St Giles Church of England Primary School
RE and Collective Worship
Religious Education
We follow the Derbyshire Agreed Syllabus for RE, and view this as a core subject; achievement in RE is monitored by the Full Governing Body, and Governors and leaders ensure that high priority is given to RE through funding and CPD. Our approach to RE follows the 'Statement of Entitlement' and we use this document as a guiding principle for how we organise the subject in school.
Pupils make good progress and achieve well in RE, and our assessment system adopted from the Agreed Syllabus evidences this. We achieved RE Quality Mark at Silver Level in October 2019, indicating the strong emphasis and provision for RE within school. The main resource we use within the Agreed Syllabus is 'Understanding Christianity'; two thirds of our teaching in RE is Christian-based, with other religions taught as well (Judaism in KS1, Hinduism in Y3/4 and Islam and Sikhism - incorporating Buddhism - in Y5/6). Stories from other religions are weaved across the curriculum outside of these taught units, and teachers also refer to and discuss other beliefs including atheism and humanism. As a school, we celebrate, and embrace, 'all faiths and none.' Our curriculum is also supplemented and embraced by ‘What If’ learning, which weaves Christian values across all areas and subjects.
Collective Worship
These gatherings are of central importance in school life, and we share with our children the wonder of God’s world, and their place within it as children of God. Our values are strongly Christian and we are well supported by Foundation Governors, including Reverend Andy Walker, who leads Collective Worship alternate weeks on Mondays. The children are regular visitors to our church - we visit at various times in the Christian calendar (Easter, Pentecost, Christmas, Mothering Sunday and so on), as well as enrichment visits for younger pupils.
We hold Key Stage Collective Worship on Tuesdays, Singing Worship on Wednesdays and 'Picture News' worship on Thursdays. This resource links to our PSHE Curriculum (PSHE Matters), and broadens children's understanding of current affairs and helps them to think about how to be courageous advocates for positive change to e.g. environmental or social justice issues. On Fridays, we hold Celebration Worships for Infant and Junior children, to which parents are invited.
