Religious Education

At St Michael’s, our vision is at the core of everything we do; we foster spiritual and moral development within a caring Christian community and the principles of Christian education form the bedrock of our school.  Yet, we champion the religious freedom of each individual within our school community, a principle evident not only in our RE curriculum but also ingrained in the overarching vision and ethos of our school.

Religious Education (RE) is designed to enhance children's religious literacy through effective curriculum planning and high-quality teaching. Whilst collective worship at the school is based on Christian traditions, RE teaches children about the similarities and differences between all the major world faiths and it provides a safe space for pupils to critically reflect on their own religious, spiritual or philosophical convictions.

We want children to be religiously literate as that enables children to:

• hold a well-informed conversation
• develop an aptitude for dialogue
• have greater awareness of the world in which we live
• develop their own views and opinions based on knowledge and understanding, with a respect that others will think differently to them
• understand, interpret and evaluate texts, sources of wisdom and authority and other evidence

We strive to inspire courage in our children, encouraging them to be passionate advocates for causes that hold personal or global significance. 

Therefore, within every RE unit of learning, the following takes place.

Enquire: Engage with a big question and subsidiary questions.  Questions will be rooted in one of the disciplines of RE: Theology, philosophy or human/social science. Big Concepts are linked in also.

Investigate/explore: What is the religious content and context being explored?  How deep can we go?  This ‘explore’ stage of the enquiry is where children will be primarily learning about religion and belief. 

Evaluate/communicate: The focus is on the impact of the belief or practice, on the religious or belief community being studied. 

Reflect on/express: This is based on knowledge and understanding, not values or Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development.  Personal views are encouraged and shared.

Events such as Remembrance, other religious festivals as well as regular visits to our local church ensure that pupils can enjoy first-hand experiences of religious practice.

Please see our RE Policy and Curriculum Overview attached below.

Collective Worship

At St Michael's, we gather every day for a special time of worship. It's a time when all of us, both students and teachers, come together to learn and reflect. Although our collective worship is distinctly Christian in nature; there is freedom within both prayer and reflection times to worship in other ways. Our nurturing ethos rooted in God’s value enables all members of our school community to thrive and flourish, becoming compassionate and responsible members of society.

Our pattern of weekly worship is as follows:

Monday	‘Big’ Assembly with Infants and Juniors using Picture News incorporating current issues in the World with values/Bible verse	Head / Deputy or SLT
Tuesday	Lower School assembly based on values theme Upper School Music Assembly	Teachers according to rota Music Teacher
Wednesday	Lower School Music Assembly Upper School Assembly based on values theme	Music Teacher Teachers according to rota
Thursday	Pupil-Led Collective Worship in class	Children
Friday	‘Big’ Assembly with Infants, Juniors and Reception with Praise assembly focusing on key themes linked to the liturgical calendar	Clergy plus member of SLT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Worship Policy follows the guidelines of the Education Acts of 1944 and 1988, and it aligns with the tenets of the Church of England as stated in our trust deed. It is available to read below together with our Spirituality Policy.