Religious Education

At St Barnabas and St Helena’s federation our Religious Education curriculum ensures that children are given the opportunity to develop compassion, friendship and a sense of unity within our community but also in the wider world. Our RE curriculum is underpinned by our school vision and values, providing our children with the opportunities to ‘seek positive transformation in the world’  and ‘unlock potential’. We believe that it is key for all children to learn about a range of faiths in order to develop knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and non-religious views. We find this is especially important within our rural community in order to develop a broader understanding of the world, providing opportunities for real life experiences and discussions with people with differing world views and perspectives.

As a Church of England school, we recognise the core place that RE occupies as part of a broad and balanced curriculum and its foundation in a strong and inclusive community. We follow the units covered in the Locally Agreed Syllabus for RE using an additional supporting document by the LDBE. By using this framework we aim to provide an environment where children are able to develop their own opinions and beliefs and feel included in all aspects of the teaching and learning.

At St Barnabas and St Helena’s federation our Religious Education curriculum is taught in  line with the Statement of Entitlement, which sets out that, on average, children in KS1 should have on average 1 hour of RE a week, and children in KS2 should have approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes a week. 

Children are taught to question, discuss and form their own beliefs in RE lessons. They are taught about specific worldviews and relate the lessons to specific case studies in KS2. 

Our units all begin with a question that is answered in various ways throughout the unit. 

Much of the teaching in RE is done by discussions, activities and experiences, whilst not forgetting the importance of looking deeper through research and written work. 

Children are asked about RE and how it makes them feel to learn about beliefs around the world. 

"I love the visitors coming in. The people that came in to talk about Ramadan and Eid were really cool."

Said by a Year 3 child following a visit from pupils from The St Lawrence Academy when they delivered workshops for each class. 

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"I like learning about other people, they're interesting. I like listening to stories the most, like about the baby Jesus."

Year 1

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“I like it when we learn about Jesus and the stories he told us when he was alive”

Year 2

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“I know how to be respectful and think about others”

Year 4

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“I like RE because if I have a friend who is a different faith I know what they do and understand a bit more about it”

Year 5