Worship at St Issey
As a Church of England school, worship is at the heart of our daily life. Through acts of collective worship we aim to explore, develop and uphold Christian values. We celebrate Christian festivals and follow the annual church calendar.
A collective act of worship is held every day. Rev’d Katie Kirby and Rev’d Ian Gulland from the local Anglican Church are regularly involved in our programme of worship, supported by Open the Book volunteers and Caroline Bailey from the Methodist Church.
Parents have the right to withdraw their child from collective worship but as this is a central part of our fellowship as a school and is inclusive to children of all faiths and of none, we hope parents would discuss this with us before making this decision.
Taken from ‘Religious Education in Church of England Schools – A Statement of Entitlement.’
A high quality religious education (RE) curriculum is essential to meet the statutory requirement for all maintained schools to teach a broad and balanced curriculum. At the heart of RE in church schools is the teaching of Christianity, rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is a clear expectation that as inclusive communities, church schools encourage learning about other religions and world views fostering respect for them. Although there is not a National Curriculum for RE, all maintained schools have a statutory duty to teach it. This is equally applicable to academies and free schools as it is to maintained schools. In foundation and voluntary controlled schools with a religious character, RE must be taught according to the Locally Agreed Syllabus unless parents request RE in accordance with the trust deed of the school; and, in voluntary aided schools RE must be taught in accordance with the trust deed.
In Church of England schools the students and their families can expect a religious education curriculum that is rich and varied, enabling learners to acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith: for example through the Understanding Christianity resource. Church schools should provide a wide range of opportunities for learners to understand and to make links between the beliefs, practices and value systems of the range of faiths and world views studied. Church schools should use some form of enquiry approach that engages with, for example biblical text, and helps develop religious and theological literacy. Links with the Christian values of the school and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are intrinsic to the RE curriculum and should have a significant impact on learners.
RE must have a very high profile within the church school curriculum and learning activities should provide fully for the needs of all learners. Learners should be inspired by the subject and develop a wide range of higher level skills such as enquiry, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and reflection to deepen their understanding of the impact of religion on the world. Attainment should be high and progress significant in developing an understanding of Christianity and a broad range of religions and world views.
Religious education (RE)
- The aims of Religious Education in Church schools are:
- To enable pupils to know about and understand Christianity as a living faith that influences the lives of people worldwide and as the religion that has most shaped British culture and heritage.
- To enable pupils to know and understand about other major world religions and world views, their impact on society, culture and the wider world, enabling pupils to express ideas and insights.
- To contribute to the development of pupils’ own spiritual/philosophical convictions, exploring and enriching their own beliefs and values.
- Appropriate to age at the end of their education in Church schools the expectation is that all pupils are religiously literate and as a minimum pupils are able to:
- Give a theologically informed and thoughtful account of Christianity as a living and diverse faith.
- Show an informed and respectful attitude to religions and world views in their search for God and meaning.
- Engage in meaningful and informed dialogue with those of other faiths and none.
- Reflect critically and responsibly on their own spiritual, philosophical and ethical convictions.
Effective teaching and learning about Religions and World Views
- Church schools have a duty to provide accurate knowledge and understanding of religions and world views. They should provide:
- A challenging and robust curriculum based on an accurate theological framework.
- An assessment process which has rigour and demonstrates progression based on knowledge and understanding of core religious concepts.
- A curriculum that draws on the richness and diversity of religious experience worldwide.
- A pedagogy that instils respect for different views and interpretations; and, in which real dialogue and theological enquiry takes place.
- The opportunity for pupils to deepen their understanding of the religion and world views as lived by believers.
- RE that makes a positive contribution to SMSC development.
A film by The Diocese of Truro
This is a short film by the Diocese of Truro showing how the values in the Church of England’s Vision for Education are interpreted in four primary schools within the Diocese of Truro and includes our school.
