RE
Meet The Team.
Mrs A Bowman Mrs Meachem Mrs D Bithell RE + PSED School Tribe
Subject Leader Subject Link TA Subject Link Governor
Intent
At Saviours School we strive to ensure that the children’s understanding of faith is tangible and real. Through the teaching of RE we work to prepare children for their future lives in a multi-religious and multi-secular society. We support our children in developing their own beliefs, values and attitudes through an exploration of shared human experience and the place and significance of Christianity and other religions in the contemporary world with an emphasis on Anglican beliefs and practices.
RE is about seeking meaning and making and discovering what matters most. We support children’s own social, emotional, mental health and well being and help illustrate how our faith can support with this.
Implementation
At St. Saviours staff use art, drama, music, D&T and other creative strategies in RE. We believe this enthuses and supports children when it comes to responding to questions, ideas and stories.
St. Saviours recognises that ‘enquiry’ can be instrumental to RE sessions and can deepen children's understanding and reflections. We help pupils develop skills to enquire independently. Pupils are given time to generate pertinent questions where appropriate and teachers of RE ensure that the atmosphere in an RE session is conducive to question raising and reflective thought whenever appropriate. Trusting relationships and environments are valued.
We also appreciate the positive impact that local communities and local faith communities can have on pupils’ experiences in RE. We cater for this by organizing trips and inviting visitors in when appropriate and taking part in a ‘Faith Trail’ around Bolton when possible.
Teachers currently plan in accordance to Manchester Diocesan guidelines and follow the Blackburn Diocesan syllabus alongside using some 'Understanding Christianity' resources. The RE lead is currently in the process of setting up new systems in order to move from our current teaching scheme to the new Manchester Syllabus which was launched in July 2023 and becomes statutory from September 2024.
Classes have dedicated weekly RE sessions and daily collective worships. Further details regarding the implementation of RE and collective worship can be found in the corresponding policies.
There is an 'RE Tribe' in school that collaborate with the RE lead to support with the promotion of RE within their own classes and provide valued feedback to support with the continued development of the subject.
The RE lead collaborates closely with the staff, RE Tribe, Headteacher, link governors, the local church and parents in order to support our children in the best ways possible and to work together to achieve our mission statement, 'Striving For Excellence Whilst Caring For All'.
Impact
We have a strong, caring, supportive school family at St Saviours.
Our children leave St Saviours with a growing understanding of their own faith and of other peoples faith. Discussions with our children have illustrated that they understand the important role faith can have on their own lives and on society around them and the impact they can have within society. Below are some typical responses children gave to the question 'Is RE important and why?':
*Yes , so we know how to stop future wars.
*Yes, so you do not upset or disrespect anyone's beliefs and feelings unknowingly.
*Yes because it can help you to know which is the right decision to make.
We are proud of the young people who leave our school and regularly hear of how well they are doing on the next step of the journey.
Children in school are confident, supportive, respectful, kind and caring and will readily speak about our values and the importance of them.
Staff also have the opportunity to feel supported with their faith and we feel the Christian distinctiveness of our school shines through with the things we do for not only our children but our whole school family, including the wider community.
Key Documents
The file list below contains links to key subject documents.
We are unable to provide a link to the Manchester RE Syllabus due to copyright restrictions. If you would like to see the syllabus though, please contact school and we will be happy to show you a copy.
Additional Information
Our Vision Tree
In collaboration with the staff, children, parents and governors, we created a school vision tree which illustrates our values (the roots) and how they combine with our mission statement (in the trunk) to help achieve our vision which are our blossom leaves. The tree is proudly displayed around school.
Below the tree on this page there is a file list which contains overviews outlining how we achieve each blossom leaf and where this can be seen around our school.
Our Mission Statement and Values
This subject page has been outlining in words our intent, implementation and impact. Below are images of our Mission Statement and our school values. These are celebrated and displayed around school and in every classroom.
We have four core values; Love, Peace, Respect + Hope.
The other values that we feel are also important are then grouped within these four core values. The children and staff supported with these groupings.
External Reports
The links in blue font below will take you to external reports we have received from SIAMs and RE Quality Mark.
Our most recent SIAMs inspection was in December 2016. Since that date, although we have not had a SIAMs inspection we have continued to develop our practice and the provision we provide for our whole school community. We have achieved RE Mark Gold on two further occasions since our last SIAMs inspection. Firstly in July 2018 and then again in September 2021. We have been proud of achieving this accreditation as it acknowledged all the fantastic work the staff do at the school and the positive way in which the children talk about RE and their school.
Overseas Link
We are always looking at ways of both supporting but also learning from others.
We have supported overseas charities, raised money for disaster relief charities and look to raise awareness of how to help others.
Following a successful sponsored walk in the autumn term, we have been able to start sponsoring a child in Tibet. The school are looking forward to being able to keep in contact and learn about life in Tibet and in particular Kathmandu through the eyes of Tenzin.
If he was at our school he would be in our current Year 3. We are looking forward to sponsoring Tenzin's journey through school and having the opportunity to write to him and build a strong friendship.
Subject In Action Around School
Below is a copy of EYFS / KS1 Nativity performance during lockdown when we were unable to invite parents in. It gives a little insight into what we do at Christmas. This is then followed beneath by a slideshow of images of RE in action around school.
