Religious Education at Chaddesley Corbett Religious education provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. It develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other world faiths, other religious traditions and other world views. It offers opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development. It enhances pupils’ awareness and understanding of religions and beliefs, teachings, practices and forms of expression, as well as of the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures. Religious education encourages pupils to learn from different religions, beliefs, values and traditions while exploring their own beliefs and questions of meaning. It challenges pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses. It encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging. It enables them to flourish individually within their communities and the global community. Religious education has an important role in preparing pupils for adult life, employment and lifelong learning. It enables pupils to develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular those whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own. It promotes discernment and enables pupils to combat prejudice.
At Chaddesley Corbett Endowed Primary School we are a non-denominational school. Most of our families have Christian backgrounds so to serve the community we have developed many links. We have strong links with St. Cassian’s Church. Once a month a team from the church deliver a collective worship. They follow the Open the Book scheme basing each assembly on a story from the Bible. They act this story out including the children in roles. The children very much look forward to these opportunities. At major Christian festivals children from school are invited by the Open the Book team to join in with the church service following the same principles as in school. Rev. Hugh Burton also visits school every half term to lead a collective worship based on the schools core values. As a school we also recognise important Christian festivals such as Easter, Harvest and Christmas. The children will participate within services to mark these occasions both at school and in St. Cassian’s church.
For the teaching of R.E. we follow the Worcestershire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. It is based upon key questions linked to important life events such as marriage, birth, celebrations, pray etc. It enables us not only to learn and reflect upon Christian beliefs and values, but to also recognise and study other major religions. We also continue to recognise and develop our understanding through our collective worships and activities we offer to the children. Examples of this are our corridor display based around India and Japan and visitors to school to lead collective worship based upon Islam, Sikhism and Chinese New Year. We feel it is very important that all children have an understanding of other people beliefs, faiths and cultures as well as recognising their own. Through this they develop core values of respect and tolerance.
