Religious Education
Here at Oliverson's, RE is central to our weekly teaching and learning. We believe that the Christian values we learn about in RE feed into our school's culture and key Christian values. We follow the Blackburn Diocesan RE Syllabus and the Understanding Christianity syllabus, through which, our children learn about Christianity and other world faiths.
Take a look at our curriculum overview for more details on the RE topics covered by each year group.
re curriculum overview 2023.pdf
RE Intent
At Goosnargh Olliverson’s CE School, the Religious Education provided conforms to the rites, practices and doctrines of the Church of England as laid down in the Trust Deeds. Our challenging and robust RE curriculum is based on an accurate theological framework and aims to:
- to enable pupils to know about and understand Christianity as a living faith that influences the lives of people worldwide and as the religion that has most shaped British culture and heritage;
- to enable pupils to know and understand about other major world religions and world views, their impact on society, culture and the wider world, enabling pupils to express ideas and insights;
- to contribute to the development of pupils’ own spiritual/philosophical convictions, exploring and enriching their own beliefs and values;
- give pupils a theologically informed and thoughtful account of Christianity as a living and diverse faith;
- enable pupils to show an informed and respectful attitude to religions and world views in their search for God and meaning;
- allow pupils to engage in meaningful and informed dialogue with those of other faiths and none;
- enable pupils to reflect critically and responsibly on their own spiritual, philosophical and ethical convictions.
At Oliverson’s, we are committed to providing our children with an exciting and positive learning environment, in which they can develop their knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other world religions while contributing to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
We aim to provide a welcoming, family atmosphere, guided by the values and beliefs of our Christian faith. A community which fosters friendliness, respect and consideration for all.
We endeavour to provide opportunities to explore and challenge a range of values, attitudes, beliefs, rights and responsibilities.
At the heart of our curriculum sit our Christian values which are:
Thankfulness, Perseverance, Trust, Forgiveness, Justice, Generosity, Compassion, Service, Friendship, Respect, Courage, Truthfulness and Humility.
RE Implementation
Religious Education is a statutory subject of the curriculum for all pupils in each year group and ‘should be provided for all registered pupils except those withdrawn at the request of their parents.
At Goosnargh Oliverson’s, our Religious Education lessons are primarily focused around the teaching of the ‘Big Story’ in the Bible, and although the Bible is made up of many stories, ultimately they all knit together to tell the story of God’s rescue plan for the world. Our school’s Christian values of; joy, forgiveness, love, thankfulness, kindness, love, humility, trust, hope, responsibility, courage and perseverance are a consistent thread throughout our RE curriculum.
At Goosnargh Oliverson's, we follow the Blackburn Diocese curriculum as well as the supporting units from ‘Understanding Christianity’ resource. The children predominantly learn about Christianity but are also given the opportunity to learn about, discover and question other world faiths.
Our RE teaching encourages children to be reflective, thoughtful and considerate. A typical unit will follow the structure of:
- Explore the text
- Discover the impact
- Make the connection
- Dive deeper
This process allows children to build on their knowledge and understanding of the content and it means they are given the time and input needed in order to consider their own theological ideas and spiritual development.