“God will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” Hebrews 6:10 (NIV)
We work together to understand, show and share God’s love. Adults and children act with honesty and kindness, appreciate each other’s differences and love their neighbours. We strive to approach all learning with a positive attitude, a sense of collaboration and a desire to achieve.
oUR VISION
- We want our children to make excellent progress and to be rigorous in their learning.
- We believe that RE can be enjoyable, exciting and engaging for all children.
- We believe RE lessons should provoke challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God and other religious entities, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.
- All children will develop deepening knowledge and understanding about a range of religious and non-religious world views.
- By the end of Helen’s, our students will have a wide variety of opportunities in RE including external visitors, workshops, presentations and trips to a variety of places of worships.
- We want our children to understand the role St Helen’s church plays in both our school and village communities.
iMPLEMENTATION
- Discrete RE lessons takes place every week for an hour.
- Children are regularly assessed in RE through independent pieces of work and verbal communication of understanding and skills. Children’s work is moderated throughout the school year.
- We take guidance from the Hertfordshire Agreed Syllabus for RE and use Understanding Christianity and Emmanuel Resources to support the teaching of RE.
- Children learn about a different worldwide faith each year, making comparisons with Christianity as appropriate, as well as other world views.
- Children regularly attend St Helen’s church as well as different places of worship in line with the faith they are learning about that year.
- P4C / Ultimate Questions are used throughout the teaching of RE to develop children’s understanding of the world in both religious and no-religious contexts.
siam'S iNSPECTION
We are proud of our recent Siam's report, where our teaching of R.E was graded as excellent.
Here are few extracts from our Siam's report:
•"The Christian vision expressed by leaders nourishes the life of all so pupils and adults watch over one another with devoted love. Formal systems for leaders to capture the impact of the vision are, however, at an early stage of development.
• Religious education (RE) is excellent because pupils acquire a depth of knowledge that surpasses expectations for their age. The subject is exceptionally well led and taught and so contributes to wider personal and academic growth.
• Inspired by the vision, love is shown to others. All ages act with kindness and consideration towards their neighbours.
• A culture of deep reflection provides spiritual nourishment. However, the lack of a shared definition and understanding of spirituality limits spiritual development.
• Collective working binds this nurturing community together. Time for worship is highly valued and enriched by a fruitful partnership with the local church."
R.E lessons - withdraw
Requests to Withdraw a pupil from RE lessons
Parents have the statutory right under Section 71 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to request their child/ren are wholly or partly excused from:
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RE lessons in accordance with the schools’ basic curriculum
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Acts of Collective Worship in schools
As parents, you do not have to provide a reason for requesting the withdrawal. However before exercising any right of withdrawal we would recommend you discuss your concerns withthe headteacher Headteacher.
Important - limitations to withdraw
If pupils are withdrawn from RE, schools have a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching. A pupil may be required to work in another area of the school, such as the library or another class.
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Whilst parents or carers have a right to withdraw children from RE, they should note that child/ren may also encounter religions and beliefs and wider aspects of faith in other areas of the National Curriculum from which there is no right of withdrawal.
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On occasion, spontaneous questions about religious matters are raised by pupils or issues related to religion arise in other curriculum subjects such as history or PSHE. For example, schools promote community cohesion and help pupils to understand ideas about identity and diversity, feelings and emotions within both religious and non-religious contexts.
Managing the Right of Withdrawal
All requests for withdrawals should be made in writing, addressed to the headteacher.
If pupils are withdrawn from RE, schools have a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching or to incur extra cost. Pupils will usually remain on school premises where it is feasible and appropriate.
Where a request for withdrawal is made, the school must comply and excuse the pupil until the request is rescinded. Though not legally required, it is good practice for a headteacher to invite parents to discuss their written request.
