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Excellence in Religious Education
The principal aim of
RE is to enable pupils to hold balanced and informed conversations about
religion and worldviews 1
Aims and purposes of Religious Education in the
Church school
This principal aim incorporates the following aims of
Religious Education in Church schools. 2
To enable pupils:
· to know
about and understand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the
exploration of core beliefs using an approach that critically engages with
biblical text.
· to gain
knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews appreciating
diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews being
studied.
· to engage
with challenging questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existence and
experience.
· to
recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s
cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different
times, cultures and places.
· to explore
their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways living, believing and
thinking.
Appropriate to their age at the end of their
education in Church schools, the expectation is that all pupils are religiously
literate and, as a minimum, pupils are able to:
· Give a
theologically informed and thoughtful account of Christianity as a living and
diverse faith.
· Show an
informed and respectful attitude to religions and non-religious worldviews in
their search for God and meaning.
· Engage in
meaningful and informed dialogue with those of other faiths and none.
· Reflect
critically and responsibly on their own spiritual, philosophical and ethical
convictions.
Footnotes
1 This principal aim
has developed from continuing diocesan adviser work on the purpose of RE by
Jane Chipperton (Diocese of St Albans), Gillian Georgiou (Diocese of Lincoln),
Olivia Seymour (Diocese of York) and Kathryn Wright (Diocese of Norwich) balanced-re-key-principles.pdf
(dioceseofyork.org.uk). It also reflects the direction towards an education
in religion and worldviews, set out in the Commission on RE report, Religion
and Worldviews: the way forward (2018), and subsequent developments in the
light of that report. See www.religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk/worldviews/
2 As taken from Religious Education in Church of England Schools: A Statement
of Entitlement 2019. www.churchofengland.org/about/education-and-schools/church-schools-and-academies/religious-education
Balanced RE
The approach to RE curriculum design has been developed by four
Diocesan RE advisers (Jane Chipperton [St Alban's], Gillian Georgiou [Lincoln],
Olivia Seymour [York] and Kathryn Wright [Norwich]) for use in all schools
and academies. This work has been developed in collaboration with teachers and
subject experts over the last four years and has recently received support from
the Church of England Education Office to facilitate its further development.
The four advisers set out to try and achieve a balanced curriculum that
enables pupils to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion
and belief. This balanced approach will ensure that children and young people
are able effectively develop their religious literacy. Implicit within this is
the study of a range of religions, belief systems and worldviews.
The documents below outline the Balanced RE approach in more
detail and provide audit tools to support RE subject leaders to consider the RE
curriculum in their school or academy.
Further information about the Balanced RE approach in the
evolving Religion and Worldviews paradigm can be found on RE:Online here.
Further
support can be found in the following documents.
Assessing RE
The Ofsted RE Research Review (2021) outlines three key types of
knowledge developed through the RE curriculum: substantive (the content we
teach), disciplinary (the 'ways of knowing'; the questions asked of and methods
used to engage with the content) and personal (a pupils' growing awareness of
their own worldview and the ways in which it impacts on their learning).
Substantive knowledge and disciplinary knowledge do not equate to a ‘knowledge
and skills’ dichotomy. We need a clear understanding of the different types of
knowledge if we are going to be able to support pupils to know how to ‘get
better in RE’ (i.e. make progress).
Pupils can be said to be ‘getting better at RE’ (i.e. making
progress) if they are knowing, understanding, remembering and being able to do
more as a result of the curriculum that has been planned and delivered.
Assessment processes help us understand whether pupils know,
understand, remember and can do more based on the curriculum that has been
planned and delivered.
Below is some guidance that focuses on what it
might look like to 'get better' at the ways of knowing (disciplinary
knowledge). This document was written by two diocesan advisers, Gillian
Georgiou [Lincoln] and Olivia Seymour [York]
Religious Education in Different School Types
Religious Education in Voluntary Aided (VA) schools
For Voluntary Aided Schools with a religious character Religious
Education is the responsibility of the governing body. The Diocesan
Board of Education recommends its syllabus for adoption as it has been
written to reflect the religious foundation of a Voluntary Aided school
in York Diocese.
Religious Education in Voluntary Controlled (VC) and Foundation schools
Voluntary Controlled schools with a religious character should follow
the Local Authority Agreed Syllabus unless parents request a
denominational one. There is much in the diocesan syllabus to support
schools to achieve Christian distinctiveness and the diocese strongly
suggests that schools use the support materials in the syllabus as they
will complement the Locally Agreed Syllabus.
Religious Education in an Academy
The requirements for Religious Education at an academy with a
religious foundation are specified in the funding agreement for that
academy.
For a VA school that converts to academy status the model funding
agreement specifies that an academy with a religious designation must
provide RE in accordance with the tenets of the particular faith
specified in the designation. The diocesan syllabus is written to
support academies within the Diocese of York to meet the requirements of
their funding agreement.
Foundation or Voluntary Controlled schools with a religious
designation that convert to academy status must arrange for RE in
accordance with the requirements for agreed syllabuses (in the main
Christian whilst taking account of the other principal religions
represented in Great Britain) unless any parents request that their
children receive RE in accordance with the tenets of the school’s faith.
If any parents do request this, the academy must make arrangements for
those children to receive such RE unless, because of special
circumstances, it would be unreasonable to do so. The funding agreement
sets this out (by applying the relevant provisions of the Education Act
1996 and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998). In practice these
academies generally choose to follow the locally agreed syllabus. The
Diocese of York would commend this.
Schools that are sponsored by the Diocese as Church of England
academies will have a funding agreement that is most likely to reflect
the funding agreement for a VA school. These schools are therefore most
likely to be required to deliver RE in accordance with the tenets of the
Anglican Church. The diocesan syllabus is written to support academies
within the Diocese of York to meet the requirements of their funding
agreement.
Religious Education in Community Schools
Community schools must follow their Locally Agreed Syllabus. The York
Diocesan Board of Education’s syllabus for Religious Education has a
flexibility allowing for a balanced selection of material to be made
reflecting the local context. The Diocesan Syllabus could be used
alongside its counterpart from the Local Authority to provide extra
support materials. It is intended to be a support to community schools
in their teaching of Christianity as well as the foundation for
religious education in church schools.
If you would like a copy of the Diocesan Syllabus (for Primary and Secondary Schools) please contact Olivia Seymour oseymour@yorkdiocese.org