Religious Education

Curriculum Design at St. Wilfrid’s Church of England Primary Academy

Curriculum Area: Religious Education   

Religious Education Primary Leaders: Mrs. Newman and Miss Beckwith

Religious Education Supporting Leader: Miss Clayton

Curriculum Link Governor: Rev’d Canon Holliday

Intent

Our Religious Education curriculum aims to motivate and inspire children through an engaging curriculum that challenges all learners whilst ensuring that the school Christian values are at the heart. The distinctive Christian ethos permeates all aspects of school life and has an outstanding impact on pupils’ personal development. This personal development is seen through the established strengths of:

• The focus on Christian Values which leads to outstanding spiritual, moral and academic development of all pupils. The outstanding relationships within the school family, based on Christian love and care for each individual.
• The quality of relationships with parents and the positive Christian impact the school has in the wider community.
• The school’s procedures for evaluating its effectiveness as a Church School.
• The excellent and vibrant quality of worship which makes a significant impact on pupils’ spiritual development.

Our curriculum is designed to deepen knowledge and develop skills, with literacy at the heart, ensuring effective progression within each subject discipline and across all year groups.

Our Christian Values and Distinctiveness, alongside our School Mission Statement of ‘Achieve, Believe and Care’, are at the heart of our curriculum and all that we do at St. Wilfrid’s.

Implementation

In Religious Education, we implement an inclusive curriculum that meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum. As a Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary Academy, our Religious Education curriculum is based on the syllabus written by the Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education. As a Christian School, our pupils are taught about other world faiths as part of the multicultural society in which we live. Our curriculum is well-planned and provides literacy-rich, cross-curricular opportunities. For each topic a series of stimulating lessons are planned, with clear knowledge-based learning objectives incorporating the Christian concepts (God, Creation, Fall, People of God, Incarnation, Gospel, Salvation and Kingdom of God) and subject-specific vocabulary. Reflective opportunities are planned to allow children the opportunity to evaluate what they have learnt and to address any misconceptions. Teachers assess learning in Religious Education through using the ‘Questful Maps’, the unit overviews and the Blackburn Diocese ladder of expectation.  Our curriculum is delivered through highly effective ‘quality first teaching’. Enrichment opportunities, including outdoor learning (garden chapel), inspirational visitors (other faiths) and exciting educational visits (living church), provide our children with rich experiences and enhance teaching, learning and knowledge. Our Religious Education curriculum promotes children’s Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development, ensuring that they are reflective and responsible citizens. Fundamental British Values are actively promoted in Religious Education lessons in order to prepare the children for life in Modern Britain.

Impact

Our well-planned Religious Education curriculum ensures that children are able to make links between Christian faith and those of others in their community and in the wider world. Through the breadth and depth that our curriculum offers, children are developing an understanding of other religions and ways of life. Our curriculum enables children to become active citizens, serving their neighbour and enables them to become global citizens and courageous advocates for change in the world, from a local to global level.

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