Religious Education
As a Church school, at St Michael’s, we believe that it is essential for all our pupils to learn from and about religion and how it impacts on the daily lives of themselves and others throughout the world.
Through Religious Education, we support our children to develop their knowledge of world faiths, and their understanding and awareness of the beliefs, values and traditions of other individuals, societies, communities and cultures. We want to encourage our pupils to ask questions about the world and to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences. We will offer pupils cultural experiences that will enable them to become educated citizens with a good sense of right and wrong.
We aim for our pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding through a carefully constructed RE Syllabus which demonstrates progression and continuity across all phases. We want our pupils to be confident in articulating their opinions and points of view and yet listen and accept those of others.
We use a combination of the Diocesan model of 'Understanding Christianity' and the Wakefield Locally Agreed Syllabus as the basis for our RE curriculum (also seeking support from the local Diocese).
In addition to our RE Lessons, we also have a daily acts of collective worship. The themes within our highly structured plan for collective worship supports the core principals learned in RE and PSHCE/RSE. Our school year is divided into specific thematic units as identified in our PSHCE Scheme of work, and within each theme specific skills are taught and covered - which develop pupils' spirituality and quality of engagement with others and the world around them.
This approach has been devised in such a way that the learning skills for each year group are progressive and age appropriate. Core skills and thematic units are delivered on a weekly basis through strategically planned activities in Collective Worship (reflected in the Collective Worship Long Term Plan; Drama based PSHCE lessons (delivered by Yew Tree Drama Specialist for all pupils in KS1 and KS2); Religious Education (delivered by teachers) and Physical Education (delivered by PE Specialist to all year groups in KS1 and KS2). These specific teaching activities will be reinforced and developed upon by all staff in all contexts when working with pupils - this will be through planned sessions (as appropriate) and also incidental learning (e.g. when dealing with a particular behaviour issue that has arisen). The major themes will also be initiated through collective worship and reinforced in classroom reflection areas.
Religious Education Long Term Plan
Religious Education Progression Map
