RE
The principle aim of RE is to help children to achieve knowledge and understanding of religious experiences, insights, beliefs and practices. This will equip them to make, in time, informed choices and decisions, to develop and deepen their beliefs and to respect the freedom of other people to hold beliefs different from their own. Good RE always includes opportunities for the children to engage, enquire, explore, reflect, evaluate and communicate and for this reason, our pupils are given opportunities to learn from religion as well as about religion
Enquire
Explore
Reflect
Evaluate
Communicate
Religious Education at St Thomas'
The RE curriculum is locally determined by each Standing Advisory Council on RE (SACRE), which is responsible for producing its local Agreed Syllabus for RE. The RE curriculum drawn up by SACRE is required to: ‘reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, while taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain.’ (Education Act 1996 Section 365).
As a Church of England school, the Governing Body of St. Thomas CE Primary Academy has adopted the Wolverhampton Agreed Syllabus. During their time at St. Thomas’, children will cover units on Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism, in addition to focusing on Christianity. We believe that Religious Education contributes to the general ethos and values of the school and helps to equip children for life in a multi-cultural society.
At St. Thomas’ we make RE an enjoyable learning experience; we offer challenging and effective RE to pupils, encouraging them to use higher order thinking skills that will impact on all their learning. Planned progression built into the RE curriculum means that the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school. As the children progress in RE they acquire a wider and more detailed knowledge and understanding of religious beliefs, practices, stories and symbols. The children will become more fluent and competent in their use of religious language and terminology and will develop skills in responding to questions of identity, meaning, purpose, values and commitment.
