Religious Education
As Church schools, our Christian ethos run through the heart of everything we do at Cornerstone Schools. Consequently, RE is a core subject and all children spend part of their school week learning about Christianity and other major world religions or non-religious world views. Children learn how to think, how to question and even how to disagree effectively through interesting and stimulating RE lessons.
We follow the Leeds and York Diocesan Syllabus for Religious Education.
“Good RE equips pupils for life, by helping them to engage in balanced and informed conversations about religion and belief, which touch areas of everyday life on a personal, local and global level. It also enables them to develop critical analytical skills alongside religious and theological literacy, as well as supporting the thoughtful and reflective development of pupils’ own beliefs and values.”
Rt Revd Jonathan Gibbs, Chair of the Diocesan Board of Education, Bishop of Huddersfield
Big Questions
In-keeping with our learning question approach throughout all subjects, each half term there is a different BIG QUESTION which informs the RE focus for the lessons that follow. These are taken from the Diocesan Syllabus and Understanding Christianity. Class 1 questions include “Why do Christians perform Nativity plays?”, “Who is Jewish and how do they live?” or “Who made the world?”. Class 2 questions become increasingly challenging such as “What is the Trinity?”, “Creation and science: conflicting or complimentary?” or “What does it mean for Muslims to follow God?”
The children spend approximately 2/3 of their RE time on Christianity but we also recognise the importance of developing a cultural awareness and understanding of other major world faiths.
Spiritual development
Definition – Spiritual development focuses on an individual’s own personal beliefs and values and their resulting behaviours. Through spiritual development, children are able to understand their own feelings and emotions and this enables them to reflect and to learn.
Our learning environment and curriculum
Curriculum opportunities enable pupils to:
- Be curious and to express feelings of delight and wonder, (scientific investigations, chemical reactions, new life, the global landscape)
- Empathise and consider the viewpoints of others, (debates, drama activities, discussing feelings and empathising with characters in familiar stories)
- Consider how a belief can change people’s lifestyles , (R.E, investigating communities and faiths, historical case studies)
- Discuss what they think they have achieved and what they need to do to be successful in the future, (self assessment, target setting activities)