Religious Education

What is the intent of Religious Education?

Religious Education at Cranfield Church of England Academy, enables children to respectfully and curiously explore and build systematic knowledge of different religions, faiths, beliefs and values. Children are enabled to reflect on their own ideas and ways of living, while being encouraged to handle the challenging questions raised by religion.

Religious Education is taught discreetly in class once a week or through Religious Education themed days by the class teacher. Knowledge and understanding of world religions are taught through creative, skills-based and thought provoking lessons based on the Bedfordshire and Luton Agreed Syllabus. Visitors and trips further enrich the learning and teaching of this subject. Teachers ensure each unit of work encourages pupil to be reflective about what they have learnt. School worship is separate to Religious Education but may compliment the knowledge and skills taught within the subject.

Each topic starts with a big question to engage the children into thinking deeply:

Click here to see the whole school overview for Religious Education.

Click here to see how skills in Religious Education are developed progressively.

The enquiry-based approach makes Religious Education exciting and engaging for both teachers and children alike and aims to deliver the higher level skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and reflection in order to deepen our children's understanding of the impact of religion on the world.

As a Church of England school, we commit to Christianity being taught in every year group, with Christmas and Easter knowledge and understanding developed further each year, developing our children’s learning in a progressive way. As an inclusive community and international school we learn about and from other religions and world views, fostering respect for them in our children.

At Cranfield we have a rich and varied RE curriculum, providing a range of opportunities for learners to understand and make links between the beliefs and practices and values of all faiths studied. Our own Cranfield Values link closely with the Christian values and are intrinsic in our teaching not only of the RE curriculum but across all of the school life.

Religious Education at Cranfield Academy adheres to the Church of England Religious Education Statement of Entitlement which can be viewed by clicking here.

The termly curriculum newsletters for each year group clearly show what is being taught. Quality First Teaching is at the forefront of Religious Education teaching and the teaching is structured the same as other areas of the curriculum.

Teachers in the same year group plan lessons together to ensure a consistency of approach and opportunities and in some year groups the same teacher teaches Religious Education to both classes to maximize a teacher's strengths and expertise in an area of the curriculum.

At Cranfield, our Religious Education lessons:

provide a safe enquiry space,
encourage big questions,
enhance critical thinking and evaluation skills,
support spiritual understanding and diversity
equip our pupils for a world of diversity.

Our Pupil's Religious Education skills are developed in Religious Education Lessons. Our understanding and development of these skills similarly takes place in Whole-School Collective Worship. To view the assessment targets which your child will be assessed against during Years One to Year Four, please click here.

Click here to view our Religious Education Policy.