Religious Education
As a Church of England school, we adhere to the Barnsley Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education.
Please click the links below for further information.
In addition to the Agreed Syllabus, we follow the Diocesan produced scheme of work, Understanding Christianity.
The link to the Understanding Christianity website can be found below.
Our Curriculum Pathways for Religious Education can be found below.
Christian Values
We focus upon a different Christian Value each half term. Please see below some examples of the values we aim to embed throughout our daily life at school:
Though we are many, we are one body. Together, we learn and grow. God is at the heart of all we do, shining His light to guide us on our journey. Together, we face change and transformation with courage. In love, we nurture all to be resilient, hopeful and aspirational; to become the very best version of ourselves, knowing that we are loved.
Each member of our school community is honoured and celebrated for their unique character and qualities: difference is met with dignity and compassion. Though we are many, we are one body. Our community at Brierley stretches beyond the school, where we share God’s message of love through our actions, our thoughts and our words as we continue on life’s path.
At Brierley CE Primary School, we promote learning through faith and follow the Barnsley Locally Agreed Syllabus and deliver knowledge and skills relating to Christianity through the Understanding Christianity Programme to all of our children.
Pupils begin their journey of The Big Story through ‘Core Learning’ and then gain a deeper understanding of religious ideas through ‘Digging deeper’ learning. We believe that Religious Education is unique in the school curriculum and that it underpins learning throughout the school.
Please see the document below for further examples of how the Big Story is used: The Big Story Frieze Expanded
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Through our RE curriculum we expose pupils to learning about other religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism and Buddhism.
We acknowledge that each religion studied can contribute to the education of all our pupils in preparing them for life beyond Brierley.
Key questions that we ask pupils include:
Why are these words special?
Why are some places special?
How can faith contribute to community cohesion?
Why are some times special?
What can be learnt from the lives of significant people of faith?
How do I and others feel about life and the universe around us?
We value the religious background of all members of the school community and hope that this will encourage individuals to share their own experiences with others freely.
All religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity and we value the links, which are, and can be made between home, school, and a faith community. We promote teaching in Religious Education that stresses open enquiry and first-hand experiences wherever possible for both staff and children.
Discussions, debates and opportunities to explore thinking, world views and asking questions is encouraged. Other ways in which we enable pupils to develop their knowledge of religion includes:
- handling artifacts
- exploring the Bible
- using role play/drama
- providing pupils with a range of stimuli – images, music, art work, ICT
- meeting visitors
- making visits to religious places of worship where possible, and where not, making use of videos and the internet
- participating in moments of quiet reflection – Time for Me area & Peace garden
- participating in ‘Open the Book’ assemblies
- using Picture News to learn about and understand current issues relating to religion and faith
During FS2, pupils are introduced to Creation, Incarnation and Salvation when studying Understanding Christianity. My World - Me, My Family and Others, Special Times and Special Places are the focus for the Barnsley Agreed Syllabus and support pupil's understanding of their place in the world.
During key stage 1, pupils are taught about God, Creation, Incarnation, Gospel, Salvation, Special Times, Special Words, and Special Places. They are introduced to other religions and can reflect on prior learning as they progress through the Core learning to Digging Deeper learning.
During this key stage 2, pupils are taught about Creation/Fall, People of God, Incarnation, God, Gospel, Kingdom of God, Community Cohesion, Lives of significant people of Faith and Life and Universe. Pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 consider the impact of beliefs and practices in greater detail and respond to more philosophical questions.
Please click the link below to see our cycles of planning for the progression in teaching and learning of RE throughout school.
At Brierley we seek to ensure that all children in our school are educated to develop spiritually, academically, emotionally and morally to enable them to better understand themselves and others and to cope with the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities of living in a rapidly changing, multicultural world.
Regular assemblies and celebrations of learning help to celebrate the diversity of our global community and promote greater understanding of their own and other people’s beliefs, traditions, culture, language and history. Here is some of the feedback parents have given after attending our assemblies:
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Please see below for some examples of RE displays that celebrate learning and provide space for prayer:
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Useful resources for children to access to support learning about other religions:
Other websites to support the teaching and learning of Religious education:
NATRE (National Association of teachers of Religious Education)
Click the images below to meet our Subject ambassador.
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