Religious Education

Our School Vision:

'Together through faith we will aspire to grow in our understanding of ourselves, in our

abilities and in our knowledge of God’s wonderful diverse world.'

Our core values; Trust, Love Honestly and Truthfulness Respect, Friendship and Perseverance underpin the ethos of the Academy and how we conduct ourselves daily, respecting each other, our differences and helping each other. 

At St James Religious Education (RE) plays an important role in defining the school’s distinctive Christian character.  Religious education makes a unique contribution to the ethos of our school and is reflected in our motto, 'Growing and learning together with Faith'.

The skills, values and attitudes developed in RE are at the heart of a cohesive community where the children are encouraged to have a positive sense of identity and belonging.  We aim to ensure that the RE curriculum is challenging, dynamic and relevant to pupils of all ages and encourage the children to ask questions to develop their critical thinking and understanding of the religions and beliefs which form our society, whilst promoting respect and diversity.

RE has a high profile within curriculum across St James and learning activities provide fully for the needs of all learners. RE is taught discretely each week; our aim is to ensure that learners are inspired by the subject and develop a wide range of higher level skills such as enquiry, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and reflection to deepen their understanding of the impact of religion on the world.

A central element to our RE curriculum is ensuring children learn both about and from religion, through providing hands on experiences such as visiting places of worship, interacting with leaders of other faiths or handling religious artefacts we aim to ensure our RE is exciting and engaging for all children and creates a sense of awe and wonder.

Special services to celebrate important times and festivals in the Christian calendar take place at the St James the Great Church. Everyone in the school family, community, other friends and relatives are very welcome to join with us at these special times: Harvest, Christingle, Christmas, and Easter and also at the Leavers’ Service at the end of the summer term. The children are actively involved in producing and leading the services showing their involvement with worship in the community.

  RE-statement-of-entitlement.pdf

The school follows Lichfield Diocesan Board of Education programme of study for RE, it is progressively planned as a deep and rich curriculum taught through school using Understanding Christianity as an effective resource.  Our curriculum is based on key knowledge and skills with children asking ‘Big Questions’, it is equally balance between theological teachings and thinking skills. 

RE Planning Overview.docx