Religious Education

The school follows the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus for RE.

The syllabus helps children not only gain knowledge and understanding about religions and beliefs but it also helps children to develop their own understanding of the world and how to live, in the light of their learning, developing their understanding, skills and attitudes. The curriculum makes a significant contribution to children’s spiritual, moral, cultural and social development as well as important opportunities for exploring British Values.
The curriculum in our school offers open, enquiring and exploratory RE suitable for children who have a
religious faith of their own as well as those who do not. Children are encouraged to make sense of the religions studied, which include Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam, as well as non religious beliefs such as humanist perspectives. They are also encouraged to understand the impact of those beliefs in people’s lives and make connections with their own learning and experiences of the wider world.
Children will use resources selected by staff to support the Agreed Syllabus over a two year cycle from published materials including Discovery RE, Understanding Christianity using an approach which takes The Big Picture of Christianity and teaches it through seven key concepts – such as salvation, the fall, creation, and resurrection. A range of other resources will be used for the other faiths including online tours of religious places of worship and the experts from other faiths from within the schools wider community including the children themselves. We are not a faith school but we do hold daily assemblies at school which incorporate broadly Christian beliefs and values, moral and social concerns as well as British values.
We sustain positive links with local churches and religious organisations who occasionally take
assemblies such as the fortnightly “Open the Book” team and local clergy.
We encourage visits to places of worship of all denominations such as synagogues, the cathedral,
local churches and chapels and visits from a range of representatives from local religious groups and
religious leaders.

As parents you have the right to withdraw your child from or all part of RE and from collective worship assemblies.