Our Subject Leader for Religious Education is Mr Hawley.
At Debden, RE is an integral part of the curriculum, in which we aim to develop children's knowledge and understanding of the religions and beliefs which form part of contemporary society. We feel that it is important that our high-quality Religious Education curriculum develops children's religious literacy:their ability to hold balanced conversations and well-informed conversations about religions and worldviews.
Our RE curriculum is enquiry-based, with children developing the knowledge and the skills needed to address their enquiry question in depth and with clarity by the end of each unit. The content is rooted in three key disciplines: Theology (thinking through believing), Philosophy (thinking through thinking) and Human/Social Sciences (thinking through living). The balance of these three disciplinary lenses enables children to become more religiously-literate.
As a Church of England school, we also strive to ensure that children construct a comprehensive understanding of the 'Big Story' of Christianity throughout their time at our school. For this reason, we have systematically embedded the 8 recurring themes of 'Understanding Christianity' throughout our curriculum: God, Creation, The Fall, People of God, Incarnation, Gospel, Salvation and Kingdom of God.
Alongside our programme of collective worship, RE also contributes to our pupils’ personal development and wellbeing, and to community cohesion by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse society. It offers opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development, deepening the understanding of the significance of religion in the lives of others – individually, communally and cross-culturally.
Please see the key documents below to gain a greater insight into how RE is taught and developed at our school. We have recently reviewed and updated our curriculum in this subject area, and so new knowledge organisers are in development!
