RE at St. Mark’s: We always aim to let our light shine!

Intent: To design a curriculum with appropriate subject knowledge, skills and understanding, so that children can reach and exceed their potential to learn more, understand more and remember more about the Christian faith, with particular reference to Anglican and Methodist denominations, as well as other faiths.

To design a curriculum subject which results in children developing an awareness and tolerance of living in a multi-cultural society and being mutually respectful towards the beliefs of others.

Implementation: To follow the Understanding Christianity syllabus and parts of the North Somerset syllabus, Awareness, Mystery and Value. To also teach the Methodist units written alongside REToday in yrs 2, 4 and 6.

Each unit of work identifies and builds upon prior learning.

Teaching: RE is taught in a block unit within a term and allows suitable links to be made to specific religious festivals taking place. It is recognised that discussion and listening to others is an important part of learning in RE, so lessons are recorded in a whole class book to gain evidence of the children’s development in learning. Written evidence is also recorded in individual books at least twice a term, which gives the children time to reflect on their own understanding.

Resources: Children gain a deeper understanding of the religion studied through the use of resources and artefacts.

Impact: The children at St. Mark’s enjoy learning lots about other religions and why people choose or choose not to follow a religion. Through their R.E. learning, the children are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world. R.E. acts as a hub, therefore, between social aspects of learning, science and geography.

Through R.E. our children are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life, which they are then able to communicate to the wider community.

R.E. offers our children the means by which to understand how other people choose to live and to understand why they choose to live in that way. As such, R.E. is invaluable in an ever changing and shrinking world , helping the children to understand how they can let their light shine in our school, in our community and in the wider world around them.