Success Story with Churchfield CE Primary Academy in Staffordshire
Significant success with the RE Curriculum.
Using the enquiry-based approach in Discovery RE has really enabled the children to deepen their thinking. Starting each unit from the children’s own experience engages them straight away and they are then keen to find out how different religions approach these concepts. This then has the knock-on effect that the children are now thinking much more deeply about religious belief and practice. We have found that the children are more prepared to challenge the beliefs and express their opinions about a subject.
Specific Impact
The questions being asked by children have really shown deeper thinking and understanding. There were several great examples from the Year 6 children when studying the Christmas story. For instance, discussing the question “Was Jesus really the son of God?”, one child said that “Jesus was not the son of God, because God treats all people as equals and so would not have wanted one person to stand out as special.”
Children have also been able to make links between faiths, in particular when recognising that many of the Hindu goals reflected exactly the values of our school, which give us our Christian distinctiveness.
Churchfield Academy were praised in their SIAMS report not only for their RE work but also the impact that Jigsaw PSHE was having on their children.
“Staff value ‘all God’s children’ and ensure all pupils are respected, loved and cared for. Good examples include the use of ‘Jigsaw’ materials, with their focus on feelings, to support pupils’ personal, social and health education [PSHE]. Pupils enjoy RE, and say they ‘learn more things about God and Jesus’ through their RE. They especially enjoy using an enquiry approach which fosters discussion and encourages pupils to reflect on faith and how it relates to their own lives.”
– SIAMS Inspector
looking Forward
The introduction of the new Discovery RE curriculum has engaged the children in RE much more than the previous, much drier Agreed Syllabus. As a direct result, they are keen to widen their understanding of all faiths around the world and in their local area. We hope to be able to get children out to visit places of worship other than the local church, which we attend on a regular basis. This will have the impact of further renewing the children’s engagement in what is a fascinating and important subject in today’s world.
Headteacher: Johanna Nickolls
RE Subject Leader: Gareth Lloyd
Churchfield C.E. Primary Academy is an Academy within the St Chad’s Multi-Academy Trust with around 191 children
