Belton All Saints Church of England Primary School

Here at Belton All Saints, we teach Religious Education by meeting the requirements of the Lincolnshire Agreed Syllabus, supported by the materials from Understanding Christianity. Our aim is to engage, encourage, inspire and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to explore ‘big’ questions as well as preparing them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.

We believe that all children, through developing and deepening their understanding of Christianity and other religious and non-religious world views, should leave our school being able to reflect on and express their own beliefs and values including engaging with ‘big’ questions whilst at the same time recognise and celebrate cultural diversity showing sensitivity and respect for other people’s beliefs. Religious Education at our school enables our pupils to grow spiritually, morally, socially and culturally. It is taught progressively throughout our school, ensuring knowledge and skills are built upon. Links are made with other curriculum areas, particularly PSHE and our core Christian values are embedded within along with British Values which enable children to participate positively within an ever-changing society and world.

On our last week of term before we broke up for Christmas, we reflected on the different symbols in the Christmas story.  We thought about how the Christmas star led the wise men to Jesus and how that brought hope. We then created our own star and added our hopes and dreams for the future. We created angels and reflected on how they brought good news which led us to think about people in our lives who are encouraging and help to make us feel safe but also about people who we could be encouraging to. We considered why bells are rung on Christmas morning in order to celebrate the birth of Jesus and linked this to us being thankful for our own lives over the last year; thankful for things at school and at home. Finally, we considered candles and that they are used as a Christmas decoration because Jesus described himself as the light of the world. We reflected on how candle light pushes back the darkness in a room. As we looked at the candle, we reflected on the fact, that for Christians, God’s love is like a light and that the darkness cannot put out God’s love and light

In the autumn term, the Y6 children considered the question: Do you have to believe in God to be good? The first question they were asked was what does ‘good’ mean. Here are some of their responses:

"A good baddie isn’t someone who has a good personality, it is someone who doesn’t get caught and is good at what they do".  

"To make a good teacher they need to: listen to their students answers; to be ready to teach; treat their students the same; make sure the children learn and make sure their lessons are good."

"A good pupil is a pupil that always gets on with their work and is always kind. They always do what they are told to do and never make fun of people no matter what."

During the last week of term, throughout school, each class spent time reflecting on the events of Holy week. The children looked at paintings by Ethiopian artist Nebiyu Assefa which portray different parts of the Easter story. The children considered the thoughts and feelings of Jesus, Mary and the disciples and what it might feel like to be unjustly accused and treated as a criminal as Jesus had been.

Each class also spent time nurturing their spiritual development by being part of a Godly Play which retells the Easter story. Godly Plays give children the time and space to wonder and to question enabling them to explore and develop their understanding of God.

A high-quality religious education curriculum inspires all pupils to become religiously literate and able to hold balanced and informed conversations about religions and belief. It should provide opportunities for pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding of Christianity as well as other principal religions and world views. It should focus on concepts as well as content, within the context of enquiry-based learning and provide opportunities for pupils to explore authentic religious material and reflect diversity in terms of the changing religious landscape of the UK so that they are prepared for life in modern Britain.

Lincolnshire Locally Agreed Syllabus 2018 - 2023

The children looked at being good from Humanist and Buddhist viewpoints. They considered how these viewpoints impacted on the daily lives of people who hold these views. The children found out about Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, who later became known as the Buddha, meaning the ‘enlightened’ one. They also considered the Eightfold Path and how this helps Buddhists to make good choices in life.

"...People will choose to be kind and thoughtful like for instance, if people follow the right livelihood, they won’t be greedy and won’t take what they don’t need..."

"...They will not be evil. They will respect life. They will make good choices. They will meditate so if they get angry they will be calm. They will say nothing that will hurt other people’s feelings. They will control their thoughts and be wise."

Picture NewsWe use Picture news to support our RE teaching and collective worship. You can find an example of a half termly overview here.

Find out more about Picture News here: Teaching Resources for Assemblies | Picture News (picture-news.co.uk)