RE

Religious Education at Culworth Academy - Intent, Implementation and Impact

RESPECT  BELIEVE  SUCCEED!

​Our approach to R.E. reflects the School’s vision of Respect, Believe, Succeed.
Respect is drawn from Matthew 7:12, which says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In other words, to listen to others as you wish to be listened to, to treat the thoughts and opinions of others as you would want your own to be treated and to value the differences and uniqueness of others in the way you yourself wish to be valued.
Believe is to believe in yourself and have the confidence to act on what you think and express what you believe; to nurture a self-belief which builds personal resilience and confidence to reach for your own goals.
Succeed is what we believe children will do if they respect others and develop the self-confidence to believe in themselves.

What do we want to achieve for our children?

​Our intent, for our Religious Education, is for children to be knowledgeable and respectful towards the plethora of faiths and nonfaiths that they will encounter, in their own community and the modern world beyond it. We also intend for children to think more widely and deeply about their own response to these ideas and understand the impact of their own beliefs on their personal choices and actions. We draw our curriculum from the Peterborough Diocese Syllabus for Education and, with them, our aim is “to enable pupils to hold balanced and informed conversations about religion and belief”. When teaching Christianity, the resource we use - Understanding Christianity -aims to “support pupils in developing their understanding of Christianity, as a contribution to their understanding of the world and their own experience within it”.
It is our intent, that over time, the children’s reflections will develop their own sense of spirituality.

How will we achieve this and what does RE look like at Culworth school? 

Religious Education is a core academic subject at Culworth and is taught as part of the regular weekly time table across the school, from reception to Year 6. This is augmented with off site visits, designated R.E. days and visiting speakers. Where the area of study fits well with the term’s topic, links are made and the learning is contextually deepened.
We draw our curriculum from the Peterborough Diocese Syllabus for Education which contains units that provide an in-depth focus on aspects of a range of faiths, both Abrahamic and Dharmic, as well as thematic units which draw on multi faith content to explore a theme. Big questions are used and addressed and children are encouraged to ask their own. Over time, knowledge and concepts are repeated and developed to maximize the potential for the learning to become embedded. To this end we select less, rather than more, content examples and explore them to greater depth ensuring links are continually made across the units.
Christianity Units account for 50% of our curriculum and we use the highly regarded “Understanding Christianity” as our resource. It provides the children with a visual representation of the overarching story of the bible and focuses on the concepts of Christianity found within the story. Where possible, all references to or from the Christian faith, whether that be in R.E. lessons, Collective Worship or the outworking of the School’s Christian ethos, are supported by the framework that this approach provides.

How will this support my child now and in the future?

​Our approach to R.E. teaching recognises the range of interpretations and practices within each faith/non faith group. Children are taught to respect each other’s developing views and opinions and to have confidence and self-belief to express their own. Our curriculum is matched by teachers to the needs of all children in their class so that it can be accessed by all. RE teaching will support our children in becoming empowering and righteous future citizens. It will evoke feelings in them of a deep belief  that they be successful in all that they set out to achieve. They will aspire to challenge and promote this vision for others also.