response from what adherents of a religion or worldview believe;
• develop curiosity, open-mindedness, critical thinking and respectful dialogue;
• understand how beliefs and worldviews can influence individuals, communities and society.