Kindness, Unity & Courage

"RE is well planned and makes a significant contribution to the Christian character of Trinity St Mary’s. Pupils have developed an undeniable understanding and respect towards other Christians and other faiths. One pupil explained that ‘we have to understand about other religions so that we know how to pay respect."

SIAMs Inspection 2017

As a Church school and as part of the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education we promote that 'Religious Education is not just an academic subject, but, lies at the very heart of the curriculum and has an important role in reflecting and conveying the distinctively Christian character of the school’ (SDBE)

The Intent of RE teaching at Trinity St Mary's school is to help children:

Understand and be able to recognise the Christian Faith, the value and content of the Bible, the role a church plays in the community and recognise the Church of England’s values, traditions, structure and the impact of a spiritual life.

Develop an understanding of what it means to be committed to a religious tradition.

Develop an awareness of spiritual and moral issues in life experiences and respond to moral and ethical issues in light of their understanding and knowledge of their faith.

Have respect for other peoples’ views and how that enables different individuals and communities to live together respectfully for the wellbeing of all.

Enhance their cultural development and appreciation through the understanding of different faiths and cultures, particularly those reflected in the school community.

Prepare for becoming adult citizens in a diverse world and so be able to promote respect for and empathy towards people of differing beliefs.

At Trinity St Mary’s we follow the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education RE syllabus and schemes of work. Our curriculum is designed to deliver RE to the children with the same status as the national curriculum core subjects and is centred around the two attainment targets – Learning about Religion (AT1) and Learning from Religion (AT2). This ensures that not only do children get the opportunity to learn about Christianity and other important religions, that they also develop the skills to reflect upon their learning and develop their own identity as a person of faiths and beliefs.

The curriculum is delivered in class through consistent high quality teaching which incorporates a wide variety of teaching approaches and cross-curricular opportunities. Through this high-quality teaching, the children feel inspired to explore their own and others religions, faiths, beliefs and traditions in both a positive and constructive manner. Throughout the course of each lesson, the children are invited to reflect upon their learning; this this enables them to think more deeply and holistically about an issue, leading to greater insights and learning.

The Senior Leadership Team and Faith Group have an overview of the teaching of RE across the school.  The school policy is reviewed annually to ensure that the school is up to date in its provision of RE. The RE Subject Lead has put monitoring procedures in place and these are in line with other core subjects  through Leadership and child-led Learning Walks, book scrutinies, termly Pupil Progress meetings, reviews of the environment reflecting the high importance of RE across the school and Pupil Voice feedback.