At St Nicholas Church of England Primary Academy, where pupils and staff come from all faiths and none, religious education (RE) is a highly valued academic subject that enables understanding of how religion and beliefs affect our lives. At the heart of RE in our church school, is the teaching of Christianity and pupils also learn about other faiths and world views.

Intent
Why do we teach this? Why do we teach it in the way we do?

As a Church of England Academy, the Christian faith lays the foundations of everything that we do at St Nicholas CE Primary Academy. In all learning and life experiences, we aim to fulfil our academy vision to "Let our light shine".

We promote an environment where all children feel known, accepted, and valued as individuals, within a caring community, where our Christian faith affects not only what we teach, but also how we teach. We believe that it is fundamental for the children to belong to a safe and nurturing community, founded on strong Christian values where they will develop an array of skills that will enable them to make their own positive contribution to our global society.

Our aims for all the children in RE are:

• To provoke challenging questions about the ultimate meaning of life, beliefs about God, the nature of reality and morality.
• To develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal world religions, religious traditions and world-views, which offer answers to ultimate questions.
• To encourage pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging, in order to flourish within communities, as responsible citizens in society and global communities.
• To teach pupils to develop respect for others and their beliefs and help to challenge prejudice.
• To prompt pupils to consider their responsibilities to themselves and to others, and to explore how they might contribute to their communities and to wider society, encouraging empathy, generosity and compassion.

At St Nicholas CE Primary Academy, we love having the opportunity to learn about different faiths, especially those represented within our community, so that we know about different beliefs and traditions from around the world and can live in harmony with our community.

Implementation:

What do we teach? What does this look like?

At St Nicholas CE Primary Academy our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable all children, regardless of background, ability, additional needs, to flourish and become the very best version of themselves they can possibly be.

The statement of entitlements lays out the entitlement of all children to receive a high quality Religious Education which supports them in all aspects of their learning:
“Religious education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help educate for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together”

The statement lays out the details of coverage of the RE curriculum in church schools. We ensure that we fully meet the requirement of the statement of entitlement for Church schools.

At St Nicholas CE Primary Academy, our teaching is informed by the Understanding Christianity approach to the Lincolnshire Agreed Syllabus which aims to support pupils in developing their understanding of Christianity. Understanding Christianity offers a spiral model of investigating 8 core concepts that tell the 'big story' of Christianity. By using these schemes alongside each other, we are ensuring children are given the opportunity to not only become religiously literate but also to help shape a harmonious world in which they are growing up in through understanding a range of world views.

Understanding Christianity is based upon eight core Christian concepts. Children will explore the different concepts in a range of inspiring activities as they move through the school, starting in Foundation Stage and developing a great depth of understanding by the time they reach Year 6.

Understanding Christianity is a resource to support the teaching of Christianity in religious education in all schools.

• Develops pupils' own thinking and understanding of Christianity.
• Explores the significant theological concepts within Christianity as part of developing pupils wider religious, theological and cultural literacy.
• Supports teachers in developing their own knowledge and understanding of Christianity theology to be able to teach with confidence.

Understanding Christianity believes that not only should children show an understanding of the religious text and teachings but they should also demonstrate a deepened and more thoughtful approach to their learning and how this influences day to day life. Therefore is based upon a three step enquiry model of teaching.

You can learn more about 'Understanding Christianity' here:

http://www.understandingchristianity.org.uk/

#balancedRE  

What does a balanced approach to curriculum design in RE look like? We aim to achieve a balanced curriculum that enables pupils to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and belief. Implicit within this is the study of a range of religions, belief systems and worldviews. 

You can find out more about this approach here:

https://balancedre.org.uk/

We use a variety of teaching methods including art, music, discussion, the development of thinking skills, drama, the use of artefacts, pictures, stories, and the use of reflection.

We are lucky to have great links with the Lincoln Diocesan Board of Education, a link to which can be found here:

https://www.lincolndiocesaneducation.com/

Impact
What will this look like?

By the time children leave our school they will:

• Ask and offer possible answers to challenging questions about the meaning of life, beliefs, nature of reality and morality.
• Have a secure understanding and knowledge of the religions studied and be confident to answer ultimate questions.
• Have the ability to ask significant and reflective questions about religion and demonstrate a good understanding of issues relating to the nature, truth and value of religion.
• Have a sense of self, identity and belonging so they can flourish within the community and be responsible citizens.
• Show respect, tolerance and understanding of all religions and beliefs.
• Have a strong understanding of how the beliefs, values, practices and ways of life within any religion come together.
• Have the ability to link the study of religion and belief to personal reflections on meaning and purpose.
• Demonstrate the ability to exemplify the Academy’s Christian values in all aspects of life that are rooted in the teachings of the Bible.