Our Curriculum

RE at St. Michael's

St Michael’s Woolmer Green is a Church of England Voluntary Aided School and our Christian ethos lies at the heart of the school. We acknowledge our trust deed and therefore believe Religious Education should have high priority and status within our school.

The Ethos team, which includes foundation governors, teachers and the headteacher, ensure the school upholds the Trust Deed and promotes strong links between the church, the school and the local community which reflects the distinctive Christian character of the school.

As a school we follow the objectives in Understanding Christianity and Identities, Meanings and Values which is the agreed RE syllabus for Bedfordshire and Luton.

Aims of Religious Education At St. Michael’s

The teaching of RE reflects and reinforces the school’s vision and ethos.

At St. Michael’s, our aims for RE are to:

• Adopt an enquiry-based approach as recommended by Ofsted, using big questions as unit focuses.

• Provoke challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs, the self, and issues of right and wrong, commitment and belonging.

• It develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions, and religious traditions that examine these questions, fostering personal reflection and spiritual development.

• Encourage pupils to explore their own beliefs (religious or non-religious), in the light of what they learn, as they examine issues of religious belief and faith and how these impact on Our Vision, ‘Shine as Lights in the World.’ Enable pupils to build their sense of identity and belonging, which helps them flourish within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society.

• Teach pupils to develop respect for others, including people with different faiths and beliefs, and helps to challenge prejudice.

• Prompt pupils to consider their responsibilities to themselves and to others, and to explore how they might contribute to their communities and to wider society. It encourages empathy, generosity and compassion.

• Enable pupils to build their sense of identity and belonging, which helps them flourish within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society.

• Develop a sense of awe, wonder and mystery.

• Nurture children’s own spiritual development.

The reason for Understanding Christianity

To support pupils in developing their understanding of Christianity, as a contribution to their understanding of the world and their own experience within it.

The aims of Understanding Christianity are:

To enable pupils to know about and understand Christianity as a living world faith, by exploring core theological concepts

To enable pupils to develop knowledge and skills in making sense of biblical texts and understanding their impact in the lives of Christians

To develop pupils’ abilities to connect, critically reflect upon, evaluate and apply their learning to their own growing understanding of Christianity, of religion and belief more widely, of themselves, the world and human experience.

What is being taught?

Understanding Christianity resources have selected and explore these eight concepts because they offer a coherent series of ideas that underpin Christian belief and practice. The ‘big frieze' gives a context into which teachers and pupils can place the concepts as they encounter them in RE throughout the school.