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Mrs Araujo is our RE Subject Leader. She is passionate about RE and also leads our Worship Our Way (WOW) group. Each week they meet at lunch time to plan and evaluate worships, create prayer and messy church activities for lunch and break times and reflect on our school values.
Our RE link Governor is Rev Ben. He leads collective worship in our school each week and also regularly delivers RE lessons and activities across school.
At St Barnabas we believe that Religious Education encourages pupils to learn from different religions, beliefs, values and traditions, while exploring their own beliefs and questions of meaning. It challenges pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses.
We aim to ensure that the Religious Education that we provide contributes to pupils’ personal development and well-being and to community cohesion by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in our diverse society. It also encourages them to develop their sense of identity and belonging.
Our overarching aim at St Barnabas is for our pupils to live life in all its fullness. Offering a well-rounded and balanced curriculum is one way we work towards achieving this and Religious Education provides the perfect platform for children to explore what living a full life might look like for them and the people around them.
Through our Religious Education curriculum we aim:
to engage pupils in inquiry into questions arising from the study of religion and belief, so as to promote their personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
to provide learners with knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other principal religious traditions and beliefs represented in Great Britain.
to develop their understanding of the ways in which beliefs influence people in their behaviour, practices and outlook.
to enable learners to apply the insights of the principal religious traditions to their own search for identity and significance.
to facilitate learners’ individual journeys to developing their own beliefs and values and to have a positive attitude to the search for meaning and purpose in life.
to encourage learners to develop a positive attitude towards other people who hold religious beliefs different from their own.
Implementation
Religious Education is typically taught for one hour per week in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 and has a regular place on the weekly timetable in all of these classes. Further opportunities for Religious Education teaching are implemented through special religious festivals, such as Christmas, Easter, Sukkot, Diwali and Eid, and themed weeks, such as Interfaith Week. In EYFS, as well as these further opportunities, children take part in discrete Religious Education lessons as well as those interwoven through the early years curriculum.
At St Barnabas, we follow the Blackburn Diocesan RE revised syllabus (2022) - Questful RE - alongside Understanding Christianity. Lessons are planned and delivered in a variety of ways ensuring that all children can access and participate in lessons. Interactive, practical activities encourage the children to discuss their ideas and extend their understanding of difficult concepts and challenging questions. Learning is recorded both individually and in a class scrapbook, with greater emphasis on scrapbook work in Early Years and Year 1.
Pupils’ progress in RE is based on the expected outcomes outlined in the Agreed Syllabus using the ladder of expectation for teacher assessment. Pupils are assessed on a termly basis. Teachers are mindful that pupils’ personal beliefs and ideas are not subject to formal assessment, but are central to good RE. Progress in RE is reported annually to parents in the end of year report.
Impact
In meeting the needs of our children we look at our demographic and consider which opportunities need to be offered by school that may not be met simply by the community in which they live. This includes our disadvantaged children and those with SEND. Needs often become apparent through the nature of the questions pupils ask or their responses to new learning in Religious Education. We then look at how these needs can be best met, for example through religious off-site visits or visitors to school.
At St Barnabas, Religious Education develops pupils’…
knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal world religions, other religious traditions and world views;
ability to respond thoughtfully to ‘BIG’ questions about religions, beliefs and life as a whole;
understanding and respect for different religions, beliefs, values and traditions (including ethical life stances), through exploring issues within and between faiths;
understanding of the influence of faith and belief on individuals, societies, communities and cultures;
skills of enquiry and response through the use of religious vocabulary, questioning and empathy;
skills of reflection, expression, application, analysis and evaluation of beliefs, values and practices, and the communication of personal responses to these.
At St Barnabas, Religious Education encourages pupils to…
consider challenging questions of the meaning and purpose of life; beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human;
learn from different religions, beliefs, values and traditions while exploring questions of meaning and their own beliefs;
learn about religious and ethical teaching, enabling them to make reasoned and informed responses to religious, moral and social issues;
develop their sense of identity and belonging, preparing them for life as citizens in a plural, global society;
develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular those whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own.
At St Barnabas, Religious Education enhances pupils’…
awareness and understanding of religions and beliefs, teachings, practices and forms of expression;
ability to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses.
opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development.
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