Religious Education (RE)

"Religious education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help educate for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together." (Church of England Vision for Education) 

At St Chad's, the teaching and learning of Religious Education is centred around our children’s knowledge and understanding of the wider world and community around them. It enables children to explore and develop an understanding of what religion is and in doing so, prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in modern Britain. As a Church of England school, central to our RE programme is the study of Christianity as a living and diverse faith, focussing on the teaching of Jesus and the Church. This is why we follow the Understanding Christianity programme, focussing on and exploring the following key concepts:

  • God
  • Creation
  • Gospel
  • Incarnation
  • Salvation

Children will encounter these concepts a number of times as they move through school to develop and deepen their understanding. Through these concepts, children are able to examine and reflect upon their own ideas and values. Understanding people's beliefs can be a first step to recognising and appreciating diversity.

To add further scope and diversity to our RE provision, we also follow the Derbyshire and Derby City Agreed Syllabus. This Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (RE) has been approved by both the Derby City Agreed Syllabus Conference and by Derby City Council. It provides the legal framework for a syllabus for RE for all Derby City Schools. Children learn what different religions believe about God, prayer, belonging, celebrations and sacred texts. The syllabus encourages children to study each religion on its own term and encourages the development of:

  • self-understanding
  • respect for all
  • open-mindedness
  • curiosity and wonder
  • commitment
  • fairness
  • critical -mindedness
  • enquiry
We are incredibly blessed at St Chad's to serve a diverse school community. We respect that we are all different and special. We endeavour to make our RE lessons a safe space for our children to explore their own and other's religious and spiritual beliefs and viewpoints. Through story, discussion, whole school events and involvement with St Augustine's Church, we explore Christianity and other religious traditions in a sensitive, careful and age-appropriate manner. An act of worship is held daily in school. While the children's knowledge grows they are also learning that we flourish as a school family, as a community and as part of our world. 
 
Parents may request that their child is withdrawn from Religious Education and Collective Worship. However, we would hope that all children would participate fully in school life and learn respect for those with a different faith to their own. 
 
A copy of our progression map for RE can be found below.